Young people who are all in on cryptocurrencies

This article comes from the WeChat public account Laoyapi (id: laoyapi).

All around the world, people are abandoning old forms of money and adopting new ones, like cryptocurrencies, faster than we could ever imagine.

The next stage in the evolution of money will be the rise of nonbank money, including cryptocurrencies, which exist on online public ledgers. But the evolution may be difficult. Bitcoin and other volatile cryptocurrencies, while popular as speculative investments, are generally not useful for everyday transactions, making them more like financial assets than currencies.

That’s why governments around the world are working hard to maintain the public’s confidence that their money isn’t completely ephemeral.

Two new types of money that have emerged as cash has fallen are stablecoins and central bank digital currencies. Stablecoins, like Bitcoin, exist on virtual ledgers and are issued by private entities that promise to convert them into government currency or other assets at a fixed exchange rate on demand.

It is ironic that cryptocurrencies are supposed to move us away from official currencies, yet those that appear to function as a medium of exchange are backed by official currencies.

Crazy Crypto

Recently, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey quit his job because of his obsession with crypto. So did millions of others. They are all participating in the mass migration from the 9-to-5 to the world of crypto.

The cryptocurrency craze has only just begun. It has triggered a historic surge in self-employment. Because of it, millions of people around the world are starting their own businesses. And because of it, millions of people around the world are bringing about a seismic shift in the world’s job market.

Should you quit your job immediately and pursue cryptocurrency full-time?

How to get rich overnight?

In the United States alone, the number of self-employed people has risen by more than 500,000 to nearly 10 million since the start of the coronavirus pandemic. More than 20 million workers left their employers between May and September. Since then, the quit rate has increased by more than 6%.

A new career path has emerged, known as cryptocurrency careers.

Half of Generation Z, aged 18 to 22, choose to start their careers in this world rather than work full-time, and a survey in the summer of 2021 showed that during the pandemic, 20% of people were considering quitting their jobs and doing freelance work, mainly in cryptocurrency.

According to LinkedIn data, the number of members who say they are self-employed has quadrupled to 2.2 million since the start of the pandemic.

But where are these staffers going and why? That is the multi-million dollar question.

How to increase your income with cryptocurrency?

Instagram, YouTube and TikTok have given young people new ways to raise money. Robinhood Markets and cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and other altcoins have spurred a new generation of traders, some of whom have been so successful that they have quit their jobs to trade.

But is this current shift toward self-employment temporary?

Finding good employees has always been a challenge. But today, it’s harder than ever. And it’s unlikely to improve anytime soon.

Businesses are feeling the pinch. An August 2021 survey found that 73% of 380 employers in the U.S. alone were having trouble attracting new employees. And 70% of them expected this difficulty to continue into 2022. Employee turnover is rising rapidly, and this may become the new normal that employers will have to adapt to in 2022 and beyond.

But one might ask how is the business managed?

It is estimated that it costs an employer more than 120% of the employee's annual salary to find and train a replacement. That's why many companies are trying to develop new ways to keep their employees happy at work. They are learning to accept and adapt, and trying to figure out the new normal.

This may not be as simple as it sounds.

A May 2021 survey found that 54% of employees surveyed from around the world would consider quitting their job if they didn't have some form of flexibility in where and when they work. As the potential workforce moves toward crypto, employers who cling to the past may be missing out. They are desperately looking for employees to fill open positions.

But will they succeed?

Why go back to the office when you can make more money from the comfort of your own home?

There is another unknown reason for the labor shortage. It is the opportunities created by cryptocurrencies. A recent poll showed that 11% of employees have either quit their jobs or know someone who has quit because of their cryptocurrency investments. Even more shocking is that 4% of the world's workforce has quit their jobs because of cryptocurrency investments.

Technology is creating favorable opportunities for employees to take control of their future. Employers are aware of this development, but they are clueless about how to attract the new-age, crypto-savvy workforce back to their workplaces.

