On a grey morning in Might 2016, I left my workplace in downtown San Francisco and walked down Montgomery Road, to Wells Fargo.
I swiveled open the 2 gigantic doorways, walked as much as the counter, and defined to the teller that I wanted to ship a cash wire to Gemini Belief Firm, LLC., a cryptocurrency trade primarily based in New York Metropolis.
“Actually,” she stated. “How a lot will you be sending right this moment, Mr. Conway?”
“100 thousand {dollars}.”
My voice sped up as I stated it: $100ok. This represented my household’s total life financial savings. It was cash my spouse and I deliberate to make use of to pay for our Three children’ faculty tuition, our eventual retirement, and emergency bills. I used to be a middle-aged man with a household who had by no means been on the reducing fringe of something. However I used to be about to guess every little thing I had on an unproven digital forex known as Ethereum.
This might solely finish two methods: I’d lose every little thing I owned, or make a fortune.
Stressed in company America
As much as that time, my skilled life was considered one of quiet desperation.
I used to be a 45-year-old center supervisor at a serious multi-media firm in San Francisco. Although I earned a good $150ok per 12 months, I hated the pretend firm tradition, the paperwork, and the limitless chains of command.
Like so many others, I used to be in search of some type of escape. And shortly, I discovered one.
Dan wallowing within the distress of company America (courtesy of Dan Conway)
One early morning in mid-2015, earlier than anybody else was within the workplace, I used to be looking on-line and stumbled upon an article about Bitcoin.
I’d heard about Bitcoin years earlier after I was preoccupied with climbing the company ladder. Again then, it appeared ludicrous to spend cash — actual forex that I may maintain in my fingers — on some digital token that existed on a public ledger within the cloud. To be frank, I believed it was full bullshit.
However that morning, I had a sudden change of coronary heart.
Bitcoin, the article learn, was going via an particularly tough patch. Its value, which was in a continuing state of volatility, had fallen from a excessive of $1.2k in 2013 to $300. My thoughts raced: What if it goes up once more? What if I put every little thing I had into this? I may get wealthy and by no means work one other day in company America…
Part of me acknowledged these ideas as damaging mania. My addictive persona had landed me in bother earlier than — first with alcohol, then with more durable medicine. My 12-step sponsor wasn’t going to pat me on the again and say, “Go purchase that Bitcoin, Dan! Feels like a implausible plan!”
On the identical time, my spouse Eileen and I have been elevating Three youngsters and had a giant mortgage on our residence within the Bay Space. The Nice Recession had snatched away most of Eileen’s PR consulting purchasers. We have been privileged, in fact, however cash was tighter than standard.
Sitting in my empty workplace, I started to go down the crypto rabbit gap. And the extra I realized, the extra I used to be pulled in.
Ethereum or bust
By early analysis, I gravitated from Bitcoin to Ethereum (ETH), a then-newly launched coin that debuted in July 2015.
Blockchain, the know-how underlying Ethereum and different cryptocurrencies, promised to in the future decentralize companies. As TechCrunch wrote, it could supply the “stability of a corporation however with out the hierarchy.” It appeared virtually too good to be true, however lots of good, future-forward individuals have been getting behind it.
As a disenfranchised suit-and-tie, I used to be enraptured by the opportunity of a decentralized future. As a grasping speculative investor, it gave me a rush.
Juggling crypto analysis and household time (courtesy of Dan Conway)
Briefly order, I developed an Ethereum obsession.
I listened to Ethereum podcasts whereas strolling the canine. I examine Ethereum throughout each spare minute I had at work. I rejiggered my Twitter feed to comply with largely Ethereum-related accounts. I absorbed hours of Ethereum commentary on YouTube.
My greatest supply of conviction was Ethereum’s builders. Within the ‘90s, I’d labored in PR at Macromedia. The corporate’s product, Flash, had dominated the net graphics market after catching the eye of essentially the most forward-thinking net designers. In the identical sense, the neatest builders have been now flocking to Ethereum.
Often, my Ethereum fever broke and I questioned if I’d gone off the deep finish.
