Someone Gave Me Some Crypto Currency and I Don't Know What to Do with It

I work in IT and I posted a solution to someone's problem on an online forum. Apparently that resolved a technical issue that a business was having and their network admin sent me a PM with some Ethereum as a thank you.

I'm an old man and I have no idea what that is. I provided my knowledge free of charge but I'm now wondering what I should do with the crypto currency as I've never dealt with it before. Should I just ignore it or can I cash it in somehow? Apologies for my ignorance; my knowledge is focused purely on software development and I don't pay a lot of attention to much else (aside from gaming). It's been a couple of months since and I'm now curious as to whether it is worth my effort to cash it in somehow (if you can even do that).

Comments

  • +2

    One ETH is worth US$692 at the moment.

    How did they send the ETH to you? Have you received it in wallet software and are now wondering what to do with it?

    You can sign up for an account with a local company such as CoinJar and after a few steps transfer the ETH into dollars and into your bank account.

    • How did they send the ETH to you? Have you received it in wallet software and are now wondering what to do with it?

      This is an important question OP. If they sent it to you via some third party you really should act quick. If you answer this question I'm sure a few of us can tell you how to turn this into real money.

  • +1

    Did they send you a wallet or something or was this done through Reddit via a tipbot?

    If you want to cash it out you can make an account on a website like www.btcmarkets.net and then transfer your ethereum over then withdraw from there as aud to your bank account.

    Depending on how much they gave you might be worth a lot might not be worth much.

    1 Ethereum is worth about $915 AUD at this moment in time so good luck man.

  • +2

    One ETH is worth US$641 at the moment.

  • Uh wow. Okay… I'm glad that I asked. Many thanks for the responses. I thought that 2 Ethereum would be worth next to nothing so I ignored them. In your more-educated opinion, is it wise to cash them in or should I hold on to them (they sent them to me in a "wallet")? Again, sorry for my complete ignorance.

    • +3

      I can answer that for 1 Ethereum.

      It really depends if you want the money. It's hard to predict where the market will go. If you don't need it, I'd probably hang on to it.

    • +1

      Nobody really knows how much Ethereum will be worth in the future. It was well over US$1000 this year, and fell to just US$335 or so. Now it has recovered a long way. In March 2017 it was less than US$50.

    • +7

      Thank you all for your replies. I might dwell on it for a bit before I cash in the Ethereum coins then. I've never won anything in my life but I sort of feel like a won a small lotto prize. It is really nice to get a random moment of kindness from a stranger. Thanks again.

      • This is what crypto is for, random people transacting, not the speculation and hoarding bullshit it's become.

        • +2

          speculation and hoarding bullshit

          Which it why it's worth $900 and not $0.

        • @D C: which is why OP is now hanging onto it rather than further transacting and using it what it's actually for.

        • @thevofa:

          it's actually for

          What would that be then?

        • @D C: Transacting / using it as currency.

        • -1

          @thevofa:

          currency

          You mean like real money? Wow, the future is incredible.

          What's BitCoin for then?

        • @D C: I'll just end this here by giving you a neg. Ta.

        • -1

          @thevofa:

          giving you a neg.

          Oh no, my internet reputation has been tarnished!

          Lol.

          Crypto-currencies are the gift cards of the internet, except even less convenient.

  • +11

    This reminds me of a guy I used to know. He owned shares in the power plant he worked for and, one day, he received a call from a stockbroker advising him that the value of his shares went up for the first time. Even though they were only worth $25, he was so excited and advised his broker to sell them. He went straight to his local pub and bought a bottle of special beer. He even bragged to his fellow bar patrons "buy low sell high, that's my motto!"

    Shortly afterward, there were rumours that his company would be bought by some wealthy Germans and the value of the stock skyrocketed. His family saw the news and were dreaming of what they could do with their newfound wealth. When the father came home from the pub, he announced to his family that he already sold the shares and bought beer with the proceeds. His angry wife pointed to the TV set with the stock price which sent the guy to his knees in sorrow. His son took the opportunity to kick him in the butt and informed the rest of the family to join in as it would make them feel better.

    Good times.

    • You should definirely sue Matt Groening for profiting off your story

      • +1

        I'll look Uncle Matthaus straight in the monocle and say nein!

  • +10

    An old man with cryptocurrency is a little like the mule with a spinning wheel. No one knows how he got it, and danged if he knows how to use it.

    • +1

      ha ha…..mule.

  • keep it and come back to in in 36 months. It will be worth at least 10K. I promise you.

Login or Join to leave a comment