Getting Started with Cryptocurrency
SmallBizLady: There’s a lot of talk about cryptocurrencies, why should we care?
Sonia Dumas: Simple. You might want to care because what is happening goes beyond Bitcoin. This is about the evolution of the interest to Web 3.0
The rise of Web 2.0., the internet you and are one right now is largely driven by three core layers of innovation: mobile access, social networks and the cloud.
Web 3.0 is built largely on three new layers of technological innovation: edge computing, decentralized data networks and artificial intelligence. Which It’s open, censorship resistant, removes the 3rd parties from the transactional processes, verifiable, tamper-proof, borderless, creates brand new financial opportunities we’ve never seen before…just like how Uber & Air BNB turned every car, house and condo into an income opportunity that didn’t exist before Web 2.0. Web3 is radically changing how we do life.
It will fundamentally change the way we all interact with each other from health/wellness to finance/banking to manufacturing to B2B services to entertainment and the arts.
SmallBizLady: What is the advantage to diving into cryptocurrency now?
Sonia Dumas: Understanding it now is more productive than simply being forced to deal with it later. Just like countless people did not understand the power of email marketing and social media marketing back in the early 2000s…and now it’s critical to everyone’s business. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain based projects is changing the internet once again. Our mobile devices are being empowered to make everything more efficient and faster, which means anything and anyone that acts as a costly time and money bottleneck in a transaction will be removed or reduced. And this level of disruptive global change is unfolding faster than you can imagine.
Cryptocurrencies are being quickly adopted as a new asset class, one that provides instantaneous global access to both the rewards and the risks to anyone with an internet connection and Web3 wallet.
SmallBizLady: How will cryptocurrencies impact e-commerce?
Sonia Dumas: What would it mean to your business, your life if you could recapture up to 70% of the credit card fees you currently pay to your credit card merchant? Expand your business, hire more help, give yourself a raise, offer more employee benefits?
1% blockchain vs 3% + traditional credit card payments.
Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Caradno, Ethereum, Zilliqa use blockchain technology to facilitate faster payments at lower fees and the faster you can spend and invest your money the more opportunities and experiences you have access.But this doesn’t mean Visa/Mastercard/Paypal/Square will go away…in fact they are fast-tracking crypto payments into their current systems in order to stay relevant and essential to commerce.
Also, imagine a world where your credit score is irrelevant. Web3 is removing the need for gatekeepers in the loan and credit industry, while at the same time making it more secure to borrow money at lower interest rates and for the first time you and I can choose to participate as a lenders to earn interest far above what your bank currently offers.
SmallBizLady: What are some of the risks that come with cryptocurrencies?
Sonia Dumas: Last year was the incredible debut of DeFi where food coins, yield farming, triple digit staking pools, liquidity provider fees, and arbitrage trading opportunities were literally being created by the hour.
Essentially users in DeFi, decentralized finance, had opportunities to earn 100, 300, and over 500% returns in a matter of hours or days depending upon how savvy you were to find the under the radar coins before they took off for their short lived moon mission. But this incredible opportunity also attracted scammers, hackers, rug pulls, 100x leverage trading, and other bad actors that created billions of dollars in losses. And we’re seeing the FOMO and greed to get rich quick shift from food coins to pet coin like Doge and Shibu of which Elon Musk tweets about.
Many smart traders in crypto live by the saying is to buy the fear and sell the greed. It appears to be human nature to overestimate the positives and underestimate the negatives. The crypto wild west is rife with risk which include hacks, coding errors in the smart contracts, teams splitting up, liquidity risks, regulatory risk, impermanent loss, 3rd party risks just to name a few.
SmallBizLady: Do you think the industry will continue to evolve?
Sonia Dumas: The industry is maturing to reduce these risks as much as possible and it’s still a work in progress as developers create blockchain security best practices for its users. As Web3 evolves, cryptocurrencies are one just component that’s offering both hope and hype.
I hope you don’t get caught up in the hype by understanding the various uses of cryptocurrencies and their pros/cons. It’s important to approach crypto with eyes wide open in order to make the best decisions about how to participate, if at all.
How to Unlock Your Secret Superpower
SmallBizLady: What is the superpower that you reference in your book, The Designated Motivator?
It’s about taking your real life experiences and your desire to make a positive and lasting impact in the world and using what I call The Designated Motivator–or DM–superpower to leave people better than they were by helping them realize their greatest potential in some capacity–at home, at work, in the classroom, within a friendship or family, or even a brief interaction with someone you haven’t met before in a store or at a social gathering.
Being a DM is going to be different for me than it is for you but I have identified some common traits. That’s the fundamental mindset, skills and positive outcomes which are going to be the same and I outline those in the book.
I decided a long time ago that I wanted to make a difference–that is how I started down this DM path. I felt the desire in my soul and the fire in my belly to do what I could to make people realize how gifted they are and to help them see and seize the possibility they held within them.
SmallBizLady: Do you think everyone possesses this superpower?
I do think everyone has the power to make the world better for others, however, there are some people who are really called to do it. They are Designated Motivators. I know that for me this is true–but I also know that it’s not for everyone, yet we all need DMs.
I wrote this book because I truly believe that we need a #MotivationMovement across this country and really, the world! There is far too much potential wasted due to lack of engagement and encouragement in business and our personal lives. Imagine what just a little encouragement and empowerment could do for you–and the people around you. It truly can make a life-changing difference on so many levels driving your personal beliefs, achievement and business goals forward, past all limitations!
SmallBizLady: When did you realize you were a Designated Motivator and had this superpower?
I have always tried to encourage and empower people when I could–I also had some DMs myself, including my Dad who set a great example and my college softball coach who saw my potential before I did.
For me, the pivotal moment when I really found my purpose was in 2019 when I was an assistant coach for The Lady Warriors softball team at Eastern Connecticut State University. It was then, when I had the opportunity to really step into my superpower as a Designated Motivator that I realized there was no “guidebook” to help people tap into the desire to help people see their true potential and to work with them to use it to get to where they want to be.
SmallBizLady: Are you trying to start a #MotivationMovement?
I wrote this book because I want to help as many people as possible and because I truly believe that we need a #MotivationMovement around the world!
This book was also inspired by each of those people who have come into my life. Those special, unique and amazing individuals. All of whom have taught me something–and who have helped me become a better version of myself. One that I hope continues to make a positive impact in the world in new and meaningful ways.
I believe there are many other people who are DMs, too, although they may not really know how to use their superpower for the highest good, so I am sharing the detailed the responsibilities, mindset and skill set of the DM philosophy so that as many people as possible can use the information to help change their lives, make the world better, and support the people they work with in different areas of their life (i.e. home, work, school, volunteer organizations, etc.).
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