Episode 21: StrongBlock - the investment that’s made me the most money by far

This feels vulnerable to share because this isn't pleasant news, and I might seem crazy. But it feels like I have a responsibility here.

It feels like I'm watching the house catching on fire, but few people have noticed. And those who *have* are focusing on that one burning curtain… when the entire foundation is about to collapse.

But, I’m also optimistic. Because if everyone comes together to spread the word and take action, we might be able to turn this threat into something absolutely wonderful instead.

Yes, this is about AI—but a very different (and far more dangerous) part of it than the typical ChatGPT- and MidJourney-focused discussions you’ve been hearing.

The original post on LinkedIn

The MidJourney post I mentioned comparing images made from the exact same prompt just one year apart

The webpage I created with all my top recommended links for learning more about AI (including videos, podcasts, articles, and threads). Please also feel free to post questions or comments there about this episode.

Thanks for listening!

P.S. If you feel freaked out after reading this (as I did during a lot of my research), I highly recommend meditation. Here's my new 7-day guided series.

- The five categories of writers / podcasters / YouTubers
- Which of those you should trust
- What's wrong with "gurus," and three ways they trick you
- Being careful even of people you trust
- What's wrong with technical analysis and market cycles
- What to do instead of looking at technical chart patterns
- Who I personally follow
- What I'm doing with my money

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The corresponding blog post with links and images:

https://www.michaelcaloz.com/2022/04/26/easing-into-crypto-part-26-how-to-decide-who-to-trust-in-the-crypto-world-technical-analysis-market-cycles-and-an-update-on-my-longish-term-portfolio/

- What happened to me and crypto
- Lessons from StrongBlock, Terra, and Anchor Protocol
- The portfolio I recommend to friends nowadays
- What happened to LUNA/UST
- Reflections on the crypto market crash(es)

Update: Even since I recorded this a few weeks ago, a lot has changed in the crypto world. As usual, I still have long-term faith in crypto, but it's certainly a rocky period right now. It's also worth noting that Freeway, a platform I mentioned in this episode, is not accepting new accounts right now due to the high market volatility. Stay safe out there, and make sure you take time away from crypto to recharge and stay healthy.

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The corresponding blog post with links and images:

https://www.michaelcaloz.com/2022/04/26/easing-into-crypto-part-26-how-to-decide-who-to-trust-in-the-crypto-world-technical-analysis-market-cycles-and-an-update-on-my-longish-term-portfolio/

- How my friend was scammed out of tens of thousands of dollars, and how you can stay safe
- What you should look for to evaluate if a new crypto project is legit
- How I decided recently to upgrade my overall crypto security
- My best tips for preparing your taxes with crypto
- Maximizing your earnings by using S Corps, Self-Directed IRA’s, and Solo 401(k)’s

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The corresponding blog post with links and images:

https://www.michaelcaloz.com/2022/03/25/easing-into-crypto-part-25-staying-safe-preparing-your-taxes-avoiding-scams-upgrading-your-security-and-judging-new-projects/

Warning: If you're new to this podcast and jumped straight to this episode, I suggest you instead start at the beginning. I know that learning the secrets of investing and making money in crypto sounds appealing, but this episode relies on a lot of concepts I've been slowly explaining in a very intentional order across the previous 23 episodes. This is complex stuff, and I think you'll be best served by listening to everything.

- Updates on OlympusDAO & Tomb Finance, and some big news about StrongBlock's new Litepaper and 2022 roadmap (along with my bullish and bearish arguments for investing in StrongBlock)
- An update on the specific places I'm putting my money right now (focusing on non-high-risk liquidity staking involving stablecoins)
- To what extent should you just hold “large cap, blue chip” cryptocurrencies like ETH, BTC, SOL, etc., versus hold other coins & tokens, versus stake in APY-generating opportunities like yield farming?
- Three possible perspectives on the future of crypto, and how high ETH might eventually go from here

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The corresponding blog post with links and images:

https://www.michaelcaloz.com/2022/03/03/easing-into-crypto-part-24-holding-coins-tokens-vs-yield-farming-where-im-putting-my-money-now-and-big-news-on-strongblock/

Warning: If you're new to this podcast and jumped straight to this episode, I suggest you instead start at the beginning. I know that learning the secrets of investing and making money in crypto sounds appealing, but this episode relies on a lot of concepts I've been slowly explaining in a very intentional order across the previous 22 episodes. This is complex stuff, and I think you'll be best served by listening to everything.

