By @RyanInSiam
Over the following few years, I started hearing more and more about Bitcoin and eventually about the mysterious “cryptocurrencies”. It wasn’t until mid-2016 that I finally got curious enough to buy my first BTC through an exchange in my country, which made the process very easy.
Through that exchange, I traded on and off for several months, mostly testing the waters and learning how cryptocurrencies worked. Most of this was done on my own, with little outside support or guidance, and through lots of trial and error. As one can imagine, that meant lots and lots of losses!
Fast forward again to the start of 2017. I was preparing to propose to my girlfriend and was developing an interest in this “new” thing called “altcoins”. A new acquaintance in my city, a collague of my (then) girlfriend, was sending me articles now and again about Bitcoin, altcoins, and so forth, but I was still a major newbie. A week or so after I proposed to my girlfriend, the same acquaintance, now friend, mentioned PIVX to me, said he’d gotten a tip, and that it looked like a worthwhile project to get into.
Being a complete newbie, I skimmed the PIVX website, decided it looked like a good project, and (on the recommendation of my friend) decided to buy in. For those that were on the PIVX scene in early 2017, you’ll remember the wild ride that that was. In the weeks to follow, we saw quite a lot of excitement as we neared 1USD, saw some pull backs, and watched the roller coaster do its thing. Little did we know what would come over the next year!
Time and again, my (then) fiancee told me to sell everything and cash out. Friends told me to sell as well. Yet, over the many weeks and months that followed, I came to see PIVX as something more than just a quick buck. After the initial excitement as we neared and crossed the 1USD threshold, I spent more time reading the PIVX website and eventually made my way into the PIVX Slack. I quickly connected with very active members there, learned loads, and was even invited to participate in running PIVX social media accounts (such as on Twitter). Heck, one PIVX Slack member even offered to send me a purple t-shirt, which I still wear to this day.
While I can’t claim to have spent loads of time with every other crypto community out there, it was easy to see from the start that Team Purple (as I affectionately call everyone here now) was something radically different from most every other project on the market, both then and now. PIVX was and is meant to be a token that would be used in real life. The community surrounding the project is eager and excited, and there always seems to be unlimited energy to achieve whatever goals we put our minds to. Looking at our roadmap even now, nobody can doubt how much we have all accomplished together in such a short span of time, and the project and the community both continue to grow!
Anyway, enough of the cheerleading! Soon after my investment and initial contact with the Slack community, I quickly decided to make PIVX the cornerstone of my wedding savings. That has proved to be one of the best decisions I have made! While I did use some PIVX to trade, I predominantly bought up PIV at good prices, tucked the tokens away in my wallet, and staked! There were quite a few bumps along the way with prices, staking issues (such as power outages, computer failure, etc.), and whatnot, but my enthusiasm for PIVX and confidence in the project never waned.
Naturally, I have had to sell off some PIV leading up to our wedding in July 2018, but we’ve also held onto a small chunk as well. In addition to not being able to bear zeroing out our wallet, we were both confident in spending more of our fiat savings than originally planned and then knowing we had PIVX to fall back on when we returned home after our wedding and honeymoon. Thus, PIVX helped to both finance our wedding and also to provide us a great deal of confidence in our future finances. We both know that PIVX is so easy to buy and sell, and it’s always available to us night and day.
Looking back, I wouldn’t have changed a thing (except maybe selling just a bit more during December 2017! Hehehe.). My wife, who isn’t as well-versed in crypto, knows that PIVX is largely responsible for financing our wedding and is eager for us to continue supporting the project. As the months and years go by, I hope she and many others will learn more and more about PIVX and that we can all work together to make more real-world uses for our beloved PIVX! Oh, and I hope I can get the wifey a matching purple t-shirt!
In conclusion, to everyone we’ve met on Team Purple, we extend our sincere thanks for the help, support, and friendship over the last year and half! It’s been a wild ride, but we couldn’t have done it without all of you! Keep it purple, people!
