We put $175,000 in. Today it's worth about $25,000. Bitcoin wasn't the problem.
We put $175,000 into a Bitcoin mining fund.
Today that position is worth maybe $25,000.
And here's the part that stings: if we'd simply bought Bitcoin instead, we'd probably be sitting on $300,000 or $400,000.
But this isn't a story about Bitcoin.
It's a story about why we made that bet in the first place.
We did it because the thing we did right before it had worked so well.
To understand the mistake, you have to see how good the first version looked.
The first deal was a winner
We started out buying individual machines that mined Ethereum.
Each one cost maybe $4,000 to $5,000.
There was a stretch where a single machine was mining about three-quarters of a coin every month. At one point, that coin was worth about $1,000.
Run the math:
Roughly $750 a month gross, per machine
About $200 a month to have it managed
Whatever was left was ours
It was doing really, really well.
At the height, we had about 20 of those machines.
Then someone else flipped a switch
Ethereum moved from "proof of work" to "proof of stake."
In plain English: they switched the whole network over to a different system. And the thing we were doing, mining, couldn't be done anymore.
Just like that, those machines basically became worthless.
Here's what I want you to notice.
While it lasted, we made great money.
But we never controlled the one thing that made it work. Someone else did.
And the day they changed it, our whole business was gone.
That's lesson number one, and it's worth sitting with. A deal can pay you beautifully right up until the moment a decision you don't get a vote on wipes it out.
When a win gets expensive
This is where it really cost us.
We didn't walk away.
We doubled down.
The same people who helped us buy the Ethereum machines came back and said, "Hey, we're just going to switch over to Bitcoin. We'll put everything in a fund, and we'll have the same success."
They showed us the pro forma. All the numbers. Everything they thought would happen.
And we rode the wave.
We told ourselves, "Well, they were successful with the last project. Why wouldn't they be successful with this one?"
Sound reasonable?
It did to us.
But it didn't translate. It never did.
That $175,000 is now about $25,000.
The real lesson (it isn't "avoid crypto")
So, what would have had to be true for us to say no?
There are three things. I check all three now, on every deal.
And notice what's not on that list: "Did these people make me money last time?"
Because the lesson isn't "stay away from crypto." It isn't "Bitcoin bad" or "Ethereum bad."
The lesson is this:
An early win is the most dangerous thing you can carry into your next decision.
Why? Because it makes you stop asking good questions.
The first deal worked, so the second deal got a pass. We let a past result do the job a real filter should have done.
If you've ever said "it worked last time" about an investment, a partner or an operator, you've felt this pull too.
Test every deal on its own
That's the whole reason we built a process, and it's what we teach inside our Passive Income Lab:
A past winner should never talk you into a future deal.
Every opportunity has to earn your money on its own merits. Same scrutiny, every time, no matter who's bringing it or how well the last one went.
So if you're putting real money into anything, learn to test it first.
👉 Learn how we test deals inside the Passive Income Lab
If you'd rather hear me tell it, the full video is here.
The first deal made us money. The second one taught us the lesson. Don't pay for it twice.
Talk soon,
Russ Morgan
Wealth Without Wall Street
P.S. Before you can filter a deal, you need to know what kind of investor you are. Discover your Investor DNA here
P.P.S. Want the filter itself? Joey breaks down the Golden Filter, the 3 questions we ask before investing in any deal, using another investment we made money on and would never do again. Read it here
DISCLOSURE: Wealth Without Wall Street provides educational and informational content only and does not provide legal, tax, financial, or investment advice. Any examples or case studies are illustrative and not a promise or guarantee of results. Earnings or income statements (if any) are not typical, and your results will vary based on factors such as your effort, experience, market conditions, and business decisions. You are responsible for your own actions and outcomes.
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