The opportunities offered by cryptocurrencies and NFT tokens are drawing employees away from the workplace. This is not going to stop anytime soon.

Many people have left their jobs after investing early or recently in high-performing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Binance Coins.

Those who invested in Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020 could have seen gains of several hundred to thousandths. Many of these people have decided to stay home and pursue other prospects rather than return to work.

How to make money with cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrencies’ ability to generate alternative income for their owners is changing the hiring game. They are incentivizing potential applicants to stay home instead of going to work.

In August 2021, CNBC reported that a 12-year-old boy made $350,000 by creating and selling an NFT artwork he named "Weird Whale." The largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, achieved over $2.7 billion in sales in 30 days in 2021. This incredibly large volume of sales has led people to become NFT day traders, buying NFTs and reselling them for a profit. Likewise, people who are able to purchase high-demand NFTs directly from creators can often resell them on the same day for a significant profit.

On August 7, 2021, Veve Collectibles sold 1,000 Secret Rare Spider-Man NFTs for $400 each. They were snapped up in seconds, and only those lucky enough to get them at the auction could do so. Earlier this fall, the cheapest one on the Veve marketplace was over $9,000.

Then you’ll see more compelling playable and earnable NFT video games gaining momentum.

Blockchain-based video games, such as the popular Axie Infinity, allow players to earn cryptocurrency by playing. They allow some low-paid gamers to earn a full-time income while living a more enjoyable life.

To play Axie Infinity, users must own NFT game characters or in-game playable collectibles called Axies. If users purchase an Axie, they can earn cryptocurrency by playing the game, which can be exchanged for actual money.

Additionally, Axies can be sold and resold, with the original owner receiving a percentage of the proceeds from each subsequent resale. In one instance, a rare Axie sold for 300 Ethereum, worth $130,000, and was immediately relisted for more than double its initial cost.

That’s why many employees are willing to leave their jobs. For many, the thought of returning to the office, the daily commute, the 9-to-5 grind, and dealing with overbearing bosses is off-putting.

Trading cryptocurrencies or NFTs, or even playing video games on a whim from the comfort of their own homes, is very tempting, especially if these employees can earn close to or even more than their current salaries.

But how is this changing the fabric of world society, especially among Generation Z. I will answer this question in this third chapter.

From the “terror cycle” to the “cryptocurrency boom”

According to a new survey, 58% of Generation Z are quitting their jobs to work in cryptocurrency full-time. Young people are increasingly looking to cryptocurrency as a way to escape their lifelong jobs.

The definition of a “good” job is steadily shifting. From concerns about hyperinflation to workplace stress, more than half of Gen Z are increasingly looking to cryptocurrency as a way to escape serious work.

As a result, social structures are changing.

As of the end of August 2021, there were 10.4 million job openings in the United States. A staggering 4.3 million people quit their jobs, or 2.9% of the workforce. The trend was first dubbed the "Great Resignation." In China, the same phenomenon is called "lying flat." Liao Zenghu, a famous Chinese novelist, described it as a break from the "terror cycle."

"In today's society, our every move is monitored, our every action is criticized," "Is there any behavior more rebellious than 'lying flat'?" he asked.

This has brought disaster to the world economy as we know it. At this time, the crypto space emerged as the next upgrade for young people looking for alternative forms of income. As cryptocurrency became more popular, most of those who quit did so to leave their low-income jobs. People with incomes under $50,000 were most likely to quit their jobs to earn money from cryptocurrencies.

But how much money can Gen Z make with cryptocurrency?

This is a crypto revolution, not a resignation

If you’ve been following the cryptocurrency news lately, you may have noticed that there is no shortage of opportunities to make money in the market.

Let me give you a simple example...

If you were a cryptocurrency trader who put $1,000 into a coin called Solana in August 2021, you would now be able to sell your tokens for $7,000. Imagine that, right?

