Bitcoin. You've heard about it. Pretty much everyone has at this point. It's a growing market. You have friends making money. You have friends quitting their jobs to do this. But exactly is "this" and how do you get started?
I was overwhelmed with the amount of information I had to learn to dip my toes in this cryptocurrency pond, and at first, I drowned. I put in $300 (Yeah, I'm a college student so low budget) and I lost $70 at the start. I decided to take swimming lessons (again with the pond metaphor) and since then I can happily report that I've almost doubled my $300 and am looking at a 175% profit increase right now. So, I want to give you the chance to learn from my mistakes and hopefully you can embrace the wonderful world of crypto with open arms, an open mind, and eventually a full wallet.
So what is cryptocurrency? Well, that's a lot but here's a good source to use (1). Basically, it is a decentralized currency that works similar to a stock, in that it gains value when more people invest and loses value when people sell the stock. Every transaction is verified by other humans in the cryptocurrency world and is stored within the blockchain (2), or records of data for every transactions EVER. Basically, it's very hard for you to get hacked or have your cryptocurrency stolen because everything is so transparent. You can rob my wallet and take my cash, but good luck taking my Bitcoin.
The way to make money is called day trading. This means that you are doing just as you would imagine. You are buying a coin, the unit of cryptocurrency, and selling it at a profitable rate. Easy, right? Just buy low, sell high. But to actually get to this point you need some guidance. So here is a step by step guide on how to get started:
1. Everything works using mainly Bitcoin and Ethereum. You have to purchase either one of these two (preferably Bitcoin since more exchanges work on the Bitcoin network). You need to go to an exchange website that allows you to purchase Bitcoin with U.S. dollars. My two preferred options are Coinbase and Gdax. Coinbase has higher fees but is very user friendly and available as an app. Make sure to buy at a reasonable price and not when the market is at a high point!
2. You can make money by simply leaving your investment on Coinbase and Gdax and watch it grow or you can be proactive and take a risk on some altcoins. Altcoins (3) are basically new coins that can be purchased by trading in your bitcoin. These are volatile because you never when these will crash but as long as you follow the market you can make some BIG money. You have to deposit your Bitcoin from Coinbase or Gdax to another trading exchange such as Poloniex (my favorite), Bittrex, or Bitfinex, etc. There is a deposit button where you copy/paste your deposit address to Coinbase and that sends your coins over to the new exchange website.
4. Once you make profit and you want CASH, you can send the Bitcoin back to Coinbase or Gdax using the deposit address option for Coinbase/ Gdax and then cash out to your bank using US DOLLARS!
Hopefully, this points you in the right direction. I wish someone would've told me this when I started but it's never too late for you. So remember, buy on Coinbase or Gdax, send funds to exchange websites such as Poloniex, then trade for some altcoins and get that money! Send it back to Coinbase/Gdax and cash out to your bank!
I wish you the best of luck and appreciate the upvotes and follows more than you can imagine.
With the utmost admiration,
Stefano Radice
Sources:
1. https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/everything-you-need-to-know-cryptocurrency-bitcoin/3/
2. http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp?lgl=rira-baseline-vertical
3. http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/altcoin
