Crypto for Dummies: How-to Guide

Welcome to the Gold Rush of our times! ;)

Right… I get a LOT of messages about how to invest. How very telling. Look... compared to the 20yo geeks who bought bitcoin 5+ years ago, we are ALL late to the party ...but there is some growth still left in the market before this bubble finally pops (like the dotcom boom did in ’99). This is a big opportunity... but let’s not let FOMO /FUD end up costing us dearly.

There is some near term growth left still, as a lot of ‘dumb money’ (as it’s called in Wall Street) is yet to enter, BUT I have a feeling the bubble will pop this year, unlike the 2-3 years the crypto evangelists keep touting… as some very fundamental flaws of cryptocurrencies have now been exposed. They have been touted as the future, but many have not been able to cope with the demand already, and there are transfer time delays of hours quite often. New tech will solve this eventually, but maybe after the bubble has popped (broadband only appeared much after '99).

It’s a steep learning curve playing catch up, but time is money right now as things the market is moving very quickly.

Here are some notes to save you, and me, a LOT of time. This way I don’t have to keep repeating myself everytime someone asks I can send them this link. - I did hours of research so you guys owe me a drink lol.

I’ll give you all my tools, and referral links where possible - so we can both make small amounts for what it’s worth. Set up your accounts from YOUR OWN computer not your phone.

DISCLAIMER: I am not a financial advisor so please do your due diligence, and be aware investing is at your own risk. There are scams out there so play safe as you normally would with an online bank, check websites addresses etc - phishing sites advertise on Google and Twitter can have fake accounts. The links I’ve included are direct and safe.

It is not wise to invest more than 10% of your net worth. Only ever invest money you are willing to lose essentially, -money that won’t change your life if LOST - of course it may change your life for the better if you win big... The downside is you may lose 100% of your investment. But the upside can be limitless if chosen well.

Remember in a Bull Market the hard decision is not knowing when to BUY…. it knowing when to SELL. We need to get out before this bubble bursts, and my instincts say it’ll be months and not the 2-3 years all the self-proclaimed pundits keep touting. But the rise will be dramatic.

For those who want the easy route skip to D) at the bottom of this email, maybe you’re best off speculating on the whole market instead of the very time consuming research and joining various exchanges and moving coins around etc.

A) BUYING. These are the exchanges I use:

1. **Coinbase**: (can deposit GBP, USD, EUR etc)

https://www.coinbase.com/join/59bc0ea95020c500b1b8cf9a

There are many people joining so verifying took me a day or so. Always turn on 2-step authentication (download Google Authenticator app so logging in to a site requires a password and a number via that app on your mobile too), verify your ID, and then you can deposit either 1) upto £750 using a card or 2) more using your bank account.

Below exchanges can be used to buy cryptocurrencies you can’t find on Coinbase. You can use the Ethereum (ETH) currency you have bought to buy many others cheaper than using BitCoin (BTC):

2. **Binance** (maybe closed for new entrants now)

https://www.binance.com/?ref=16322272

3. **KuCoin** 

https://www.kucoin.com/#/?r=222JQ
CODE: 222JQ

In order to buy cryptocurrencies, on most exchanges you need buy them with BTC or ETH.
Many of the biggest exchanges are closed now as they are full capacity and transactions are now taking very long times due to this huge overwhelming demand. Like brokers, they charge varying small transaction fees and also have slight different spreads on the currency (partly due to no central control of the value with cryptocurrencies). The volatility is the biggest disadvantage of cryptos, but also the fact you have to convert to and from fiat (and between them sometimes) are a pain. And now the hype of them being 'the future' may have been over-stated for the current crop too, as transaction times can be hours when their networks are very busy. That’s why I think the bubble will burst, and also some newer currencies will rise to overtake BTC and ETH eventually.

Ethereum’s ETH has lower charges than BitCoin’s BTC. I recommend buying ETH with your fiat currency (via Coinbase above), and then sending to other exchanges as ETH when needed. You will have to open an ETH wallet on every exchange. When sending amounts, ALWAYS make sure the unique wallet address and any destination information give are correct (use careful copy & paste), AND make sure that destination wallet is in the same currency ETH too OR YOU CAN LOSE YOUR MONEY to float around in cyberspace. The exchanges remind you many of these things apart from that last point! Never give your private logging in key to anyone, only the public address key.

HOW TO BUY A CURRENCY:
Destination exchange (KuCoin/Binance): click “Deposit funds” and then make sure the wallet is in ETH and copy the unique address generated for your wallet it will create on that exchange. On the exchange you are sending from go to the Withdrawal section and click ETH and chose how much you want to withdraw (send). ALWAYS make sure the unique wallet address and any destination information are correct (copy & paste), AND make sure the destination wallet is in the SAME currency (ETH too) OR YOU CAN LOSE YOUR MONEY. It may not get deposited and if so, won’t get returned. [There are new systems in the pipeline to address this which I am investing in.]

