Showing posts with label $10000 investment challenge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label $10000 investment challenge. Show all posts

Thursday, August 14, 2025

$10,000 Investment Challenge- Update 8/14/2025- Down big time at the moment

 

All in on Apecoin since January 2025.  Am I an idiot?  It sure looks like it... for now.  


Way back in December of 2023, I tried to open up a crypto account, but was unable to, because I had a cheap Obama phone.  I thought it was a good time to hop into some crypto, but couldn't open an account.  So I decided to do a paper trading experiment instead.  My question was:

If I had $10,000 to invest on that day (12/11/2023), what would I invest it in?

This is, and has always been a paper trading exercise.  It's an imaginary investment account, making imaginary trades, based on market conditions at the time of each trade (including adding in gas fees, etc.). 


I picked a handful of cryptos, and have traded in and out (again, purely imaginary- paper trades) since.  In a few months, the paper trade fund was up 40%.  I've traded in and out of a handful of cryptos, mostly taking profits on those that were up, and re-investing in others.  As of January of 2025, this was my paper trade account:

8,685.31 Apecoin

$392.81 in cash 

Right now, on August 14 2025, Apecoin is at 60 cents per coin.  Total value of my paper trading account currently is:

 $5,211.19 in Apecoin, plus $392.81, for a current total of $5,604.  

At this point, this paper trading experiment is down 44%, over 20 months.  But, my investment window, when I expected this to be a worthwhile investment, has been late 2025 or early 2026 from the start.  

My bet was that this Apecoin would rise to a solid investment between July 1, 2025, and June 30, 2026.  Yes, it's down big right now, but we're only 6 weeks into the window I was aiming for.  As of right now, buying Bitcoin, Eth, or Solana over this time period would have paid off more at this point.  Buying Nvidia stock would have paid off more at this point.  Even buying gold or silver bullion would have paid off more at this point. 

I thought gold was going to go up some in late 2023, but honestly, gold has really surprised me since.  That's mostly because this whole scenario is playing out much slower than I thought it would.  But it's still playing out.  

Here's why I'm hanging onto the Apecoin in my imaginary paper trade account, and riding it out.  I think we are dramatically overdue for a major correction in both stocks and crypto.  I don't think $121,000 Bitcoin is the peak of this crypto cycle, but I think we're near the short term peak.  

I believe we will see a major financial crash this year, that's already overdue.  I think a huge ($5 to $10 TRILLION) bailout will follow, over the course of several many months, after a major correction, we will see a huge liquidity wave, which will send stocks and crypto back up, gold and silver down.  The now expected decline of interest rates over the next year is lining up with this idea, as is the massive slowing of real estate in the parts of the U.S. that boomed over the last several years.  There's also the commercial real estate collapse (see my Simulpocalypse Series on Substack for more on that).  Anyhow, when the bailout money surges into financial markets, probably in the spring of 2026, we will see a prolonged surge in crypto.  I think in mid to late 2026, maybe early 2027, we will see $150,000 Bitcoin, and over time, huge rises in many other cryptos.  That is the scenario I was betting on from the start.  

My assessment may be completely wrong, of course.  It's already running somewhat behind the timeline I had in mind, but I'm sticking with this overall assessment.  So I don't care that I'm all in on Apecoin when it's at 60 cents a coin.  This time next year, we'll know if my $10,000 Investment challenge was sound thinking or not.  

Checking this today, I decided to write a post, even though it's down, and I'm making no changes, because I should show when things are not going well, as well as when they are going well.  



Wednesday, January 22, 2025

$10,000 Investment Challenge (paper trade) - 1/21/2025


 Apecoin.  Sold all the crypto in this paper trade experiment and bought more Apecoin.  Going to let them ride out the remainder of this crypto cycle...


This post is a paper trading (pretend) experiment, and should not be taken as financial advice.  Read the disclaimer above.

