Falling Kingdoms

"A touch blue, a stroke of black, my hands caress the canvas like a lover. Words fail to conceptualize the exotic taste of colors."

I start this post with a heavy heart. My cousin Jacob died a few days ago. He was only thirty-two years old. It was one year ago that we buried his older brother Andrew. I had a super weird dream about his brother after he passed. As much as I love my cuzo... (rest in power) I do not want a repeat of that experience. This tragedy of youth is a microcosm of the craziness going on in the world. Its not all bad... but things definitely need to change. 

Let's start with crypto. If u haven't been keeping track Gemini exchange may be the next crypto company to go insolvent. To date, there's Celsius, Voyager, 3AC (3 Arrows Capital), BlockFi, Alameda Research, FTX, and now Gemini which is owned by Genesis Global. These were all major players in crypto lending and trading. This cascading domino effect of falling kingdoms isn't only because of mismanagement of assets. There's strong evidence that many of the companies were sabotaged in a power grab to control the crypto industry. Back in May there were rumors that Celsius was the victim of a bank run targeted attack. As unbelievable as it may sound. It's the truth. Understand. I'm not disregarding the misappropriation of creditor assets, or the deceptive lies that were fed to us as the owners secretly withdrew there funds. What I am saying is the impetus of that debacle and the fall of several other companies listed above can be traced back to one specific competitor. 

FTX exchange was owned by SBF (Sam Bankman-Fried). In the crypto space he is considered a very bad man. His attempt to destroy DeFi and enforce institutionalized control over the crypto industry with government support backfired. FTX exchange was a subsidiary of Alameda Research group. Through nefarious means those two companies are accused of industrial sabotage, fraud, theft and a list of other felonies that would get a commoner like myself thrown under a prison. How did they do it? According to information that's been made public by companies who have been a victim of FTX coming forward. FTX would require that new companies working with them had to provide the backend coding to their crypto coin. Then SBF used sophisticated programming to make clones of their coins. After, FTX would take massive high leverage short futures trades, then dump the synthetic coins on the market. This not only destroyed all their competitors, it also made SBF and his partners filthy rich. 

If it wasn't for the fact that FTX burned half the crypto industry and stole money from so many people they might've gotten away with it. I wont get to deep into the story because BitBoy has been giving thorough coverage of the whole situation. In the latest development BitBoy traveled to the Bahamas (where SBF lives) and met with Bahamian politicians in attempt to get SBF arrested. Although he hasn't been arrested yet the DOJ (Department of Justice) has begun an investigation into FTX and Alameda. SBF and his family have serious connections in politics and media. The chances of them doing time is slim at best. In my opinion SBF will get off free and some low level minion is going to end up doing a few years in prison. Not to sound pessimistic, but the reality is for him to go to prison the DOJ would need incontrovertible proof that SBF is guilty. Even that may not be enough because money is power in politics. Meaning, if they can afford to pay the bill then there's no need for jail time. 

Some people say this is a good thing for crypto. That all these platforms are getting destroyed like a wrecking ball through a building. They consider it weeding out the bad apples. Others feel like these falling kingdoms are fuel for the media to portray crypto negatively to the mainstream. Here's my opinion. Regardless of how bad the media talks about crypto. When the next halving comes in 2024 the narrative will switch. (facts) The crypto industry has died a thousand times in media. It has more lives than a cat. To be honest this prolonged bear market has shown more mainstream adoption than any previous market cycle. All the innovation happens during the bear market. That's how I know the gains in the next bull market are going to be bonkers! 

Now that we're talking about the next bull market let me give u my two cents. The bottom is not in. Again this is just my opinion. The bottom for me will not be in until eth falls below one thousand. To be completely honest I believe it will fall below eight hundred. The eight hundred is speculative, but I'm certain of the one thousand. If I'm wrong and I miss the bottom. I'm okay with that. For me its always better to be a little late to the party than too early. (not investment advice)  When the price was at 17k people were saying the bottom is in. You had big brains with charts, pointing fingers at lines, detailing why the bottom was in at 17k. I was constantly hearing social media figures saying dca (dollar cost average) now. The bottom is in. You don't want to miss it. Then btc dropped to 15k...oops. That wasn't supposed to happen. People lost money. Those same big brains got back on social media sounding like Urkel from Family Matters. "Did I do that?" 

