Sunday, 31 October 2021

Exploring some other cryptocurrencies besides Bitcoin and Ethereum | Crypto Portfolio Breakdown

*Do exercise due diligence in your investments and I am not recommending for you to buy any of the products I have mentioned. Cryptocurrency has high volatility, sharing my thoughts and things I have read up on. I am not a financial advisor nor a millionaire, information published here are purely opinions or feedback and should in no way be taken as guaranteed.

I have been putting money into other cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin and Ethereum hit new highs. Although I am still contributing small amounts into Ethereum, I am exploring putting money into alt coins although most that I am exploring and putting money in are hitting ATH (all-time highs). I have to say that I usually take notice of cryptos after they have high adoption rate and are in the top 20 ranks based on market capitalisation. So, I am sure many of you have invested into these projects earlier and have profited but I still find them interesting and having room for growth. Do correct me if any of the information is inaccurate. We all know that blockchains are often forced to make trade-offs that prevent them from achieving all 3 aspects (trilemma) which are namely:

  • Decentralised which is a blockchain not relying on a central point of control
  • Scalability meaning if the blockchain can handle an increasing and growing number of transactions.
  • Security which is the ability for the blockchain to operate and defend from attacks and other unforeseen events.

All right, so let's dive right into the other cryptos beside Bitcoin and Etherum that I am investing in.

  1. Chainlink (LINK)

Chainlink was particularly interesting to me because it involves bringing data from the outside world onto the blockchain and I realised that there were so many used cases for it. Ok, let me first explain a little more on what it is based on what I have read up, do feel free to correct me. Chainlink helps expands the capabilities of smart contracts by enabling access to real-world data and off-chain computation while maintaining the security and reliability inherent to blockchain technology. Chainlink is a decentralised blockchain oracle built on Ethereum.

Smart contracts are very secure and reliable for value exchange but lacks in the ability to extract external data or send data but through the use of oracles, Chainlink extends the functionality of the blockchains by connecting smart contracts to external real-life data like weather.

Some real life use cases where Chainlink brings financial prices and data feeds for many CeFi and DeFi applications. These includes Celsius, AAVE and many more. Besides financial data, Chainlink also has the ability to connect with any API to perform off-chain computing. LINK is an extension of ERC20. Tokens act as data payloads, feeding the required data from off-chain sources to smart contracts, which then act accordingly in response to the data provided by the token.

Taken from https://chain.link/use-cases

Besides it being with it's uses, there are definitely some things that are not it's advantage.

  • Firstly is that the token distribution, a huge amount of the token LINK is being held with the team and treasury and this is a pretty large amount.
  • For projects that uses Chainlink, they need to hold a certain amount of the LINK token as collateral hence if there are people who are hoarding/holding LINK, there could be none left for the network to operate.
  1. Solana

Solana has definitely soared in recent months. I only invested in it after the rise of it, I entered at about USD 156 and am a proud owner of 1 SOL. Haha, I saw Solana after it's meteoric rise and went to find out more on it. More popularly known as the "Etherum killer", Solana fast speed and low fees is a huge factor in it's popularity and also, there are many projects that uses Solana, from Defi, NFTs and games. It has risen up in ranks as per coinmarketcap and with more users, it has achieved economies of scale and kept application fees extremely low. So for projects finding Etherum too expensive, Solana is also great for them. Of course, it is not without it's cons. Some have argued that it is not decentralised enough. Solana experienced a DoS (Denial-of Service) attack that made services inaccessible to users. The Solana Team said the attack was due to resource exhaustion as bots sent a flood of 400,000 transactions per second causing them to shut down. Community members have criticised Solana's semi-centralised structure which helps the blockchain achieve higher speed. However, the price recovery was quick and it seems to not have affect the adoption of Solana.

  1. Algorand (Algo)

Algorand is a blockchain-based cryptocurrency platform that aims to be secure, scalable, and decentralised, it supports smart contract functionality and it's native cryptocurrency is called Algo. The basics of Algo is to perform like paper money/fiat currency but being digital. It can be used to buy items and transactions are instant unlike credit and debit cards. Being low or virtually no costs, it also triumphs credit cards as there is a transaction fee being charged to the seller.

