Crypto Experiments

Something I personally have started doing alongside managing Rolly Dino Studios is that I have begun experimenting with cryptocurrencies. Initially I was met with success, right up until the major slump that most people are probably at least vaguely aware has hit both the crypto and stock markets (the latter less-so from what I have seen). Frankly, I don't see these dips in value of both stocks and crypto's as anything but an opportunity to leverage my principal cash, buying more now per dollar than I could have a month ago, with the reasonable expectation that at some point the value of these token goods will increase and result in profits down the road.

One of the things I have been doing with crypto (besides hope that the rate of profit outpaces the rate of inflation), is use the BlockReward platform, a survey-site that rewards your survey-completions with an in-system crypto that you can then redeem. I simply pick a survey to see if it's still available, and if it is, I answer the proffered questions to the best of my ability and if my demographics qualify, I get a little something added to my BlockReward wallet.

Pros: The upside is that it's a relatively low-effort way to accumulate crypto-currencies without having to actually spend your own money.

Cons: There's two of them, but it's up to each individual to decide whether they outweigh the pro above.

1. Their in-system crypto (b) is tied directly to the USD, meaning that as inflation strips the dollar's buying power, so does BlockReward's currency. Given that it's a 1000b:$1 ratio, the rate of loss really isn't that noticeable except over time; your 2000b (the in-system currency) from 3 years ago would get more crypto per use, just because the USD could get more per use. That's not even taking into account the insane growth crypto's have had in that time (and there's nothing special about the 3-years number, I just pulled it out of the air to make a point).

2. Given the rate of (b) rewards for completing surveys and the time taken to complete them, to treat this as a legitimate source of income puts you at 5%-10% of the Federal Minimum Wage per hour. And this assumes that you complete a survey (between demographic disqualifications and system errors, I probably complete 1 survey out of every 3-5 attempted, on average). While they do offer bonus ways of earning (b), they're almost always a percentage of what you've already earned (or spent, in the case of the deals-earnings where you spend $$$ on a partner's website, and they reward you will so much (b) based on how much you spent - terrible rate of return). For example: because of surveys and similar tasks, I have earned over a certain amount and am considered a Silver member, which means that every time I earn (b) from a survey (my primary activity out of their offerings), I now get... (wait for it) ...1% bonus. Being that the majority of surveys reward between 100b and 500b (though occasionally one might exceed 5000b), a 1% bonus makes those earn 101b, 505b, or 5050b (respectively), and considering the 1000:1 ratio, that means a 20min survey nets you: $0.50-ish, on average.

In Conclusion: BlockReward is a great hobbyist-level way of accumulating crypto without having to pay a cent for it. Especially if you work or attend school remotely and have amazing computer-multi-tasking skills. As your overall earnings raise you through the membership tiers, the pittance bonuses actually start to mean something. A small something, but something nonetheless.

But, by no means could/should it ever be considered a way to make it rich with crypto: the earnings just aren't enough.

Your best bet is to either learn how to mine crypto with the machine(s) you have, or invest your own cash (buy on the dip, sell on the peak, repeat), and use this as a small supplement.

I originally wrote all of this as a three-part post on my old Discord server (which I am retrofitting to eventually be the official Rolly Dino Studios discord) and decided with some encouragement to go ahead and share it here as a means of resuming the blogging schedule I've been failing at for the last month.

So yes, that ultimately is the big announcement of this blog: We're still around.

I'm investing personal principal into crypto while continuing to try and manage family projects.

Rolly Dino Studios will eventually have an official Discord server (launch goal of before the Fall '21 school semester kicks off nation-wide).

I hope my comments and experiences with BlockReward proves useful to someone. I haven't linked to the site because I'm not sure I want to fully endorse the platform, due to the cons I mentioned, and because I in no way am sponsored by them nor do I want any kind of liability coming back at me - these are just my thoughts, observations, and opinions about a good-concept platform whose execution I'm still undecided about.