Andy's Alpha #1: Finding Your Crypto 'HQ'

You gon' learn today fam! First mini series about DeFi

Welcome to the Andy’s Alpha mini series! Do you like that name or is it silly?

Anyways and this is the first mini series that I’m gonna put out for you. Today’s issue is for crypto beginners, however in the future we will have more advanced lessons.

I really think the best way for me to do this in order to provide the most value for you (and have the most fun while doing it) is to write different a couple mini series’ weekly! For example today we’re gonna talk a lot about some very easy to understand DeFi concepts that will set you up to be a better user and investor.

Then on a different day, perhaps next week, I’ll write a miniseries about something else…maybe a traveling experience like my recent weekend in Sao Paulo or experience living abroad with tips and ideas for you!

I like writing stories about travel, online business, and entrepreneurship as much as I do about crypto! So, maybe I could even create different newsletters for each mini series but I think it’s better as one. While trying to do this transparently, I’ll share insights like these and explain to you what I plan to do and how I will do it over time.

Building in public!

For now, let’s jump into the first lesson of DeFi Academy!

Finding Your Crypto ‘HQ’

The first lesson and one of the most important ones is the difference between types of wallets and how to best find your “headquarters” in DeFi. Now, what I mean by that is: I’m trying to help you get into a spot where crypto usage becomes very easy for you day by day.

I’m going to provide you with some education on some wallet platforms as well as how to use fast cheap settlement layers that we have built in the DeFi world. 

The most important concept is to keep a self custodial wallet online paired with a hardware wallet. The easiest option is to purchase a Ledger or Trezor. These hardware wallets are the best, most secure options in crypto currently. Once you have one, you can connect to MetaMask using this setup guide!

Really, it’s a simple process of using what’s known as a private key/seed phrase ie your password to make sure that you have your backups in place, should anything ever happen. There are some very good mobile app options as well.

I prefer Argent, Plena Finance, and Braavos App. You can find all of these in your Apple App Store or Google Play.

These are very easy to use and offer very cheap, highly secure storage options. In fact, the mobile apps that I mentioned are used on ‘Layer 2s’ which are fast, cheap blockchains to transact on within the Ethereum ecosystem. It’s like using Venmo for payments and high-speed Internet for your Wi-Fi.

By utilizing hardware wallets linked to MetaMask, or on the mobile apps above, you have a cheap way to interact with in the crypto ecosystem and you’ll be able to be in a really solid, secure place to where you can participate in crypto.

Again, if you have a self custodial wallet and you are operating on L2s, you are doing yourself a service for your future crypto endeavor. This will not take very long to setup and its a simple strategy of adding USD to your mobile app or via a service like Ramp to sell USD and buy ETH.

Of course it’s impossible to know what’s going to happen and I can’t sit here and predict, but what I can say is that I am VERY bullish on this technology and I will continue to direct my efforts into helping the industry grow as I want to see it succeed.

I really hope you enjoyed this first, beginners miniseries.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me back and include anything that you want me to answer. As always stay safe my fren and tune into the next mini series!

Your homie,

Andy

P.S. Never financial advice. I’m a penguin on the internet. Always do your own research to consider risks.