How to get your first cryptocurrencies

Here is a short tutorial on how to purchase your first cryptocurrency.

Click on the link below to receive $10 for free from Coinbase with your purchase of $100 worth of Bitcoin!
It will send me $10 for free too!

https://www.coinbase.com/join/59506983387e280095e8a637

-Converting Fiat to Crypto

Use the link above to download the Coinbase app or access their website, this will give you access to Coinbase as well as the actual exchange GDAX. Once you purchase $100 of Bitcoin then we will each get $10. In order to setup your payment information you just have to link your bank account and/or debit/credit card. I would use debit/credit card for your first purchase as it is instant. On the other hand you can transfer USD from your bank by hitting Accounts/USD wallet Deposit, this is done through an ACH (which generally takes 3-5 business days.) So do this a week before you plan on using the money to purchase coins so the money will be in your account ready to use whenever you want (you can do a bank wire instantaneously by paying a $10 fee through Coinbase and whatever your bank charges you for that service.)

I have been looking into using the exchange Gemini as a way to convert fiat to crypto instead of Coinbase/GDAX but have not yet done enough research to switch, it also takes quite some time to get verified on Gemini. So if interested, you might as well open a Gemini account too as it takes a while to get verified. You can then exchange fiat on Coinbase/GDAX and trade on Bittrex until you are approved by Gemini. Gemini is generally less expensive and has lower fees which also offers an opportunity for arbitrage, on the other hand any USD on Coinbase is FDIC insured.

-Deciding Which Coins to Buy

Purchase BTC, ETH or LTC on GDAX which is the exchange owned by Coinbase but charges less in fees than Coinbase. You can use you Coinbase login info to sign into GDAX.com then transfer USD, BTC, ETH or LTC from your Coinbase wallet to GDAX instantaneously with no fees.

ETH has lower fees than BTC so if you are purchasing crypto just to buy an altcoin that can be purchased with ETH like PTOY, XRP, NEO, etc. than it may be worth figuring out the difference in cost, however it can be more volatile. Each coin has it’s good and bad. LTC is also good, it just nearly doubled in value and market cap but I think it is still undervalued, it is also used as a “tester” for BTC so it has already has undergone segwit and it is a good indicator of how BTC will be affected by segwit 2, hard forks etc.

-Secondary Exchanges for Altcoins

Bittrex is a good secondary market for altcoins so create a Bittrex account if you are interested in trading or investing in any coin other than BTC, ETH or LTC. If you are purchasing altcoins on this exchange you can send BTC, LTC or ETH from your GDAX/Coinbase wallet to your Bittrex wallet then purchase your altcoin of choice.

Bittrex will also allow you to trade using USDT (tether) which is a cryptocurrency that is tethered to match the value of the USD, therefore the amount of USD tether has as collateral will always be equal to the market cap. This is especially beneficial for individuals who want to trade coins against the value of the USD without paying taxes that are required when one converts profit to fiat (generally 15% on gains after a year or 30% within the fiscal year.)

I also use Binance for some coins, an exchange based in Hong Kong that lists coins each month based on user polls. Also you can pay any transaction fees on Binance in their own coin, BNB which will save you 50% on fees. The reason I like to belong to a few exchanges is that some will list coins others do not, this allows you to take advantage of many more coins and purchase a coin that will soon be listed on another exchange, for example; XYZ coin is listed on Binance now but will be listed on Bittrex next week, generally a coin being listed on a new exchange will cause a spike in the price.

-Tracking Your Portfolio

You can track your portfolio a number of different ways; apps, excel, sheets or even by hand. I currently use a combination of Google Sheets and an app called Blockfolio which is available on your phone or tablet to track; price changes, holdings and profits/losses. If anyone is interested I would be happy to share copies of the sheets I use, I have one that tells me my cost average and another I use for altcoin scalp trading.

-Researching a Project

Look into each coins; sub reddit, white paper, slack, twitter and steemit when deciding what to purchase, I also like to do some research on the individuals involved on the project as well as any competition they may have that could be offering a better project. Also keeping up with new regulations and other things that affect the markets never hurts. You can find some great podcasts and information on youtube (try to avoid anyone yelling about top ten coins). Look into technical analysis techniques (chart analysis) for candlestick charts, trend lines, fibonacci sequence, etc and possibly the most important, practical analysis (what is the real world application of the technology.)

and last but not least…Security!

Always turn on 2 factor authentication under security preferences for each site; Coinbase/GDAX, Bittrex, Binance, etc. Initially I was using SMS text messages but now I am using the Google Authenticator app on my phone as I believe it is more secure, it generates a new 6 digit code every minute (this is pointless unless you use it on your Google account as well, which I now do.)

Currently (against many people’s advice and my better judgement) I leave everything on the exchange or in an online wallet (such as Coinbase.) At some point I will probably get a hardware wallet like a Trazor or Nano Ledger S to store any coin I am going long on, however you need to look at your holdings and ensure that the coins you have are compatible with whatever hardware wallet you decide to purchase. There is also always the option of a paper wallet, which I will be doing an article on.

I am thinking about starting an online meeting/class or video/podcast every week or two so we can share info and learn together, let me know if this is something you are interested in and hopefully it will grow. Since everything happens so fast in this space I would like a running chat or forum on; FB, Google Chat, discord or some other platform.

This is a historical economic event we are going through and we all have the opportunity and ability to benefit from it!