Becoming a GVNR: A beginners journey into DeFi Trading
I ‘know’ about cryptocurrency. What I mean to say is that I previously opened a Coinbase account, bought and traded some assets on Bittrex (before it was wound down) and had a semi-successful run.
From an initial £400 investment in Bitcoin, traded to XRP and XLM, I watched it turn into £9500 in a matter of weeks, very exciting. Less exciting was the subsequent month where my portfolio shrunk back to £1000, before I eventually bottled it and cashed out. There’s a small part of me still waiting for the rumoured Chinese New Year of 2018, where the market would bounce back and I could regain my miniature lost fortune.
The reality is, I know very little about what it takes to buy, trade and grow a successful crypto portfolio in 2024. But all that is about to change.
I’m becoming a GVNR, joining them on a journey as they revolutionise the BitFi space. GVNR has set out to empower blockchain interoperability and deliver permissionless control of any digital asset across all chains. By facilitating secure and unrestricted transactions, GVNR will eliminate the friction across DeFi and solve the systemic risk of bridging.
Modern day DeFI trading is messy
To truly understand the challenges current day DeFI investors face, and appreciate the revolution that GVNR will enact, I am venturing once more into the fray dear friends.
Join me on my journey to becoming a fully fledged GVNR. Creating a crypto wallet, buying digital assets, (hopefully) bridging those assets to exchange them, avoiding hacks, navigating counterparty risk and coming to understand self-custody. Only then to rise from adversity with the launch of the GVNR JUSTPAY app and experience a bright new future.
Today, I begin with the basics of creating a crypto wallet and buying my first digital asset. That’s got to be straightforward, right?
Step 1: Finding a Cryptocurrency Wallet Provider
For my cryptocurrency journey to begin, first I need a crypto wallet. A digital lockbox where I can store my private keys and keep my crypto safe and accessible for spending, sending or saving.
There is an overwhelming list of options to choose from, with G2 alone listing 170 cryptocurrency wallet providers. I don’t even know where to start.
Thankfully, I am able to rely on the expert guidance of my fellow GVNRs and have opted for a Uniswap Wallet. A self-custody crypto wallet that's designed for swapping, allowing me to access and explore Onchain apps while maintaining full control of my crypto assets.
Landing upon the Uniswap website, I am immediately greeted with a disclaimer for UK residents, one that gives me great reason to pause and take stock:
“This web application is provided as a tool for users to interact with the Uniswap Protocol on their own initiative, with no endorsement or recommendation of cryptocurrency trading activities. In doing so, Uniswap is not recommending that users or potential users engage in cryptoasset trading activity, and users or potential users of the web application should not regard this webpage or its contents as involving any form of recommendation, invitation or inducement to deal in cryptoassets.”
A crypto wallet explicitly designed for asset trading where the builder doesn't endorse or recommend I engage in cryptoasset trading activities, the statement is somewhat paradoxical.
I haven’t spent a single penny, and I'm already rethinking my life choices.
Step 2: Creating a wallet
Having re-read the disclaimer several times, I procrastinate for a further 10 minutes before finally coming to terms with the confusing (behind covering) nature of the disclaimer, and get round to downloading the Uniswap App.
The process of creating a wallet was actually very simple:
Click the vibrant pink ‘Create a wallet’ button
Choose my username - I went with…..joking, not falling into that trap
Add a profile photo
Choose a backup method - I’m old school and went for the Manual backup
At this stage I am met with the guidance to complete this step in a ‘private place’, I look over my shoulder only to remember I live alone….the coast is clear
I write down the recovery phrases, then confirm them via the app
Enable push notifications, so Uniswap can invade my phone with marketing and alerts
Finally, I enable Face ID as a final step to protect access to my wallet
And there we go, I successfully created a crypto wallet, now I’m ready to buy some crypto assets.
Step 3: Buying some Crypto
I find myself loitering in the interface of my new Uniswap wallet, ready to fill it with some USD to buy crypto funds.
There’s an option to add funds to my wallet, it seems simple enough, right……RIGHT? I click add funds, enter the amount I want to purchase and go to click confirm, only the button is greyed out.
Sitting there in the centre of my screen in small print is a singular and very frustrating sentance.
“This service is unavailable in your region”
Now what? In the top right corner, my region is shown as the United Kingdom. Let’s change it and see what happens.
I changed it to the United States and with that Star-Spangled Banner showing in the top left, I gained the ability to buy digital assets. But I'm not going to…I have questions that need answering before I take the next step…important ones.
Why can’t I make a purchase with my region set to the UK? Is this a legislation issue, with Uniswap simply prevented from selling assets in my region? Or, is it legislation that applies to me as an individual?
If I change the region to the United States and make a purchase, am I committing financial fraud in doing so?
And with that, my momentum comes to a stand still. I need to go away and do some research, while exploring if there is an alternative solution to purchasing crypto assets and sending them to my Uniswal wallet. Maybe my Coinbase account is still alive?
Join me next time, when hopefully I have the answers to the questions above and may actually be able to purchase some cryptocurrency.