GameStop dips toes into the NFT game

Well, this is a big surprise. It appears GameStop, the meme stock, just went live with their NFT website.

It doesn't have much except that they're looking to hire a team. 

What's really intriguing is that there's an Ethereum wallet address (0x13374200c29C757FDCc72F15Da98fb94f286d71e) -- a subtle nod to the gaming crowd: 1337 = leet (as in elite) and 420 = well, weed.

Clever redditors have pointed out that GameStop is looking to launch their own ERC-20 token in July. Click here for a more in-depth analysis.

Case Bitcoin

I recently came across this simple to use, yet highly educational website called Case Bitcoin. It lays the case to invest in Bitcoin and also has plenty of interesting resources, including a comparison to the S&P500 and gold. 

Let me know what you think of the site: https://casebitcoin.com/

Crypto market correction

Woke up this morning to see that nearly every crypto coin is down around 30-45%. What are you doing to cope with this? I'm just sitting and watching out things unfold. I can't access my Gemini account to make any trades though; wonder if some of the downward pressure is a result of panic selling like a run on the banks. Coinbase Pro seems operational based on their status page.

One man tries to take down bitcoin

Elon Must has been on a crusade this weekend to disparage bitcoin. 

First it was about the climate impact (even though his private jet and space rockets use a lot of fossil fuel):

Then it was about about pumping Doge more and making crazy claims:

And finally making fun of Michael Saylor:

I read an argument that if one man can have such a huge effect on the crypto market (so far down 20% overall), then crypto isn't yet ready for mass adoption; I tend to agree here. The power of crypto is that no one single person or entity can affect it -- either positively or negatively -- and Elon, whether you agree or disagree with him, has shown the crypto market is still very delicate.

Coinbase hides the withdraw to bank option

It took me a Google search and a YouTube video to find out how to withdraw my USD from Coinbase into my bank account. Did anyone else find this unnecessarily burdensome? Gemini makes it so much easier and clearer. I feel that Coinbase intentionally makes it difficult to withdraw funds to keep users locked into the account.

HOWTO: Track your crypto portfolio using CoinMarketCap's API

I use a variety of ways to track my crypto portfolio, including using the built-in tools from CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko. I tend to find the latter a bit more accurate since it includes the transaction fee in your total returns, whereas CoinMarketCap does not.

Separately, I keep track (and ensure the accuracy of the online portfolios) using Excel. I recently created my own Excel spreadsheet tracker which I intend to share in the near future once I have all the features built. It's quite a low maintenance tracker and all I need to do is enter my transactions manually (e.g., buy or sell) and the spreadsheet handles all the updating and tracking for me, including calculating my gains and losses versus the market price. This is accomplished by accessing the CoinMarketCap API (free for personal use). 

There's an excellent HOWTO guide on linking the API to Excel here. 

How do you track your portfolio? Let me know in the comments below.

Ethereum powers the (ERC-20) world

I've been a firm HODLer believer since I got started with crypto (which is only a few months), but with the quick rise in BAT, I feel it's time for me to temporarily unload my holdings. This is my first time transferring an ERC-20 token to Gemini so I had to spend gas on the Ethereum network. A few takeaways:

  • Gas is used to fuel all ERC-20 transfers
  • You pay Gas in ETH, despite transferring ERC-20 tokens
  • Gas prices fluctuate every single minute, so what you saw as "normal gas prices" when sending your transfer may change by the time it reaches the Ethereum network
  • Failed transfers consume gas, but you still get to keep your ERC-20 (those don't leave your wallet)

Some helpful resources to find out how much gas to spend based on real world tracking:

https://etherscan.io/gastracker

https://www.ethgasstation.info/index.php