I'm Dave, and I'm addicted to sounding like I know what I'm talking about.
It's for this reason that even writing the above title took a big spoonful of humility.. I'm... a.... (gulp)... noob....
But since I started looking into this whole blockchain thing, I've found the title of 'noob' to be quite freeing. I pretty much walk into forums waving my 'noob' badge, and all of a sudden everyone stops using big words and starts using real english. Sure, it's usally to swear at me in real english, but at least I understand what they're saying! Although sometimes they're nice. Sometimes, it's almost like they are relieved that I'm a noob, so they can stop their vocab gymnastics. You blockgeeks, you're actually nice, helpful people! You don't need to hide behind your insane intellect. Yes, I'm sure you love a little geek-out every now and then, but trust me when I say "You're a nice person".
I've been so helped as a beginner by some patient blockgeeks who have helped me get on my feet. I've learned words and what context to use them in, even if I don't understand what they actually mean.... Like, "oh yeah that altcoin just had it's ICO and 4 whales bought 50% of the market cap. #shitcoin"
But I've also been told some helllllla confusing, contradicting stuff.
- If you're new, then go long on BTC (that's what non-noobs call Bitcoin) and ETH (Ethereum), unless you're new, in which case you should just spread across a few alts.
- Invest heavily in crypto, and yet, only invest what you can afford to lose.... go figure
- Don't be stupid with your money, do your research, but here's an easy-to-read graph titled "10 Reasons to Invest in XRP" (as a noob, I don't read the reasons (I wouldn't understand them), I'm just impressed there are ten, and as a result I've just moved 25% of my portfolio into XRP)
- Don't be stupid with your money, do your research, and here's an easy-to-read graph titled "10 Reasons Not to Invest in XRP" (I've just removed all my XRP and re-invested back into BTC)
- HODL - but also, Digibyte is about to soar, so you'd be stupid not to invest!!!
10 mins later.... - Lol Digibyte was neve going anywhere, why did you invest? Haven't you read the white paper???
- Vitalik is lord
- WTF Vitalik you on drugs? Why you wanna delete my money? Why u do dis?
It's been a fun ride. I think I've realised that, if any of the experts were actually experts, they wouldn't be on facebook 24/7 getting into arguments about penny coins, they'd probs be sitting on a beach while their mine setup at home worked for them... just a hunch.
So to wrap it up, I am a noob, and I'm somewhat proud to be one. I once heard someone say "You don't have to know how it works to make money from it", and that's pretty much my motto with crypto. If I see a line going from bottom left to top right of my screen, I'm happy. If the numbers are green, I'm happy. If my excel spreadsheet says I have more money today than I did yesterday, I'm happy. Have I invested more money than I'd be happy to lose? Maybe. Do I check the prices way to often to make sure I can still buy groceries this week? Perhaps. Do I get a tingle in my pants every time my portfolio increase? Damn right I do!
If you see a noob, be nice to them. Yeah they're annoying. Yes they ask the same question you've answered 10,000 times to other noobs. But they're investing their hard-earned money, and most of the time they're doing it without their wife knowing. And if you are a fellow noob, at least wait until you've made some money before you tell your wife.