I just posted a
Medium article. In it, I recount the days Ethereum was minable and how I used all the money made from mining would go to alcohol. Here is the article:
I was browsing YouTube one summer day back in 2019. I had just declared bankruptcy two years earlier. Nevertheless, I was browsing videos on credit card rewards. I was curious and wanted to learn more.
I came across a video by a YouTuber who goes by the name Graham Stephan. His video explained which credit cards in his opinion were the best for cashback rewards and free travel. I was intrigued by the video.
Being curious, I decided to search YouTube for “how to become a millionaire”. I found another Graham Stephan video where he gives his advise to become a millionaire. He suggested not selling your time for money. He also mentioned his personal favorite investment strategy which was real estate.
After watching the video, I thought to myself “what kind of idiot doesn’t want to be a millionaire?” From that day forward, I decided I wanted to buy a penthouse in a high-rise condominium building.
At the time, I didn’t have a lot of money. I was addicted to cigarettes and alcohol and smoked and drank a lot. Regardless, I gave a feeble attempt to follow his advise. I was working at a recycling factory and I was making DoorDash deliveries on my bicycle. I talked to my bank and they suggested I open up a Tax Free Savings Account or TFSA. I managed to contribute $25 a week into that investment account.
Throughout 2019, I continued to watch Stephan and other financial YouTube videos. I opened another TFSA with Wealthsimple and started buying REITs and index funds.
In November of 2019, my mother bought me a gaming PC. At first I thought I didn’t need a computer and asked her to invest the money in index funds. She refused this request and I got upset. As I was thinking about it, I realized I could buy a gaming PC and learn mining. So I took the computer and learned how to mine on Windows.
Then, the pandemic hit and I lost my job. I also decided delivering DoorDash wasn’t for me. I resumed studying web development. Granted, the entire time I was doing so, I was drinking quite a bit, which impacted my performance.
About after a month of that, the Canadian government announced Covid Emergency Relief Benefit (CERB). The government gave every Canadian $2,000 a month to whoever applied for it. It was only for people who made $5000 in 2019 or more, but a lot of people who didn’t make that ended up applying. The governments rational was people lost their jobs and they needed money.
At this point, now that I suddenly had a significantly higher income, I only drank more. I also started buying more expensive cigarettes. I also spent $4000 on travelling to other parts of Canada. I was guilty of increasing my spending after my income increased, something Stephan clearly states not to do in his videos.
In late 2020, I checked myself into a detox centre, I had done this several times throughout 2020. Each time I left the detox centre because I couldn’t smoke cigarettes and I wanted to smoke, so I left. I know, I shouldn’t have done that but I did. I took myself to a hospital emergency room later that year to get committed into a psychiatric unit and detox there. I was then referred to a treatment centre.
After being discharged, I went a day without drinking and then I started again. I somehow managed to put 0.2 ETH into an Aave account as well as stake some of the Ethereum I had on a staking pool. When Ethereum was minable, I managed to save a bit.
At this point my mother was sending me $40 a day. My grandmother left me an inheritance for me when she passed away. For a while, I managed to live with this $40 a day mean. This is probably the only reason why I didn’t sell my Ethereum earlier.
It was my turn to go to the treatment centre I was referred to. Unfortunately, this specific centre was not a good fit. I was not allowed to use my laptop there, just my phone. It has occurred to me after doing this several times that when I sober up, I become more eager to go and do web development. Since that treatment centre was too old fashioned, after a month I discharged myself. I began drinking again three months later.
Honestly, the only progress I made to becoming a millionaire that year was buying a second gaming computer as well as buying the parts for a eight GPU mining computer. I continued to mine Ethereum and as usual, as soon as I got any Ethereum, I would immediately sell it to go buy alcohol and marijuana.
By the middle of 2021, since I was not on CERB anymore, I started withdrawing funds from my TFSA to go buy more alcohol. At this point I was drinking a 40oz bottle of rum every day. I also sold my index funds and other stock just to fund my addiction.
In the rest of 2021, I asked my mother for Amazon gift cards (since she didn’t trust me with cash) to buy the rest of the parts I needed for the eight card mining rig, and in January 2022, since I have a medical condition impacting my fine motor skills, I asked my friend to build the rig. I learned HiveOS and began mining.
I decided to try a different treatment centre. I went to my mental health team and got an addiction counselor. She referred me to a facility that specialized in both mental health and addiction. I got the news I was accepted a few months later. I had to wait for eight months before it was my turn to get in.
I now had three mining computers and I kept buying GPUs. I knew mining was ending soon, but I read a post on BitcoinTalk which said I could sell my GPUs before the Ethereum merge happened. I decided to keep these cards however, because I get free electricity.
I probably don’t have to tell you what I did with the Ethereum. When I got it, I would sell it to go buy alcohol. This alcohol thing was seriously getting in the way of becoming a millionaire. Ethereum mining ended and at this point I took my Ether off Aave and the staking pool and drank it. At around the same time Ethereum mining ended so did the $40 from my mother.
It was around this time I started panhandling to pay for my beer and cigarettes. My situation was not good. I was getting into fights with other panhandlers and I got dirty looks from the people I solicited from.
This continued until mid-December 2022. The only assets I had after almost four years of deciding to become rich were my mining computers. Looking back, probably the only reason why I didn’t sell those computers was that I struggle with people pleasing. I didn’t want to sell my computers because I didn’t want to get less than what they worth. I struggle with standing my ground. I am glad I didn’t sell because the future of GPU mining is looking better now.
It was my turn to get into the other treatment centre. Because it is also a psychiatriac facility at the same time. I knew going in I would have no choice but to stay there. In the first month, I was on a locked unit. I could only go out for smoke breaks at certian times. I engaged in the program and within a month, I got moved to an unlocked unit.
The urge to “go code” hit me again. This treatment centre was more modern and they allowed laptops. I didn’t have much money, so I googled “free computer” and I found an organization that gives out subsidized laptops.
Not sure how I was going to pay for the laptop, I got an email from a crypto exchange that I thought stole some bitcoin I bought from them. They said they had liquidated my bitcoin and they wanted to give me the money. They sent it and I was able to buy the laptop.
After receiving the laptop I began coding. I learned Tailwind CSS and I created a website asking for help. I thought to myself I’m a pretty good writer, and I thought if the layout was nice and I published some good articles, there’s a chance someone will donate to me.
And that leads me to today. It has been three months in the treatment and I have six more to go. I am doing well here. I go to three groups a day and I also have time to work on my website. I still have those mining computers, however because I’m not at home to monitor them, buy building shut them off. I figure when I go to my new housing I could mine there.
My future is looking good. I continue to learn skills to remain sober. The doctor also put me on a medication that reduces cravings. I now can stop myself from drinking.
As for becoming a millionaire, all I have to do now is stop smoking. I continue to work on a website and I’m begging to form a plan to achieve my goal. I plan to use any of my donations to buy REITs and index funds again. And no, ‘m not going to sell them for beer money.
While I kind-of-sort-of been working on my millionaire goal for almost four years now, I only really started when I came to the treatment centre. I have achieved a lot more in the last three months out of the entire four years I have been at this. It’s been a struggle, but now I’m in the perfect place now to break my addiction to alcohol forever.
