I set out on my journey about a month ago, summoning will and courage and phoning my bank to pull money out of my retirement funds for the venture.
Immediately I began my due diligence researching CC wallets and exchanges. Keep CC coins with the exchange?, no I've learned that they don't actually buy the coins until you transfer them to your wallet. That sounds like how banks work and it's what I'm getting away from. I want a multicoin wallet that runs on Linux. Jaxx sounds promising (and heck, my dogs' name is Jax, coincidence? I think not.) so I try installing via the package manager. No luck, dependencies conflict (IMHO dynamic dependencies are linuxes main weakness. Gimme a static build any day.)
Next try I download Exodus. Hey, it's not packaged to install, but it got an executable bin. Just unzip it into the directory you want and run it directly. This may be a security feature as none of the system files even know it's there. Exodus is nice. It handles several popular currencies, it's intuitive the use, and offers a backup utility and paper wallet print feature. It handles the private key for me and that's okay for the small amount I've invested so far. Now to pick an exchange.
Of course Google brings up Coinbase and Coinsquare. Digging in I found out quickly that they need plenty of info to open an account. I was hoping for more anonymity, but it's Canadian law for fraud prevention. After thinking about that I chose an exchange that was Canadian only, just to minimize the number of governments who may demand client info from them (it doesn't count as paranoia if they really are out to get you...). So I took ID pictures and applied to Quadriga exchange and waited. .. still waiting. Their notice mentions delays due to high traffic. This is very telling. I really think the CC market is transforming from a geeks hobby to a worldwide paradigm shift. Anyhow as I waited some cryptos rose about 20 or 30% so I looked further and found quickbt.com . I passed on them earlier because they can only handle $150/day, but do it fast.
Out with the bank card/ open Exodus/copy Bitcoin address to the right field/give my phone#/get and enter code/confirm it at my banks site/ and...wait. Oops, must phone them and say my name to activate my phone#...and still wait 12 hours. Again this is very telling. The crypto currency market is about to get swamped. One black swan in global markets and the exchanges could be backed up for days with people desperate to get out of the banks.
This morning: it happened. An email confirmation, open Exodus, yes! I own .03 Bc!. I climbed up on my rooftop and struck a heroic pose as I surveyed my domain (slight exaggeration).
It's a modest start, but between my stash of precious metals and crypto currency I'm feeling better about weathering this storm that is brewing.
Still not approved on Quadriga yet, but I'm in the game.
