This is my first ever blog on steemit, I hope you can gain something from the information I'd like to share with you. Food for thought.

The way we currently live and work, hours on-end, is changing. I find this change to be rather positive and I look forward to a brighter decentralized future. After all, change is inevitable and power will sooner than later be restored back to the people!

From the First work with cryptographically secured chain of blocks in 1991 by Stuart Haber and W. Scott Stornetta, to the individual or group of people who had conceptualized the first Blockchain in 2008, known as Satoshi Nakamoto. The Blockchain has come to stay. Why you may ask?

Well, to put it simply, blockchain technology allows us to solve problems, in a secure manner through our digital world. Bitcoin, being the initiator and paving the way for other crypto-currencies has managed to solve the biggest complication of all, known as the problem of double spending. In a simmilar manner, thousands of different coins have adopted this technology and are now their own pathway to solving different problems, which are ultimately aimed to make peoples lives easier. Allow me to elaborate with some examples:

• TelCoin
  Aims to use existing services of accreditation over mobile networks to offer the ability of creating a secure place to store TelCoin currency. This is especially useful in third world countries where banks may not be established or for individuals who are not eligible to open an account or do not have access to a nearby bank. Remember that storing cash also poses a security issue as one needs to make sure that their hard worked money is not stolen.

• FileCoin
  Aims so solve the problem of massive amounts of storage being wasted in both data centers and personal computers. Filecoin will utilize this space through a decentralized and secure manner over the internet, which will improve not only security and speed, but also provide cloud storage services at a competitively low price.

• Dtube & Steemit
  Both new upcoming social medial platforms that reward users who generate good content as well as uncovering the next big thing in terms of social content and trends.

So how is all this beneficial?

Well, lets start putting things into prospective.

It is my personal belief that the ultimate future holds crypto-currencies at the heart of entirely decentralized systems. The systems which we will be using to purchase or provide goods and services. Eventually, everything will become tokenized. Here are some of the reasons that lead to this conclusion:

1. Safety

   • During a time of Financial Crisis
     During the Financial Crisis in Greece, 2007 and including but not limited to Cyprus 2012 on wards, many governments have taken money directly from citizens bank accounts without any prior notice or consent. Withdrawal amounts were then limited and many citizens were left with their remaining debt to pay if any.

   • During a time of War
     Under war circumstances, in many countries including but not limited to Cyprus, banks shut down and all information is destroyed. Whilst it is good news to many in debt, as it is all erased, the hard-working citizen, that has been saving for quite some time, has just lost his/her savings along with the dream that went with it. Similarly people are left without a currency to expend during times of need.

   Hypothetically speaking, if everyone's money was stored in a form of crypto-currency, then that money would be safe. No centralized system would be capable to act in a manner which is against your wishes and can potentially leave you stranded.

2. Transition from Cash to Plastic Money

   • Over the years, we have seen a transition from paper money, to Plastic (digital) money, since the banks have been able to provision credit/debit cards to customers. To keep it short, history will always repeat itself, and cash will eventually be phased out.

     In terms of sustainability, well let's see,

     1. Our population doesn't seem to be shrinking
     2. Our limited resources are not spread evenly and are monopolized by governments and the elite
     3. Our Actions as humans in the presence of greed is causing our planet to die

With the above noted, it is simply inefficient and wrong to continue destroying our ecosystem to print money. According to reports many of the currencies are actually made of cotton - US paper bills are 75% cotton - which takes large amounts of pesticides and water to produce. Similarly it is not wise to smelt metal for coins. Ultimately the physical currency that we are utilizing today will also have to be replaced as notes and coins are torn, burnt or lost. It costs money to print money.

Some may argue - "well some countries such as Canada and Australia have gone ahead to create polymer banknotes that are waterproof and do not rip or tear", but as with any physical form of money it can still be misplaced, stolen or destroyed as mentioned earlier.

3.Transaction Speed and Fees

• As we all know, a national bank transfer is relatively quick, especially if both sender and receiver are utilizing the same bank. However, if you are trying to wire money overseas, your transaction will typically take 3-4 working days. Send the money at the wrong time, and you could be waiting for up to a week.

• On a similar note. you will be charged several times, including but not limited to the actual transaction, then the exchange rate provisioned at the time of the exchange (This is not the exchange rate your see online, banks use this rate as a base-rate, then add their own margins on top) and lastly the receiver may also be charged once more upon receiving the final amount. These are just a few ways that banks make money, for themselves.

Fortunately, crypto-currencies have overcome these issues and is only a matter of time before individuals discover, that both national and international transactions can be made in a matter of minutes whilst fees are kept to a minimum if any! After all, time is money and whilst it may not matter for an individual, it certainly makes an impact on a larger organisation.

So how is all this going to make me financially free?

Well, for a start, it is important to understand that with all the crypto revolution that is going on, we're just at the early adopter's stage. Whilst some people believe that the opportunity to invest and make real money was gone with the rise of bitcoin, others are looking at alt-coins to identify which ones are suitable to solve the issues our planet is facing.