Algorand believes in being fully decentralised and also allowing the Algorand community to help shape the future of it. Hence, holders of Algo can join the governance program and vote to decide the future of Algorand. Governors will be rewarded for their efforts, based on their participation stake in governance. I have missed the sign up for the governance program in October but am looking forward to join the December one. Currently, I have my Algo in the Algorand Wallet earning interest. In the latest news, El Salvador is developing a blockchain infrastructure using Algorand as a layer 1 solution in a continuation of its work

  1. Terra (LUNA)

Chain Debrief has a really good explanation on what Terra is and it's token Luna. Terra has a decentralised stablecoin which is UST and from it's website, it promotes as the programmable money for the internet. That it is the most attractive to hold due to the stable yield and ease of spending because of the low fees and instant settlement. Just like what is mentioned in the chaindebrief's article, the Terra blockchain and payment ecosystem will affect the attractiveness of LUNA as an investment.

Conclusion

So like to share and show the breakdown of my crypto holdings. Accurate as of 31 Oct 2021, you can see I have about 58% in Ethereum and 33% in Bitcoin. The rest are really negligible as the amount is currently very small compared to both. I am having fun exploring and slowly building up my portfolio and of course, nothing is fixed and it might change from time to time.

 Just a video to explain the cryptocurrencies that I am currently interested in, of course this might all change from time to time. Please do note that this is not a recommendation to buy, I am not a financial advisor, just sharing and recording my journey. Getting into cryptocurrencies, I wouldn't say that I understand a lot about it, majority of my holdings are in Bitcoin and Ethereum. With so many new projects everyday, it does get overwhelming but as you learn and read more, you realise how much you don't know and it's like a never-ending cycle. I am still putting very small amounts in although my crypto portfolio is now at a 5 figure as I explore other cryptos beside Bitcoin and Ethereum. What projects are you guys in? 

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References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chainlink_(blockchain)

https://chain.link/

https://cryptobriefing.com/how-decentralized-is-solana/

https://www.cryptovantage.com/buying-crypto/solana/

https://solana.com/ecosystem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C0s905jNxgQ

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/el-salvador-develop-blockchain-infrastructure-084104876.html

https://chaindebrief.com/an-introduction-to-terra-luna-crypto-ecosystem/

Monday, 25 October 2021

Are we facing hyperinflation in the coming years? | Jack Dorsey thinks it is coming and you better be buying Bitcoin?

Came across an article on which Jack Dorsey spoke that we could be facing hyperinflation soon. So let's discuss on what hyperinflation is, what causes it and why Jack Dorsey is thinking that way.

Hyperinflation

Hyperinflation is where there is very high and typically accelerating inflation in which prices of goods increases and this erodes the value of money or the local currency. What this causes is that people would then switch their local currency for other more stable foreign currencies and in the case of Jack Dorsey, more people will switch to Bitcoin. Almost all hyperinflation are caused by government budget deficits financed by currency creation. Some people believe the U.S. is headed toward hyperinflation due to past and possible future government stimulus behaviour. Of course, hyperinflation is really exaggerated where something that cost $1 might cost $10 or $50 in a year. Hyperinflation are really rare and do not happen so easily.

Who is Jack Dorsey?

Jack Dorsey is the CEO of Twitter and Square, many people also know Jack as a Bitcoin maximalist. This means he believe that Bitcoin, which is the world's most popular cryptocurrency, is the only digital asset that will be needed in the future. Maximalists believe that all other digital currencies are inferior to Bitcoin. So of course, he mentioned that hyperinflation will be happening through a tweet explaining that hyperinflation is coming and will change everything.

This tweet follows after the consumer price inflation being at a 30 year high in the United States and policymakers have all along not anticipated inflation on such a scale as they have all along thought of inflation to be transitory.

Read more:

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell acknowledged that inflation pressures “are likely to last longer than previously expected,” and that they could run “well into next year.” The central bank leader also added that he expects the Fed to start reducing the extraordinary measures it has provided to help the economy that some critics say have stoked the inflation run.

The situation on the gas and electricity supplies

Another crisis that we are seeing that is hiking prices up are the gas prices that are soaring high. In Singapore, Mr Gan Kim Yong said fuel prices have more than doubled over the last one and a half years, with many places affected, including China, Japan, the European Union and the UK. He has advised for Singapore households to use electricity "prudently".

Electricity and gas is really the backbone of everything as hawkers need gas to cook and supermarket or shopping centres need electricity to keep the malls lit and cool. We have also seen several electricity retailers close down as they electricity prices increase and they are unable to continue on due to market conditions. The price hike for electricity is expected to stay for some time and hence they have chosen to exit. UK has also seen the exit of 9 energy suppliers as they are unable to keep to the price that was promised to the customers.