Once btc bounced off 15k the same narrative is being pushed with more enthusiasm. I have nothing against these people giving their analysis. When I look at the charts it also looks like the bottom could be in. It's the right time, the market has been in the red for a prolonged period. Plus a 15k btc when the top was at 69k is a steal. Hey, it all adds up. Except when u look at the macro economics, Tradfi (traditional finance),  and geopolitical climate. It totally doesn't add up. I'm looking at how prolonged this bear market has been and how close we are to reaching that eighty-five percent drop. So far its been around seventy-five percent. It feels like there's going to be some fake out price pump short term relief rally coming. Then the real drop is going to happen. I'm waiting for that drop. That drop would give the charts symmetry. They say history doesn't repeat itself but it does rhyme.  If that's the case eth will fall below a thousand one more time. 

Speaking of rhymes. The Hip-Hop community has lost some gifted and revered artists this year. As a student of the culture watching the predatory practices happening to rappers is disturbing. I was a fan of all these brothas music and can say they will be truly missed. From the old school we lost DJ KaySlay and Coolio. I remember hearing my first KaySlay mixtape "The StreetSweeper vol 1. I knew then he was going to give DJ Clue and Tony Touch a run for their money. He brought that fearless attitude he used to put into graff art, to the turntables. He was a dope dj who helped launch a lot of artists music careers. Coolio was a west coast legend. He is one of the few rappers who crossed over to mainstream and was able to maintain his stardom for a lengthy career. He passed from natural causes due to a heart attack. From the new school PnB Rock and TakeOff from the group Migos. I liked both these guys tunes. It's a tragedy that they both were victims of gun violence. These are young men in the height of their careers. Like I said in the beginning of the blog. Things definitely need to change. May they all rest in power.  

The world isn't all doom and gloom. Matter of fact...it could be a lot brighter real soon. Researchers at MIT have been experimenting on how to make bioluminescent plants since 2017. The first generation of plants used cells from creatures like the jellyfish and fireflies. Scientists would combine these bioluminescent cells with plants to make glow in the dark plants. The research was highly successful. Now they have a second generation. This new generation of bioluminescent plants utilizes specialized nanoparticles embedded into the plants leaves. These particles allow the plant to absorb light, store it, and slowly release it later. The new plants are charged by an led light for a few minutes. Then the length of glowing time and the amount of brightness generated is measured. The goal is to have a world with plant based lighting. The trees and bushes will use the sun for a charge. When the sunsets the plants will slowly release the charge and glow throughout the night. This will eliminate the need for street lights, reduce electrical costs and pollution. Of course using renewable energy from living plants is going to be met with radical opposition. But if enough traction gets behind this research it could bring society one step closer to running on green energy.

While people have been dying and world events playing out like a poorly scripted Monty Python film. I've been painting, writing and making music. Painting allows me to hyper-focus all my senses on what flavor can be created by blending colors. It's unbridled freedom of imagination...only restricted by the canvas borders. Music. You may find this strange but I believe music (rhythm, harmony, vibration) is the true language of the universe. When I make music it feels like my soul is resonating with an ancient vibration that's been going on for eons. For me, making music is therapeutic. I just posted a new song to my soundcloud. It's a ruffmix before It's sent for scratches and mastering. The song is called "Collection of Kingz." It's a tribute to all the people I've been building with over the years. You know who u are...salute! I'm back in the process of finishing the album. Life is what happens in between making plans. I've added some new songs and thrown some old ones out, due to changes in the legal climate. One must adjust with the cancel culture times. If the world doesn't fall into complete economic collapse in the foreseeable future the album will be out next year. If there is some global catastrophe...the release date won't matter because no one will be thinking about music. Just kidding. Check out the tune and if u like the music drop a comment.

Tyger Vinum · Collection of Kingz.mp3

What do I say to people who think I'm too old to be making music. Nothing. Let me let u in on a secret. The people u idolize and think have perfect lives. Their life is just as messed-up as u think yours is. The difference is... they learned how to hide it better. So, stop caring what other people think. Be yourself. And learn how to be proud of that. (Deep thoughts from a shallow mind)

I wish u health wealth and prosperity.

Tha One an Only 

Three Rules

"Most opportunists enter crypto with schemes to get rich quick. While forgetting their investment could disappear...like a magic trick."

How do u spell relief rally? Ethereum. Yes, boys and girls the crypto pump is in full swing. If prices continue on their current trajectory Eth can hit 3K and Btc can clear 40K. If you're a fan of the Ichimoku cloud  I'm getting those estimations from the weekly charts. If Btc breaks through 40K the sentiment will be that the next bull run has begun. People will start throwing money into the market with reckless abandon, expecting things to rocket up to 100K. Not me. If I had never been through a bear market before, I would be partying too. It would be time to change the shower curtain into a Toga, put a lampshade on my head, turn on Nirvana, "Smells like teen spirit," and start doing the running man. Oh yeah, daddy would get freaky with it. That description of money induced dance fever will never come to pass. 