On December 11, 2023, I tried to open a crypto account, so I could get at least a little money into the market to take advantage of the current crypto cycle.  Because of my lame Obama phone, I wasn't able to transfer money into the account.  So I decided to do a paper trading experiment instead.  Here was the idea, " If I had $10,000 right now (12/11/2023), where would I invest it?"  Not just crypto, but any investment vehicle.  I began the paper trading experiment, a pretend account, then.  You can see the original post at this link.  I bought and sold a bit, and by March 11, 2024, this was my portfolio of cryptos:

.011995 BTC (Bitcoin)

.2259 Eth (Ethereum)

7.647 SOL (Solana)

56.931 AVAX (Avalanche)

74.962 DOT (Polkadot)

595.298 Matic (Polygon)

2,685.31 APE (Apecoin)

490.196  SAND(Sandbox)

510.204 MANA (Decentraland)

After March 2024, the portfolio was up about 40%, and I cashed out some of the positions, and bought other cryptos.  I saw no reason to "invest" in stocks, gold, or anything else.  From the very beginning, my timeline was what I believed would happen in crypto by late 2025 or early 2026.  That's still the timeline I'm following.  I just let everything ride, after March 2024.  

Yesterday, January 21, 2025, I decided to "sell" everything in this porfolio, except Apecoin, at the prices available about 12:45 pm Pacific time.  Again, this is just a pretend account, a "paper trading" experiment, to see how my ideas would perform.  Here are the prices I "sold" each crypto at yesterday (1/21/2025):

Bitcoin (BTC) - $105,950.64

Ethereum (ETH)- $3,308.78

Solana (SOL) - $253.79

Polygon (Matic) - $ .45

Sandbox (SAND)- $ .59

Decentraland (MANA) - $ .50

Polkadot (DOT) - $6.70

Avalanche (AVAX) - $37.03

That pretend (again, this is a paper trading experiment) sale yielded $7,244.01, less 5% estimated gas fees, for a total of $6,881.81

That left my portfolio with just 2,685 Apecoin (APE)  

and $6,881.81 in cash

I took the proceeds and bought 6,000 more Apecoin (APE) at $1.03 each, which cost $6,180, plus a 5% gas fee, for a total of $6,489

So now, just over 13 months into my "$10,000 Investment Challenge" my portfolio consists of:

8,685.31 Apecoin (APE) 

and $392.81 cash in the account

Total value after 13+ months, Apecoin and cash, equals $9338.63

So the account is down about $660 from the original $10,000 at this point, but I'm 100% OK with that, since Apecoin is out of favor right now, and sitting at $1.03 per coin.  APE peaked at around $27, and hovered between $3 and $7 for much of its lifetime.  I have faith in Yuga Labs, creators of the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT's, Mutant Ape NFT's, the Otherside NFT/gaming metaverse, and, of course, Apecoin, the unit of trade in all those realms.  So I'm going all in on Apecoin at this point for my $10,000 investment challenge.  Again, this is a paper trade, a pretend experiment, and should not be taken as financial advice.

Here are links to all the posts for my $10,000 Investment Challenge:

$10,000 Investment Challenge- December 11, 2023

$10,000 Investment Challenge- December 21, 2023

$10,000 Investment Challenge- February 21, 2024

$10,000 Investment Challenge- February 28, 2024

$10,000 Investment Challenge- March 11, 2024


I do most of my writing on Substack now, a platform designed specifically for writers.  Check it out:

Steve Emig The White Bear Substack

Monday, March 11, 2024

The $10,000 Investment Challenge (paper trade) - Up 40% in three months!

Numba go up.  Solana has more than doubled in price since I started this paper trading experiment on December 11, 2023.  I bought into it at $69.65, and it was $147.80 today when I took some profits.

Disclaimer

Just a reminder, this is a paper trading exercise, which began with this blog post, on December 11, 2023.  I opened a Coinbase account, but was unable to put any money into it, because of my cheap ass phone.  That really pissed me off, since I knew the next big Bitcoin/crypto bull market was already underway.  I decided to to pretend I had $10,000 to invest in anything, and do a paper trading experiment instead.  This whole thing started with this November 14th, 2023 post, about the coming Bitcoin bull market potential, due to the BTF spot ETF's and the upcoming Bitcoin halving.  So I don't actually have $10,000 invested in crypto, and this experiment should not be taken as investing advice.  See the Disclaimer above.