China and India are also facing coal shortages. The China's government has been rationing electricity to energy-hungry businesses because of a crunch in coal supply. India still relies on coal for 70% of its power with it being in short supply, India faces widespread blackouts.

Inflation is definitely here and staying but hyperinflation?

In my opinion, inflation is here to stay, your utilities, food, drinks, furniture and services will be increased in prices considering the supply chain issues and also restrictions making the earnings of owners reduced due to the lesser number of patrons. Hyperinflation is scary and I am sure the governments will not want it to happen as it will not just destroy the value of the local currency but chaos will also start due to fear and shortages.

It really is a domino effect as I think one thing might lead to another. No one expected the effects of the pandemic to be so severe and I thought that all would be back to normal once the pandemic is gone but it seems like it is not that easy. Well, there are really differing views but I think what we can do is to invest our money and just wish the governments are doing the right thing. The future is hard to predict.

Why Jack Dorsey says moving to Bitcoin is the way to go?

Of course, being a Bitcoin maximalist, some people question Jack on why he tweeted on the hyperinflation? Was it really his thought on the future or is to get more people to adopt Bitcoin into their portfolio. 1 Bitcoin will always be 1 Bitcoin but we are now of course comparing Bitcoin prices to fiat currencies so we are still not exactly at the stage where Bitcoin is the currency of the world although there are countries like El Salvador and Venezuela who have accepted Bitcoin as their currency.

Conclusion

The future is hard to predict, on my end, I am diversifying my investments and going more into alt coins. It is scary if the world really goes into hyperinflation, my mum's retirement fund might not be sustainable and so will many others. Wages don't seem to go up as much but for now, I am trying to make my money work for me as much as I can. I will be releasing a new post soon on the alt coins I am DCA-ing into. Do look out for it. 

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References: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperinflation
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/23/twitter-and-square-ceo-jack-dorsey-says-hyperinflation-will-happen-soon-in-the-us-and-the-world.html
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/electricity-gas-tariffs-to-go-up-for-next-three-months-amid-rising-costs

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/economy/global-energy-shortage-or-a-coincidence-of-regional-crises
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58746953

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58662667
https://www.bbc.com/news/business-58090533

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/consumer/exits-by-spore-electricity-suppliers-sparked-by-price-volatility-amid-global

Sunday, 24 October 2021

Does your horoscope affect your investment style?

My friends do like to talk about horoscopes and whether or not we fit in with the behaviours. Some of them don't believe it but some are really staunch on it. For me, I do think it affects a little but how can it be that we categorise a whole group of people based on their horoscope? I am sure each and everyone of us are unique but it is interesting to read on these kind of stuff. So today, to relate it to finance, I will be exploring on how your horoscope can affect your investments. I have extracted some information from various sites and am not a horoscope expert, do take it with a pinch of salt, it is all for the sake of entertainment, hope you like it.

Aries

Aries, let's first talk about some of their character traits. People with Aries as a horoscope are usually passionate, hard working, hates procrastination ,bold, confident, certain and dominating. This means the financial actions of Aries are dominated by passion and energy due to their competitiveness to achieve their goals and stick to the plan. Being rather impulsive and risk-taking, Aries tend to be attracted to aggressive investment that give good returns. Hence being rather impulsive, do take precautions in get-rich quick schemes

Taurus

Taurus are known to be dedicated, patient, level-headed, realistic, reliable and dependable. This means they are reliable and trustworthy. Being practical makes them excellent money savers and earners. They are good at following a budget and are generally attracted to conservative investment avenues with a low risk-return ratio for example real estates.

Gemini

Gemini are usually described as being curious, a learner, versatile, intelligent, quick witted and generous. They are quick witted and intelligent hence having the ability to save, being curious however means that they lose interest in things pretty easily. They have a wide range of interest which allows them to dabble in many investment options and they may get attracted to risk-taking opportunities occasionally.

Cancer

Cancers are generally outgoing, hard-working, willing to experiment and family oriented. They are usually huge savers and as they are family oriented, they tend to maintain financial security and provide well for themselves and their family. They are skilful in building up capital and saving. They choose safer and guaranteed investment products.

Leo

Leo are big dreamers, blunt, ambitious, competitive and diplomatic, they are natural leaders, charismatic, and they give their energy and wealth freely. Leo might be a little impulsive with money and tend to indulge in luxuries. They might have some issue with saving money but are quite competent managing their finances as they are ambitious and driven to earn for a good standard of living. They look for areas that will allow them to have lucrative income opportunities.

