How to succeed in blockchain without really trying
Making money as an investor with cryptocurrency/NFTs is more art than science. No one (as far as I know) can consistently pick the next big project and beat the market rate of return. That said, crypto has performed better than any other asset class (stocks, real estate, etc.) in the last decade. It's easy for "investors" to think they're geniuses when they consistently see great returns each year. This leads to a lot of hype which brings in more speculators and the cycle continues.
It's likely that crypto assets will see losses/recessions in the future, but it's impossible to predict when that would happen. Don't gamble with money you can't afford to lose.
Personally, I believe in the long term value of blockchain. I'm not invested just for my own short term gain and I'm not too worried about short term losses. I want to help projects succeed that actually care about decentralization.
Decentralization introduces complexity. You're not investing in a company. By buying cryptocurrency, you're saying that you believe the network of people and technology is worth more than its current price. But the technology is built by people. Sometimes individuals, sometimes companies, and sometimes an anonymous entity. The builders typically make money off of the project by keeping/acquiring the cryptocurrency they create and eventually selling some or all of it.
But that's not a sustainable way to make money. It's not a business model. Sure, you can build ways to earn more cryptocurrency and live off the interest. That works, but it's not an exponential growth engine for your business. You're completely dependent on the price people are willing to pay for your coins.
We need more people in blockchain who understand this and want to build sustainably monetized businesses that support (and are supported by) the projects they build.
More tomorrow,
-Luke
P.S. There's enough money to be made in the short term that you don't have to care about the long term. If you don't care, you can cash out and retire when your project gets big enough. I'm excited by teams who care about the long term.