Interview with Peter McCormack
By Panama Crypto
1. Who is @whatbitcoindid, what is his background?
What Bitcoin Did was really just the name I chose for my website when I first started blogging which then became the name of my social media handles and podcast. I had been trading for around 6 months from Jan ’17, thinking I was some kind of genius as I was making money, so I started sharing my experience and helping friends get into the market. While in America and
staying at my friend Justin’s house, a content guy I know, he suggested turning all the content into a blog. The name What Bitcoin Did really came from the idea that Bitcoin had changed my life, was changing the lives of others and would help create stories.
Sadly, in December ’16, my mother was dying from cancer, we wanted to get her some cannabis oil to help with her treatment, the only way to do this in the UK was with the dark web. My Dad gave me the money and I bought a Bitcoin on Coinbase for the purchase. Sadly my Mum, passed but the price of my remaining Bitcoin was going up, so I decided to make a chunky investment
into Crypto.
I had originally been involved in Crypto back in 2013/24 but lost quite a bit of money so exited the market. I had been working in London, building up an advertising agency but after my divorce the company crashed from a £3m to nothing within 18 months. I had taken a year off at the time of my Mum’s sickness but was really without a job or career anymore, as I didn’t want to get back into advertising.
I now realise how lucky I was to get into the market at the time I did and have made enough money for this to become a full time career for me. In starting the podcast, I now get to travel the world and interview some of the leading people in the Crypto and blockchain space, so this really is What Bitcoin Did.
2. What are you currently working on and what are your plans for 2018 onwards?
I am continuing to learn and improve my trading skills but I also accept that I don’t have the time and am really not the best trader, the 2018’ Q1 crash taught me that. I prefer to make content, so I am focusing on the podcast, writing for my blog and medium and learning to make film. I have recently reached a deal for my first sponsor, hopefully this can continue and I can make content for the community and leave my crypto investments alone to accumulate in value.
I have also been considering a wider content play, maybe just a weekly email or perhaps even a content portal. I am not a huge fan of Coindesk and It think there is a gap in the market for a Financial Times type website for the sector. The reality though is this is also a lot of work and I am not sure if I can commit to that yet.
I have a mining operation based in Washington state which has 70 S9’s and a batch of incoming DragonMint’s. Mining is close to breakeven right now but hopefully we will see some growth in price soon for these to start making a profit.
Lastly, I want to open a pizza restaurant 🙂
3. What your first month of crypto looked like?
My first month of Crypto was Jan ’17 and was really just fun. With no expectations I just dumped a bunch of money into the markets, buying Bitcoin and Ethereum on Coinbase and quickly adding the likes of Dash and Monero to my portfolio from Poloniex. I was lucky to get in on most of those at very low prices.
I spent most of the first month, and probably the first 3 months, just reading everything I could, on Reddit, on Twitter etc… Immersing myself in the space.
4. What’s your day job like?
My day job is Crypto. I start the day by updating the records in my portfolio to look at how it is performing. I then look at the charts and make decisions about any buys or sells I am interested in. The rest of the day is usually spent either writing for my blog, preparing for the next podcast interview or working on the edits and promoting the latest one. The podcast is increasingly taking up most of my time these days.
5. Breaking Bad or Narcos? Why?
Breaking Bad. I am not sure if we get Narcos without Breaking Bad. I loved all of Breaking Bad but gave up on Narcos part of the way through Season 3. Pablo was the star of the show, without him I lose interest.
6. Charlie Lee or Zooko? Why?
Charlie Lee for me, mainly because I know enough of him to form an opinion. Really I only know Zooko as far as the podcast he did for Laura Shin. I know Charlie has his critics but all I see is a guy who has worked hard for the sector, not just on Litecoin but also Bitcoin. He isn’t afraid to stand up against others in the industry and he was cool enough to come on the podcast. I do like
Zooko as well though.
7. Please add below your favorite Twitter personality according to income streams from Crypto.
Sorry, I don’t know people doing a bunch of this stuff:
Mining: Notsofast
Staking: (No idea here)
Paid groups: Luke Martin
Training courses: CryptoCred
Advisory: (No idea here)
Twitter ads: (No idea here)
Content marketing: TwoBitIdiot
Paid writing: (No idea here)
Consulting: (No idea here)
Podcast: Laura Shin or Ledger Status, can’t choose
Crypto job: Elizabeth Stark
8. Beer or liquor? What?
Liquor, I like bourbon, especially an Old Fashion but also love a G&T. If wine had been an option, then red wine wins for me.
9.What shitcoins you hold currently?
Depends how you classify a shitcoin. I think each coin I own is a valid project, as such, none are shitcoins.
10. Worst shitcoin you ever held?
Confido, was a totally scam and I lost £25k on it.
11. Best shitcoin you ever had?
Ripple — bought very early on, early 2017 and made a huge return in a short amount of time.
12. What high marketcap coins you have?
Bitcoin, Monero, Dash, Litecoin and EOS.
13. Top 3 best podcast you’ve done?
i. Lyn Ulbricht — this was a really personal story and I felt like I was able to get into some important, yet tricky subjects. It was the most I have prepared for an interview, and while I don’t consider myself a journalist, I was able to feel like what it is to be one.
ii. Luke Martin — this was my first so means a lot. It was an eye opener for everything which goes into an interview, managing the equipment, preparing the questions, maintaining an interesting dialogue with the guest and then everything which goes into getting the interview live. Also I owe Luke a huge debt of gratitude for taking the plunge with me.
iii. Charlie Lee — really because Charlie is probably the most well known person in the space I have had on. I appreciate that even with how busy he is, he took the time to do it.
All the podcasts are available here: https://www.whatbitcoindid.com/podcast/
14. Who will win the 2018 World Cup? It’s not going to be England, so cannot chose England.
England.
15. What will be your football dream team?
I’ll go with a simple 4–3–1–2, sometimes I am choosing out of passion rather than the best player in that position:
– Goalkeeper: José Luis Chilavert (have you seen the free-kicks he scored?)
– Left Back: Roberto Carlos (you saw the free kick against France right?)
– Centre Back: Paulo Maldini (a rock and a gentleman)
– Centre Back: Alan Hansen (if he had been English…)
– Right Back: Cafu (he probably could have played anywhere on the pitch)
– Left Midfield: Ronaldinho (Legend on the ball)
– Centre Midfield: Steven Gerard (greatest ever Liverpool player)
– Right Midfield: David Beckham (England legend)
– Attacking Midfielder: Gazza (most talented player our country has ever produced)
– Striker: Robbie Fowler (only Liverpool fans will understand, a God)
– Striker: Dennis Bergkamp (scored some of the best goals I have ever seen)
On the bench:
– Jerzy Dudek (for the saves winning us the 2005 Champions League final, specifically the one
from Shevchenko in extra time)
– Zlatan Ibrahimovic (for the comedy interviews)
– Zinedine Zidane (need I explain?)
– Bobby Moore (another England Legend)
– Jean Pierre Papin (scored one of the best goals I have ever seen)
16. Football teams you like in Europe, one per country.
– England: Liverpool
– France: PSG
– Germany: Borussia Dortmund
– Italy: AC Milan
– Spain: Barcelona
If you look in the urban-crypto-dictionary for legitness, you will find a picture of Peter next to Magnum PI’.
Article written by Panama Crypto
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Original article posted here