Virgo

Virgos are usually characterised as being a bit of a perfectionist and has OCD in certain aspects of their life. Being hardworking and practical, this means they are cautious with their finances and are able to build up on their savings as they plan for their future. They do their research being embarking on any investments and move towards conservative, secure and less risky investment strategies.

Libra

Libra people are known for their balance and enjoy equilibrium. They are easy-going and are often indecisive and gullible, they also tend to love luxurious things which might cause them to overspend. Though they do spend on luxurious items, they balance it out with hard work and try to find good investments opportunities. They like to invest in creative areas like art.

Scorpio

Scorpios are determined and have leadership skills however they tend to keep their financials a secret meaning that they most likely have a war chest stashed away. They are sharp in their financials and being highly competitive, they usually have a great career with a good source of income. They are patient to find the right opportunities and like high return and high risks but they don't go for every opportunities as they weigh in on the options.

Sagittarius

They are happy go lucky and are optimistic. They are also honest, smart and fiercely independent though they are prone to overspending. Similarly to Scorpio, they tend to go towards high risk and high return investments as they tend to be on the lookout for newer and better opportunities.

Capricorn

Capricorn are intelligent and ambitious. Being very practical with their money, they stay within limits and are disciplined with reaching their financial goals. They might seem to be stubborn and stingy on finances since they are practical and disciplined. Not one for impulse buys, their expenditure reflects their success and hard work.

Aquarius

Aquarius are known to be dedicated, hard-working, generous, secretive, creative and intelligent. They are generous and usually are more worried for humanitarian causes than their own finances. They also tend to be rather indecisive when making decisions for their savings and investing.

Pisces

Pisces are known to be dreamers, kind and compassionate in helping others. They have a unique relationship with money and saving isn't usually the first thing that comes to them. They are usually low risk and hence attracted to low returns investment. I am a Pisces and I think there is a certain degree that is accurate in terms of being usually low risk but I would this also matches with a large pool of people so do take everything with a pinch of salt.

Conclusion

It is just an interesting video I did today, don't think it will relate to all as there are many factors that shape each and everyone of us. Just for laughs and horoscope is always a good topic to warm up with people as we are all interested in knowing more about ourselves. How is your investment strategies like and what horoscope are you? Hope you enjoy this light-hearted video this week.

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References: https://www.lifestyleasia.com/ind/money/finance-horoscope-2021/
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/capricorn/slideshow/51961300.cms
https://www.piggy.co.in/blog/zodiac-based-investment/

Saturday, 16 October 2021

What is the Bitcoin Futures ETF that caused the jump in Bitcoin prices?

I am sure if you are into cryptocurrencies, I am sure you have heard of the Bitcoin Futures ETF which many have said propelled Bitcoin into the $60,000 region. I have also heard of it and that it has not formally been approved by the Securities and Exchange Commission. The proposed date of the filing is on Monday, 18 Oct 2021 and might begin trading next week.

What is the Bitcoin Futures ETF?

So of course seeing the word Bitcoin means it involves Bitcoin and futures means that it is not the spot market meaning not the current prices but more so on the bitcoin futures contracts. The ETF is called ProShares Bitcoin Strategy ETF. This is a huge move in the development of cryptocurrencies as it will be available to the mass retail investors once it starts trading.

So far, the SEC has not formally approved it but according to Proshares announcement, it states that the agency is unlikely to block the listing. It will trade under the ticker "BITO". Being a futures ETF means that it is not a direct investment in Bitcoin but more of tracking the Bitcoin futures contracts where the price of a futures-based bitcoin ETF could trade at a premium during a bull market or at a discount during a bear market. Some have also argued that it is better just directly buying Bitcoin which I do agree to a certain extent, it really depends on your investment strategies.

Read more: Q3 Portfolio Review | Stocks and cryptocurrencies

Regulation coming through

Since it will be an ETF related to Bitcoin, this means that there will be some form of regulation if you purchase this ETF although things are not very clear at the moment but being able to list an ETF requires certain requirements and factors. Crypto community do welcome regulation as it means that the government is paying attention to cryptocurrencies and might slowly introduce products that involves crypto and further build on it. As regulation is being done, this also means higher adoption from the public and the other retail investors which means a huge boost to market capitalisation and price action.