- Whether or not you should be worried about the market dropping, and if this has happened before
- Where my money is, my todo list for what I'll probably be doing next, and a list of my total returns over the past year
- How to invest based on how much money you have, and how to keep things super simple for friends and family
- How to fit crypto into a larger investment strategy including stocks and bonds

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The corresponding blog post with links and images:

https://www.michaelcaloz.com/2022/01/20/easing-into-crypto-part-23-how-to-invest-at-various-levels-of-wealth-and-risk-plus-where-my-money-is-and-how-much-ive-made/

Warning: If you're new to this podcast and jumped straight to this episode, I suggest you instead start at the beginning. I know that learning the secrets of investing and making money in crypto sounds appealing, but this episode relies on a lot of concepts I've been slowly explaining in a very intentional order across the previous 21 episodes. This is complex stuff, and I think you'll be best served by listening to everything.

- Ranking the options across my high-risk-high-reward categories (including a brief update on Wonderland)
- Why everything depends on the price of the underlying token
- Update on OlympusDAO
- Update on StrongBlock (including a shift in how I feel about it, some exploration of investment psychology, and a tip for saving on gas fees)
- Putting all seven categories into perspective by risk

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The corresponding blog post with links and images:

https://www.michaelcaloz.com/2022/01/20/easing-into-crypto-part-22-wrapping-up-my-seven-categories-of-investment-including-an-update-on-strongblock/

Warning: If you're new to this podcast and jumped straight to this episode, I suggest you instead start at the beginning. I know that learning the secrets of investing and making money in crypto sounds appealing, but this episode relies on a lot of concepts I've been slowly explaining in a very intentional order across the previous 20 episodes. This is complex stuff, and I think you'll be best served by listening to everything.

- Investment category #7: NaaS (nodes as a service, i.e., StrongBlock), why it's been one of the most challenging investment opportunities for me to write about, why it feels almost too good to be true, some of the concerns I have, and how to deal with taxes

By the way, before deciding to invest in StrongBlock, I recommend listening to episode 22, where I share some of my evolving thoughts on the project.

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The corresponding blog post with links and images:

https://www.michaelcaloz.com/2022/01/05/easing-into-crypto-part-21-the-single-investment-thats-made-me-the-most-money-strongblock-and-wrapping-up-the-high-reward-high-risk-categories/

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Update from April 7, 2022: The token has since updated to STRNGR. Most of the rest of this episode should still be accurate, but replace the word STRONG with STRNGR. As of today, you can only get the new token in one place: from the StrongBlock dapp, click All Nodes, then “Get STRNGR.” That links to Uniswap, which is currently the only legitimate source of STRNGR. Everywhere else advertising it is a scam—be careful out there!

Warning: If you're new to this podcast and jumped straight to this episode, I suggest you instead start at the beginning. I know that learning the secrets of investing and making money in crypto sounds appealing, but this episode relies on a lot of concepts I've been slowly explaining in a very intentional order across the previous 19 episodes. This is complex stuff, and I think you'll be best served by listening to everything.

- Investment category #4: Providing liquidity and yield farming, how that's worked out for me, and how to try it out yourself on Fantom
- Investment category #5: NFT's, why this might be harder than you think, and what to be careful of
- Investment category #6: Complex “DeFi 2.0” opportunities (e.g., OlympusDAO & its clones, Tomb Finance), understanding the difference between APR and APY, the best options of this type, an intro to OlympusDAO, and an intro to Tomb Finance

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The corresponding blog post with links and images:

https://www.michaelcaloz.com/2021/12/27/easing-into-crypto-part-20-higher-risk-higher-reward-opportunities-liquidity-staking-yield-farming-nfts-olympusdao-and-tomb-finance/

Warning: If you're new to this podcast and jumped straight to this episode, I suggest you instead start at the beginning. I know that learning the secrets of investing and making money in crypto sounds appealing, but this episode relies on a lot of concepts I've been slowly explaining in a very intentional order across the previous 18 episodes. This is complex stuff, and I think you'll be best served by listening to everything.

- Investment category #1: Buying and holding, including understanding the strategy, what index tokens are, and how leveraged tokens work
- My personal list of top coins and tokens, ranked in order in my subjective tiers
- Investment category #2: Mining and staking, including understanding how delegating works, why we all have to be careful of it, what liquid staking means, and how to stake stablecoins for a kind of "crypto savings account"
- My experiences and recommendations, and my list of where specifically I have each coin and token staked
- Investment category #3: Lending on DeFi and CeFi, a relatively low-risk way to earn 5-15% APY

I read out several long lists of coins and tokens in this episode, and you'll probably find it easier to reference all that on a webpage instead. Check out the blog post link below and you'll find it all there.

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The corresponding blog post with links and images:

https://www.michaelcaloz.com/2021/12/03/easing-into-crypto-part-19-investing-options-buying-and-holding-index-tokens-leveraged-tokens-my-list-of-coins-and-tokens-and-mining-staking/