What I’m thinking about: Another naive investor gut punch…
You may recall when I wrote at the end of last year about losing millions of dollars (admittedly in unrealized gains) in previous investments, particularly in crypto.
(First, as a follow-on, the board dispute at in the restructuring I mentioned has been resolved, and we creditors did receive a substantial crypto distribution recently. However, this was after crypto took a massive plunge in the past few weeks, making our distro’s worth about 38% less compared to early Sept. 2025, when the creditor distributions were supposed to happen. Price of ego that all of us creditors were forced to eat!)
Now for a more substantial development, about one of my last remaining crypto investments: Helium (a crypto project that built a decentralized, “people-powered” wireless network designed for IoT (Internet of Things) devices and, more recently, 5G cellular connectivity.)
By sheer stroke of luck (like most early crypto investments), I had a chance to be one of the first 500 token holders in the Helium project back in 2019. I accumulated a ton of tokens early on and amazingly by early 2021 they started to have real value in USD.
By late 2021 my Helium holdings were worth over $2M alone, and earning significant cash flow from supporting the infrastructure of the network (I’ll forego the technical details). As I detailed previously, of course I didn’t sell anything at that time and what followed was a precipitous 95% drop in value.
The Helium token never got close to achieving those heights in valuation since. It did routinely fluctuate and I never sold my holdings. For reference, in today’s value, my Helium token holdings would have been worth about $50K.
Even in a very difficult market the Helium team continued to pivot and find product-market fit, plus they had a long runway with over $250M in VC capital led by Andreessen Horowitz.
A key strategy adjustment the Helium team made was move away from IoT and to focus on providing 5G mobile network coverage, a key problem in need of a solution, and something I experienced on a routine basis.
Over the past few years they developed strategic partnerships with large telecom providers like AT&T and T-Mobile, built their own mobile plan (to which I am currently subscribed), and gained millions of users and started generating 8 figures in recurring revenue, almost unheard of for most crypto projects. They were building a real business.
This business growth was not reflected in the Helium token price, up through today. I was in no hurry to sell and it was mostly a backup investment that served as a lotto ticket or backup liquidity to break-in-case-of-necessity.
I don’t routinely check in on my investments that are not relevant to my day-to-day and so I hadn’t checked on my Helium token holdings in over a year.
Much to my astonishment, when I did check into my private Helium wallet over the last week, I found out that a very sophisticated thief had robbed me blind of ALL of my Helium tokens…almost a year ago.
(Adding insult to injury, all of my excitement over the Helium team’s continued growth and progress over the past several months was rendered completely pointless…in light of me having my entire investment stolen already, right beneath my nose.)
I pride myself in having strong digital hygiene, such as routinely using difficult passwords, 2FA, or protecting any private keys associated with any of my crypto. I have zero idea how this thief managed to steal my Helium. All that matters is that they did.
(“But Chris, why didn’t you use cold storage?” Trust me, I obviously have my regrets, just like you do when you face the immediate consequences of having made a terrible mistake.)
Working with ChatGPT, I was able to follow the thief’s trail to determine that, after multiple account transfers, my Helium was eventually offloaded onto KuCoin, a Chinese crypto exchange…that prohibits any business activities in the US, of course…
Nevertheless, I reached out to the KuCoin team and they indicated they are unable to investigate further unless law enforcement gets involved.
(I’ve done enough of the legwork here that it’s worth proceeding down that pathway. It’s promising that KuCoin even responded to me in the first place, and the thief’s account with the exchange is still active with significant assets. Even so, given the time that has passed, the foreign jurisdiction, and the unregulated nature of crypto investments, I place the chance of any meaningful recovery at less than 5%.)
In a fit of dark humor, I joked to a friend that I think I’ve managed to be defrauded within the realm of crypto in every direction at this point.
This was the final nail in the coffin for me getting involved in any exotic, unregulated investments…and while there are scammers and thieves in every industry, I’m not certain crypto will ever be able to escape the rampant criminality associated with it.
While I’m a tech futurist through and through, my view on traditional finance has evolved to the point where I understand why its methods have stood the test of time, in spite of its many inefficiencies and flaws.
I can rest assured that SLC’s considerable holdings in Chase are extremely secure, and that at even a whiff of wire fraud, Chase will block any outgoing transfers and immediately attempt to reach out to an account owner. (Again, I’m aware there are features like this on many crypto exchanges or wallets, but the point is that they are not required, nor a default option in most cases.)
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While I certainly wish I had handled things much differently here (DUH!), and that I still had my tokens, this outcome did not negatively spiral me nearly as much as it might have in the past.
First, the impact on my net worth is relatively minimal, and there is certainly no assurance that the Helium token will achieve meaningful increases in value again (past results do not guarantee future performance).
Next, Helium was a legacy investment of mine. A lotto ticket (my last remaining one).
And the thing about lotto tickets is that most of them do not pan out, and at worst, they serve as a distraction from what you should be focused on.
Once my final lotto ticket was ripped up in front of my eyes (a year ago, actually), it brought immediate clarity that any present and future success is entirely on me (or more accurately: the systems I contribute to, and my decisions that compound.)
There’s no cavalry coming.
In a sense, this outcome was freeing. One less thing I needed to pay attention to. One less reason for not providing consistent value.
And even more focus on the multi-decade strategy we are pursuing here at Serious Land Capital.
My sense of inevitability was not shaken…even for a second.
As I sit here writing this newsletter, on my poolside balcony overlooking the ocean, at one of the most luxurious hotels in Cancun…
I take heart in learning from other entrepreneurs at this mastermind (led by the one and only Coach T) who have decades more life experience than me, and have endured far greater personal and financial losses…
Understanding that if you’re going to be grateful for all the good in your life, you better be grateful for the challenges.
And that adversity brings with it…the seed of opportunity.
Let my experience serve as a lesson for you, and let’s continue to ascend to the next stage together.
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