Tag Archives: singapore

How to get started with crypto investments in Singapore?

Crypto has without a doubt become a hot topic since end of 2020. All thanks to the surge in Bitcoin making several all time highs (ATH) since then.

Many are drawn into crypto in the hope to make some good money. For me, I got drawn in a little earlier, during the 2020 COVID-19 circuit breaker. (That’s the Singapore term for what was similar to a lock down.)

There are two main avenues to make some money with Cryptocurrency. Either to participate in the network as a “miner”, or investor buying and selling coins on the exchange. I am both, and in this post, I share more about investing, and how to get started.

Disclaimer, I’m certainly no financial advisor and I share based on my personal knowledge and experience. You shall be responsible for your own actions. Crypto prices can move rapidly in either direction and certainly not for the faint hearted.

Alright, let’s get to it.

Step 1 – if you don’t yet have it, install the Google Authenticator. It provides 2FA protection to a number of accounts you will be setting up next.

Quick links for you below if you need to get them installed first.
Google Authenticator on Apple App Store
Google Authenticator on Google Play

Step 2 – set up a few accounts with crypto exchanges. All these accounts are free, so don’t worry about having to pay any fees. All account opening process involves some validation of your identity, it will take some time. So please do not wait till the moment you need to make transactions to start the account, you will likely miss the opportunity. Hope you appreciate what I share here and you will open your accounts with my referral.

Coinhako – this is a Singapore based crypto exchange. You want to open an account here as it allows the cheapest and quickest option to move money in and out of crypto via bank transfers. Credit cards are also accepted for immediate purchase, but there is a small credit card fee that will be charged. Very handy for those critical moments where you need to enter but the cash balance in your account isn’t sufficient. There are some coins you can buy here, but not all coins. For that you need to open up accounts in other exchanges which I’ll cover below. Please use my referral link below to open your Coinhako account.
If asked for Referral Code, please use 132524_3863569
https://www.coinhako.com/affiliations/sign_up/132524_3863569

Coinbase promo

Coinbase – this is another crypto exchange with Singapore presence. It went IPO in April 2021 and that sparked a rally in the crypto market. Coinbase is a larger exchange than Coinhako and offers more selection of coins. The best thing with Coinbase in Singapore is that you can set up automatic recurring purchases. For example one nice strategy is to dollar cost average your position with certain coins and say do a weekly buy of a fixed dollar amount. This is a good long term strategy and you can set and forget. Purchases are done with credit cards only. The challenge though is you need to earn your purchase limit Coinbase. The highest is SGD 750 purchase limit per week. So it may not be a great option if you want to put in SGD 1000 in one transaction.
Sign up with Coinbase with https://coinbase.com/join/zishen_j?src=ios-link

Binance – is one of the largest Crypto exchange in the world. The services offered goes beyond simple buy and sell of crypto. Limit trades, interest bearing fixed deposits, Coin Staking are a few examples of the added services you can experience. They even have good tutorials to explain about crypto and the functions within the platform. Purchases for us in Singapore tend to be a two step process. (Unless it is a popular coin.) First step is to buy an intermediary coin like BUSD or USDT with credit card, then do a coin swap to the desired coin you want. Sometimes credit card transactions may need a few attempts to go through. So it may be a good idea to keep some BUSD or USDT on hand for that moment of opportunity. (BUSD and USDT are stablecoins, which have a fixed value where 1 coin is worth 1 USD.) There are two sites for Binance, binance.com and binance.sg. The one I’m writing about here is binance.com. Other way to fund the Binance account is with bank transfers via SWIFT.
Sign up with Binance with https://www.binance.com/en/register?ref=Y0XLS9A3 My referral link specifically offers you some rebate.

3 Exchanges should be a good start. At this point, you should have some idea why the different exchanges. There are a few more, but let’s leave them for another day. For myself these three serve all I need.

Step 3 – consider joining Celcius Network. Yup, another account to open. I think this is a must for anyone who plans to hold on (HODL in crypto lingo) to their coins. Celcius Network is made possible by the person who pioneered VOIP, Alex Mashinsky. Have a look at his profile and you can sense the genius level here. The idea behind this company is essentially to encourage HODLing. They incentivise you by giving interest on the coins you park with Celcius Network. I am going very long term with my coins, and rather than just have them laying around the digital wallet in the exchange, I’d rather have them earning more for me. Celcius gives different rates fo each type of coin, e.g. ETH today is 5.05% p.a., and is paid every Monday. You can choose the reward to be in the same base coin, or CEL which is Celcius’s own token. You can pick either and switch back and forth. Personally pick CEL to diversify my positions and also it has the potential to increase in value. If you are following, you’ll probably be thinking now, so how does Celcius, as a business, make money to survive. Simple, they offer loans. Loans at very low interest rates, and you’ll use your coins as collateral.

