Dream Come True If you Believe

Anthony Burton – Crypto Magazine

If you told me a year ago that I would have my name cemented in history, inside the pages of a global publication, I would have told you, “You’re crazy.” A year ago, I never would have imagined crypto would become a full-time career. Of course, I imagined wealth beyond my wildest dreams because I was so enamored with the potential that cryptocurrency investing possesses. If only I knew then, what I know now. Or better yet, if I knew 10 years ago, what I do now.

My crypto journey started in April 2021 when co-workers were showing me Trust Wallets with 2 to 3 thousand dollars in them, from an initial couple hundred-dollar investments. I told them, “Show me how to do that!” So they walked me through the rigorous process of setting up multiple apps on my phone; Coinbase, Bitmart, Trust Wallet, and CoinMarketCap. You know… the crypto starter kit. By the time I had been verified and was able to deposit funds from my bank to Coinbase, this Safemoon thing my co-workers were talking about, had already “taken off.” Wanting to get ahead of the game, I started looking for “the next thing.”

I did days of research before picking the perfect vehicle for my future fortune. I stumbled

across a launchpad. I didn’t know what the hell a launchpad was, but this thing looked promising. Locked liquidity for over 200 years, great audit, had recently listed on a major exchange: This is IT!

Then, like a thief in the night, it was gone. Within 2 months of me investing the developers had rugged a project that was rug-proof. The locked liquidity ultimately didn’t mean shit; they stole the marketing wallet. For those new to the space, rugging, and all variations of the word rug are terms used when a developer, or team, of a project, steals an investor’s funds. Projects have multiple wallets sometimes, which the team can access to use for the designed function of that wallet ie. using the marketing wallet to pay for marketing or an airdrop wallet to airdrop tokens. The locked liquidity wallet was there to ensure if an investor wants to withdraw their funds, the project has the funds to cover the investor’s sell transaction.

I lost hope. Yes, it was only $100 that I had lost. But I had involved friends and family in my belief. My dreams of watching this $100 turn into millions, vaporized. So, I walked away from crypto.

In mid-2021 crypto was booming. Like a runaway train just blessing all those who were invested in it. Even though I had walked away from investing, I couldn’t pull myself from the urge. The aspirations to find the next golden ticket never left me. I still researched, still had interest, but wasn’t about to lose any more money.

Then I got a Telegram phone call that changed my life.

“Hey mate, how ya doin’? Ya alright?” he said in a peaceful, British accent. He had seen my vision and long-term belief in crypto and saw value in that. I’m of the breed of crypto

investor that believes we will be voting in elections in the US on-chain within the next few election cycles. The guy that doesn’t understand the depth of the Metaverse or how we will interact with it, but understands the potential for daily interaction to happen, realizing fortune 500 companies are seeing future profitability within the virtual worlds. I’m the person that sees the vision of the future where donations and personal identification are all moved and held on the immutable blockchain. (Unless the right-sized solar flare hits Even though I had walked just the right away from investing, I spot on Earth couldn’t pull myself from and sends us the urge. The aspirations back to the to find the next golden stone ages.) ticket never left me. I I digress. still researched, still had The gentlemen interest, but wasn’t about I spoke with to lose any more money. that night detailed all these plans for a crypto project that he was actively working on. He was already working on a digital publication and had plans to distribute a traditional printed publication while utilizing a native cryptocurrency to attract investors and advertisers. 4 hours later I knew, this was the one. This was the project and the guy that I need to follow. So, I did. I watched his marketing expertise take a project from 6k holders to 92k holders in a few weeks. He sent me 3k coins for some shilling work one time. For

those that have never heard of the term, shilling is going out to your favorite social network and spreading the word about a project. I shilled my ass off for 3 days. Collected my tokens and waited. Not even 2 weeks later those 3k tokens he had sent me went from $0.03 cents to $1.21 a piece!

It was around this time that I noticed what this man was offering me. He was offering me guidance, which you can never place a dollar amount on. He was offering me a platform. He was offering me a path to a new life.

Admittedly, in the crypto space, there’s a lot of drama and negativity. Competition is also very prevalent because everybody wants you to invest in their project. I can’t even argue that I feel the same way about our project. Not because I want you to invest to inflate my digital wallet. No no. I want you to invest because I want you to succeed. If you believe in me and my team, I want to make sure you are rewarded for trusting in our shared passion and vision.

Would you believe me if I told you that only 3.9% of the world was invested in cryptocurrency in November 2021 when pretty much everything was at its alltime high? Now, would you believe me if I told you that investing in cryptocurrency today was like investing in internet and tech companies in 1994? This doesn’t mean that everything you put your money into will be the next Google, Amazon, or eBay. But are the next multi-billion-dollar companies being built today? Of course, they are.

