Metacoin

Covering Bitcoin, the Blockchain, Altcoins, and Fintech

Growth Portfolio

So You’ve Made A Little Money…

We check in on the 2024 Growth Portfolio as we get ready to wind down the year.

One of the fun things about crypto is having a Ron Popeil “set it and forget it” attitude. If you want, you can drop a little money here and there and not worry about it.

Dollar Cost Averaging — remember that? — has made some people some money; especially those who decided that a hundred bucks every month can get dropped into Bitcoin at a dirt-cheap price.

And That Brings Us to the Growth Portfolio

The idea behind our 2024 Growth Portfolio — and previous iterations, which you can read about here: 2023 Growth Portfolio and here: 2022 Growth Portfolio — was a mutual-fund-like approach to crypto investing. (It’s also hypothetical, so YMMV, DYOR, and don’t invest more than you can afford to lose.) Put simply, we took $10,000 and divided it equally between 10 different coins or tokens. Then, at the end of the year we can see whether we did okay, or not.

In order to actually achieve these numbers, you would have invested on exactly January 1, 2024 and you would have held all year. While it’s not the NVDA stock everyone loves, it is still not a bad sight at all.

First, ENS…

$ENS is Ethereum Name Service. It has done quite well in 2024, up 153%. Here’s a screener of its 2024 high.

However, ENS is known for a little craziness…here’s what its 2023 looked like..

And bear in mind its all time high was $83.40 in November 2021.

Next, SHIB…

Viral meme coin sensation, that $SHIB. Ups and downs. Same old song.

Some time in early 2024, it was at a low of a bunch of zeroes before the number 9, then it tripled. Like this.

Nice work if you can get it. $1000 is now nearly $2400.

The Big NARRATIVE Winner? Bitcoin. The Corn. BTC.

Your $1000 stake would have a little more than doubled, but the narrative win goes to BTC. Could be part the economy — no one knows (really) what’s (really) going on — could be a little of the election, could just be a general sense that now might be the time.

And it could be that psychological barrier of $100,000.

So close. So close and yet…so far.

Now, The Losers

We’re not going to focus too much on these; we’re trying to stay positive. However, after two years bringing up the rear, it’s probably time to ditch $JEWEL (DeFi Kingdoms) and $MAGIC (Treasure).

$SUSHI was the only other coin in the portfolio that was down; it remains a pretty good project and itself is a Top 400 coin.

What’s Next?

Well, we’ll keep an eye on these developments and will post again on the 2024 results in January. But, suffice it to say, some of the losers might get tossed out; there’s probably room for a couple of new entrants from near the bottom and near the top of the rankings.

As they say, stay tuned.

Who Needs an ETF When You Have a Growth Portfolio?

There was news this past week about a Bitcoin ETF. And now they’re everywhere, it seems. Alas, you could call up your people and get some Bitcoin ETF action in your IRA or investment account. Or you could just build what we call a “Growth Portfolio.”

So with this post, we’ve decided to take a look at the 2023 Growth Portfolio and get a sense of how it did.

Some thoughts on the above:

Bitcoin Is Halving a Moment

Deliberate play on words there. More on that in a second, but first, here’s as close as we can come to the 2023 chart.

In late October, BTC went above $30,000 — something it had done earlier in the year, too — and has yet to fall below that level. The ETF played a role in that, as rumors were rampant all year that the SEC would say it was okay.

But the “halving,” when the block rewards drop — they’re cut “in half” — is most likely the reason. Estimated to begin in April, if you wanted to bet on Bitcoin before it becomes less lucrative to mine, this is as good a time as any.

An Avalanche Snowball

Or, AVAX had a year, eh? Around the same time BTC was heading above 30K for good (at least for good for now), Avalanche was stuck below 10 bucks a piece. But then, an explosion of sorts…

Yes, that is darn near $50 each right around Christmas.

But here’s a caveat: all of these coins have a lot of ground to make back up. (Remember the ol’ axiom: If it drops 80%, it needs to go back up 5 times to get you back where you were.)

The Worst 2023 Performer? It’s Having a Moment in 2024

ENS is Ethereum Name Service. It’s the only coin in our portfolio that finished the year down (by 10.79%) but that was so 2023.

To be honest, we’re not sure why the above 2024 chart shows so much explosion for ENS, but we’ll take it.

What’s Next for the Growth Portfolio?

In the next week, we’ll update the portfolio with some ideas for 2024; probably a tweak or two (maybe with some help from AI). Stay tuned.

