Crypto traders should be pardoned for deeming today “Flash Wednesday” instead of Ash Wednesday given the controversial 5% decline we saw in Bitcoin that has been attributed to a glitch at CoinMarketCap.com. Perhaps hell hath no fury like a BTC maximalist scorned by errant price discovery, but let’s grant an indulgence in recognition of CMC’s no small part in propelling this asset class closer to the mainstream over the years. I’m not the overly religious type – and I astutely realise that many of our crypto brethren and sistren have a wide divergence of spiritual views – so I am confining my penitence this year to allthings-crypto. By my count, I’ve now been through six Lenten seasons as an industry watcher, trader, and now commentator, but I decided this year demanded a new level of introspection. I’ve got about 40 days to not fall off the crypto wagon, so wish me luck. Here are the top 5 thing I am forsaking for Lent – 2019 Crypto style: 1.ICO White Papers That Go Nowhere at Midnight I’m as guilty as the next guy looking for an edge. I admit it. After thumbing and combing through several hundred white papers over the past three years, I’m giving up the ghost – at least partially. Gone are the days when I take my trusty blue highlighter and a couple of white papers to bed. I’m predicting my girlfriend – herself no stranger to late-night Kindle sessions – will appreciate my sacrifice. It will also potentially free up some additional time for Netflix, because you know…we’re millennials. 2. The Mistimed Alt-Punt I’ve had my fair share of winners over the past three years, ever since the industry climbed above a market cap of $ 15 billion in late 2016. Most of my winners, though, have been on account of me trading conservatively, and following technical charts. When I’ve stepped out of this box, it has been because I’ve been lured by some headline-of-the-day hoopla on some crypto website related to some alt-coin that I didn’t know anything about the day before, and apparently know even less about after parting with my money. I don’t want to go naming names, but there are some wicked alts out there between 126 and 150 on CMC. Note to self: no more lifting the Ask and chasing the pump if the move has headline status in the media. 3. Time Spent in Airport Immigration Queues in Pursuit of the Almighty Satoshi I’ve racked up more airmiles over the past few years then I care to admit to, mostly in pursuit of making new contacts at crypto conferences in decentralised destinations like London, Malta, and Hong Kong. Turkish Airlines, Emirates, Norwegian Air, and even flydubai are reliable standbys, but I know it’s getting old when I start to recognise by sight the surly civil servants at the immigration counters – and spend my time in those maddening queues coming up with creativeresponses in case a peeved passport stamper unexpectedly puts me through the wringer. Let’s be honest: identifying one’s self as a cryptocurrency trader in front of a career bureaucrat with the passport stamp in her hand at 7am is about as good an idea as casting aspersions on another “Meet the Team” listed in some hastily-produced white paper after 11pm, instead of canoodling with my significant other, a bag of salsa verde Doritos, and my guiltiest of pleasures – season 2 of GLOW on Netflix. 4. That Guy with the Purple Shirt at Crypto Cocktail Parties He’s swarthy, wears a purple shirt seemingly at every cocktail crypto party, and has a penchant for dirty gin martinis. By my count, I’ve encountered him at no fewer than six crypto cocktail parties over the past couple of years, and been lured into conversation with him at least twice. That’s at least two times too many. This is what I’ve been able to glean so far about Mr Purple Shirt: he isn’t originally from the UK, but he was educated at an English school; he drives a Maseratibecause he “scored big” on a couple of ICOs; he sometimes has a brunette sidekick named Lola with a perplexing ethnic background and a fondness for Grand Mariner; and he mistakenly thinks of himself as God’s gift to crypto. Even if you haven’t had the pleasure of meeting Mr Purple Shirt – and I predict you will in 2019 – those of us in the trenches likely know someone like him. 5. Thinking the SEC Will Come to its Crypto Senses Anytime Soon Many of us remember the BTC pump and dump we saw leading up to the SEC’s decision to deny Team Winklevoss’s quest for an ETF in March 2017, perhaps faster than they were big-timed by Zuckerberg in their Facebook donnybrook. While many of us wish Hester Peirce would run for public office in the US so that our crypto friends in America could shovel all kinds of campaign cash her way, it is unlikely that common sense will prevail in Cryptoville, USA anytime soon.CBOE, ProShares, Direxion, and a multitude of others have so far lacked the sway to pull Jay Clayton over to the not-so-dark-side. There you have it. I’ve got 40 days to purge myself of all crypto shortcoming and iniquities. I just hope Mr Purple Shirt isn’t in Singapore at Blockchain Life 2019 Asia next month, and instead gets a blockchain life.