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For a number of years I watched cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum from afar. There were multiple reasons for that. First of all, I didn’t have that much extra money lying around for most of my adult life to gamble it on risky stocks or crypto. Second, I read about how many crypto holders belonged to child pornographers, mobsters, drug dealers, and terrorist outfits, hoping to evade the law with payment systems off the books. I had a moral aversion to benefiting from that. Third, I was worried about the security of this store of value after reading about a number of high-profile and sophisticated hacks and thefts. Fourth and by far the biggest reason- I didn’t really get it. Blockchain technology confused me. The proliferation of various coins and tokens was too much to keep up with.

Well, now in order (1) In the last few years I’ve built up enough equity to research and safely invest in both the stock market and crypto; (2) Crypto has proliferated to the point where the bad guys are only a tiny percentage of the overall community; (3) Numerous companies like Coinbase (which I use, linked above!) have sprouted up to improve the security situation; and (4) I pretty much get it now, even though I am no techie, not even by a long shot.

One of the wonderful aspects of our time is the democratization of information. Deep technical knowledge is now at your fingertips as long as you have an Internet-connected device. Numerous videos on Youtube, and blogs, and now hedge funds, PayPal, Coinbase, Square, and others will inform you on exactly what any type of cryptocurrency is and how it works. In fact this information is so easy to find I won’t even bother to go into it here. Of course, beware the fake news and scams: one of the common ones I see, which is obviously fake and yet dangerous, is the offer of “Bitcoin giveaways” where some famous person will supposedly double your crypto if you send any you own over to them, and they will send you back twice as much. It’s a scam that has nothing to do with that person in every case.

You’ve probably heard about how well Bitcoin and other types are doing. They are. There is a ton of money to potentially be made. I decided it was worth a try, and my eyes popped at how well it went in a fairly short window of time- I am up by multiples of what I put in at the moment. So I put in more, and was rewarded even more dramatically. However, my strategy is to hold onto it for many years rather than sell to take short-term profits. Many smart people are predicting that the next 5-10 years will be a very interesting rollercoaster for Bitcoin and many others.

Just as important as making money to me is the moral goodness at the heart of blockchain technology. It is completely dissociated from the stock market (which has also been pretty good lately). But the stock market is full of corporate BS including insider trading, Wall Street douchebags bilking customers blind, their conflicts of interest, a weak SEC, the Fed artificially propping the market up, fake numbers on balance sheets, cronies helping cronies, and various types other types of chicanery. With crypto you can avoid almost all of that. In addition, crypto is global, trades 24/7, and not tied to any government body or fiat currency. This is awesome because most national governments are terribly run, and their financial systems are categorically disastrous for the common man or woman. And if you send or receive remittances across national boundaries, which are traditionally slow and expensive, you can do it fast and cheap instead.

Whether you are in the United States, India, or anywhere else you can get in on this game. Despite the bull run many cryptos have had it’s not too late; I think we are actually at the very beginning of a huge run, as corporates are getting into the game. You have to be in it to win it, and it’s hard to generate real wealth without taking on some risk. I’m NOT a financial advisor, but an editorial writer, so think for yourself and do as much research as you can. For most of you there’s no harm in playing with a small amount to start- and many services don’t have minimum deposits like other types of accounts. And if you can afford a large sum, and are OK with the extreme volatility rollercoaster in the short term including the willingness to lose it all (this is where I’m at), it’s pretty much a no-brainer right now. I am pretty levered on Bitcoin right now, not from the principal I put in, but because of the darn growth, and would never recommend anything to you that I’m not doing myself already. Good luck, and I hope we all make some serious coin.

Mahanth S. Joishy is Editor of usindiamonitor