So….. yeah…. hmmmm….. Let me start by saying that I got that wrong!!! It’s been an interesting couple of weeks since my last blog. My so called “successes” have largely tanked… SC2 has been abandoned and ACR seems to be floundering on the rocks…. It’s a shame as I thought they could both be strong projects. But I suppose a couple of weeks in the masternode game is like 2 years in the real world! So where to go from here? What is Plan B? Well, like I said in my last blog you have to keep it fluid, roll with the punches and learn to adapt, and adapt quickly….
I’ve since gone back to the drawing board, and re-evaluated where I’m going and what I’m trying to achieve. Let me start by saying that I BELIEVE in Cryptocurrencies. I wouldn’t be investing in them if I didn’t, and I feel that we are on the verge of one monumental Crypto explosion over the next couple of years. But before we get to this point I’ve simplified my vision for my node portfolio… I want it to do 4 simple things:
Firstly I’m using it to generate a nice stack of BTC… when the bull market comes I want to have a good stash of “free” Bitcoin - so I can ride that bull all the way into the stratosphere!
Secondly I’m gathering together a strong group of choice altcoins with my rewards. Like my BTC, when the ALT rally comes shortly on the coat tails of the Bitcoin bulls, I expect it to be seriously amplified. I’m hoping a few of what I’m compiling will really hit the heights….! As it stands I’m looking to bag NEO, ETH, ONT, and VET… I may add some more to this list but these guys fulfil a purpose for me. Like I said in an earlier blog I’m all about the cash flowing assets... and 3 out of 4 of these produce their own utility tokens just by holding them in a compatible wallet. NEO = GAS, VET = VTHO, ONT = ONG…. and when ETH moves from POW to POS it will join the club. So my Altcoins that I’ve got from the rewards from my nodes will in turn sit and generate their own rewards. Nice….!
Thirdly I’m taking a wage people…..!!! That’s right, a wage…. I’m cashing out a portion of the rewards to Fiat… and spending it!!! I want to eventually pay my rent with my nodes… That’s tangible. That’s real.
And lastly and very importantly I’m taking a quarter of my rewards and putting them back into my MN ecosystem by buying new nodes. These things degrade so quickly that you must must must keep some liquidity flowing back in… speculate to accumulate.
So now I have re-defined my 4 goals, it’s all about application. To be fair it’s actually all working ok at the moment, but I’ve decided to focus on MN Coins / Projects that are established. Ones that have actual working use cases within the MN or Crypto world, and have an annual ROI lower than 1000% - ideally lower than 500%.
My thinking is that if you can use the rewards to pay for a working service then there will be less dumped onto exchanges causing the price to drop… Also if a project has been around for a while (and by this I mean for over a month!) and the coin has maintained it’s value then it’s a contender.
I know I talked about ROI last time, but I’ve thought long and hard on this and I’m concentrating now on a sweet spot of ROI - around the 200% - 300% marker… This allows me to generate enough rewards for the 4 goals, whilst investing in a coin that isn’t heading into the hyper inflation phase and “doing a Venezuela”….! (Sorry for any Venezuelans out there reading this….. it ain’t personal!!)
Anyway enough rambling let’s check out what’s gone well and what’s, well, gone to crap…:
Super Successes, Best Performers, and coins I like:
Escrow Coin - I’ve had a couple of ESCO nodes for a while and to be honest I kinda ignored them… Then I realised that there was a good reason for this. I tend to only notice a node when the price of the coin is tanking or when it’s in my top 3 daily or weekly performers. This changes so often that it’s easy to forget to look at the runner up - the next tier down - the silver medal holders… ESCO has been exactly that for me; steady, consistent, and boring…. And I LOVE IT!!! ESCO is linked to two platforms - both built on the same Bitshares framework and template as Cryptobridge - Escodex and it’s Escrow Platform. Escodex is an operating DEX (decentralised exchange) and is starting to get an increasing number of listings - recently including ETH, EOS, TRON, and LPC among others. It also has a USDT pairing and an LGS one too…! Volume is increasing slowly but it is a working platform. The Escrow Platform seems to be lagging behind a bit… but the idea is you can trade cryptos directly with another user using their escrow services - and if you buy or sell the crypto with Escrow Coin there are no fees… In time they plan to move this into the real world by using the Escrow Coin Platform built on the ESCO blockchain to buy and sell actual tangible things… services / products etc… price is set - funds locked in escrow and reviewed by the blockchain to avoid any disputes - then released once the terms have been met. Nice… For now the coin seems to be holding it’s value and is in the slow and steady “tortoise” part of my portfolio.