If you haven't guessed already, now is the time to be investing into crypto. At this early adopter's stage, not many individuals are familiar with Bitcoin, let alone blockchain technology and alt-coins, yet the total market cap had gone beyond 800 Billion USD at the start of 2018.

Many serious coins such as Cardano do not spend money for advertising as of yet. Instead, all available funds are redirected towards real progress in building their platform. In that sense, what do you think is going to happen once platforms are released and become readily available, what about when everyone has access to a wallet and everything is tokenized? It is simply a matter of time before people ultimately give value, to the coins that successfully resolve the the issues they are trying to overcome.

So how can you get involved?

The most direct way to get involved with crypto-currencies is to just head on over to coinbase and purchase it directly. However, this isn't necessarily possible for everyone. For instance, Countries such as Saudi Arabia are blocked off by coinbase by the Saudi Government. Not to worry though, there are several other ways to get involved. Start by installing a wallet that suits your needs.

• Long Term Buy and Hold is pretty much self explanatory. Once you have your desired crypto in your wallet you can just go ahead and create an account on an exchange platform such as Binance, Bittrex or Poloniex. From there you will be able to exchange your desired amount of one crypto currency into another. For instance, you could trade Etherium (ETH) for Cardano (ADA). Make sure you have done the relevant research and feel comfortable with the currency you end up investing in. Reading the White Papers is often one of the best places to start.

• ICOs also have a White Paper, with the difference that ICOs are at a pre-launch stage and are simply advertising their idea of solving a problem, in order to raise funds and begin the project. Investing in ICOs can make you a millionaire over short period of time. However, this doesn't go without saying that, there is some serious research to be done and sufficient funds to be available for investing.

Mining is another way to earn Crypto-currencies. Mining can be split into two different types per say.

• Crypto Mining is a process whereby one can utilize a GPU (graphics card) to confirm transactions on the network. The person mining is then eligible to receive a reward payable in crypto based on the work done accordingly. An easy way to do this on a windows machine would be by downloading the relevant version of Nicehash Miner in accordance to your available hardware (GPU - AMD/NVIDIA).

• Data Mining is simply a term used to identify the potential to earn crypto through renting out your free disk space over the internet. You can begin "mining" by downloading and setting up Storj, Filecoin, Sia or Burstcoin. Simply have a look at which coin you believe in, in terms of problem solving approaches.

• Crypto Bot Trading may not be for everyone, as many people still have the idea in their minds that they need to keep a close eye throughout the days and nights, to ensure they can be profitable. Well in part, this is true, but with the introduction of automated trading bots that dynamically base their trading strategies on user pre-set conditions, can make your trading life easier and help you sleep! Profit Trailer is one of my recommendations along with the add-on Profit Feeder together they will set you back 0.05 BTC. If you're feeling brave, up for a challenge, and wanna save some money, then you can go ahead and just purchase Profit trailer and save yourself 0.02 BTC. Regardless of the matter, if this is something that interests you, then you should go ahead and read some reviews about it soon! I don't mean to rush you but if you haven't clicked yet, the selling price is in BTC. While at this moment 0.05 BTC is the equivalent just shy of 500 USD, no one knows where the price will be tomorrow.

• Steemit & Dtube are the biggest two gems in the eyes and hearts of content creators. The revolution has arrived and I am sure we will be seeing innovation at its best. For many bloggers who are travelling and blogging across the world, your trips are about to become insane and so is your content!

Nonetheless, perhaps some individuals may not be interested in earning crypto-currencies in this manner and that is just fine! There are many other ways to earn. Here's one example.

Shopify is a platform which allows you to run your online store, for as cheap as $30 a month. That is a very low risk investment of $1 per day to start your business. The advantages of using a platform such as shopify is the applications which are readily available to nurse your needs.

To elaborate further, an example of a powerful application used on Shopify is Oberlo Supply. With this service, you can browse products from Oberlo Registered suppliers as well as suppliers from AliExpress.com. You may then begin to select the items/products which are in line with the niche you're headed in, set your own price, then display them on your online store. This process is what is well known today as dropshipping. Customer pays you, you pay the supplier.

The concept of dropshipping is that you personally do not require any space for storage facilities, no up-front costs to purchase products, no risk in buying products and then waiting for them to sell. The end user may purchase the goods through your website paid in either currency or crypto-currency such as Bitcoin. The best part? the supplier will ship the goods to the end user using your shop's credentials.

To conclude, a single point of entry from the above mentioned methodologies to get involved, is definitely not sufficient to provision you with immediate financial freedom. In fact you will not become a millionaire over night, if it was that easy, everyone would be doing it. The Key to financial freedom is a mix and match of different entry points. To put it simply, it is how you choose to utilize your available resources. If you have a graphics card, put it to use. If you have free disk space, rent it out. If you're into trading, set your bot to follow your trading rules and let it run 24/7. If you've taken some good pictures and videos, or written a paper on something interesting, submit it onto steemit or dtube and always remember, never put all your eggs in one basket.

I hope you guys enjoyed reading this blog as much as I enjoyed writing it. May the Crypto be With You.