If you’re investing a lot it maybe best to buy a hardware wallet, so you can have your crypto with you and not save it online.
This one is the best by far and the industry standard:
https://www.ledgerwallet.com/r/0b82

[Hacking is very unlikely but it’s safest if you are going in more than a few thousand to remove profits from exchanges to this wallet periodically. In the past exchanges have been hacked, but this was when the market was still maturing and most modern exchanges are better constructed. Of course: DON’T LOSE YOUR PASSWORD KEY.]

B) RESEARCH is key:

Amazing site to check the crypto market values: https://coinmarketcap.com
[The tabs show you where you can buy each crypto, and even social media comments & news]
Good site for reviews: https://globalcoinreport.com

YouTube:
Crypto Crow - Jason is thorough
AltCoinBuzz - Jeff is great, has a knack
and a few more like these guys... They tend to go for many of the same tip before they explode - as it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy as the investors all hear the same tips etc. But I always check if the companies meet the follow criteria as well:

1. Good CONCEPT, Functionality & Unique Selling Point. Will it disrupt an established crypto? Fill a demand?
2. TEAM: Experienced? Media loves previous BRAND name CEOs/founders
3. WIDE ADOPTION UPSIDE - future listing on big exchanges, and key business partnerships (like recently with Ripple with AmEx and Japanese banks. Amazon with any would be huge.)
4. MARKETING & MEDIA exposure. Are they hyping it on their official Twitter? Was it picked by Forbes, mainstream Red Tops or the YouTube crypto Gurus? All have impacts at different rates.
5. UNDERVALUED. I aim for 100-1000% gains. Then $1000 can become $1mil. Remember it's NOT valued by the price of the coin itself.. that’s only relevant when you look at the market capitalisation value of the whole company. Imagine each coin is a different SIZE as well as PRICE - e.g. each BTC is very big (as there are 21mil max) and each Ripple coin is tiny (billions) so Ripple will never get to $20,000 each, but will be valued higher than BTC if it was $20. [100,000 x $1 is less than 1,000,001 x $0.1 ...but the latter seems cheaper as its 10c.

Also try to "Buy low - Sell high" - try not to buy on an all time high due to FOMO - wait for a correction unless its incredibly undervalued. And also if you're LONG on an investment don't panic if it's falling short term within a certain moving average - that's normal. Try to buy at the bottom of the moving average on the graph, and place an order for that particular amount, instead of buying at the whatever market value is available.

This is vital to do due diligence. Don’t buy anything that seems like very bandwagon as there are so many 'Pump and Dump' ShitCoins now cashing in on naive investors. Explore what people on socials etc are saying about your potential investment too, their sentiment is probably common. Don’t panic buy or sell. i.e.

***Make sure you aren’t last one dancing in this game of musical chairs, basically. ***

Consider cashing out your initial stake once you have made enough profits so you can just ‘gamble with your winnings’ and will only lose your time at worst.

C) TAX

Selling CRYPTOCURRENCY FOR FIAT means Capital Gains Tax (CGT) – The tax is due it is only on the gain that you have made, not the entire amount you receive from the sale. You can also minus transaction costs such as transfer fees when calculating your gain. This is why keeping records of the purchase value of your cryptocurrency is important. It can get confusing with so many different currencies at play in a single trade: GBP, USD, ETH, XRP so make sure you mark the GBP cost, if you are in the UK etc.

• Bear in mind that exchanges that are around now might not be in a few years’ time when you decide to sell.
• Most exchanges will let you download CSV files of your trades.
• Try to take a screenshot of every transactions you make.
• You can create a separate email address for all your crypto records so that you can quickly email files to yourself for reference later. **Don’t let your security details come anywhere near it though!**

.

D) SPECULATION - An alternative

eToro:
http://etoro.tw/2FcVcBk

If you don’t have time to research etc, yet think the value of the market will rise.. then it’s maybe best to use a system like eToro. You can place an amount on the whole market itself if you don’t have a preference of any coin against another. In these systems you won’t actually own the coins themselves, and they only have mainly the bigger coins available. You can invest at margin, which means you can invest more than you have (you can buy £1000 with £100), however this obviously comes at a greater risk so I would be careful with that due to volatility. If you use spread bets there is no tax liability either in the UK.

The advantages are that you won’t have to worry about the security of various foreign exchanges, or hacking of wallets -just the eToro log in. You won’t have to wait hours to purchase or sell during peak times. I actually think this could be a big advantage as I imagine many may try to sell if there is news about a country banning bitcoin, or a hack etc, which will lead to many exchanges overwhelmed or down due back log etc. This can’t really happen with eToro as it’s not part of the network. It’s also regulated by the UK & Cyprus, I believe.

FINALLY

I have a lot of tips coming up… My big two tips this end of last month were Ripple at 0.25c and Tron at 8c. They outperformed the Bull Market by quite a bit and are now top10. Will be announcing new ones shortly on our crypto whatsapp group.

Let’s share important stuff we learn & keep an eye on the news together - for eg. if anyone hears about a country banning BTC we ALL need to know quickly 😂, equally if Amazon announce accepting a particular crypto, that would be huge too.

Would love to hear your top 3 tips to explode in 2018!

GOOD LUCK, and be safe!

Som xxx