I remember when I sold my first company at the end of 2016 and the palpable FEAR I felt about being responsible for millions of dollars and wanting to grow it responsibly. I also remember thinking a lot about Ethereum.

I first heard about Bitcoin in around 2011. It was REALLY early and the stuff was under $5. However it was nearly impossible to actually buy. You’d have to spend many hours to figure out all the hoops you’d need to get through to acquire any. So although I remember my mind was blown and I spent 2-3 hours researching it, I didn’t do anything else. Fast forward to 2013, there were online exchanges more accessible and I bought 6 bitcoin. Those languished for years and I sold them for a tiny profit at some point, I don’t remember when to be honest. I just know I didn’t hold them long enough.

Now I had been following Ethereum, and I knew about it… and I thought I wanted some… but at the end of 2016 I just didn’t pull the trigger and get off my ass and ever do it. I was too caught up in my house hunt and moving with the acquisition. This is my BIGGEST regret of my financial life. It’s so much bigger than the bitcoin experience, because this time I HAD MONEY TO PUT AT RISK! Ugh. I sometimes go back and look at that chart. The end of 2016. I imagine my $2M in my chase account, my clear knowledge of Ethereum, my desire to acquire some (if anybody asked me I would’ve said “Yeah, I’m going to buy some”) and then my complete failure to do anything about it. Then I walk through the $100,000 bet. Screw it… I could’ve rented a cheap house and bet $1M, right? I could’ve! I’m bold. Then I walk through the months ahead assessing my mental state and how I would’ve found a way to hold and only sold at the opportune time. I calculate and recalculate scenarios that could have been. All of them play out in my imagination with me reaping at least tens of millions and sometimes hundreds of millions. Yeah, it’s really not healthy, I know that.

When did I finally buy some in reality… January 2018. Yeah, I’m no super genius. That being said this time I did hold it through the down years and I sold it in late 2021 for around a $300,000 gain. So, not life changing for me, but at least I made a bit on my crypto journey.

I re-bought into Ethereum with a few transactions at dollar cost averaged $1550 in the early summer of 2022. Still holding. I’ve never been a hodl til you die type… so we’ll see how this investment goes. In the meantime, I avoid the “all” history button the ETH chart. My mental health requires it.