Looking for advice on creating my first cryptocurrency account

So the title of this post says it all. I am new to both Steemit and cryptocurrency. My Steemit account is less than two days old, and I honestly have no, and have never had, a cryptocurrency account of any kind. I know that I could spend endless horribly boring hours reading blogs and essays until my eyes bled, but I would like to kill two birds with one stone and learn about crypto while digging into the Steemit Community at the same time. I look forward to informative conversation, and making new friends. I'll open with a few basic questions.

• (1.) I need a cryptocurrency account and I have considered Bitcoin. Yes? No?

• (2.) Is one form of crypto account better than another, and why?

• (3.) Is one type of crypto account better for Steemit itself, and why?

• (4.) What else might I need in order to transfer Steemit currency to, say, my Paypal account, and is that wise?

• (5.) Is cryptocurrency a public net or an under-net sort of thing. Do I need Tor, VPN, Encryption, et al?

• (6.) What questions should I be asking that I am not?

D. M. Hutchins 2nd