Reflections Heading Into A New Year
It’s a cliche and I get a bit irritated by all the new year stuff but here I am writing on such a topic. For me it is truly a new beginning. After giving up my job search I managed to secure one just before Christmas. I will start that job at the end of January. This will allow me to ride out the rest of the bear market without having to sell at the lows. Until then I will still need to find ways to take profits. This has been mostly from farming yields but also Bomb Money’s LP Bonding has helped along the way. I can also write out of a labour of love.
Now I look forward based on what I have learned to try and formulate some reflections of where I will be focussed in 2023.
Less Complexity Please
As much as I love Animal Farm (not so much $DRIP) and EMP Money, I have to admit that they are extremely complex protocols. By no means am I abandoning them but what I will be looking for are projects that have a genuine plan to bring DeFi to the masses. This is why I am enthusiastic about Bomb Money, it is a complex protocol but Aaron and the team are working very hard on providing simplified products alongside the more degen offerings. I will have more to say on Bomb Money soon given the upcoming launch of Bomb Chain.
Ponzinomics On The Nose
2022 was been a bad year for ponzinomics. With the runaway success of $DRIP in 2021 this led to the ROI dApp season in 2022. Every man and his dog seemed to launch ponzi ROI dApps. Of course, some make money from these but you have to get in early you know. I probably didn’t go in as hard on these as some but I still threw away a significant amount of money on them.
Obviously the bear market has been a key contributor to their downfall and the economic environment has reduced the amount of capital that people can deploy. These ROI dApps may do better in improved market conditions of course. Keep in mind that I still see a tonne of capital go into these. Stablefund anyone? People seem more than willing to chase these ludicrous returns but it is getting harder because more and more people are railing against them. I know of people who go in there knowing that the project will “rug” or the contract will “drain”. If you go in there make sure you know what you are doing. I will not be providing referrals for them. I will also no longer provide referral links for ROI dApps.
Real Utility Please
I will be looking for projects with real world utilities and genuine sources of income. This is why I am excited by Truth Seekers and Hydrowhales. While I will still play in the DeFi space I will have the “utility radar” tuned up a bit more this year. I am also enthusiastic about these trading bots that are being used to launch ponzinomic dApps. It seems like a cliche to me that you get some “guaranteed” daily return on a trading bot. The higher the return, the more likely you are to experience a draw-down so it doesn’t make sense to me that you can guarantee a daily return. I also have questions marks on the ability of a trading bot to remain profitable to the same degree as you deploy more capital, it generally doesn’t work that way. I don’t mind if trading bots are used to generate some income but I am getting a bit sick of this idea.
More Transparency Please
Crypto was meant to bring transparency and while this is true to an extent a lot of work is still needed. Again, I am enthusiastic about Truth Seekers for this reason. There have been great developments in the space and on chain data is getting easier to analyse but it would be great if we don’t need
“on-chain experts”. To that end I will be closely looking at the transparency of the teams. I will also be looking for doxxed leaders. Being doxxed does not guarantee anything but I believe a shift is needed. The best way to push for transparency is to vote with your capital.
Final Thoughts
Who knows what 2023 will bring. I don’t expect to strictly adhere to the rules I wrote but something I will be using as a guide post in 2023. What I do know is that I will always emphasise the risk in any protocol (since I am a Risk Manager in real life) and I will always put caveats on price predictions if I even make them. Most importantly, I will keep digging in the weeds so that I can learn and hopefully you can learn alongside me.
Disclaimer: None of what is written in this article constitutes financial advice. Investing in cryptocurrencies, and in particular decentralised finance, is high risk. What I write is not a recommendation to invest in the projects I discuss. I am not aware of your personal circumstances. Only invest what you can afford to lose. Make sure to do your own research rather than relying solely on my content.
An Important Note
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