Now, there is no unified definition of the Metaverse, but let’s take a shot at it. Let’s think of it as “the merging of the physical and digital world”. That could take many forms. There’s the Virtual Reality Metaverse: An immersive digital world that you experience fully virtually with a VR headset (like a 3D internet, Ready Player One or Futurama style), and the Augmented Reality Metaverse: one that exists as an overlay on top of your real world experience (picture a Heads Up Display through some fancy glasses that overlays data on anything you look at).

Most definitions in popular culture today are closer to the Ready Player One VR version, with you having a digital avatar that is experiencing a digital world. While this will certainly be part of how people will be able to experience this new world, that definition by itself is extremely limited and incomplete. We aren’t just going into the digital world, the digital world is coming outward to us. That’s important, as the second part isn’t as commonly discussed, and it’s a big part of seeing the future of what’s being built (even if we have to squint a little bit to see it 😉).

So, to summarize: When we talk about the Metaverse, we mean the blending of the physical and the digital world. We primarily mean either pulling more of our senses and experiences into the digital world, or bringing more of the digital world into our physical lives. 

Here is a rough way to think about the risk curve for major projects in crypto:

Risk Curve:  

Bitcoin → Ethereum → Cardano → Polkadot → Solana

        Less Risk   →   More Risk

Now, this is my own personal assessment. Since no one truly knows what is going to succeed or fail, everything is a judgement call. I might rank Solana further out on the risk curve than Cardano and Polkadot, because I have a few concerns about the VC backers’ commitment to the long term vision, and some shady behavior has taken place by their core team on numerous occasions (there is none of this shady behavior in projects like Cardano or Polkadot for example, and this behavior is usually a disqualifier for me to invest in a project).

Someone else might look at Solana, see the ecosystem development, technology, and Sam Bankman-Fried’s incredible track record, and think that anything connected to him is likely to turn to solid gold (which isn’t a terrible conclusion to be honest, and I do personally think Solana has a very bright future, despite my concerns).

The point is, no one knows for sure until it’s happened, and while there are certainly risks ahead, I think there is room for all these platforms, and more, to be highly successful. It’s all about matching your risk tolerance, and what you personally understand and have confidence in.

Crypto Portfolio Examples:

Bitcoin is the only clear “own for 10 years” digital asset at the moment, it is the safest because it is established and no one is even trying to compete with it directly anymore. If you want a true “set and forget” crypto, you can go 100% Bitcoin. The remaining assets below look like strong “hold for 3-5 years while re-evaluating” investments at the current time. Ethereum has the second lowest risk profile currently in the coming years, but the longer term (5+ years) future is unclear on the technological front with the growth of 3rd Gen projects like Cardano, Polkadot, and Solana. 

Personal note: My personal highest conviction bet has been on Charles Hoskinson and Cardano since 2017, and that remains true today. My second highest conviction long term bet is on Gavin Wood and Polkadot. If I were personally building a portfolio, I would own all five assets below, but would skew more heavily towards Cardano and Polkadot. I have kept the portfolio allocations below more objective and balanced rather than skewing towards my personal views. Again, please do your own research, match your own risk tolerance, and only buy assets you personally understand and have confidence in.

Conservative: Only the Majors

Bitcoin 60%

Ethereum 40%

Moderate: 70% on Majors, 30% on 3rd Gen

Bitcoin: 35%

Ethereum: 35%

Cardano: 10%

Polkadot: 10%

Solana: 10%

Aggressive: 40% on Majors, 60% on 3rd Gen

Bitcoin: 20%

Ethereum: 20%

Cardano: 20%

Polkadot: 20%

Solana: 20%

Very Aggressive: Evenly between Ethereum & 3rd Gen

Ethereum: 25%

Cardano: 25%

Polkadot: 25%

Solana: 25%

Again, there are a million permutations here, and these are just examples to help you think about your risk tolerance and what makes the most sense for you. As I’m constantly reiterating when talking with people about their portfolios and asset mixes… do whatever helps you sleep well at night! Don’t do anything that you aren’t comfortable with, and that doesn’t make sense to YOU.

It’s not about what you get, it’s about who you become.

One of the reasons I’ve taken great pains in previous pages to not simply say “what to do”, but to actually explain about money, markets, manipulation and why things happen is because that is the knowledge that actually sets you free, not the money itself. While I would define the formula to “financial freedom” as “having an economic machine that pays for your living expenses”, that is not the same thing as psychological freedom, which has nothing to do with how much money you have. In fact, psychological freedom is often worse for people the more money they get if they don’t see the game for what it is. Fortunately, you can have psychological freedom from many of the stigmas and traps of money far sooner than the time it takes to build your economic machine, and can hopefully keep those same traps in perspective with your own financial success.

Once you see the game for what it is, and see that money is just an idea that society created and it has no objective reality… it seems pretty silly to justify your self worth or intelligence by how much money you have (or don’t have). That knowledge alone can be life changing for people, even if they never go on to invest at all. So many in our society were taught that if they didn’t have money, they themselves were less valuable, less intelligent, or somehow unworthy. Or if they were able to get rich, they would be loved, intelligent, safe, or worthy of being loved. This is a complete lie, a lie told and perpetuated for centuries by those who control the existing system. This whole belief system comes from us obfuscating the truth, and hiding how our social and economic systems work.

Money is just a tool. While Money will never buy happiness, safety, acceptance, or love, it can be a wonderful and useful idea that helps us interact without violence, create new value, help others, provide for our families and loved ones, and help reduce suffering in our own lives.

So, with that (again… rather long 😅) primer out of the way, let’s get started.

Try to time the market (Seriously, please don’t)

Put yourself in a position where you have to sell when the markets are down

Freak out and sell when markets are crashing (you knew this was eventually going to happen before you bought in, right?)

Actively trade, think you can “outsmart” the market, or obsess about short term prices, technical analysis, and charts

Make investment decisions in a highly emotional state (meditate, damn it! 🧘🧘‍♀️)

Listen to people who only talk about prices going up, or flashy nonsense peddlers on YouTube

Use leverage, invest with borrowed money, or otherwise gamble & try to get rich overnight

Buy things that you don’t understand

Buy things with no fundamental value

Buy things because your friends are buying them

Buy things because they’re going up in price

FOMO into hype, Memecoins, NFTs, or prices going up

Think that markets will “only go up” from here, or think that you can have an asset class with 10-100x upside, without having the occasional 50-80%+ bear market

Ignore the fact that the dopamine hit that comes from checking prices, making money, and getting excited is a drug

Ignore the fact that fear puts your brain in survival mode, and your IQ drops through the floor

Think you are a perfectly rational, unemotional person (none of us are ☺️)