A cryptocurrency is a form of internet money that’s gaining steam. It’s a form of secure peer to peer money transfers that occur worldwide with minimal fees. Investing is easy, and most people with a basic understanding of the market will profit.
One of the biggest benefits of cryptocurrency is the ability to send money in seconds. Most banks take a few days to process the transfer, so it’s great if you want a quick sale.
It’s also considered more secure than bank transfers because it’s run through a decentralized system called the blockchanin. It’s more difficult to hack or commit fraud in the blockchain.
“The blockchain keeps everyone honest, and a whole layer of banking bureaucracy is removed, lowering costs,” says Paul Vigna in his book, “The Age of Cryptocurrency.”
If you’re considering investing in cryptocurrency, you’re probably aware of these benefits and more. Now, you need to know how to get started. While you’ll need more research than this short article can offer, here’s a basic guide to help you get where you need to be.
Buy on Coinbase
“The most common place where people buy and trade cryptocurrency is on the exchanges,” explains an article from BlockGeeks. “Exchanges are places where you may buy and sell your crypto, using fiat. There are multiple measures to judge the reliability and quality of an exchange, such as liquidity, spread, fees, purchase and withdrawal limits, trading volume, security, insurance, user-friendliness.”
If you’re a first-time investor, Coinbase.com is probably the easiest way to start. It’s the largest global exchange in this particular market. You’ll be able to connect with other beginning investors and follow step-by-step tutorials to success. It also has a 100 percent crypto insurance service, so you’re covered if you make a mistake.
You’ll start by purchasing what’s called a Major Coin, like Bitcoin, LiteCoin, Ethereum, or BitCoin Cash.
Most investors start out by letting the value of their coins rise over time. Once it’s appreciated, you can use it like you would use a credit card over the internet.
Put Coins in Your Wallets
A wallet is exactly what it sounds like: a place to store your coins until you need them. Your wallets can be hardware or software based.A hardware wallet is basically a USB stick so that your coins are stored off the internet. They have strict security settings so that only the owner can access them, and they can’t be spent or transferred without removing certain parameters. It’s probably the most secure way to store your coins.
A software wallet is more popular because it’s more convenient and totally free. It’s stored in the cloud, so it comes with some hacking risks. However, these coin storage solutions are still very secure with multi-factor security to prevent fraud.
Having a wallet for your cryptocurrency is very important for security purposes.
“It is always advised that you do not keep your Cryptocurrency on an Exchange,” says Average Crypto Joe, a crypto-investor and contributor to Cryptocurrency Hub. “The simple reason being is that an Exchange could be hacked, suffer downtime or restrict access to your funds for any number of reasons.”
When choosing a wallet, make sure it works with your type of currency. Otherwise, you run the risk of losing funds when they’re transferred.
Watch Out for Fees
Transferring money through blockchain is meant to be a more affordable, faster service than traditional money transfers, but it’s not without its fees. In most cases, it’s more affordable to make transfers with cryptocurrency, but that all depends on things like the type of currency, where you’re transferring the currency, and the exchange you’re using.
Research fees carefully to avoid overspending on your transfers. You have many options for controlling costs, and these costs will continue to decrease with time. Overall, just remember that security is more important than fees, so don’t go cheap on a service that might not properly handle your coins.
Learn All You Can
So far, we’ve covered the very basics of cryptocurrency. After reading this far, you’ve dipped your toes into the market, and you might even feel ready to purchase your first coin.
Before doing so, however, learn everything you can about cryptocurrency. Read articles, watch videos, and peruse the Coinbase website to get a feel for the way this market works.
If you want a fast and easy way to gain knowledge, subscribe to a daily newsletter that publishes the top stories about cryptocurrency, like Coinzy. They share the latest news and tips via email so you can learn the market quickly without investing a lot of time.
After you’ve read and researched, the best way to learn is by actually doing it. Get on Coinbase, and make your first purchase. If you’ve prepared yourself well, you’ll hopefully make a profit and be ready to make your next big investment.
