Less than two weeks ago, I literally knew nothing about crypto except that it was mostly based on something called the blockchain, that I was earning it here at Steemit, and Bitcoin and Etherium were the two most popular kinds. Now I have a vague idea about how this stuff works, how to trade it effectively why it's so exciting and where it may be going. I can also list about 50 coins off the top of my head differentiate between their purpose and have an idea about where they stand in the charts and if there is any warranted hype around them. No doubt I have a long way to go and compared to many on the platform, I'm a relative newb, but compared to your average dude on the street, I know what I talking about.

The purpose of this post is to give you a self study plan for crypto and the blockchain. I won't be providing too much explanation as there are countless resources, many of which you can find with a simple steemit search (google, YouTube, or Wikipedia work too). The answers to the questions are elsewhere, but for those who still don't know what to ask, this is for you.

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Where to start? (Day 1)

Since most crypto is based on blockchain technology, it's essential to first learn what the hell that is. My first day was devoted to this. I spent about two hours researching blockchain. I didn't understand half of what I read so I made a list of questions on anything that sounded important. Some of my questions included...

• what is scaling?
• what's the main difference between Etherium and Bitcoin?
• who is keeping Bitcoin running if this Nakamoto guy took off?
• what is mining?
• what hencurrency its value?
• why is blockchain such a big deal?
• Which wallets are best and how do I use them?

I didn't find all the answers to these questions in the first day, and often when I find the answer, another question reveals itself to me. Since my first day of research in the topics, I've made a habit of trying to find the answer to one question a day. I'll ask friends to clarify some things and try to do my own research to fill in the gaps and make sure I'm getting the right information.

It's not important to understand everything before jumping in, you just want a general idea to start and then to continue to learn as you go along.

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The big guys (Day 2-3)

Obviously there's more to it than that. There are tons of cryptos and at first it's hard to believe so many have anything unique about them but that changes quickly. First things first, learn something about Bitcoin and Etherium since they are such major players in the scene. They each deserve a day of their own and you'll have to go back to learn more in the future because there's always more to learn about them.

The wallet and how to convert steem to btc and other coins (Day 4)

From there i downloaded a wallet (I started with Exodus and Jaxx, I may upgrade to something more convenient or secure, but these two are ok to dabble with). I spent this day figuring out how to use these coins and how to transfer from steemit. I used @blocktrades cause it was easy and they have a presence on steemit. (If you are really I need a hurry you can do this on day one but if not no need to rush).

Going down the list....(Day 5 onward)

I've spent about 1-2 hours a day doing some light research on 2-3 coins every day. You could go down the list at coinmarketcap.com if you want. I've found it helpful to start with the coins I've heard of before, litecoin, dash, eos. Then I moved on to the coins I could find in my wallets. From there I'd research any coin whose name I came across on steemit. To learn about these coins...

• find some explanations on steemit. I appreciate the series Investigating the Top 50 Cryptocurrencies by friend and fellow steemian @heymattsokol .
• find a youtuber who is knowledgeable and relatively unbiased. I was introduced to Data Dash by my buddy @rondonson .
• @rondonson also gave me some wonderful advice : if you are really interested in a coin, go to their website and read their whitepaper. I haven't done this with many coins but for coins like EOS and litecoin which I have decided to invest in long term, this seems pretty essential.

As questions come up, and problems arise, seek answers and solutions.

I realized my exodus and jaxx wallets charged crazy fees and only allowed exchange between coins if you were a changing a relatively high amount. I asked around and discovered Binance and signed up. A problem arises and you find a solution. Just make sure your problem isn't messing up wallet address or lost passwords because then you lose your money.

Some hints for people who want to stop being newbs.

• Make coinmarketcap your friend
• look at the charts to see how something is doing, long term and short term.
• look at the amount of coins in circulation to understand the possibility of a coin reaching crazy prices and to understand why it's ranked where it is. Ripple and IOTA are not going to reach $1000 usd per coin because there's too much of it in circulation.
• get info from multiple sources, you don't know who is paid to talk hype about what.
• don't invest anything you can't handle losing. I don't feel much pressure with my investments because all I invested was time on steemit, no fiat investments at all.
• Don't put too much faith in any advice, remember everyone is human and heir advice won't be perfect.vir you lose money listening to someone else it's still your fault for listening. I listen to others but I always know they could be wrong.

I'm still learning my stuff. There are plenty of very knowledgeable people here at steemit so make use of their posts and if you can't find an answer steemit.chat is full of people who can help.

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Confessions of the Damaged - a collection of short stories