So, HODL with me, and join Celsius Network using my referral code 1167086ba5 when signing up and earn $40 in BTC with your first transfer of $400 or more! #UnbankYourself #HuatAh
https://celsiusnetwork.app.link/1167086ba5

Step 4 (optional) – purchase a hardware wallet. This is for those who want to HODL, but not leave it on any exchange on the Internet. Some follow the mantra “Not your keys, not your coin“. What that means is that for each location that is storing your coins, it is protected by a private key. So, if you have opened up the 4 accounts as I suggested, you would have 4 different wallets, one with each exchange. Every wallet will have it’s own private keys, which are held on to by the exchange. You do not have access to it. In earlier days, you’ve heard about exchanges being hacked, one of the goals of hackers will be to steal those keys. The “scary” part about crypto is that anyone with access to your private key essentially have access to all coins in that wallet. So, if you don’t trust your exchange to safe keep your keys better than yourself, you can invest in a hardware wallet. I personally own a Ledger device, and I find that it is very well designed and implemented. I do feel safe with it. Bear in mind though, if it’s in your Ledger, it’s not going to be earning you any interest. It’s one or the other.

Ending off…

Thank you for reading this far, and I hope you have got yourself set up for some Crypto trading. One thing I haven’t mentioned yet is how to transfer coins between wallets. That’s important, especially you want to move coins to Celcius. Though you can buy coins directly on Celcius as well, it hasn’t worked for me. What I typically do is buy on one of the exchanges, and then do transfer. Be aware though, Coinhako is not able to send and receive all the coins on the platform.

I wish you good luck with your Crypto adventures, together we HODL!

My Personal Favorite IDD Service in Singapore

Looking for a smart and cheap way to make IDD calls over a phone? This is not VOIP or anything like Skype I’m talking about here. This is good old traditional land line or mobile phone.

This service that I’ve used for over 5 years now, and have been my favorite pick for IDD calling services. This is Zone1511, which has a good presence here in Asia.

The smart thing about Zone1511 is that it’s not a traditional IDD service. Think of it as an automatic aggregate of many IDD services. What you do is configure your favorite 5 service providers, and when you dial IDD via 1511, it will intelligently route through the cheapest provider at that point in time. If that provider is at capacity, it will automatically go through the next best provider.

The result, getting the best price and quality for you anytime and every time you make that international call.

Setup and registration is easy. Sign up online at their website with a credit card and you can start making calls instantly. The best part, there’s no minimal monthly fees or subscriptions. It’s purely pay as you use.

Can’t get any better than this folks, this is definitely the smartest and CHEAPEST way to make IDD calls from Singapore.

Can’t get better than this folks, sign up now!

Please use my referral link too 🙂

 

[driving tip] don’t stop in the yellow box

maybe I’ll start a chain of posts devoted to better driving… (or just my cover up of my rants about hopeless drivers on the road)

Let’s start by my strong believe that there are no such thing as “woman driver”. I am not gender biased, and a firm believer that there are bad male and female drivers. There has been too many instances where we think “oh… another woman driver”, and it turns out to be a guy. I know many ladies who drives well, and even better than some guys I know.

So, this morning, I had an encounter with a less-than-experienced driver. Just so happens the driver is female.

I was waiting at the light on New Bridge Road, waiting for the green to allow the approach to make a right into Merchant Road. So, it was currently green for the Merchant Road traffic and there was a line forming a right turn from Merchant Road to New Bridge Road. At the end of the line, a fairly new Honda Jazz/Fit. Since the traffic ahead on New Bridge Road was jammed up, everyone was stuck in the yellow box.

So, the light went red for them, but further down, the cars started to clear ahead. The column of cars right turning into New Bridge Road cleared, except that Honda Jazz. The lady was lost on what to do and just stayed right there in the middle of the junction. Blocking 2 lanes of incoming traffic from Eu Tong Sen street. Traffic started to go around her, but it held things up a little.

Finally, incoming traffic cleared and she reversed back to Merchant Road.

What should have been most appropriate in the first place, before she advanced into the junction was to wait behind. This is according to the basic theory rules. Never advance into a yellow box if you may end up blocking traffic. So, maybe for some reason she missed that.

Alright, so she moved into the junction to join the queue of cars to make the right into New Bridge Road. The next best thing she should have done was to follow closely the column of cars ahead of her when they moved off. Instead she froze on the spot and created chaos.

So, tip of the day… if you are already out and sitting in the yellow box, keep moving when you can safely do so.

a new year, a new business

We’ve come to the point that we really need to boost our income some what to pay for the hefty medical bills that has crept up on us.

With the uncertainty of my current job pending the closing of one of the most watched IT acquisitions in history, a backup plan is really necessary.

So, we have ventured into the cake business and we’ll keep it small, for now. We’ll make do with all the little spare time we have in our hands.

Keeping it simple, we only have 1 choice of cake, that is the Devil Chocolate Cake!! Trying to stay fair and unbaised, this is really one of the best chocolate cakes I’ve ever had, and certainly the best in it’s class.

So, support us, check out the blog for HunnyBunchNCo, and you can place your order there =)

From one chocolate fan to another, this more than just a “MUST TRY!”

To everyone out there, have a happy 2010!!