Episode 4- How Can I Invest In Bitcoin, Ether & Tokens Safely?

ABOUT THE GUEST Jun Dam is co-host and organizer of 100x Blockchain Investors. He created 100x to educate people about investment opportunities with Bitcoin, Ethereum, alt coins, ICOs, and digital-currency start-ups; provide practical online workshops about buying & trading crypto, and give industry leaders a platform for communicating with investors about cutting-edge projects and start-ups. He is also the founder and CEO of BitCash, a Bitshares-based digital wallet & exchange company that is focused on making it easier for more people to invest in Bitcoin and crypto. He has had a long career in financial services, earned an MBA from UC Irvine and a BS from UC Berkeley, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst. DESCRIPTION Like many of us, our guest today was one of the sceptics when it came to cryptocurrencies. After reading a blog post from Eric Voorhees in 2012, he reconsidered his opinion about cryptocurrencies and started taking a keen interest in the crypto space. He wants to enable this technology so it can go mainstream. He thinks that its popularity in investment would be a first stage towards mainstream adoption. While looking for ways to do so, he found a marketing platform which used cryptocurrencies as payments, which would reduce the cost compared to credit card bills. But the reality of bitcoins was that people wanted to keep it and invest it, kind of like how people keep good money and hoard bad money. With investment side growing, 100x aims to educate people and make cryptocurrencies mainstream. WHY 100x (10:00) Having a financial background, experience from investing in start-ups, following the crypto space for a long time and subsequent investment in crypto, Jun thought he was equipped to guide people who had been questioning about investment in the crypto space. He thought he could help people find out what to look for while investing in Bitcoins, Ethereum and tokens. Thus 100x was created. 100x was created to be a source of knowledge, so people can make the best investment decisions to help their financial future in such a way that they don’t get caught up in the hype, but at the same time understand the incredible opportunity that exists today and in the years ahead. WHAT HAS BEEN DONE WITH 100X (19:37) 100x Blockchain investors summit originated to months ago, with an inaugural event involving a webinar with over 500 participants and 60 speakers who were all experts in their own field, be it Bitcoin, Altcoin or Ethereum. The future plan involves making this a quarterly event with weekly webcast or podcasts. The main goal is to have experts talk about what they’re working on so there is a better understanding of the crypto space. ADVICE ON GETTING INTO THE SPACE (22:51) Before getting into the space it is essential to know that all of this is speculative and is subject to change. So, it is important to think of it as a great opportunity which is also very speculative. Once people understand it they can invest a part of their savings in the crypto space. The main point is to start early and not think about the finer details and to invest money which the individual doesn’t mind losing. With all that figured out people can go to coin base or Gemini (in the USA) or respective platforms in different countries to get into crypto. AN ANALOGY OF BITCOIN ETHEREUM AND TOKENS (28:33) We can view bitcoin as a monetary commodity currency. It is simple and good as money. It is different from tokens which are like companies. We can view Ethereum as regular commodity or an operating system on which different programs are created and run. Everything else built on Ethereum looks like a hybrid or like companies. People need to be able distinguish between different coins. An analogy of companies can be used as a framework for evaluating the different tokens. Think about what would make a company successful and use the same analogy to understand what would make a token successful. THINGS TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT (35:24) To start off, we have to be very cautious with the security of our digital cash and our private key. Make sure you protect and remember your password. Next, protect your computer and phone by not downloading or using something you’re not sure about. Also, have backups of your private keys, in case you lose your PC or it dies out on you. Make sure your websites are secure. Make sure the URLs are exactly what you’re looking for. The green lock sign on your browser will confirm this. Be careful of people in slack groups, cause often times there are scams when people falsely represent a token sale or ICO. A lot of groups are going into slack channels to ‘pump’ tokens. Try to not be too emotional about things. Be sceptical about everything you come across. Do your due diligence. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR A FUNDAMENTALLY SOUND INVESTMENT (46:30) Tokens in particular, have a niche, like Real Estate or Healthcare. So now, we need to figure out how to valuate them. First, you want to take a look at the infrastructure and the market size as a reference point in relation to the cryptocurrency. When you’re looking to make an investment, look at the problem, the demand and supply side of it. Look what problems that the product/service is looking to solve. Next, look at the team. You want to see a track record of success, somewhat like a Venture Capitalist. Look for an indication of success. Lastly, look at the business idea and if it resonates with you. WHAT IS THE UNDERLYING VALUE BEHIND A TOKEN (55:40) This is tricky. People could pay for a product using a token and think they got it about free. People need to look at the market size for evaluation purposes. Look at the current supply of tokens, multiply it by the price and also think about the future supply of tokens and multiply it by the current price. That will give you an indication of what the entire ecosystem is worth. This is the one good thing about Bitcoin. You know it ends at 21 million. You can actually estimate the value a lot better. A CLOSER LOOK AT THE STORAGE SPACE (1:02:30) Here, we’re talking about the Storage tokens. Let’s not forget that something like etherium adds value and has its applications in different sectors. In the end, the application side is important. The application must gain users and businesses have to build on these platforms. You want to incentivize businesses to build on your platform. Network effects is also one of the important aspects. YOUR RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SOURCES OF INFORMATION (1:06:30) Just dive into it. There are a lot of resources on cryptocurrencies you can use. I use Coindesk for news. Steamit.com is another. Podcasts like yours can also be helpful.