Wait, Could You Have Doubled Your Money?

If you slept through 2023, you might have missed what amounted to a #CryptoComeback.

We thought we’d head to the “Crypto Flavorizing Machine,” otherwise known as ChatGPT, and ask about our 2023 Growth Portfolio — which you can read about at this non-ChatGPT post from Dave — and whether it’s got the goods going forward.

Also, this was a good chance to check on the abilities of the machine. Here goes:

The Evolution and Future of a Diverse Crypto Portfolio

As 2023 unfolds, the cryptocurrency market remains as dynamic as ever. Investors who equally diversified their portfolio at the year’s start with ten notable assets — Bitcoin ($BTC), Ethereum ($ETH), DeFi Kingdoms ($JEWEL), Avalanche ($AVAX), Crypto.com Coin ($CRO), Treasure ($MAGIC), SushiSwap ($SUSHI), Shiba Inu ($SHIB), Spell Token ($SPELL), and Ethereum Name Service ($ENS) — have witnessed a rollercoaster of trends and shifts.

Bitcoin ($BTC) and Ethereum ($ETH): These giants continue to dominate the market. BTC, as the pioneer, often dictates market sentiment, while ETH’s transition to Ethereum 2.0 has kept investors on their toes.

DeFi Tokens ($JEWEL, $SUSHI, $SPELL): These assets, linked to decentralized finance platforms, have seen varied performances, heavily influenced by the broader DeFi market trends and technological advancements.

Layer 1 Networks ($AVAX, $ENS): Avalanche and Ethereum Name Service represent the growing interest in alternative layer 1 solutions. They’ve been pivotal in discussions about scalability and blockchain utility.

Meme Coins ($SHIB): Shiba Inu, despite its meme coin status, has a dedicated community. Its value often moves on social media sentiment rather than fundamental analysis.

Niche Picks ($CRO, $MAGIC): Crypto.com Coin and Treasure have carved their niches — CRO in the crypto exchange space and MAGIC in the NFT and gaming sectors.

Looking ahead to the next year, several factors could influence these assets:

  1. Regulatory Environment: Increasing regulatory scrutiny, especially in major economies, could significantly impact these assets’ performance.
  2. Technological Advancements: For Ethereum and Avalanche, how they scale and improve will be crucial.
  3. Market Sentiment: Overall investor sentiment, often swayed by macroeconomic factors like inflation rates and geopolitical tensions, will continue to be a key driver.
  4. Community and Ecosystem Developments: For coins like SHIB, JEWEL, and MAGIC, the strength and engagement of their respective communities and ecosystems will be pivotal.
  5. Global Adoption: The pace of crypto adoption by mainstream finance and the general public could bring more stability and growth.

Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency investments are highly speculative and volatile. This analysis is for informational purposes only and should not be considered financial advice. Investors should do their due diligence and consider their risk tolerance before investing in cryptocurrencies.

This analysis provides an overview of each asset’s current standing and potential future directions, considering various market dynamics. Remember, the crypto market is unpredictable, and past performance is not indicative of future results.

Now, Back to the Human Analysis

“Past performance is not indicative of future results” but the past performance of our 10 picks in the Growth Portfolio has been pretty strong. To wit:

Those three are the top performers. Avalanche has tripled. Bitcoin is up 2 1/2 times, and DeFi Kingdoms has doubled. (Okay, they all dropped crazy amounts toward the end of 2022.)

The whole thing? Up 76 percent in 2023.

The message? Well, diversify might be part of it.

And the answer to the above question: “Could You Have Doubled Your Money?” Yes, had you bought Bitcoin. Or Avalanche. Or DeFi Kingdoms.

Funny thing, this crypto.

Crypto Isn’t Dead; It Isn’t Even on Life Support

We originally wanted to call this post “Night of the Living Crypto.” And that may have made sense given the fact that this is October 1 and we are entering Halloween season and the industry is a little sorta kinda zombie-esque.

To wit, here’s the YTD 2023 performance of the assets in our hypothetical “Growth Portfolio,” which took $10,000 and put it equally on 1/1/23 into 10 different crypto assets:

To paraphrase a former colleague, “That’s not too freaking bad.” (Of course — and I’m paraphrasing another former colleague — “It’s not bad, but it’s not good.”)

BUT…it’s not…DEAD.

We wrote about the Growth Portfolio here earlier this year; who would have thought that, in these modern times, somehow you’d be only down a little more than one percent entering the 4th quarter of the year?

