The world of cryptocurrency and digital technology can be extremely overwhelming. Girl Gone Crypto’s, Lea Thompson, has made it her goal to create an approachable and fun social media presence for those interested in learning more about cryptocurrency. Her sense of humor and creative outlook to the most recent news make her a prominent female presence in a very male dominated technology-based industry. I sat down with her and asked her a few of your questions ranging from what is crypto to what are common mistakes people make. We both hope this is informative and helpful- especially if you are interested in the future of digital currency.
What is crypto? The best way to describe crypto is that we already live in a world of digital money. We pay with credit cards, we have our paychecks set up as direct deposit, and we have auto-pay set up to pay our bills. Yes, obviously we still have cash but the majority of the way we transact is all digital. The difference between how we transact now versus crypto is that with cryptocurrencies you have a more decentralized peer-to-peer aspect to it. For example, the bank is a third party institution and has control over your money, they can decide to shut down your account or freeze your funds for whatever reason whenever they want. However, with cryptocurrencies you have the control and power over your own money and when referring to peer-to-peer, it means that we can transact directly, we don’t have to go through a bank, PayPal, or Venmo, etc. Your funds are yours when you have full control no one can freeze your funds because of the way the technology is set up and because it is decentralized, so at its core that is the main difference between how we transact now vs using cryptocurrency.
Why should we care? A lot of people focus on the price movement piece of cryptocurrency but it is so much more than that, it’s an entirely new technology. If you look at the early stages of the internet, it took people a while to fully start using it. However, you can’t deny that the internet was an extremely important and revolutionary technology that has changed the way we live and act; we quite literally have a library of information at our fingertips. Beyond just price movements and investments, the underlying blockchain technology that drives all of this is a fundamental shift all on its own. If you ask “why should I care?”, honestly, you don’t have to. Ultimately, by taking the time to learn and understand cryptocurrency now will probably be advantageous to you in the future. For example, if you look at the people who were early to understand tech and how that opened up opportunities, jobs, and investments because they actually understood what was happening with that emerging technology. So generally I say the earlier you can understand emerging technology the better.
From an investment standpoint, it has been some of the best returning asset classes of the last decade. If someone is looking at crypto from that perspective then it is also something really interesting and worth taking the time to look into and understand why it’s valuable and why it may be something worth investing in.
How to get started? Start slow, start with Bitcoin. It’s the most decentralized, has the most momentum, adoption, and from a market cap perspective – it is the largest. Basically, at this point, it isn’t going anywhere. Avoid the temptation to jump in early on some random small cap coin or token that you heard about on TikTok or YouTube. Maybe you’ll get lucky, but most of the time you won’t. Bitcoin has the safest long term potential. There have been a lot of coins that have come and gone over the last ten years but Bitcoin has stood the test of time. Next I generally recommend people check out Ethereum and then dive into other coins from there. No matter what you do – make sure you take the time to understand what you are investing in and what is the long term value.
Another great way to get started is by buying a little cryptocurrency over time which is called ‘dollar cost averaging’. It tends to be the best strategy long term because it averages itself out. Cash app is an easy way to get started with purchasing crypto or you can use an exchange like Coinbase, Binance, Okcoin, or Gemini which will give you more options than Cash app. Either way just getting started, setting up an account on an exchange, and then eventually getting a hardware wallet is a great place to begin.
Common Mistakes? People often think it is too late to start. According to Lea this is simply not true. They think that the main coins like Bitcoin or Ethereum are “so expensive” and look into cheaper coins and then they don’t fully understand why. Understand why you think something has value, educate yourself because when it has volatility or dips in price and you only invested in it because someone on social media told you to, it can be really stressful. Start slow, like stated above.
Another mistake is trying to time the market. Even if you are a really experienced trader and you know how to read the charts, you may do okay but even they mess up. No one has a crystal ball, we really don’t know. Which is why dollar cost averaging is a great method to use. Just buying a little over time has proven to have the most consistent returns on average.
Any other tips? Take time to educate yourself and commit to learning even if it is just a little bit a day. Like learning another language, if you take baby steps daily you will speak fluently eventually. The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous is a really good book to read and there are a lot of really great YouTube videos to reference. It might feel a little overwhelming or intimidating when you are initially learning. Just know that anyone can do it, the only difference between myself and someone else is that I have spent more time on the internet learning about crypto. Also worth mentioning is that if you don’t want to buy crypto but you want to earn it, you can download Lolli to earn free Bitcoin when you shop online. A simple yet effective way to get started as well. Just getting your hands on a little cryptocurrency, whether that is by buying it or earning it opens the door for you to learn how it works and how to transfer it around and see firsthand what you can do with it.
After the interview, I asked Lea to describe herself and her Girl Gone Crypto platform. She quickly joked that she is just a “nerd” on the internet with her costumes and silly tweets. However, when she got into the crypto space in 2017 she realized quickly that the it was super mathematical, technical, and intimidating and lacking fun engaging content. She wants people to see her funny TikToks and videos and think, “if this girl can do it then so can I.” She created her GGC platform to empower people to take the first steps in understanding crypto and encourage people to experience the freedom and fun that decentralized assets can bring.
*Huge thank you to Girl Gone Crypto for taking the time to sit down and answer a few questions!
The Salty Exchange 