My Crypto Portfolio
It has been awhile since I’ve updated my crypto portfolio. Older readers of mine may remember my crypto mining days.
My most recent update of cryptocurrencies was back in December 2018 when had about USD 288 (or approximately RM1,256). I have not made any additional investments since then.
Moving forward, I’ll be updating my crypto portfolio hERE.
My Take on Luno Malaysia
I have recently moved all my coins – Bitcoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash to Luno’s platform.
The process was surprisingly simple and easy. Bear in mind that this is my first time sending / receiving coins.
It took around an hour for all my cryptocurrencies to arrive as they require confirmations on the blockchain.
As of today, my total crypto portfolio stands at RM3,808. For a roughly 1.5 year period, my return is about 200%.
I’ll be using Luno as a wallet to stash all my cryptocurrencies from this point on as well as an exchange to buy/sell.
The user interface is spot on and the support I’ve received from them with my inquiries has been outstanding.
Is Luno Safe? Is Luno Legit?
Safety-wise, Luno is the first regulated cryptocurrency exchange in Malaysia. And that’s saying something.
They’re regulated by SC so there’s really nothing for us to worry about fraud from Luno as an exchange.
A cyber attack however is something entirely different. Attacks and hacks on an exchange can happen and has happened in the past. But then again, there’s really nothing we can do about it.
Luno’s Wallet
Keeping your hard-earned bitcoins and other cryptos on Luno Malaysia itself is something all users can do. I myself do that but as my holdings grow in size, I will be thinking of moving them to a standalone wallet, maybe even an offline one.
Luno’s wallet is what is known as a custodial wallet. This means that your private keys are stored by a third party, in this case – Luno. Placing your coins in a custodial wallet is similar to the principles of placing your cash in a bank. The money remains yours, but you do not fully control your money when it is in their hands.
Advantages
- Interest generating. Some exchanges/custodians are giving you money to store your coins with them. Think of your coins as being used as a sort of money market fund. Hoping to see this come to Luno in the near future.
- Convenience. You’re able to manage all your funds in one place and at any time.
- You won’t lose or forget your private key and access to your coins.
Disadvantages
- The custodian has control over your money.
- Your coins can be seized by a court decision.
- If the wallet gets hacked, you may lose your coins.
Before you cry foul and move all your coins to your own private wallet, Luno actually has three layers of security for their wallets and your coins. The first layer is the industry standard where an external custodian secures the keys. This is for practical reasons otherwise moving funds would take too long.
The second and third layer is where the security intensifies and where the bulk of the coins are stored. Luno actually practices what they term ”deep freeze storage”. Essentially, the private key is broken up and stored in different places around the world.
For the reasons above, you may want to have a percentage of your coins with Luno and another in your own private wallet. If you plan to just hold for a very long time, keeping it on your own wallet would make more sense. Just don’t forget your keys.
However, if and when Luno announces the interest bearing feature, I think a lot of bitcoin holders will see value in keeping their coins with Luno.
As for security on your own side, please, please set up 2-Factor Authentication for your accounts. Better safe than sorry especially if you’ve got a significant percentage in cryptocurrencies.
Luno Malaysia’s Fees
First off, sending and receiving your cryptocurrencies. When you receive, Luno doesn’t charge a fee. When you send, you’re charged a fee.
When actually buying and selling on Luno’s exchange, to save on fees, forget instant buy/sell and instead, do a post order. Tick the ”post-only order” and you’ll see the difference in your fees.
Besides that, to get a full picture of other fees, you can visit Luno’s page on it hERE.
Why Bitcoin?
As always, prior research and due diligence on your part is required before making investments. For any asset class.
I’ve been monitoring cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin on and off for a few years now and I have my reasons for investing in it.
My first venture into cryptocurrency was back in December 2018. I invested USD 288 (or approximately RM1,256) back then.
Back in August 2020, my portfolio stood at RM3,808.
Cryptocurrency investment has been one of my biggest regrets. I regret not having put more money here. Of course, hindsight is always 20-20 but nonetheless, it is one of many regrets for me.
BITCOIN AS A STORE OF VALUE
Firstly, I see bitcoin as digital gold. As we transition to a digital economy, bitcoin will eventually challenge gold as a global store of value.
Like gold, bitcoin is limited in its supply. Bitcoin is limited to only 21 million. Forever. Not only is bitcoin scarce and durable like gold, but bitcoin also improves upon many of physical gold’s characteristics. Bitcoin is divisible, verifiable, portable, and transferable.
If bitcoin were to take just a 10% share of the physical gold market, we could see its value increase 5X to $1 trillion.
With the continuous printing of money, bitcoin has been viewed as an asset similar to gold in the modern world as a hedge against inflation. A good article on this can be read hERE.
BITCOIN’S POTENTIAL
My next reason for investing in bitcoin is its sheer potential upside. There are many theories and thoughts on bitcoin’s adoption as a currency. Or even as a global settlement network for banks as businesses.
We’ve already seen PayPal recently move in that direction. Payment systems like Square Inc have bought into bitcoin. The potential is there. Unlike gold, gold has already plateaued whereas bitcoin’s potential is still vast.
I’ll be looking closely at Bitcoin and Ethereum especially moving forward. Although volatile in nature, with bigger upside potential, I’ll prefer buying Bitcoin to Gold when it comes to hedging.
Luno Malaysia Promo Code
As part of a collaboration with Luno Malaysia, we’ve come up with the perfect promotion for new users wanting to invest in Bitcoin.
Using the following code – LNDVDMAGIC50 , you will get RM50 worth of Bitcoin when you buy RM500 or more. That’s an instant 10% return on your investment.
If you’ve been wanting to own some Bitcoins, now is really the time to start.
Unfortunately, this promo is for new users only. Also, make sure you use Luno’s instant buy (instead of a post-order) function to be eligible for this code.
The full promo rules can be accessed hERE.
Please go through them carefully to meet the criteria for that RM50.
End.
As of 30 April 2020, my crypto portfolio worth RM3,808 consists of the following.
- Bitcoin – RM2,763
- Ethereum – RM1,039
- Bitcoin Cash – RM4
I’ll be updating my crypto portfolio hERE.
Let’s see where the next wave will take us.
Onwards and upwards!