Cryptocurrency Basics! Beginners start here!

bernieswagner (39)in #cryptocurrency • 7 years ago

Bitcoin, Ethereum, LiteCoin, Dogecoin, etc

WARNING: This guide is quite long and I will not be going into deep detail about any specific coin either.

What are Cryptocurrencies?

I like to think of cryptocurrencies like stocks in the stock market. As of writing this, a single whole Bitcoin is worth $19,447.35 in USD. You can purchase fractions of a coin as well. Although, the price of Bitcoin will rise and fall, just like a stock in the stock market. Bitcoin is not the only Cryptocurrency, but it is the most known. You can find a list of current cryptocurrencies here, as you can see there a lot of them, over 1,000 infact. On the website provided, you can also track how much each coin is worth, the volume, market cap, and even the change within the past hour, day, and week(provided in percent on the right of the coin).

Cryptocurrency Wallets

Before you even consider purchasing any coin, you will need a wallet. A wallet is similar to a bank account, it holds your selected coin safely for you. Let's look at a Bitcoin wallet for a second. There are countless companies that provide free Bitcoin wallets, although my favorite would have to be Blockchain. They provide free Bitcoin, BitcoinCASH, and Ethereum wallets, all you have to do is sign up. They also provide an app available for IOS & Android, that is linkable to your online wallet for easy access. You can even send and receive supported coins through the app on your phone.

Now I have a wallet, how do I purchase a coin?

Now that you have a wallet, make sure to write down your receiving address somewhere safe, this code will be the address you will use to receive your coins. You will then need to signup for a cryptocurrency exchange. There are many different exchanges, each with their own pro's & con's. It's up to you to choose your favorite. You can learn more about cryptocurrency exchanges here. I highly suggest doing a great amount of research into the fee's before signing up for any exchange. Now that you've picked your exchange, I assume you will figure out how to purchase crypto's, I can't write a tutorial as every exchange looks and is formatted differently. Although, I highly suggest withdrawing all your purchases into your wallet, and not keeping it in the exchange wallet, as there has been security breaches in the past.

I have some, now what?

Congratulations! The hardest part is done! Now you can spend your hard earned cyrptocurrency on supported sites, such as Gyft, and even places like Expedia. Although, you could make more money by holding onto your coins. Like I've said earlier, it works a lot like stocks, buy low sell high. You could wait and buy some Bitcoin when it dips in price, and hope it climbs, then sell and make a profit.