My crypto confession

It was a privilege just to be there.

We were deep in the outback on a guided tour run by First Nations people. Our host, a traditional elder, showed us incredible ancient rock art, pointed out animal tracks, and told us dreamtime stories.

It really was a spiritual experience.

At the end of the tour, our host came up to me and asked:

“What do you like?”

“Oh, all of it”, I gushed.

He looked a little perplexed as he pulled out his phone.

“Here’s what I like,” he said, gesturing for me to take a look at his phone.

What was on his phone?

His crypto portfolio.

Wow.

Here I was, in the middle of the Never-Never, with the oldest living culture on earth, and we were discussing … Dogecoin?

That was the first time I fully grasped that crypto really has gone mainstream in Australia.

Earlier this month Commbank announced they’ll soon give their 6.5 million customers the option to trade crypto smack bang on it’s banking app. My bet is the other banks won’t be far behind them. (After all, the Big Four are about as relevant as incontinence pads to Millennials, so they’re desperate to show the kids they’ve finally unchained their ballpoint pens from their desks.)

Bitcoin is one of a staggering 7773 cryptocurrencies in the world.

For the record, I think what’s going on in the crypto space is absolutely fascinating. We’re in the early stages of a revolution, watching the financial industry be both disrupted and democratised. Clearly, this is the future.

Yet history also teaches us that in every gold rush there are scams, cons and bubbles just waiting to be popped.

This time is no different. If anything it’s worse — today a majority of Gen Z investors in the US think crypto will make them millionaires, according to a new survey by data analytics firm Engine Insights.

It won’t happen.

There are now a staggering 7773 cryptocurrencies, according to Coinmarketcap (compared to 180 traditional currencies across the world!).

Let me be clear: I am sure that a handful of these will be genuinely transformational (don’t ask me which ones). And I’m also just as sure that the vast majority of these coins will end up being worth digital diddly squat.

Still, now that crypto has gone mainstream, it’s me who needs the reality check. Statistically, there’s a good chance you own crypto … or at least you’re thinking about it. And if that’s you … all I can say is best of luck!

Tread Your Own Path!