The reality is if Btc clears 40K i'm going to sell everything that's not staked so fast, my fingers will get friction burn from clicking the mouse button. The reason its called a relief rally is that it's a temporary pump before the price falls to a new low. In laymen terms I'm saying that breaching 40k is my signal to place short trades for the fall to 10K. (not financial advice) I'm definitely not saying the price will drop all the way to 10k. My trades will be based off price action from the past bear cycles. Remember, this is just my opinion. Do your own research. That's how u make money. 

This Eth merger from proof of work (pow) to proof of stake (pos) will be the equivalent of three Btc halvings rolled into one. Depending on when it actually happens, the outcome will change the landscape of the crypto space. It seems like big business is aware of the profit margins and wants the largest piece of the pie. The list of corporate entities now involved with crypto is too long to write in this post. The effects will be seen by the next halving in 2024. Add-on the resolution of the SEC case against Ripple Labs (XRP) which should be resolved sometime next year. That creates a recipe for a super cycle with potential gains that will make the last bull market seem like crumbs. The one consistent occurrence in crypto is that it always goes higher or lower than people expect. 

Now that almost all the crypto lending platforms have been liquidated, there's no one left to sell. Celsius filing for bankruptcy was a smart legal move. The question everyone is asking is what's next? Will we get all our money back? Will we get only a portion back? Will all the money go to the creditors and none to the retail investors? What's going to happen to the owner? Was there a crime committed? Will people go too jail? Here's what I can tell u. As of last week Celsius disbanded the ambassador program. We received the same information that was released to the public. If u want updates about the case...watch the news. I wrote the Celsius money off as a lesson learned. I have zero expectations that the funds will be returned. If they do get returned somewhere down the line that's a bonus. 

Always remember the three rules of investing. 1. Don't invest more than u can afford to lose. 2. Don't lose money. 3. Never forget the second rule. 

I wish u health, wealth and success,

Until Next We Speak, Be Well

Tha One an Only 

Lost Faith

"They say, see the good in strangers believe your neighbor no one questions why? Never trust in people's words because...all humans lie." 

Let me start off by offering apologies to all readers for the situation with Celsius. I've been using their services since they started in 2018. Full disclosure, I am part of their ambassador program and have funds locked on the platform. Also I invested a large amount of capital in their fund raising round on bnktothefuture. To put it bluntly I have allot of money staked into Celsius and it suxxs that I have zero access to it. We're deep in the bear market and they've halted all swaps and withdrawals on their platform. 

That means nobody can touch their money. I'm not going to speculate on if we're going to get our money back or not. Nor will I address the torrent of rumors that this bank run is a targeted attack against the owner Alex Mashinsky. Hypothesizing is a guessing game. I only deal in facts. What I can say factually is that I did get the interest payment Monday on my crypto like usual. If they're still paying out interest I can't call them a scam. I'm hoping Celsius recovers and makes it through this public maelstrom of bad press. 

Why did I use Celsius and recommended them to my network? The pattern is to sell some crypto at the market peak for profit then save the rest for later. By staking on Celsius I could borrow cash and not sell my crypto. It was that simple. Now that my money is trapped and inaccessible I've permanently lost faith in CeFi platforms. If you're unfamiliar with the term CeFi (Centralized Finance) means a centralized entity maintains custody of your assets. DeFi (Decentralized Finance) means u maintain complete ownership and self sovereignty of your assets. This situation epitomizes the classic euphemism. "Not your keys, not your crypto." To insure u don't lose all your crypto its always good to keep some on DeFi wallets like metamask and coinbase wallet (not connected to the coinbase platform) or cold storage wallets like Trezor and Ledger. 

For me there are no safe centralized platforms. Just to give perspective Binance one of the biggest exchanges in the world halted bitcoin withdrawals. It was only supposed to be for a half an hour but took much longer. If Binance is having problems no place is safe. The effect it had on the already panicked market was like throwing gasoline on a blazing inferno. Trust is low and fear is high. Not just high like a skyscraper or smoking to much weed high. I'm talking about fear at a cosmic level. The best thing to do in these uncertain times is to take control of your assets by moving them off centralized platforms. (not financial advice) 

That way if we have another Terra Luna debacle or Celsius asset freeze the money is already in your hands. I'm taking everything that's not staked and stashing it away until the relief rally, then I'm going to sell everything faster than a lightening strike. Believe it! I can buy it back later. There's time to accumulate in a bear market.   