Anyhow, I clicked on the news today and saw that Bitcoin was up over $72,000 per coin, a new all time high.  I knew Solana, the early star of my pretend portfolio of cryptos, was about double from where I bought in, on December 11th, 2023.  Sure enough, about 8:25 am PDT this morning, Solana was $147.80 per coin.  I initially bought into SOL at $69.65.   Here's where my portfolio stood after the last trades, in this February 21st, 2024 post.  So here's today's actions:

I sold 7 SOL (Solana) @ $147.80.  That came to $1,034.60, minus the 5% gas fee I'm figuring per transaction, which was $51.73.  That left me with $982.87.  

I took that $982.87 and bought 405.97 APE (Apecoin) at $2.30 per APE, after a $49.14 fee, that cost me $933,73.  

Now, my crypto (paper trading) portfolio consists of:

.011995 BTC (Bitcoin)

.2259 Eth (Ethereum)

7.647 SOL (Solana)

56.931 AVAX (Avalanche)

74.962 DOT (Polkadot)

595.298 Matic (Polygon)

2,685.31 APE (Apecoin)

490.196  SAND(Sandbox)

510.204 MANA (Decentraland)

The total value of this portfolio, that started with $10,000 on December 11, 2023, now ads up to :  $14,017.97

So it's up over 40%, after gas fees, in three months.  I'll take it.  

At this point, my 7.647 Solana are completely paid for by profits from selling Solana.  So I'm "playing with house money," as a gambler would say.  I own those free and clear in this portfolio.  I put the profits into more Apecoin, because I'm a big fan of Yuga Labs, and think APE is a solid bet, that could go 3X to 14 X from here, based on its past prices.  It could go up even more.  Time will tell.  

Again, this is a paper trading portfolio, these are pretend investments.  This is an experiment, since I couldn't put money into an actual account to buy crypto when I really wanted to.  

I've been writing on many other topics on Substack, a platform designed specifically for writers, check it out:

Steve Emig The White Bear's Substack


Blogger's note- 3/24/2024- When I wrote this post, I didn't link all the previous posts about my $10,000 investment paper trading experiment, or the original post from last November, which led up to this post.  So now, on March 24th, I'm adding those links, but not changing anything else in this post, not one character.  So here are the links of the previous posts in this series.  

November 14, 2023- The Great Bitcoin Play of 2023-2025  Bitcoin was about $36,366

December 11, 2023- The $10,000 paper trade investment challenge Bitcoin was about $41,935

December 21, 2023- The $10,000 investment challenge paper trade  Bitcoin was about $43, 875

February 21, 2024- My $10,000 investment paper trading exercise- two months in  Bitcoin was about $51, 109

February 28, 2024- My $10,000 investment challenge- paper trading- Taking profits! Bitcoin was about $61,069

March 11, 2024- Bitcoin was about $ $69,000, after an intra day peak of over $72,000

March 24, 2024- Bitcoin is $69,633 today, as I was adding this note to this post.  Bitcoin, and other cryptos, have largely backed off the last few days.  It's the end of March, 2024, and the Bitcoin halving is supposed to happen sometime in April.  

Much like before the Bitcoin ETFs got approved in January, the price rose up before the event, and then backed off shortly before the ETF's got approved, and then started moving up again a short time afterwards.  I expected Bitcoin to take a break for a while before the halving, since there's been such a good rally.  Yes, the peak around $72,000 could be the top of this Bitcoin bear market.  But I, personally, don't think so.  The trough to peak spread on the last two Bitcoin bull markets were 18X in 2017, and 17X in 2021.  If that happens again, Bitcoin would hit $282,000 to $298,000.  I think it's unlikely Bitcoin will grow that much this cycle, but those numbers make a rise to $120,000 to $150,000 at the peak, seem quite plausible.  I think Bitcoin, and crypto in general, is just taking a break, which could very well be manipulation by Wall Street, pushing down prices so the companies that opened up the Bitcoin ETF's can buy more BTC before the halving, at a cheaper price.  That might be what's going on right now.  My educated guess is that Bitcoin will chill out for a couple of weeks, maybe a month or so, then, after the halving, continue the bouncy upward rise that has been happening the last 2-3 months.  Again, this is speculation on my part, this is not meant at financial advice, it's simply one person's opinion.  Read the Disclaimer linked above, and always do your own research and due diligence before making any investment decisions.   

