So for my first post with some insight into crypto currency i figured i would start with the basics.
Where to buy:
Some research is needed to find out which exchange is best in your country in order to exchange fiat to Bitcoin or another major coin such as Ethereum or Litecoin. My choice for in Canada is Quadrigacx.
Once your account is created you will need to fund your account with fiat to make a buy order. I would suggest buying ETH if it is available on your exchange as the transfer fee and speed is cheaper and faster (it will require and extra step as most coins do not trade with an ETH pair).
An example of an order book
If you wish to buy coins not listed on you fiat exchange, you will need to transfer the BTC or ETH to an exchange that carries the coin of your choice.
The top exchanges for trading crypto currency that I would recommend are:
Bitfinex - not that many coins available but has the major ones with USD pairings and imo the best interface
BitTrex - has a lot of coins - interface is okay
Binance - has a lot of coins - can use there coin BNB to reduct trading fees
Kucoin - newer exchange with increasing volume. has some lesser known coins not available above
(if you do not have a kucoin please use my referral link https://www.kucoin.com/#/?r=1wgHw )
You may need to sign up for multiple exchanges. They will requite basic stuff like name, address, email. They will also ask for ID in the form of driver license or passport. Some require you to take a photo of yourself with your passport in order to be verified.
I would also advise you to use 2FA authenticator for all your accounts.
Transfering:
To transfer you will need to withdraw from the exchange you purchased BTC or ETH from using your fiat.
The withdraw page will look similar to
To get your deposit address you will want to click on the wallet or account balance on the exchange
click on the deposit or plus sign of the coin you will be depositing
a window similar to this will appear with an address - copy this to the withdraw address from before
Typically it takes 5-10 minutes for a transfer to take place but sometimes it can take several hours.
Buying other coins
Sites are all different but the order book will be similar to
Here we can place different orders. I will cover the two basic order types
Buy order- an order at a set price that we define example using the chart above. We could place a bid to buy 500XRP at 0.00014390. If we clicked buy we would be placed second on the order book for the price we inputted.
Market order - places a buy order for highest sell price. In this case if we placed a market order we would be buying at a rate of 0.00014399 @ 154.21389014 XRP and the remaining would be at 0.00014400. Order books move quickly though so if there is a delay and there are big gaps between sell orders, i would advise against using this until you are comfortable with order books.
What to buy and how much?
I would suggest starting to invest with a small % of what you plan to invest in. It is a great way to get into the market and learn before you dump all your money in. As for what coin to start off in, I would look into a coin that is safe, something already in the top 20 market cap and is already established. Try to stay away from coins that recently surged and pick something that is undervalued.
My suggestions for portfolio break down is as follows
30-40% - divided into at least 2 of major coins - BTC/ETH/LTC/DASH
40-50% - In safer top 20 alts would suggest OMG, NEO, ADA, IOTA, XLM, XRP
(in the future) <20% - for risky low market cap alts that can yield greater gains but at a risk
10% - Fiat - for buying on dips, this will always be up and down - take some profit after a big spike in profit on a particular coin - dump the profits in fiat if your % is lower than 10. if you already have enough fiat, then dump it into a coin struggling in your portfolio or add another to the portfolio
Please leave me any questions and i will try to respond asap
Thank you!
Donation address
BTC - 1PbaKGJLhosFvNhXWbWf3FrPD6ntFttejP
ETH - 0x5f303b60f00d1f1d2f7538a8add6aebde035503b
LTC - LNoQqtXdJoLhR6zj3ukTBdCajETj8e8p5u
