Welcome to my first blog post on this exciting journey! Once again, my name is Zack and my goal for this space as a whole is to ensure that everyone has as much information and do not make the same mistakes that I have made in the previous 7 months!
A little back story, if you have read my about me section you will understand how I got into this space. I want to set the scene on my NFT journey for all of the new investors who are excited but also intimidated to take the first leap into the space. I want to explain that I am 26 years old, with a masters degree in special education. With that being said, yes I am a teacher, and yes teachers do not make very much money. I found myself in a position where I had invested $1,200 USD into ADA when it was at $2.92 USD. I had about 650 ADA to my name. I started staking, but the earnings per EPOCH was not going to accomplish what I wanted for my portfolio. I wanted to take a risk.. (hence the blog Risky-_-Rascal CNFT) I risked all my ADA and jumped into this space to explore the possibilities! I quickly realized that NFT's are EXTREMELY addictive. I also realized that my occupation does not allow me to invest as much as I would like.. soo what did I do.. I went on a grind.
Growing up I was always taught reap what you sow. Hard work always pays off and in this sense.. I believe this has been the case for me for NFT's. I knew I didn't have the fiat to spend on everything that I wanted to invest in. So, I made it a point to give the projects that I wanted to be apart of (but was unable to due to fiat) my all by shilling on twitter, in other discord shilling sections, and word of mouth. By doing this I was able to enter daily giveaways and level up in the discord to earn rewards instead of using fiat. There is one thing about this space, if you work hard, it is very rewarding. In hindsight, if you work hard in projects you do not do your own research in.. this valuable time can be wasted and miss out on a huge investment opportunity.
I got my first moderation job for a project called Jackpot Society. I had looked into the roadmap, the Litepaper, and was very active in the discord. The one thing that I failed to realize is that if something is too good to be true.. it usually is. I let logic and my own concerns get blinding by my willingness to be successful. The dev team hosted an event for shilling, invitation contest, and leveling up. I worked so hard to win them all. I gave my all to this project. I was promised 1,600 ADA after the main mint.. (red flag #1). I was blinded by the incentives of my work to what was going on. This dev team was not doxxed (which means the team did not reveal their true identities) even though the community begged them to do so. (red flag #2). This team also never had live AMA's that had video recording of themselves (red flag #3). Then the last straw was the team went on a "vacation" right before and during mint (red flag #3). This is when the team should be the most engaged with their community. With all of this being said.. I felt that a rug (the team running out on the project) was imminent, but once again, I was blinded by hope.
In conclusion and the main takeaways from this first blog is that I once was an early investor that believed it was not possible. I also worked my ass off and realized that I was investing my valuable time into someone who was out for malicious intent in this space. The thing to understand is, if you have a hunch or a gut feeling that something is not right.. it is probably not right. If you ask questions in a discord and you get made fun of or ridiculed for asking.. its probably not right.. Trust your gut. It is usually right. Hard work and grinding in this space will get you very far and noticed by great people. I am a product of that myself. Having fiat is a big factor, but your time and dedication to a community who is committed is even more valuable!
Much love and WAGMI!
LOVE Zmac
Hit nail on head!
Although I can't say I know how you feel after that initial experience, I can say I felt so betrayed after my 1st rug, and again on what may be a slow rug or just owner disinterest, that is yet to be determined. I am not a very trusting person, but I did open myself up to the crypto discord experience a bit more than I should have, everyone seemed so genuine. To be fair, the Crypto communities have been great, some owners/dev teams not so much.
Props to you for opening up about your experience, I only hope more beginners find your blog so they don't fall into the same traps we did, or at…
Amazing article, I had a similar experience first getting into the space, rugpulls are the initiations lol
That was a good read! We definitely have to learn to trust our gut! Im really glad I was rugged my first month in! It taught me well and allowed me to meet some sincere people!
Well said! Very true... if something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. It's a shame that most of us learned how to move in the NFT space by trial and error, but with blogs like this and podcasts like WenMint by ThoseAMAs, we can change how this space is perceived by newcomers and outsiders alike and help them to join the NFT community safely and securely. Well done, my friend. Looking forward to your next post!
You're off to a great start Zach - well done. The lessons we learn the hard way may by more painful (both fiscally & emotionally), but they are never forgotten either. Keep up the great work! Zach League of Lions