Know Your Developer Coin - Let me start my saying there have been some negative comments among some MN project operators regarding KYD, stating that they are holding Dev’s data illegally, if this is proven then there is a risk to holding this coin, but I think the guys at KYD are covered ok. They’ve challenged this, flipped it around and said it’s all legally covered under their set up and t'd and c's… So for now this one has been a favourite of mine for the last couple of weeks. I think it’s a really slick and clever idea - they have set themselves up as a process to try and tackle the scam coins by approving projects where the lead person or lead Dev has given them their identification. They don’t share this publicly but they know who they are. MN coins / projects that pass the KYD approval process are publicised by KYD and put on their approval list… it doesn’t mean that the coin will be a resounding success, it just reduces the risk of an Anon Dev scamming us poor little MN investors… They are also teaming up with various MN monitoring platforms to add an “approved by KYD” column, to help people pick their nodes… They have lots more features and the price is rising…! Check them out at:
Resounding failures, worst performers, coins that have pissed me off:
Secure Cloud Coin - I went over what they were trying to achieve and their use case last time out… but since then the Devs have gone - done a runner, and haven’t been online since the end of September… There is a community take over in the planning, but I’ve seen too many of these end in repeated failure… So I’m out… Nodes sold…. Losses released…. Lessons learned…
Vivaldi - VVL is a typical example of a great idea, with a potential use case in the real world, and with a juicy enticing ROI… They want to create a blockchain platform for musicians… They can upload their music and other users can pay for it using the VVL coin. The music would be encoded and tracked across the blockchain meaning no one could pirate it or rip it for free… Great idea! However, when the coin launched a node would have cost you about $5000, this dropped rapidly down and down and seemed to plateau out at around $500 a node which is where I got in… it stabilised for a bit and the ROI was sweet… I got around half of my original investment back in daily selling of the rewards. Then the Devs went very quiet and it’s been tumbleweed for over a week… The price is now about $8 a node… Another one bites the dust (unless anything happens now we are in Q4) and I think the writing is on the wall with this. I’ll keep my node running though just in case, but for now it’s a naughty node…
And now for something interesting…:
Ok, so let me start by saying this may sound hypocritical, especially since I’m hiding behind my own mask, but why do Devs feel the need to be anonymous…? I can stay behind the curtain because for me it makes my voice more real. It enables me to say what I want to say, say what I think has value and what I have truly experienced, without the fear of personal slights, and direct trolling. But there is no excuse for someone remaining anonymous whilst asking you to invest in their project, if they truly intend it to succeed.
This might not be something “interesting” as such and more of a rant, but I want to get it off my chest… I’m in the Masternode world to invest and try and make some good returns… I like the ROI and I like the game, but I also have faith in the product.
When a project pops up to be the answer to data storage, music sharing, real estate or gaming etc, using blockchain tech to cut out the middle man, make it secure and open source etc etc… and built around a masternode investment platform, then I want to take it at face value. I want to believe in the project and believe in what the Devs and project leaders are trying to achieve, but so many of these are just tarted up scam coins and it makes me sick!!
There are now enough decent projects out there with proactive people trying to disrupt the status quo and existing industries that the room for scams can easily exist… So if you are a proper team with a real project - don’t hide behind an avatar - scream it from the rooftops that you are visible and front your project with pride. Own it…!! Then you’ll get investors believing in what you are trying to do…
Of course a fair number of these projects might still fail - hey, welcome to start ups in the real world! But at least you’ll take the scam element out of the equation, and become more accountable.
Rant over! Let me know what you think… ping me a comment below… I’m always keen to learn or to hear a different view…
Anyway till next time - good luck, keep your chins up, and most importantly; Happy Masternoding!!
BNB
(I need to add a little disclaimer to the above - do not treat this as financial or investment advice - and do you own research!!! Really important…..)
Useful Links - here are a few really useful links to help you monitor, track, and get the latest updates in order to look after your MN World:
https://masternode.live/
https://masternodes.online/
https://masternodes.pro/
https://betweenblocks.org/
https://masternode.buzz/
https://www.stakeandnodes.com/
https://nodecheck.io/
https://mnode.club/