When my 7th grade science teacher Mr. Sharkey took a tiny chunk of sodium out of his jar, and put it into the container of water next to it, and it blew out the ceiling drop tiles 10 feet above it, that was something I wanted to study, Alkalai metals for teh win! Of course, I remember none of the chemistry behind it now, the actual science. But it blows shit up. Cool!
I like DOT. It is a multi-year play for sure, not a short-term trade because its importance will escalate dramatically over time as more blockchain projects come to fruition. For those that aren't familiar with DOT, the easiest way to describe it is this: Remember when personal computers were first introduced way back decades ago and you had to actually go to a computer store to buy software on floppy disks? And then years later you could buy that same software through catalogs that you received in the mail? Yeah, those were the days. Over time, lots of people had computers but there was no protocol to connect them together. But then something extraordinary happened. The internet, the HTTP protocol, and the web browser were developed so that all of our computers could essentially communicate and interoperate with each other in a seamless way. At that point, there was no more need to go to a computer store or call an 800 number to get software that only worked on your computer. Everything became connected and the world of downloading software, playing multi-player games, visiting websites, and communicating with each other instantly via email and instant messaging became the standard. In other words, that base communication layer that the internet provided to connect us together changed everything. So just like the internet connected computers together, Polkadot aims to be a base layer that connects blockchains together. As it stands now, there is very little interoperability between blockchain projects, as each one is essentially an island unto itself. Polkadot aims to change all that by being the internet of blockchains so to speak. So you can understand now that as more and more blockchain projects are developed, the importance of Polkadot will go through the roof.
I'm a complete noob with Crypto. I came close to doing a private placement with Grayscale when Bitcoin was $17,000 and I did not pull the trigger (ugh!). So, how is the best way to invest in DOT? I would like to do this in a IRA.
I think the problem i have with crypto is that when i think of investing, you're putting money into a business that is making money. These crypto projects are legit, but from investing standpoint, how should we look at it? Is DOT making money from the investment when people buy the tokens? What benefit would DOT "company" have if people buy it? I guess if you stake it you can help the network and they pay by rewarding you. The only thing that makes perfect sense for me is bitcoin as anti inflationary asset and you can literally own it through storing it on hard wallet. But these projects just doesn't make sense from investing standpoint. I do have money in bitcoin and ethereum though
From your comment, it sounds like you feel like you've missed the boat somehow because you didn't buy bitcoin when it was $17k, so you're now searching for other things. I see this misconception A LOT when I talk to people. Coming from the traditional financial world, $60k seems like a ton of money for a share of anything, especially a crypto coin like BTC. What most people don't understand is that the upside potential to BTC is way, way, bigger than a piddly $60k. What if Bitcoin was $280k in 2 or 3 years? Based upon the past trajectory, you do realize that it's very possible that could happen, right? I don't use an IRA so someone with more experience with IRAs may be able to answer your question better than I can.
You mean like how BRK.A was down to about $250K per share last May, and is now at $430K per? Yeah, can totally see that.
You may want to consider just continuing to do what makes sense to you, because honestly, I'm right there with you. The only thing at this stage that I've been doing differently from you in my other accounts is that I give Ethereum and Polygon Matic equal weighting. So in other words, let's say you're 70% BTC and 30% ETH. The only change I would make would be 70% BTC, 15% ETH, and 15% MATIC. The easiest way to understand MATIC is to think about driving down a major highway and you're coming up to a fork in the road... to the left is a downtown exit which represents the epicenter of the city activity and to the right is the bypass which takes you around the city and gets you to your destination which is the far end of the city but it gets you there much more efficiently. The exit that leads you straight into downtown is basically "Ethereum City", which is where a lot of transactions are happening but the cost of doing business is high, parking is expensive, and traffic starts to dramatically slow down. The bypass route is like MATIC, which still allows you to get to your destination, but much faster and cheaper. And the more congested that downtown Ethereum gets, the more VALUABLE that the MATIC bypass becomes. So although they are distinctly different routes, they work together to make an overall system that works pretty well depending on the needs of the driver.