If you move with passion and trade without emotion, this gives you a recipe for success. What you do with that recipe is up to you. If you told me a year ago that my 12-year-old son would’ve sold an NFT, or that I would be doing something I love (writing) for a globally distributed retail publication (Crypto Magazine) I would have told you, “You’re crazy.” If you would’ve told me that I would afford a vacation, and support a comfortable life for me, my wife, and 3 kids with crypto, I would’ve told you, “That’s the goal.”

My goal is to leave this Earth a more valuable place when I go. That I leave a positive impact on everyone I interact with. I hope that I can help others achieve their personal goals and have a hand in making their dreams a reality. When the Lakers went up 2 games to 0 in the 2009 NBA Finals, Kobe Bryant famously said, “Job’s not finished. Job finished? I don’t think so.” Unlike Kobe, I’m happy to be up 2-0, but that mentality to know there is always something we can progress on is instilled in me. I won’t ever be perfect, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t strive to be. Find the positives. When you can’t, learn from that. Learning from a negative experience is a positive. If you stick to these keys to life, you can find success.

Do Your Own Research (DYOR), this is Not Financial Advice (NFA), and all the other shit you’ll hear in the space, but most importantly; be you and trust your gut. If something doesn’t feel right, it probably isn’t. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Don’t trade off emotion, don’t invest more than you can afford to lose, and diversify. This crypto table is way too big for 96.1% of the world to not be eating at it. We’ll save you a seat.

Experienced Tips to Help Avoid CRYPTO SCAMS

By Justin MacLachlan

Congratulations on getting involved in cryptocurrency. This industry is incredibly lucrative, but it’s also filled with coins that will go nowhere and projects that were never intended to succeed in the first place i.e. scams.

Scams in the cryptocurrency industry come in many shapes and sizes. A few of the most common scams are - liquidity rug pulls, a slow rug pull (Ponzi scheme), draining of your wallet funds through interacting with a malicious contract, and raising funds never intending to build anything in the first place. Lastly, you have the most basic scammer, a person who either asks you directly or tries to trick an individual into giving up their private key or seed phrase, usually through phishing with a fake website. The first rule of thumb when you come into contact with a cryptocurrency project is DYOR (DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH) and then dig even deeper after that. But what does it mean to DYOR?

It means to do your homework about what you are planning to invest your hard-earned money into. If you don’t feel safe putting money into a project and you

have a bad gut feeling. Don’t. 9 times out of 10 you have that doubt for a reason.

So how does one do their homework before choosing to deploy money into the market?

Here’s a short checklist to help keep you safe when researching projects you come across in your crypto journey.

Ask yourself these questions and mark any that you can’t answer with a red flag. Three red flags and you should probably move on as it’s usually a bad sign.

TIPS

1. Start by asking: does the coin have a utility value and is it something the market needs?

2. Does the project truly require a decentralized database (blockchain) to function, or can it operate without one?

3. Is there active development visible by updates or changes on a project’s

Github or similar code repository?

4. Is the contract or custom blockchain audited by well-known, reputable firms in the industry? (The more audits the better.)

5. Is the project team doxed or identified to the public? 6. Does the team’s goal, and goals, seem feasible, and do they have the experience required to complete their roadmap?

7. Does the project claim huge

partnerships but then the partners haven’t acknowledged them? 8. Is the project more focused on social proof, using celebs and influencers for promotion, rather than giving updates about development to the community?

9. Is the community active and discussing the project? 10. What’s the community sentiment like; is it positive or negative?

11. Is the coin showing volume, aka trading activity? 12. Does the team engage with the project’s investors/token holders in question and answer sessions?

13. Does the project have media releases in mainstream outlets?

14. Is the liquidity for the token locked up?

After you have established a good research routine, it’s important to be mindful of everything you do when interacting with smart contracts and in general when you are online. Doing so ensures that your funds are safe, or as Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, says, “SAFU.”

This writer recommends that you purchase a hardware wallet, and use multiple software wallets, such as Metamask, for untrusted contracts. This type of security precaution will help to avoid malicious contracts potentially draining all of your funds, which seems to be more common with the NFT market over cryptocurrency. Regardless, one can never be too safe with their funds.

It’s important to also briefly mention having good cyber security practices. Don’t click potentially malicious unknown links, make sure programs and your operating system are up to date, and when visiting websites while doing your research, ensure that you are doing so in a virtual machine environment, like Virtual Box, or VMWare. Another quick tip is to use strong passwords and a password manager, such as KeepPassX, Dashlane, or another trusted software to manage them. There is much more that I could get into, but I will leave that for a follow-up in our next issue.

The final warning I will leave you with, never divulge your private keys or seed phrase to anyone. Think of these series of words and series of numbers and letters as your bank account information.

Because that’s exactly what it is; your WEB3 bank account. If anyone gains access to your private keys or seed phrase, they essentially own your wallet and in turn, can send your funds anywhere they please. Protect your seed phrase and your private key like it’s your life.