This is just one example among many.

Do you now understand why lying here is happening and why it is changing the labor market?

If you think this only happens among Generation Z, think again.

Tech moguls are also bored and restless with their jobs and are looking for adventure.

Jack Dorsey left Twitter for Bitcoin. Jeff Bezos' wanderlust led him to resign from Amazon this year to fulfill his childhood space fantasies. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin resigned in 2019 and have since invested in futuristic projects like airships and flying taxis. Mark Zuckerberg still runs Facebook, but it's now called Meta.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency companies around the world are expanding at a dizzying pace. Large companies like Coinbase have at least 3,000 employees. All of these companies are growing exponentially... and all of them are hiring. In 2021, cryptocurrency investment bank Galaxy Digital increased its headcount by 130% to 510 people. In the next two to three years, even the big banks will completely change their stance on cryptocurrencies, which will cause huge changes.

Regardless of what’s happening in the financial world or Silicon Valley, what’s happening in the real world with Gen Z and Millennials is a revolution, not a resignation.

For them, money isn't worth the stress anymore. What's more, broader societal shifts mean younger workers are prioritizing their self-worth. They're trying new things and taking advantage of new opportunities. If the pandemic has revealed anything, it's how much young people hate their jobs.

So, they created a new way of working.

Now, most of them are making daily options trades, running a Twitter bot account that tracks Ethereum pricing, and dabbling in Web3 and crypto investing. While they wouldn’t describe themselves as happier right now because they know they miss the social interaction of the office, their mood is becoming more “neutral” day by day, and they’re looking forward to establishing themselves as an independent entity in which they can do whatever they want, whenever they want.

"I have a stress-free job now compared to before," one millennial told the channel. He doesn't have a full-time job or money worries, thanks to his savings, investments, and the booming crypto world. "My goal is to not have a boss anymore," he said, noting that he values ​​his mental health more than his income. He chose the "financial freedom" he gained by investing in crypto assets.

He's not the only one choosing a new career path that's very different from the one before. Economists predict that the "Great Quitting" has just begun, especially for Generation Z and Millennials who are well-positioned to find new ways to make money.

But how much money are Zennials (those aged 28 to 32) making from cryptocurrency trading?

How to achieve financial freedom through crypto investing?

Of those who quit their jobs due to "crazy gains," nearly two-thirds made less than $50,000 a year, including 27% who made less than $25,000 a year, while 37% made between $25,000 and $50,000. Meanwhile, 15% of those who quit their jobs due to crypto made between $50,000 and $75,000, 13% made between $75,000 and $150,000, and 8% made $150,000 or more.

This means that while cryptocurrency investing may provide life-changing levels of income for some, wealthier cryptocurrency owners use it more as another form of asset diversification than a source of income.

Billionaire investor and cryptocurrency supporter Mark Cuban tweeted a link to the survey, saying: “Wow, 4% of Americans quit their jobs for crypto gains, the vast majority making under $50k. Now we know why so many people quit low paying jobs.”

4% of the workforce, or about 6 million people. There are even reports that Americans who reinvested their stimulus checks in Bitcoin made nearly $4,500 in profits.

The survey also found that 12% sought "independence from government."

No wonder Americans are leaving their jobs in droves.

So, what steps should you take before you quit your job?

‘Friends with Benefits’ in the Crypto World

Cryptocurrency is really stupid.

As a guest on Saturday Night Live, the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has repeatedly joked about Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that was itself a joke and is now worth tens of billions of dollars. This summer, NBA star Stephen Curry spent six figures on an NFT of a randomly generated ape. There are countless memes and seemingly just as many scams.

For some tech workers and creatives, though, crypto is also dead serious. To them, it heralds a better future for the internet. If web2 is the internet today, controlled by a few big platforms, they’re trying to build a decentralized web3. To achieve that, many are following their passion in a particularly banal way: They’re making crypto their day job.

