Friday Finance 1/20/2023: Looking Up!

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It is time again for another Finance Friday/Friday Finance. This is a series I started where I talk about random bits of financial stuff that I have seen, gathered, or experienced during the week. I hope as a reader you find it informational, entertaining, or both. I also hope it can generate some good discussion and edify the Leo community.

I have to admit, I'm still not used to writing 2023 yet. I have to pause for a second and think about it when I am signing something or typing something. I'm sure by about June I will finally have it figured out. Things have been looking pretty green over the past week. Sure, we had a couple drops back to the $20K mark for BTC, but this $21K area feels pretty good after sitting at $16K/$17K for so long.

As usual, there is a ton of speculation about where we go from here. Do we go up? Do we fall back down to $12K? It's anybodies guess really. I've noticed the FUD machine is ramping up extra hard once again. I'm not sure what that is attributed to, but it is there, I've noticed it on a couple of fronts now. Maybe it is just one of those things that goes in cycles...

Tax Time

We are more than halfway through January, which means tax season is upon us. In the next couple of weeks W2's will start flooding into Americans mailbox and from there we can start getting our forms together. I expect this tax year to be quite different from last tax year.

In fact, I hope the downturn in the crypto markets over the past year is going to equate to many of us owing less this year. I guess it could be seen as the one silver lining from all of this. Then again maybe not...

I had to pay in a significant amount of money last year to avoid having to pay a penalty this year. Given the fact that I didn't pull out any gains, I am hoping I get a good portion of that money back in a couple of months.

I wouldn't say I look forward to tax season, but it definitely isn't something I dread like a lot of people. It's just one of those inevitable's in life that you have to suffer through and move on from.

Coinbase

That centralized exchange we love to hate Coinbase made an announcement this past week that they are halting all operations in Japan. They are giving users four weeks to pull out their funds. Kind of sad given the fact that the Japan division has only been open for just about six months.

The article I read didn't seem to indicate if this move was simply because of their layoffs and rapid growth or if it has something to do with some form of regulation that might be coming down the pipeline.

Overall, I doubt this will make too much of an impact. Most holders were likely already entrenched into one platform. I have a feeling there are more options in that part of the world than we have here in the US for getting into crypto.

I do appreciate that Coinbase is willing to cut their loses instead of pumping money into a futile venture. There is still a nagging feeling in the back of my mind that wonders if Coinbase has what it takes to weather these crazy markets. They have already laid off a significant portion of their workforce. Before too long there won't be much left to cut.

Keeping your eyes open

If this is the end of the crypto winter and the bear market, what do you have your eyes on for the next cycle? I'm still heavily invested in WAX, so I think that should see some kind of pump before the bears come back around. Hive and Leo of course are always on my radar. I'm also keeping an eye on some random blockchain gaming tokens that I am holding. If just one of them can moon, I should be in a pretty good place.

I will continue to DCA into BTC, COTI, and a couple other tokens that I have been buying monthly for a couple of years now. It isn't a ton, but it all adds up over time.

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