Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Here's to a Peaceful Year Ahead
Just wanted to take a moment to wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
This was obviously not such a fun year as far as markets go, but I took a moment last night to very consciously remind myself that markets aren’t everything.
I made a list of of about 20 things in my life that I’m grateful for, and it took no longer than about 8 minutes to compose said list (and few items on that list had to do with money). I felt much better after doing so.
And on the topic of gratitude, I’d like to say here that I’m quite grateful for all of you — the readers of this newsletter. I’d just be shouting out into the void like a crazy person if it weren’t for you all. So, thank you for reading and for your attention.
Next month will mark the two-year anniversary of when I started writing this newsletter. Very hard to believe.
I was absolutely petrified to share my thoughts, but I labored through the first edition of it, never thinking in a million years that about a year later, I’d be writing about the digital asset space professionally.
Yet, thanks to Finder’s hiring me this past April, I’m now a professional chronicler of magic internet money and reviewer of products and assets in the space. What a world. I’m mentally putting Finder on my list of things I’m grateful for as we speak.
I never cared about money all that much until I found myself in what seemed like an insurmountable amount of debt.
No matter how hard I worked, I couldn’t seem to make a dent in what I owed.
This was an incredibly disempowering feeling, and, instead of succumbing to it, I started studying finance, economics and the nature of money in general.
Some of what I’ve learned I’ve shared in this newsletter in hopes that maybe some of what I share might empower others. I wish I could share more, but I still struggle to articulate many of my thoughts, and I simply don’t have the time and bandwidth to type them all out.
The process of learning about money and sharing what I’ve learned has been a wild ride.
It’s taken me to places I never thought I’d go — like to school for part of my MBA and on job interviews with people and companies in the space that I still can’t believe have acknowledged and appreciated what I’ve had to share.
I interviewed with Forbes earlier this year and the editor I spoke with asked me what got me into the digital asset space.
The first two words that came to mind were the permissionlessness and the borderlessness of Bitcoin.
I went on to share with him that I’d lived in the United States, Italy, Ghana, Venezuela, Japan and Namibia and that I loved this idea of the world having a universal currency that anyone with an internet connection could access.
I shared that I felt this would be particularly empowering for people in developing countries who haven’t been able to access financial services.
The editor said something to the effect of “I like that you have these experiences in living in other countries and this view of the potential of the asset class more than anything else you shared in this interview.”
I’m tearing up a bit as a write this because of how liberating it felt to not feel like I was just playing a role in the interview (i.e. putting on an act just to try to get a job).
It feels good to be recognized for being the authentic version of yourself.
I don’t think I ever shared this in this newsletter either, but I also interviewed with Real Vision — headed by Papa Raoul, a Frank Corva’s newsletter favorite — about a year ago.
They were interested in bringing me on board, but I panicked quite hard and withdrew myself from the interview process probably just as I was about a step away from getting hired.
Admittedly, I didn’t totally have the head space or the emotional bandwidth for the position, as I was also still teaching and didn’t quite have the confidence to take the leap into writing about this new world of finance full-time.
It felt quite incredible for the gentleman with whom I interviewed to have left the door open, though, as he told me to get back in touch if I ever changed my mind. Still feels surreal.
I don’t regret the jobs with Real Vision or Forbes not working out, because I work with so many truly wonderful and talented people at Finder, and there’s hardly a day that goes by that I don’t feel incredibly lucky to have my job.
After this year in markets, my financial net worth is surely down, but I feel much richer personally given the fact that I took a big leap of faith in quitting teaching to attempt to work in this space full-time (I quit teaching without having a job lined up.)
When I first invested in the digital asset space in 2018, I had no idea the ride I was about to take.
The highs and lows — the euphoria and despair — have been wild.
Through it all though, I still see such deep potential in this parallel financial system — particularly the Bitcoin network — that’s developing.
Where it’s taking us, I don’t quite know, but the possibilities it may continue to bring seem limitless.
Let me stop here, though, as I didn’t intend to write much more than “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays” in this edition of the newsletter, and I don’t really feel like discussing money.
To close, I’ll say that I’m not much of a new year’s resolution person. So, instead of starting my resolution in the new year, I’m starting it now.
Moving forward, I will be less antagonistic, angry and frustrated. I’ll also be less caustic in my criticism of certain economists, politicians and other actors.
While I tend to (conveniently) forget it at points, one of my core beliefs is that everyone is doing the best that they can — and so it’s not worth getting bent out of shape if someone’s perspective differs (sometimes drastically) from yours.
And given that I am quite imperfect, I going to accept that everyone else is, as well.
So, no more bashing Paul Krugman, Elizabeth Warren and Gary Gensler.
This isn’t to say that I won’t voice my disagreements with them; I’ll just do so in a more calm and collected manner, and I’ll cut the ad hominem attacks.
And I won’t use bad words anymore I’ll use fewer bad words.
I’m a big fan of the peaceful philosophies and practices of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, Rumi, Eckhart Tolle, Byron Katie, Martha Beck and Dr. Joe Dispenza, and it’s high time I embody those philosophies — even when writing about money.
I subscribe to the idea — at least in part — that Bitcoin is a peaceful revolution. And given that I feel that way as someone who invests in bitcoin (BTC) and who educates people about the Bitcoin network, that peace has to start with me.
So, again Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays — and here’s to a peaceful 2023.
I look forward to continuing to take this wild and exciting ride with all of you.
Much love, everyone.
Best,
Frank
Twitter: @frankcorva