Many companies have been trying to apply for Bitcoin or crypto-related ETF like Invesco and Valkyrie. The approval is for a futures ETF which can be seen as only a partial victory by the crypto community as there are currently no other ETF tracking the spot-market price of Bitcoin. However, an ETF has fees involved and also middleman fees (ETF provider, lawyer who set up the fund, administrator, auditor and the list goes on), hedge funds can also arbitrage it by buying Bitcoin then sell the futures contract making it settle at the correct price and they can make a fortune as explained by Raoul Pal . He also emphasised that cryptocurrencies are being bought because they are self-custody (eg cold wallet) which this ETF does not allow. Raoul also raises that the Futures ETF is not benefiting the small retail investor but instead allows hedge funds to benefit from it.

Read more: Investing is not just about buying but it is about selling as well | Sharing my sell positions

Just buy the crypto and HODL

If you have been thinking of getting into cryptocurrencies, watch my video on how to create a Gemini or FTX account and just buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies that you have done your research on. Getting in is the first and most difficult, after which you will be immerse in it and endless learning. Do note that this is not a recommendation to buy, do your own research and invest in what you believe. I don't hold a large amount of cryptocurrencies but with the small amount that I hold, it has grown by quite a bit and the growth is exponential. Hope you enjoy today's video and give a thumbs up or subscribe to my channel for more content!

References: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/15/the-first-bitcoin-futures-etf-in-the-us-is-set-to-begin-trading-next-week.html
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/15/sec-is-set-to-allow-bitcoin-futures-etfs-to-begin-trading.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA42BRvimJk
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/first-u-s-bitcoin-etf-looks-set-to-debut-monday-or-tuesday-from-proshares-trust-11634333449

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/15/the-first-bitcoin-futures-etf-in-the-us-is-set-to-begin-trading-next-week.html

You can also find me on

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Monday, 11 October 2021

Q3 Portfolio Review | Stocks and cryptocurrencies

*Written on 1 Oct 2021, value fluctuates and this is just a record of it. Do not take this article as financial advice to purchase any stocks or crypto, do your own due diligence before initiating any position.

Sorry for the late update, had this ready but forgot to release it. Q3 has been exciting for both stocks and cryptocurrencies as we see ATHs and dips in the market. Time flies and we are in Q4 of 2021, without even doing much in my life, the year is passing by and I am closer to being 30 than 20. Haha, end 2019 to 2021 really felt like a dream, like being stuck in a virtual world where we are told what to do and follow (eg. wearing a mask when going out, no travel, no dine-in, no gatherings). Although we were restricted for a short period of time, I have to admit that we are definitely in a much better position where we have access to vaccines and at least some travel options for those who can afford (VTL), very grateful for that. All right, let's move back to the review

Stocks

In terms of stocks, I added VWRA to my portfolio as usual, on sell positions, I sold off Nikko AM STI ETF in July and bought 1 Tesla share at USD675 and 16 shares of AMD at USD95 each. Pretty happy with the purchases as so far they are all in green and performing much better than if I continued holding onto Nikko AM STI ETF. My stock portfolio also hits $50,000 and I am excited for it to continue to grow although we saw some weakness in Sep.

Below is the value of my portfolio from the earlier part of the year till now. I record the value of it in the first day of each month so that's why you are also seeing October 2021. Tesla went up in prices (recorded 1 Oct 2021) and so helped to increase the stocks portfolio value overall. Other than that, VWRA and VT are actually in the red and so are other stocks. Just sticking to my plan of adding VWRA into the portfolio every month, no plans to purchase any individual stocks but my friend did mention to me on some software companies but I am rather lazy to read up and find out more.

Cryptocurrencies

My cryptocurrencies portfolio has slowly regain back although there was a dip in the month of September. I have mostly added positions into Etherum and cryptocurrencies are so volatile yet rewarding and exciting. I have also initiated a position in Chainlink (LINK), I want to build up my positions in BTC and ETH but at the same time purchase other cryptocurrencies as well. Will have to look on how to portion out my funds.

Comparing to Q2 portfolio

Q2 saw my stocks portfolio at $46,100 and end of Q3 my stocks portfolio is at the low $50,000. Great to see the monthly DCA into VWRA having it's effect even though the prices recently has dropped. Will still continue it on.

Cryptocurrencies have seen an increase as well as I put in capital though smaller amount than to VWRA but I love that cryptocurrencies allow you to buy fractional, it doesn't matter if you cannot buy 1 bitcoin, you can buy 0.01 bitcoin. Q2, I was at $6000 plus and now my crypto portfolio is at $14,000 plus. Amazing amazing, I can see why people are moving their money over to cryptocurrencies, the growth is just exponential. But I still prefer to have a base in stocks and allocate a smaller position to cryptocurrencies.