I wish u all, health wealth and success

Until Next We Speak, Be Well

Tha One an Only  

Life Lessons

"Life usually starts when the music stops. Unless the theme music to your soul is... boom bap Hip-Hop."

You may have noticed that I'm not heavy into social media. I love to create. Most social media is full of opinions and emotions. That equates to my mind as distracting white noise. It's one of several reasons why I deleted the accounts years ago. One of the platforms I like is Discord. It's like Twitter but more filtered to particular projects. Usually the people in the threads are enthusiastic and community oriented. There's still an ocean of opinions and emotions. The difference is most of them are positive and fueled towards improving a project, not destroying one.  

A while back I started investing more into art nft's. If you're familiar with the blog u know I've been investing in nft's like Phantasma (Soul) since 2018. Only last year did I start paying attention to the negative correlation between art nft's and bitcoin. Long story short I'm now into several nft projects and the results have been mixed. Bored.Ai is a publicly traded company that lets u take text and turn it into art. They use Artificial Intelligence to interpret the word string u type, to generate gallery quality pieces of artwork. I'm a curator for them with my own club inside their Discord. 

The Mental Gymnastics Club is a place to exercise your mind and build the imagination. My club focuses on creating artwork based on Time, Space, Science, and Technology. All the artwork in this post (except for the eagle) comes from there. As a creator and curator I'm going to be releasing a nft collection featuring the top twenty pieces from the club. More about that another time. The reason I brought up Bored.Ai wasn't to shamelessly plug my club to boost membership. (Although if u would like to join...get at me on discord.) Bored.Ai is the first nft project that I've been a part of that soldout before mint. They sold all 10,000 nft's. This project uses cutting edge technology and has a phenomenal community of creators. It showed me how successful a project launch can be. Even when the market is crashing like a blindman drunk driving a monster truck.

Another project I was really excited about turned into an investor nightmare. The Meta Eagles Club (MEC) was created by artist Gal Yosef. He makes incredible 3D pieces of art. The project had a lot of hype before the launch because Gal was already part of a successful nft project named Crypto Bull Society. Also Eden Galleries which has galleries all over the world is his financier. Another reason is the MEC includes famous characters from Marvel, DC, and Dragon Ball Z universes.  

Everyone assumed the project was going to be bluechip (10x) soon after mint. Once the public sale started the floor price dropped around 70% and hasn't recovered. There has been a lot of finger pointing and blame thrown around as to why the floor price is low. Some people say it's the galleries fault, others the management team. No one thinks its Gal. He's a creator that's super passionate about the MEC. The project needs the right team to realize his vision and make it a success. Recently Gal got a new team and things are changing. 

Both of the projects MEC and Bored.AI are great projects, both have strong communities. The difference is Bored.Ai operates like a smoothly oiled, well maintained machine. While MEC does not. Although MEC isn't bluechip yet, I'm confident that the quality of art and strength of the community will push it there. It's one of those projects that might take a year to take off but when it does it rockets past the moon. That's just my opinion. 

The point is...regardless of how good a project looks. You never know how successful it's going to be until after it's launched. Also the big difference between the nft market and the rest of crypto is liquidity. You can't sell an nft if u don't have a buyer. There's no spot trading which makes it illiquid and hard to exit. That means as an investor u have to be really committed to the project and be willing to wait for it to blow-up. 

Speaking about the crypto market. I'm going to keep it one hundred. There's a very real possibility that btc could fall back down to 32K and retest the bottom. That news may shock a lot of u and make a few people want to try flying off the top floor without a parachute. Don't do that...it's messy. Also there's no need to panic. If it does drop that will be the buy signal to d.c.a. (dollar cost average) into btc and eth to accumulate more. The reason I say this is because a retest would finish the micro (W) formation. That would set us up to finish the right side of the macro (W) we're in. Lets be clear. This is just my opinion based off what I see in the Ichimoku Cloud. I'm not Nostradamus and can't predict the future. If I was...my level of wealth would surpass the richest man who ever lived. Since that hasn't happened. Read my words. Then do you own research. That's how u make money.

If a plummet to 32K occurs, one of two things will happen. One, we go back towards previous highs around 60K fail, fall back down, bull market over until the next halving. Two, we retest previous highs break through and make all new highs. Both are possible but option one seems most likely. Now there is the third option that wasn't mentioned. That btc breaks support and drops to 14K (or lower). The reason option three wasn't mentioned is because in my mind it's not possible. There's too much V.C. funding poured into bitcoin for it to fall that far. (Unless we have some social, political, global black swan event.) Regardless of which side of the fence you sit on Bull or Bear, it's an exciting time to be in crypto. 

