Poor Richard’s Guide to Cryptocurrency

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by Noah Jessop

Ben Franklin’s financial advice is legendary. “A penny saved is a penny earned” is a mantra two centuries after Franklin’s death and “An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest” is as applicable today as in the time of King George III. But few know that Franklin was also an avid cryptocurrency enthusiast and wrote an “Almanack” advising the ladies, gentlemen, and revolutionary generals on how to profit from the Byzantine General’s problem. Here’s a brief overview of his crypto related quips:

A wise investor must never invest more than is reasonable. What’s reasonable depends on personal liquid capital, ability to handle loss, trading style, etc. (For our purposes today which do not amount to legal investment advice: if you only invest money you can afford to lose entirely, you’ll never experience crippling loss. Traders call this fatal move “blowing up”). A wise investor must secure accounts properly. When using a turn-key wallet like Coinbase or an exchange, always use two-factor authentication. Always make sure to use Google Authenticator instead of a SMS message. A wise investor must not leave funds in the exchange communal wallet. They do not get your business mixed up in theirs after their transactions are complete. A wise investor must not make silly purchases that may be regretted with asset appreciation. May we not be the ones to order a 40 million dollar pizza. A wise investor must triple confirm wallet IDs before sending money. Villainous sorts will seek to defraud you — registering domains that look like the crypto project you are trying to invest in, posting false messages/addresses to send funds to on message boards A wise investor must leave greed at the door. It’s better to thoughtfully prosper than be the sucker to a scammer. If it’s too good to be true… A wise investor must always use unique, secure passwords to different services. A wise investor must call their cellular provider and ask them to lock account numbers to prevent transfer without photo ID in person. A wise investor must only talk about crypto in public only after they’ve secured themselves. A wise investor must know it’s not uncouth to build separate social media profiles for privacy. A wise investor ought to only discusses entry and exit prices, not amount bought or sold. A wise investor ought to know that a HODLer is someone who is a long-term believer in a protocol. A wise investor must only gossips about projects, prices and protocols — not people. A wise investor ought to consult a tax professional, particularly when converting crypto currency back to US dollars. A wise investor must research who is behind an ICO before investing. A wise investor must not be afraid to take winnings — the game is buy low, sell high — not buy lowest, sell highest A wise investor must spread the love of crypto to the uninitiated. A wise investor must know early risky projects may lead to total loss A wise investor must know that a cryptocurrency that drops 90% is the same as a currency that dropped 80%…and fell by 50% again. A wise investor ought to average into positions. A wise investor ought to run antivirus (or a security distribution of Linux) and ensure any key generation happens on a offline computer. A wise investor might consider investing in a hardware wallet. A wise investor ought to keep paper backups of their wallets. A wise investor must remain suspicious of projects where the creators own too much of the tokens. A wise investor must know when to have a little laugh. A wise investor must seek the company of like-minded individuals. They may listen to opinions, but make their own decisions. A wise investor may seek legal guidance before trading on non-public information. A wise investor must ensure they aren’t just a tourist here.

Ladies and gentlemen who learned something today may follow the author on Twitter @njess. In full disclosure: said author has or currently is invested in a number of different currencies and tokens. Members of polite society who would like to express their thanks, amusement, and/or disgust may press (👏 ) below. Did we miss anything fitting for an upper crust Crypto enthusiast? Kindly write us.

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