Total Investment Portfolio

I am slowly inching nearer to the goal of $100,000. I can feel it so close if I include my cash positions as well. Of course, if stocks or crypto fall, it does affect the amount of time needed to reach that goal but so far overall, both my stock and crypto portfolio has accelerated my pace towards $100,000. It seems like a huge achievement to hit currently but I know that reaching it is really just gonna be another day in my life.

Ending the year with a BANG!

Entering Q4 means we are towards the end of another year. Time flies even when we stay at home most of the time. I have to say that 2020 and 2021 passed by in the blink of an eye. I am now nearer to my 30s then to 20, this is definitely scary in a way as I think about what have I been doing and whether is it enough. Very excited to seeing how the portfolio will end at the end of the year. Hope you guys enjoy this update as usual do subscribe and like my videos if you enjoy the content!

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► How I earn interest on my Crypto (Hodlnaut): https://app.hodlnaut.com/signup?r=_JF037Nb0 Get USD20 equivalent for your initial deposit of at least USD1000 on any of the supported asset by using my referral link
► Where I Buy my Cryptocurrencies: Gemini (Receive $10 of bitcoin after you buy or sell $100 after signing up using my link)
FTX: https://ftx.com/#a=41877278 (If a new user signs up with my referral code, I will receive 25%-40% of their fees, and they will get 5% of their fees back)
► Where I buy my stocks
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Sunday, 10 October 2021

Investing is not just about buying but it is about selling as well | Sharing my sell positions

I have been investing since 2017 and for me, I have made countless buy orders, in contrast, I have only done a handful of sell orders. In fact, I feel that I have some kind of phobia with selling or inertia to insert the sell order even if it proves to be beneficial to the portfolio.

Why buying seems great but selling seems scary to me?

I love buying stocks or cryptocurrencies because it looks great on my portfolio, the number increases and I feel like it adds onto my assets. On the other hand, when I sell, I see my portfolio value drops and it feels like the decrease scares me causing me some fear in selling. This is of course not the right way to think. Some times we sell to secure some profits and that is not wrong, if you have other better investment opportunities, it is always good to be taking profits as it shows that your holdings have grown and proven right. Just as no one can buy at the bottom, no one can sell at the top as well. If you feel that a stock/business has changed in terms of it's business model or is not profitable, taking profit and selling it is the right way to go.

Selling can prove to be a winner in the long run (some examples of my sell actions, both losers and winners)

For me, although I do not have much sell transactions, I will share on the few sell transactions I did. So the first stock I sold for a profit was:

SGX, I bought 100 shares at $7.27 each and then in 2018 after I saw the price went up to $7.57, I sold it off for a profit of $30. This was my first profit taking and after which SGX went soaring high and I regretted selling it although I went back in and bought it back but this was my first experience of selling.

 Next is First Reit, it was actually the FIRST REIT I bought and gave me pretty nice dividends and I wanted to hold it on longer if possible but bad news hits and I just found that the earnings and future direction of the company was not I expected it to be. I bought 1000 shares at a price of $1.205 each and sold it off in 2020 at $0.549. Yup, you saw that right, the stock price just nosedived. But I am glad I didn't hold onto it. I suffered a loss of -$656, if dividends were included, my loss was -$401.

 I also sold off Lemonade Inc, LMND, this stock was a buy position purely based off Chicken Genius and I also sold it off in Feb 2021 when he said he was selling his positions. Not a smart way but I did profit from this sell transaction. I bought 14 shares of it at $106.77 and sold it off at $192.97, this gave me a profit of about $1,207. Although, I did go back and buy 1 share of it at a high of US$150 as I had a few vouchers from Tiger Brokers and decided to just buy that. The price now has also dropped substantially.

 Amara (A34) was also sold as it was just part of the shopping spree where I bought random stocks at a low prices and hence it was sold off as part of a housekeeping exercise. Also cos it is a hospitality stock providing accomadation which I don't think is good for a few years from now. Also, it is such a small holding, sold it for a loss of -$46.

Lastly, I recently sold off Nikko AM STI ETF (G3B) mainly to channel the funds elsewhere which would have better growth, partly also because I have SPDR STI ETF so letting of Nikko AM STI ETF which is similar was done. I sold that for a loss of -$102.33 but received about $344.90 in dividends. Glad I did that as the funds was channelled to 1 Tesla share (USD6745) and some AMD shares (USD95) which have grown since then.

 Do you sell your holdings when you have substantial profits? Or do you just hold onto them as long as their business model and system has not changed? Everyone has different investing methods and there really is no right or wrong as long as you don't LOSE MONEY! 