Was my rising need to put money into Ethereum a determined try by a determined man to seek out some type of midlife salvation? Was this entire factor some type of elaborate ruse to rip-off individuals like me out of their nest eggs?
Most of my associates in tech — people working at locations like Google, Apple, and Uber — have been dismissive of blockchain. Few of them had heard of Ethereum. After I instructed a buddy of mine that I used to be contemplating investing in cryptocurrency, he broke out in laughter, as if I’d admitted I used to be hedging my future on Smurfberries or Scooby Snacks.
However my thoughts was made: I used to be going to place every little thing I had into this.
All in
Lower than a 12 months later, I discovered myself standing at a Wells Fargo desk, transferring our life financial savings to Gemini in trade for six,993 ETH, at a mean value of $14.
Eileen had been rightfully proof against the thought. Ultimately, although, she agreed to a deal: I may make the switch, however I needed to promise my youngsters that I’d take them on quite a few costly journeys.
Texts exchanged between Dan and his spouse, Eileen (courtesy of Dan Conway; illustration by The Hustle)
After watching me undergo years of dependancy points, melancholy, and company distress, Eileen was blissful to see me enthusiastic about one thing — even when it was some digital coin. By no means for a second did she suppose we’d get wealthy off of it. However she didn’t need to break the spell I used to be beneath.
Sadly, it wasn’t lengthy earlier than I skilled the Earth-shaking volatility of the crypto market.
In June 2016, a high-visibility mission was hacked and Ethereum tanked: By December, our authentic $100ok funding was price lower than $40ok.
Although I used to be $60ok within the gap, my confidence in Ethereum was stronger than ever… and it was now at a bargain-basement-level value. So, I made a decision to double down.
We didn’t have the money. The one pool of funds out there was the road of credit score on our residence. Racking up a giant debt on our residence fairness line would very seemingly set us up for an sad ending.
However I felt in my bones that this was my shot and I won’t get one other one.
In December of 2016, I visited Wells Fargo Three instances, transferring an rising amount of cash from our residence fairness line to Gemini. After every switch, I went residence and acquired ETH slowly so I didn’t trigger a run-up. (The order books have been skinny with restricted liquidity in these days; a rush of gross sales may trigger the opposite merchants and their bots to grab up all of the out there cash.)
That winter, I borrowed $200ok on my residence and used it to purchase extra ETH. I now owned 26,750 ETH complete, at a mean buy-in of $11.21/coin.
And I used to be $300ok within the gap.
On the rise
In February 2017, throughout our first negotiated ‘journey of a lifetime’ in Mexico, Ethereum got here again to life.
It was the nighttime, and I used to be behind a cab battling a nasty bout of meals poisoning. I used to be puking my guts out, foaming on the mouth, and delirious — however I didn’t care as a result of our ETH was up $50Ok. We have been within the black for the primary time.
Then, one thing miraculous occurred: It saved going up… and up… and up. Between February and March of 2017, ETH shot from $15 to $50 per coin. By April, it was at $70; by Might, $230.
In a span of four months, my $300ok funding ballooned to $6m.
Each investor’s dream (The Hustle; historic ETH information by way of Coinmarketcap.com)
I’d seen a narrative sooner or later about somebody who had spontaneous orgasms at random instances all through the day. That’s one of the simplest ways I can describe the sensation. After I checked my cellphone, I’d be up one other 6 figures for the reason that final time I appeared. I couldn’t resist stopping no matter I used to be doing to pump my fist and shout, “YEESSSS!”
However different instances, ETH would dip, and the worth of my stack would plummet by greater than $1m in lower than an hour. The “orgasms” have been changed by brutal withdrawals. The volatility was a narcotic, capturing up my mind with boosts of dopamine and serotonin.
The cash consumed me and altered my total persona.
When ETH stopped going up or had a gentle dip, I’d get snappy with the children. I donned a hoodie and stared into the void for hours, my thoughts enslaved to the promise of Ethereum and its value variations. I used to be fired from my job of 6 years.
Within the midst of a very unstable week, I discovered myself within the emergency room, struggling to breathe. The physician recognized me with a panic occasion. “Is something making you anxious?” he requested.