They’re quitting their 9-to-5 jobs in web2 so they can work 24/7 in web3.

But is this a good thing?

We asked this question to a couple who recently quit their day jobs to work in crypto full-time, and this is what they told us. "The speed and intensity of crypto is hard to keep up with." They admitted that their work-life balance has become worse since they quit their jobs to work in crypto. They said that they sometimes feel like working in the space is like being on cocaine because there is so much going on. They even told us that they think about crypto in their sleep.

These are the downsides of the fast-paced and high-risk world of cryptocurrency, but are there any upsides?

According to online publication Vice, there is now a cryptocurrency-focused community called Friends with Benefits (FWB) that is being referred to as a DAO. Essentially, it is a private club with its own cryptocurrency (dollar FWB). You need to own at least 75 tokens to join.

It has a private Discord community, members-only parties around the world, and recently launched an editing platform. If you decide to leave, you can sell your tokens, potentially for a huge profit. Amazingly, if you joined FWB in early July, it would have cost you only $550. However, if you joined now, those same tokens would be worth over $9,000.

Many people quit their full-time jobs to start working for FWB. They are optimistic that their work in the cryptocurrency field may bring better results. Some of them net about $220,000 a year, about half of which is in tokens.

Not bad for a web3 job!

But is it the same for everyone?

How can you make cryptocurrencies work for you, instead of working against you anytime soon?

Amid record-high stock prices and the cryptocurrency (or digital currency) boom, the fear of missing out, or FOMO, is driving more young people around the world to try day trading and other types of investing for the first time. Those who kept their jobs during last year’s COVID-19 recession and have plenty of stimulus money and savings are now investing heavily in cryptocurrencies.

The reason is simple.

The cryptocurrency craze and the resulting wealth have attracted young people from all over the world to invest in it. For them, the dream of getting rich overnight seems to be within reach.

But it wasn’t until the cryptocurrency market crashed a few days ago that they realized the drive to get in on the action comes with huge risks. While the DIY spirit of day traders is understandable given frustration with low-paying jobs and distrust of large financial institutions, low levels of financial literacy put most young people at risk of losing more money than they can afford when the market turns volatile or crashes.

It’s like a Las Vegas-style atmosphere where you’re gambling that things will go in your favor. But they can quickly turn against you. And like gambling, one of the newest but most volatile forms of investing is now also one of the hottest — I’m talking about cryptocurrency.

Most young people, who are generally not financially savvy, haven’t fully grasped the nuances of this new asset class. A recent Harris Poll survey provided exclusively to USA TODAY found that 60% of Americans said they were “not very familiar” or “not at all familiar” with cryptocurrencies.

Lack of financial literacy is costing young Americans millions of dollars. Worldwide, the number is likely in the billions.

Young investors usually make two key mistakes when trading cryptocurrencies: They have too short an investment time horizon and take too many high-risk, speculative assets in their portfolios, said Yosef Bonaparte, associate professor of finance and director of financial external affairs at the University of Colorado Denver. Cryptocurrencies can fluctuate wildly within a day or even minutes, making day trading dangerous for small investors who lack relevant knowledge. Most of them forget the golden rule of cryptocurrency investing - "Don't invest more than you are willing to lose."

“By pleasing its users, Robinhood creates players rather than investors,” James Fielder, an adjunct professor of political science at Colorado State University who has studied Robinhood, wrote in a research paper.

Robinhood, a popular U.S. cryptocurrency and stock exchange, allows traders to connect their savings accounts directly to its app, which could lead novice traders to dabble in options or other high-risk trades and lose money quickly.

Others use custom computers to mine cryptocurrencies. Their electricity bills average between $250 and $400 a month, leaving them with just enough money to live on the profits from mining cryptocurrencies.

The market is full of FOMO, which is why you should be more careful with your investments.

If you want to gamble like you’re in Las Vegas, only 2% of your portfolio should be invested in crypto assets, not 100%.