You can also find me on

Affiliate links/Codes:

► How I Protect My Bitcoin using Ledger (20% discount code): Get your ledger from HERE (Using my affiliate link will help me where Ledger will pay a small incentive that's not from you but from them) - USD$25 discount coupon: THANKS-SHLRTVJ or THANKS-V35SSK5
► How I earn interest on my Crypto (Hodlnaut): https://app.hodlnaut.com/signup?r=_JF037Nb0 Get USD20 equivalent for your initial deposit of at least USD1000 on any of the supported asset by using my referral link
► Where I Buy my Cryptocurrencies: Gemini (Receive $10 of bitcoin after you buy or sell $100 after signing up using my link)
FTX: https://ftx.com/#a=41877278 (If a new user signs up with my referral code, I will receive 25%-40% of their fees, and they will get 5% of their fees back)
► Where I buy my stocks
FSMone Referral: P0364886
Tiger Brokers (Free stock and commission free trades, check out more here)
Interactive Brokers (Open an account today and start earning up to $1000 of IBKR Stock for free!*Terms and Conditions apply)
► Google Pay: v89ph61

Sunday, 3 October 2021

Setting up a FTX account to buy cryptocurrencies

If you would like to give FTX a try, you can sign up using my referral link where you will get 5% of your fees back. You can read up more on the referral benefits here.

I have been looking for alternative exchanges especially so when there is low commission. I think FTX is one of the exchanges that provided a pretty competitive rate. Its okay to have various exchanges although make sure you remember the passwords. With what Binance.com is facing, restrictions in various countries, it is good to have a few exchanges to allow transfer of assets if required. What I do is that I purchase Etherum, Bitcoin and stablecoins and then transfer them to either Hodlnaut or my cold wallet although I also hold small amounts on exchanges. Seedly came out with an article on the different exchanges available and I think it is really helpful.

So let's talk more about FTX:

Setting up of account and KYC

Setting up of the account was very straight forward and fast. Similar to other exchanges, you will need to provide a copy of your ID for verification. My account was all set up within a day and everything was very smooth. I like that the 2FA is using the Google Authenticator app.

No deposit fees but look out for withdrawal fee (Fiat)

There are no deposit fees for fiat but do note that for fiat withdrawals below $10,000 in value, there will be a $75 fee. For cryptocurrencies, users will pay the blockchain fees for all ETH, ERC20 tokens unless they have FTT staked.

Adding the bank account details to DBS/POSB ibanking for transfer

Adding of your bank account details can be done under the transfers tab where you can go to DBS Remit and overseas transfer. There is a very comprehensive guide from sgcrypto where the steps are clear and easy to follow. Once set up, you can transfer over USD to FTX for your purchases.

Buying and selling

The website might seem a little overwhelming at first (at least for me) but if you have experience buying stocks, it will be easier to navigate. If not, just make sure to focus on every word you are reading. For me, I don't margin and have to deposit cash in before making a purchase, so once you have deposit your fiat in, go to 'markets' then to 'spot', you can either find for the cryptocurrency that you are planning to buy, if you are facing difficulties in that, you can directly search in the search bar for it. Then once the options appear, you can choose the trading pair that you like to buy in.


After you have selected the trading pair, you can then scroll down and there will be buy and sell. You can then key in your orders, setting it as a limit order or market market. How much you like to purchase and so on.

Really interesting as there is much more cryptocurrencies available for purchase compared to Gemini and the platform even provides tokenized stocks where you can purchase Tesla, Google and so on. For now, I only utilise the spot function to purchase cryptocurrencies but will explore around and see. I know that Gemini has 10 free withdrawals per month but the fees on FTX is significantly lower so I will have to try and see which I prefer. For me, currently I am leaning more towards FTX just because of the variety.

If you would like to give FTX a try, you can sign up using my referral link where you will get 5% of your fees back. You can read up more on the referral benefits here. I would say that FTX is really a solid exchange and even the FTX token is within the top 30 cryptocurrencies. Hope the video gives you more insight as I share on the platform.