There was additionally the fixed, looming concern that my crypto account may very well be hacked at any second. In 2017 alone, a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of {dollars} in crypto have been stolen from accounts — and there wasn’t any regulatory physique to guard victims.
From June to October of 2017, ETH floated between $200 to $400 per coin — a rise of 2,000% for the reason that starting of the 12 months. That summer time, lots of the early HODLers (the parents who have been holding for the long-term) started to money out.
My cash have been now price thousands and thousands, however I continued to carry nearly all of them. This determination would quickly repay in a much bigger approach than I ever may’ve imagined.
The promote
In the midst of 2 weeks in December 2017, ETH almost doubled in price from $430 to $830. On January 3, 2018, it hit $900; Three days later, it handed $1k.
It was an unprecedented burst — so monumental in scope that it briefly froze the exchanges. It was like a 9.zero earthquake with an infinite variety of aftershocks.
Within the midst of this insanity, I acquired an electronic mail from my monetary advisor, who I’d employed months earlier to supervise my rising funds.
An electronic mail Dan acquired from his monetary advisor in December 2017 (Courtesy of Dan Conway)
The alarm bells have been sounding.
Sitting on my sofa in sweaty exercise garments, I turned to my favourite subreddit, r/EthTrader. The message board was full-on mayhem, with 1.4k feedback that morning alone. Grandparents, and taxi drivers, and anybody else who’d gotten a scorching tip was shopping for in with out even figuring out what crypto was. Even for hardcore HODLers like me, it was an excessive amount of, too quick.
I frantically logged into my Gemini account and weighed my choices.
If I didn’t promote and ETH tanked, I’d lose all of it. I’d have to inform Eileen and the children that dad had dropped the golden goose egg, that I’d squandered my lottery ticket.
Watching the grasping lots pile into ETH jogged my memory of the well-known battle scene from Braveheart: Whereas the hordes rush ahead in full dash, lances atilt, the defenders sit nonetheless, unflinching and calm, ready for the sign to assault.
I watched the value climb to $915. Then, over the course of two hours, I offered 11ok ETH, nearly all of my remaining stack, for $10m.
I despatched Eileen a textual content: We’re performed.
Life after crypto
Shortly after we cashed out, the cryptocurrency market took a nosedive.
Ethereum dropped from a excessive of $1,396 in January to $385 in April. By December of 2018, it was again under $100.
Eileen and I paid off our $950ok mortgage. We booked a visit to Africa we’d all the time dreamed of. Hell, we even purchased a second residence in Eire.
Almost 2 years later, it’s nonetheless surreal taking a look at our checking account and seeing excessive 7-figures, post-tax. All of it occurred so rapidly that it appears like a dream.
Prime: Dan’s financial institution assertion from December 2017 to January 2018, exhibiting a Gemini switch of $10.7m; Backside: The household in Italy — one of many agreed-upon locations (Courtesy of Dan Conway)
I nonetheless consider crypto will open up new potentialities for organizing the world within the a long time forward, and I’m assured it can pop once more because of this. However I don’t suggest that anybody attempt to replicate what I did.
Luck performed a big position in my success.
I banked every little thing I had on a comparatively unproven know-how and acquired out on the proper time. For each story like mine, there are hundreds of others about individuals who misplaced all of it. I do know that would’ve simply been me.
On the identical time, I’m no blackjack participant. My funding wasn’t purely a blind gamble that got here up aces. I used to be, and am, a real believer in crypto — and I had the correct mix of courageousness and craziness to take a giant threat.
I’ve since turned my efforts towards making the idea of crypto-based decentralization extra accessible to most of the people. My current ebook, which chronicles my wild journey, encourages individuals to consider their very own threat parameters.
Right now, I’ve settled again into a traditional life. I make dinner, do odd-jobs round the home, and reside a really nice life by virtually any measure. I nonetheless drive a minivan each day. Crypto not consumes me.
However once in a while, after the children are asleep, I lie awake pondering again on the frenzy of the market. And I miss it like hell.
Serious about studying extra about Dan’s story? He lately chronicled his total journey in a full-length ebook, Confessions of a Crypto Millionaire.
— to thehustle.co