 

Wednesday, February 28, 2024

My $10,000 Investment Challenge- paper trading- Taking profits!


Mark Yusko is one of my favorite crypto people to listen to.  He's on a podcast every Staurday morning on Blockworks Macro's "On the Margin" podcast.  The Bitcoin halving due in 2024 should happen in April.  The ETF's and an overall change in sentiment has driven Bitcoin up from a cycle low around $16,000 per coin in late 2022, to peak over $63,000 this morning.  


I wasn't planning to write another post about my $10,000 Investment Challenge for a couple of more months.  Then I checked the markets this morning, and Bitcoin was well over $60,000.  By the time I decided to "take some profits" in my experimental investments, Bitcoin was at $61,069.  Again, this is a paper trading experiment I began on December 21, 2023.  I did not actually invest any money.  I'm just paper trading, pretending to trade, as an experiment, since I couldn't do it for real.  I opened a Coinbase account, but wasn't able to transfer any money into it, because I have a free Obama phone, apparently.  The account wouldn't accept it for my security check to transfer funds.  That pissed me of.  So I decided to paper trade $10,000, starting 12/21/2023.  I could "invest" in anything, and chose to put it all in crypto.  

Today's changes:  I sold half of my Bitcoin for $61,069.39 per BTC.  I sold half of my Eth for $3,352.28 per Eth.  I sold 7 SOL (Solana) for $114.56 per Sol.  I figure 5% gas fees for each purchase or sale.  Here's how that works out.  

Sold: .011995 Bitcoin for $61,069.39 per BTC = $732.53  less 5% fees ($36.63) = $695.90
Sold: .2259 Ethereum for $3,352.28 per Eth = $757.28, less 5% fees ($37.86) = $719.82
Sold:  7 Solana for $114.56 per SOL = $801.92, less 5% fees ($40.10) = $761.82

Total profits taken today- $2,177.54

Then I put all of that $2,177.54 into Apecoin which was at $1.98 per APE 
After 5% fee, that's $2068.66 into Apecoin at $1.98 = 1,044.78 APE

This puts my total investment into crypto as follows:

.011995 Bitcoin
.2259 Ethereum
14.647 Solana
56.931 Avalanche
74.962 Polkadot
595.298 Polygon
2,279.34 Apecoin
490.196 Sandbox
510.204 Decentraland

Total Value of these right now (11:45 am Pacific, 2/28/2024)  $11,028.06
Prices dropped a bit since I "traded" this morning.

So the whole basket of my cryptos, in this experiment, is up over 10% in less than 3 months, after all fees are covered.  Not bad.  

For any of you experienced gamblers or investors out there, you may have realized that the Bitcoin, Eth, Solana, and Apecoin are now all paid for in pretty good prices.  I now have paid $21,183.82 per Bitcoin for the BTC I have (it's now $60,233).  I've paid $1,018.95 per Ethereum for the Eth I now have (it's now $3,232).  I've paid $67.25 per Solana for the SOL I now have (it's now $111.66).  I'm not quite totally playing with "house money," but I can just let all those ride, with no fear, and see how high they go.  

I'm over $4,000 into Apecoin, which is my main pick of this whole group, for $1.78 per APE.  Apecoin is the token of Yuga Labs, who created the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT's, Bored Ape Kennel Club NFT's the Otherside gaming metaverse (that's NFT friendly), and own the Crypto Punks, and other Old School NFT's.  Apecoin is at $1.84 as I'm finishing this post, and it hovered in the $6 to $7 range for a long time, before the crash.  APE peaked around $27 shortly after it debuted, so it has a ton of room to run.  And the FOMO crypto market of this cycle, and the Bitcoin halving, haven't even happened yet.  I'm pretty happy with this basket of cryptos now.  

Here are the previous posts in this series:





There are NO paid links in this post.

I've been doing a lot of writing on Substack lately, a platform designed specifically for writers, check it out:



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