How I got started with Cryptocurrency

Hello Steemians, I wanted to post this as I've had a number of friends and family ask me recently about cryptocurrency and bitcoin. I am sure there is more than one way to reach a destination but for the sake of this post I will write how I got my foot in the door with crypto and how to get started the simplest way. This is not financial advice just my opinion.

It all started years ago when I first heard of bitcoin back before it was even $50, I was working with this super hippy dude, used to by stuff from silkroad and all and was preaching to everyone at work to invest and buy bitcoins saying "its the future" . At first I was interested and eventually became skeptical. I stopped working with the guy and never really heard of bitcoin again until a few years later. A few years and a couple hundred dollars more per bitcoin later and thoughts began to run through my head like " wow I should've invested" always remembering the hippie from my old job. Thinking it was too late to invest at about $800 just kept on livin' my normie life(not so normal). I play alot of poker, 99% of the in my local casinos, but the last couple of months I started playing online on some websites that make it cheaper and more convenient to deposit in bitcoin. So i started using bitcoin to transfer funds but never holding bitcoin. Then earlier this year I had a conversation with a friend that has several influences in the crypto game and he got me into trading and investing into cryptocurrency. The talk gave me flashbacks of years ago when the hippie use to say "invest in bitcoin" and I thought, I'm not letting this opportunity slip me by again . Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me!

That is when the ride began for me. The very first thing I tell friends and family asking to invest is to do their own due diligence. A great source for that is coinmarketcap.com it provides a source for charts, markets, links to company sites, etc. Here you will find a list of all cryptocurrencies and where you can find them on exchanges. I always recommend to truly believe in what you're investing in and also make sure there is a solid development team and also that its liquidable. So you've done some research, you're ready to unload the clip eh?

The way I bought and traded cryptos was the most convenient but perhaps not the cheapest way possible. But I'll pay for convenience all day. First I created a coinbase account, got verified and then properly linked my bank and bank card. Then I was able to purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin. Then I opened a poloniex account(Exchange where you can buy/sell many different cryptocurrencies) and got verified. Once that's all setup, I simply transferred my bitcoin/ethereum/litecoin I purchased on coinbase and sent it to poloniex. Once you receive it on poloniex you are now able to purchase other coins. I will say, one of the most unsecured places to hold your cryptocurrency once purchased is on an online exchange like poloniex. Once you have coins you want to hold long term and not day trade you'll want to send it to a more secure, perhaps offline wallet. I recommend getting a nano ledger s wallet or a trezor wallet both available on amazon. Security is one of the most important things in cryptocurrency. Make sure to two factor authenticate every account possible and back up all your private keys and don't trust anyone!! Once a transaction is processed there is no way of retrieving money.

My first holdings were mostly Ripple(XRP) and Ethereum(ETH) both have crushed this year. Since I have been in the market their up about +2500% and 1000% respectively, insane few months ! This boom made me more intrigued with cryptocurrency and looking into other projects like Siacoin, Stratis, and eventually found Steem just a week or two ago. I'm excited to learn how to truly use steemit as well as the future of cryptocurrency. It has me brainstorming on business ideas that I can incorporate with cryptocurrencies. Ask me about cryptocurrency If I don't know something I am definitely looking to learn.