And, also, without the dead weight at the bottom of that list, you would have — theoretically, since you would have had to time the market exactly on 1/1/23 — done really well.

The Big…Three? Two? Five?

We’re gonna go with the Big Two. Tether is an asset that is supposed to mirror the US Dollar in that it trades 99% of the time at $1.00. Binance has had its issues (read more about those here: The Street Binance Story) and XRP has just re-emerged as something you can trade in the US (Learn more about that here: Investopedia XRP).

First up, Bitcoin. BTC is…A-OK.

It does help that 1/1/23 was the bottom. Note to self: always buy at the bottom.

But what about Ethereum? ETH is, also, A-OK.

So it’s the Big Two. Had you invested your $10,000 stack into just those two coins, BTC and ETH, you’d have a tidy $15,313.50.

What Next? Who Knows, But…

First of all, that bottom three? Yikes.

That’s not incredibly bad — not down 99% like some defunct coins — but it’s not great.

Maybe the names are the ones that are gonna survive long-term? Or maybe having access to some of these $JEWEL or $SUSHI coins will give you access to potential 10-baggers?

However, what we *are* seeing here is that it’s really really REALLY tough to call the bottom; you would have been right predicting that 1/1 was the bottom for $BTC and $ETH and dead wrong for the bottom three.

In any event, the Big Two are doing just fine this year.

And Crypto Isn’t Dead.

The 2023 SHTF Financial Survivalist Megapost

UPDATED: April 1, 2023. Because why not share doom and gloom on April Fool’s Day?

Hello, fellow insomniacs, doomsayers, crazy people, and other ne’er-do-wells! It’s that time…again…where we look around at EVERYTHING and we wonder what in the name of Sam Hill is going on. In other words…

We thought we’d pull together a few links and posts and whatnot to help you plan.

If you’re seeing a bit of a shift on this page from general crypto stuff to how/when/where/if crypto fits into the grand scheme, that is by design. It’s that goofy out there.

Here goes.

First Up: Our SHTF Posts From Back in the Day*

The answer to the asterisk is that these two posts — SHTF Vol 1 and SHTF Vol 2 — are from… OCTOBER of 2020. Oh how we’ve grown.

What Would Glenn Beck Do?

It’s actually a really good question, since Glenn is known to plan and think through things like the current economic whatnot.

Here’s a YouTube link from the week of March 13, 2023.

Who Is This Mario Guy?

We’ve loved following Maneco64 on YouTube. He’s been at it for a few years and he’s consistent as heck: “Your home for alternative economics and contrarian views.”

On March 20, he’s chatting here about the whole Swiss/Credit Suisse info, and what the Fed is doing.

How ‘Bout A Clearly Marked Affiliate Link

Binance.Us has one for ya here: Binance Affiliate Link. As with all these, you can potentially get some crypto, and so can we, with a qualifying purchase. Now back to the post.

But…How Much Crypto SHOULD I Have?

This is the question. We don’t have the answer. In fact, our answer in the above seminal SHTF posts kinda sorta thinks that maybe you should have some, but shouldn’t put all your eggs in the crypto basket.

An approach we’ve discussed earlier this year is a “Growth Portfolio,” and the 2023 edition is doing quite well. In fact, here are two straight photos of just how well it’s doing. The first from March 5, the second from this morning, March 20. (Ignore all the sixes, it’s not an omen.)

What About the Pundits?

Two years ago (!), yours truly sat down with the legendary Jim Rogers and I asked him about Bitcoin. Of course, this is before all the topsy-turvy Bitcoin craziness of the past couple years.

Funny enough, at the time of that interview, February 18 of 2021, BTC was $46,000. It’s now just over $28,000.

(Note to self: check in on Jim. See how he’s doing. See if he wants to sit down again.)

ChatGPT Isn’t Very Good at This…Yet

We talked in past posts about the limitations of ChatGPT. How it won’t take your job. How you still have creativity and editorial judgement and the ability to think and write and create and add the human touch.

We asked it to write a piece — which we posted here yesterday — and, it’s…fine. We still believe what we said in the above post about your job being safe…for now. But look around. Pay attention. This stuff moves fast.

Another Clearly Marked Affiliate Link

This Affiliate Link is for Crypto.com and they still have their name on the top of an arena. You can get some free crypto with a qualifying purchase and we’d get some, too.

April Update Piece #1

Here’s a link to our “Too Big To Fail?” post from earlier this week.