IOTA: How to get involved before it hits the exchanges soon

Hey Steemians,

if you ever felt like: "Hey, I've heard of this new crypto called IOTA that will hit exchanges soon, but I have no clue how to get a stake in this project...", don't worry, I've got you covered. This is a guide on how to install a IOTA wallet and how to set it up until you are ready to buy IOTA.

If you have no idea what IOTA is, check out this post where I explain the foundation and linked other useful information: https://steemit.com/iota/@moodledidoodledi/iota-cryptocurrency-using-dag-news-the-foundation-will-be-established

Step 1: Join the Slack-Channel slack.iotatoken.com

The IOTA Slack channel is essential. It provides you with information on updates, bugs and you can buy IOTA there (more explained in detail in the following steps). Make sure to join the sub-channels trading, botbox, and releases.

Step 2: Download the IOTA wallet

You can find the latest version of IOTA, which is currently 1.0.3, at GitHub. To easily find it use either the link in the releases-channel of Slack (in which all future updates of the wallet will be announced) or you simply klick on this one: https://github.com/iotaledger/wallet/releases

You can get help installing it for your system here: https://iota.readme.io/docs/general

Step 3: Start your IOTA wallet

After installing and starting it, this screen should pop up:

Now, in order to create an account you need to generate a Seed (Password). The Seed is ONLY consisting of capital Latin letters and the number 9. The maximum length of the Seed is 81 characters and it is recommended you make a Seed with the maximum length. You can either think of a new one from scratch or click on Tools-->Generate Seed. Then enter your Seed and press the "Login" Button. You are now in your new account. Make sure to unhide the Status Bar by clicking View-->Show Status Bar. This is essential for the next step.

Step 4: Synchronizing with the Network

After having you account you are NOT ready to use you wallet. First, it needs to synchronize. This is done by simply letting you wallet open and running in the background. To check if your wallet is ready to go, you need to compare the numbers showed in the Status Bar with the latest numbers posted by the so called "Coordinator" in the botbox on Slack. 

The Status Bar in the wallet shows the following: XX(X)/YYYYYY (ZZZZ). The YYYYYY are the transactions while the (ZZZZ) are the milestones. Make sure that the transactions and the milestones show coincidence with the latest numbers posted by the Coordinator bot before making any transactions. If the numbers match, you are set up and can use your wallet!

Important note on receiving IOTA:

Before you use your address to receive IOTA, make sure to press "ATTACH TO TANGLE". It will take a while for your address to be attached to your tangle (while showing the words "GETTING TIPS"), but after that you are ready to receive IOTA on this address. 

Author's note on synchronizing:

I personally had the problem that at first the transactions were accelerating fast towards the numbers the Coordinator posted, but the closer I got, the longer it took. I ended up having the correct amount of milestones, while I was still behind on transactions. I asked about this in the forum and was told that the milestones are the important thing and I should try the wallet. It worked! So if you have the same problem just ask someone to send you a small amount of IOTA and see if it works.

Step 5: Buy IOTA

If you want to buy IOTA, visit the trading channel on Slack. In this channel there is an trading bot operating. See the available commands by typing "OTC" (capital letters are necessary). Then simply create an ASK position or message people selling IOTA.

IMPORTANT: It is suggested to use an escrow for any trade ( yassin54 or seccour proved themselves in this area). There are people impersonating other trustful community members. If you are in doubt of messages or the reputation of someone, ask the community about it. Dominik Schiener and David Sønstebø both very important members of the foundation) get impersonated very often. You can check if they are "real" by looking at their username. Dominik has the username @dom and David @david.

As always: if you find any information not being correct, please inform me!