I'm taking all these experiences (nft's, investing, relationships) as life lessons to guide me if I'm ever in similar situations in the future. I wish you all health, wealth, and success. 

Until Next We Speak, Be Well 

Tha One an Only 

Shared Resources

"Although time holds the promise of change...problems around the globe remain the same."

The year is coming to a close and it has been interesting. It's the holidays. The most social time of the year and we're back in lockdown. All the bars, gyms, and stores close early. Movie theaters, nightclubs, and concert events are cancelled. People have been restricted to having only four guests in their homes. I'm hearing the word omicron so much in the news its starting to sound like a catch phrase. The only places that stay open after 8pm are grocery stores and coffeeshops. I'm grateful for those little things. According to the last update, if the problem improves the lockdown will end sometime in January.  I've been through this situation before and hoped not to go through it again. The fear is strong. Most citizens who can afford it travel across the border to Belgium for shopping and freedom.

This fear driven environment isn't limited to the social sector. The ripple effect like throwing a stone in calm water, has crushed all traditional markets. If you're into crypto I'm sure you've felt the pain of watching the prices drop like a plane with no pilot. The way people are panicking u would think it was the end of the world. It's not. I made a lot of money, lost a lot of money, and even though the market is crashing I'll earn it back. Since I get asked this question a lot, "What's my investment strategy?" I'll share some resources with you. This is not in investment advice. This is my method to get massive gains with minimum starting capital. 

First, use online resources to find new projects. One of the resources I've used since its inception is tokenmetrics.com. (Full disclosure, I am an investor in their platform. That's not why they're being recommended.) Token Metrics provides A.I. learning technology with skilled analysts to find the best up and coming projects before they're launched. There are also indices with buy and sell signals to help plan an exit strategy. At least seventy percent of the coins in my portfolio were chosen from their platform. If you're interested in trying their services u can use this referral link for a discount. Others places like airdropalert.com and airdrop.io have lists of new projects which are free, but may require u to complete certain tasks. Be careful with airdrop platforms because some less trustworthy places sell your data to third parties. Do your own research before giving up your information.

Some crypto influencers like Bitboy Crypto and MMCrypto also provide daily information on projects and what's occurring in the space. One thing to remember with all these crypto influencers, is they can only offer u their opinions. Just like I'm doing right now. The only way you're going to make money is if u take time to research the project yourself. If it looks good to u then take the risk. If not don't do it. Never invest in a project just because a face on social media says it's going to 100x. There's a possibility that u get burned, especially with meme coins.  

Second, join projects early with a use case that innovates or solves a problem in crypto. This can earn u six figures just off airdrops if they release a token down the line. Don't join hoping for an airdrop, join the project because it has good fundamentals and technology. The most notable airdrops released this year were 1inch, dydx, paraswap, instadapp, and opensea, on the Ethereum blockchain. There were numerous airdrops on other blockchains like Binance Chain, Solana, and Avalanche that were also profitable. 

Third, find good projects where u can stake or mine to earn yield. Staking provides the fastest way to make a passive income. Some projects offer up to one hundred percent yield. One thing to consider when staking. The higher the APY (annual percentage yield)  the higher the risk. One place that is reliable, low risk, with high yield is Celsius. (Full disclosure, I am an investor in their platform. That's not why they're being recommended.) Celsius provides crypto lending services that allow u to borrow money without selling your crypto.  Also they offer great apy when u compare them to the rest of the market. Mining is safer than staking but the income is slower. The best mining hardware for me is Helium....look them up. Also less known but still really profitable is M2 Pro miner. 

Last, sell while the projects going up and when its going down. I start selling once the asset reaches 3x or higher. The amount u sell is irrelevant. What's important is to take profit along the way. Don't be one of those people who hodl through market peaks and let the price fall to market lows to sell. (Like I was in the last bull market) By taking profit along the way it frees up capital to re-invest into new projects. Both my Helium and Luna reached my price targets so I sold them. With the profit I brought some Near, Atlas, Ewt, Netvrk, and land in the metaverse game Embersword. You can never go broke by taking profits. But it's almost a guarantee u will if u don't, because nothing goes up forever. Also, never put all your funds into one project. It's better to split the funds into twenty projects or more. That way if one fails you have back-ups that can still be profitable. 

Check out the shared resources and always do your own research. I wish u health, wealth, and success. 

Until Next We Speak, Be Well

Tha One an Only