The Jungle of Crypto - 1. The basics

Exploring a new jungle!

I spent years exploring the spirituality of the native people of the Amazon and the African jungles, and now I am undergoing my return to the matrix (the modern world!). I started writing again after a long pause and thought I might as well experiment with recording videos and podcasts, as I have done since the beginning of the web. I wrote a book about podcasting and blogging in 2005!

Crypto is the most fascinating modern jungle. It has incredible masters changing the world, influential gurus, dark places full of venomous snakes, thieves setting traps to steal your money, and also immense opportunities for the brave who can withstand the risks of exploration and want to learn the secrets.

I already wrote about it; I lost a significant amount in crypto (Terra, FTX) in the past, including most of my liquid assets, while I was isolated in the Amazon jungle for three months. I was also hacked by a fake support person who impersonated the service so well that my Metamask wallet was emptied in seconds. This is a classic.

It won’t stop me from starting to explore again. There are no mistakes, only opportunities to learn. Better not to make the same mistakes twice, though.

With AI, Crypto is the most fascinating transforming force of our world. Traditional finance is ongoing a complete revolution.

Do you like sending a wire and waiting for days for the money to reach its recipient? Do you like paying 1% transaction fee when you invest?

Crypto transactions are often sub $1 and instant, regardless of the amount you send. Jack Dorsey added crypto payments to Square. Very soon, we will be able to pay a restaurant or grocery bill in crypto everywhere.

Having written a lot in the past about spirituality and consciousness, I noticed many of my friends “on the path to improve themselves” are also into crypto. The freedom and independence from governments it represents fit them well.

Why now?

There have been 5-6 bull market cycles already in crypto, followed by brutal falls and scandals. The entire crypto market cap has increased from approximately $ 200 billion in 2020 to nearly $ 4 trillion USD today, and even those who are the most opposed to crypto can’t ignore it and will likely feel isolated.

Market Cap of crypto, 4T$!

With all the announcements of the Trump Administration making crypto a priority, I would be surprised if the current bull cycle doesn’t last. U.S. banks are now permitted to store and offer cryptocurrency for their customers, with major banks such as Charles Schwab working on adding full custody and trading capabilities. Trump just allowed retirement 401(k)s to add crypto.

It feels like we’re just getting started.

A few days ago, I wrote about Life as a Game and that nobody is immune to making money at this game; I am not either. I have been spending a significant amount of time recently learning about DeFi (Decentralized Finance).

I will do my best to share some of what I wrote. For the expert friends reading this, please correct anything wrong. Your advice is welcome. I am still a crypto beginner getting my initiation.

My posts aren’t intended as advice; I'm simply sharing what I've learned.

From the many emails I received after writing about the Pryzm protocol (the token price nearly doubled since I posted), it's clear that many of my readers have little to no experience with cryptocurrency. Some would like to play the game but struggle to understand the basics. I will write for them as I am learning myself.

To get started, find some money and buy some crypto. Buy some BTC to get started and some USDC to begin playing the crypto pinball.

When I was a teenager, I owned Gottlieb’s Haunted House, of course!

Most modern banks, such as Revolut, now offer an easy “on ramp”; if you want to play with a small amount, you can even load it up with a credit card.

While these noebanks are fine to buy some coins, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, it won’t let you connect to the deep jungle. For that, you need a proper wallet.

I recommend opening an account at a centralized exchange, such as Coinbase or Kraken, to start, as you will be able to convert your fiat money into cryptocurrency at a lower cost.

Once you have done that, get yourself a proper wallet.

I recommend opening a wallet with Zengo (disclosure: I invested years ago) or Ledger, both of which focus on security.

It is common to have multiple wallets, as they don’t connect to all blockchains. Consider getting a Keplr wallet if you’re interested in Pryzm, I will come back to it later.

Then, send some stablecoins, such as USDC, to your wallet. Use Ethereum, the most popular blockchain. If you can’t do that, I might write another even more basic newsletter soon.

You can start playing now.

For beginners, owning some Bitcoin seems like a safe option, as well as reading The Bitcoin Standard. A friend has been holding Bitcoin for years and told me many years ago, when I asked, like everybody does,

“But isn’t it BTC too high now?”- “The price at which you buy doesn’t matter, read the Bitcoin Standard,” he said.

I did not, and that was a mistake.

The demand widely exceeds how much Bitcoin is currently mined, and many corporations and countries have added Bitcoin to their treasuries. There is also a relatively new trend to buy Bitcoin by imitating Michael Saylor’s strategy, which involves accumulating Bitcoin by leveraging it to purchase more.

Michael Saylor’s Strategy owns 628,791 Bitcoins valued at more than $71 billion. There are many other BTC treasury companies on the same model now. If BTC drops sharply, they might have to liquidate, so it’s a risk associated with the BTC price. However, there appears to be so much demand on the market that this risk seems to be limited.

Another reason to go deep into crypto now is the rapid growth of stablecoins.

It is now easy to achieve a yield of 4 to 15% or more simply by buying stablecoins.

The two most popular stablecoins, USDT and USDC, do not offer any yield, while many new stablecoins do. Here is a list of all stablecoins by Market Cap. USDT has a market cap of $164B, USDC $65B and the third one, Ethena’s USDe, already $10B.

The challengers of USDT and USDC distribute their profit while the two market leaders don’t. The yield comes from the gigantic interest generated by the collateral, which made Tether so successful. Tether hit $13 billion in profit in 2024.

There is risk, of course, as some of them disappeared in the past by depegging to the USD, such as UST a few years ago. Even the leaders, USDT and USDC, have depegged in the past (Tether depegged a few times, as did USDC, due to the bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank, where $3.3 billion of its reserves were frozen). USDT and USDC quickly recovered. Here is a good history of depegging.

In a few clicks, you can earn 8-10% or more on them. I will write how. Yes, it has some risks. You can always pay a 1% fee and buy some US treasuries at your bank, potentially earning 4% instead. You’d be safe as long as lending money to the US isn’t a concern to you. The US debt is growing faster than its income.

That’s it for today and the basics. Get your wallets loaded with some USDC you’re ready to lose in the pinball machine, and let’s explore some more soon.