You can also find me on

Affiliate links/Codes:

► How I Protect My Bitcoin using Ledger (20% discount code): Get your ledger from HERE (Using my affiliate link will help me where Ledger will pay a small incentive that's not from you but from them) - USD$25 discount coupon: THANKS-SHLRTVJ or THANKS-V35SSK5
► How I earn interest on my Crypto (Hodlnaut): https://app.hodlnaut.com/signup?r=_JF037Nb0 Get USD20 equivalent for your initial deposit of at least USD1000 on any of the supported asset by using my referral link
► Where I Buy my Cryptocurrencies: Gemini (Receive $10 of bitcoin after you buy or sell $100 after signing up using my link)
FTX: https://ftx.com/#a=41877278 (If a new user signs up with my referral code, I will receive 25%-40% of their fees, and they will get 5% of their fees back)
► Where I buy my stocks
FSMone Referral: P0364886
Tiger Brokers (Free stock and commission free trades, check out more here)
Interactive Brokers (Open an account today and start earning up to $1000 of IBKR Stock for free!*Terms and Conditions apply)
► Google Pay: v89ph61

Friday, 1 October 2021

Buying Cryptocurrencies using Gemini | Setup & Transfer USD to account

I have created a Gemini account as I do use Binance to buy cryptocurrencies and with MAS clamping down on the SGD payment options, I decided to switch to Gemini. I do also use Binance.sg and Coinhako but both incur a higher transaction fee and limited coins for Binance.sg

The creation of account was pretty simple, you can use my referral link if you like to create an account after reading/watching my video. So the creation of account is pretty simple as you can use My Info to allow them to take the required information. After which, Gemini will need to verify on their side. For me, verification is pretty simple but if they are taking too long, you can always contact their support through this form to expedite the process.

After setting up and getting validated, using your laptop, you can change your trading interface to Active Trader mainly because of the lower commission. The interface is more advanced looking but I like that you can set limit orders. The commission is 0.35% for ActiveTrader.

Do take a look at the video as I will show how you can switch it.

Depositing USD into account

My Investment Machine has a very detailed step by step method to add Gemini's bank account into your DBS/POSB overseas transfer list. Do remember to always double check the receipient's bank account as it might change time to time and also the comments to put as Gemini relies on that to determine which account to fund.

Transferring from DBS to Gemini

I used to thought that I need to do a currency exchange via my DBS Multi-currency account but it seems that DBS now allows overseas transfer from any account with competitive exchange rates. I tried with a small amount first and accidentally used my POSB everyday account to transfer SGD 100 to Gemini which they helped me to convert to US$73.49 and I received the funds in Gemini soon after.

Why I wanted to transfer USD instead of SGD is because there are much trading pairs available for USD than SGD where the trading pairs for SGD is only BTC or ETH.

Putting in your orders

So putting your orders in is easy if you have deposited USD in, just search for the cryptocurrency that is a trading pair example, BTC/USD or LINK/USD. You can set a limit order meaning what prices would you like to buy in at which to me is great.

I also show in the video on how you can make your purchases.

Why I opened a Gemini account

I have all along been using just Binance both SG and .com but just wanted to also have another exchange to buy from partly due to the MAS Alert list and SGD dominated payments are taken out. I loved the P2P function previously where we can use paynow or Google Pay but too bad. Gemini has been great so far for me and I haven't transfer out any holdings yet but I love that there are 10 free complementary withdrawals monthly. If you like to sign up for an account, you can use my referral link where as long as you trade $100 or more (or 100 USD equivalent of your domestic currency) within 30 days of commencing account sign-up, both accounts will be credited $10 (or 10 USD equivalent of your domestic currency) worth of bitcoin. For safety sake and just as a back up as well, I have also set up FTX. I will be covering that in the next video so do watch out for it.

You can also find me on

Affiliate links/Codes:

► How I Protect My Bitcoin using Ledger (20% discount code): Get your ledger from HERE (Using my affiliate link will help me where Ledger will pay a small incentive that's not from you but from them) - USD$25 discount coupon: THANKS-SHLRTVJ or THANKS-V35SSK5
► How I earn interest on my Crypto (Hodlnaut): https://app.hodlnaut.com/signup?r=_JF037Nb0 Get USD20 equivalent for your initial deposit of at least USD1000 on any of the supported asset by using my referral link
► Where I Buy my Cryptocurrencies: Gemini (Receive $10 of bitcoin after you buy or sell $100 after signing up using my link)
FTX: https://ftx.com/#a=41877278 (If a new user signs up with my referral code, I will receive 25%-40% of their fees, and they will get 5% of their fees back)
► Where I buy my stocks
FSMone Referral: P0364886
Tiger Brokers (Free stock and commission free trades, check out more here)
Interactive Brokers (Open an account today and start earning up to $1000 of IBKR Stock for free!*Terms and Conditions apply)
► Google Pay: v89ph61