I came in back in late June 2016, got like a few hundred off my first post and I couldn't believe I managed to amass quite a lot in such a small time-frame during the early days. Back then if I could liquidate everything when it was 4 USD, I would have bagged like 90 Bitcoins (back when it was sub-500). But nope, I powered-up everything and have not even clicked on power-down before. Just because it all seemed too much like easy money for me, no matter how valuable I think my writings are.

Did I regret not cashing out easy money? A little, as I look some of the early authors cashing out that sweet crypto while STEEM's price was plummeting. Personally I think 90 BTCs worth within 2 months just for blogging is too much by any standards. You'd be surprised that some early authors were complaining when their posts got into the region of 100s instead of 1000s lol. I've always been that way with money, much to the detriment of my financial life. Maybe I'm just naive for thinking that way lol.

It's actually getting a little disheartening since I've been seeing easy-money happening when I was employed as a sales engineer not wanting to deal with easy money (bribes are pretty common here). Could've just taken all my chances and life would've been easier lol.

But what I really hope is to see STEEM built on hard-work and cooperation - something with lasting value. And I can't possibly start to see change from happening if I don't do it myself. I'll grab the easy money only after if it feels justified :)

Thanks for the reminder, I barely existed anywhere online before Steemit so it still feel like too much hassle having multi-platforms. Plus it's kinda difficult since I write just about anything - not very good for a coherent social media presence..

Edit: just realised that its arguable that i couldve cashed out the easy money to spend on stuff to benefit the community. Oh well..