Fear of Losing Control
Life is not easy. It’s an unforgiving and unfair series of events, filled with decisions and consequences and mistakes. All by itself, life can be very challenging, but when you couple it with our web3 lifestyle, forever falling down the expanding rabbit hole of Wonderland possibilities can sometimes lead to an unexpected crash. Technology evolves rapidly, which leads to more to learn, more terminology to know, more tokens and coins and projects to do research on; this project is mooning, this project’s a rug pull, this token is taking off, this anon is a scammer. Seed phrases get stolen every day, phishing attacks are commonplace, multi-million-dollar layer 2 solutions get hacked monthly, and wallets get drained all the time. As we devote more of our time to this area, we all have become more mindful of the dangers, but mindfulness does not stop the anxiety. Here is an article devoted to mental health in web3, the dangers we should be conscientious of, and how we can take back control.
Can’t Stop, Won’t Stop
Problem: The US stock market operates Monday through Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., EST. There are also nine scheduled days off, one scheduled half-day, and the reserved right to close down the markets for any unforeseen event that poses a possibility of a sell-off. The US stock indices account for close to 60% of the top 10 (centralized) world market capitalizations, but other stock markets follow similar, or even fewer, hours. The Tokyo Stock Exchange is only open for five hours a day and closes for lunch. That’s laughable when you compare it to the crypto markets. You can trade bitcoin anytime you want. Sunday morning? No problem. A major holiday? You got it! World shattering event? Why not. The never-ending markets lead to never-ending trading, which leads to never-ending time researching and watching.
Solution: Create your own working hours. You are your own bank, and you deserve some time off. You are not the crypto markets and you can’t run nonstop. Curiosity and FOMO is what got us here, but to grow we can’t be living off the seat of a green or red candle. Know thy self. If you are a trader, set stop-loss limits and automatic buys. Let the technology work for you. If you’re an investor, HODL. Monitor the markets infrequently, but monitor the project you’re investing in weekly, and don’t worry about the day-to-day swings.
Mandatory Volunteerism
Problem: The NFT market is beyond flooded. There are 10,000 PFP projects popping up every day, and the fight for attention is getting more desperate than housewives. WL giveaways, trivia games for prizes, P2E !work games for native tokens, Twitter raids…all of this is starting to feel like a job. And these are just the projects I’m a supporter of. If you’re a flipper, you’re researching doxxed devs, you’re monitoring NFT sales for the top 20+ projects, you’re following Twitter handles and YouTube channels religiously. Basically, you are working a full-time job.
Solution: If you’re working, you’re working. If this is what you do for a living, then clock in and get your money. If you are a supporter of an NFT project and want to participate in the community, then do that. But don’t be working for a community that’s not paying you. Passion is easily exploitable. My number one piece of advice here is to not do Twitter raids or !work games. They will consume too much of your time and add very little value.
Sha zhu pan – To Fatten A Pig Before Killing It
Problem: We live in a financial Wild West. There are hackers, scammers, phishers, and con artists galore feasting on vulnerabilities. Just the mere mention of MetaMask help in a tweet will attract bots. I did just that. My first one came in under a minute. As we evolve and become more vigilant, so do the scammers. Pig butchering scams are at an ATH, and as more and more people enter the crypto and NFT arena, these types of scams will be more prevalent.
Solution: When it comes to your financial security, there is no such thing as too much paranoia. Don’t trust anyone with your keys. In fact, don’t trust anything. I don’t keep my keys on my computer for fear of hackers. I have them handwritten on a piece of paper and then stored in a bank safe deposit box. Any site that I connect to a wallet, I use a burner hot wallet with nothing valuable in it. I would suggest you do the same.
Live and Learn
We are all experiencing this transition together and the growing pains associated with it. If you were someone who was a victim of a scam artist, don’t lose hope and don’t feel alone. It’s a sad part of crypto life nowadays. We’re only going to become more connected to our assets in the future with the incoming metaverse, so consider yourself a wiser person now for the lessons you have already learned. And for those who are struggling with the pressures of FOMO, daily raid missions, and nonstop markets, take a breath. Nothing is going anywhere, and we are all still so very, very early. You have plenty of time. Turn off your notifications, and take a day off.
