Hey, Coach, I Finally Got A Wallet!
Being very new to the crypto currency world, I can attest it's difficult to get a solid grasp on even a starting point.
Thanks to some very patient people, foremost of which is @barrydutton, I've learned to make transfers from here to Poloniex, plus a whole host of things I'd have thought impossible last September.
Having funds to now play with on an exchange and a few pep talks later, I made my first trade. I spent a couple of weeks slowly familiarizing myself with Poloniex's tools. I did a few more micro trades to reinforce the process and to make sure I had it straight in my head.
So far, so good. Good enough, that I was moving on to more in-depth questions... like:
I have four different coins. What if I want to trade say, SBD for Pascal? I have to turn SBD into to Bitcoin in order to ultimately buy the Pascal. If I do this on Poloniex... double fees, anyone?
Can I avoid paying double? How?
That brought me to my search for a wallet.
The only coding I know is old-timey HTML. I'm stumbling my way through learning markdown on the fly. I need a wallet that doesn't require coding savvy AND lets me direct swap coins.
Some of them scared me right from the get-go.
Walls of code with chirpy little 'directions' about how if you just do thus and so - 'WALLOFCODETHAT.CANNOT.BEUNDERSTOODBY<ANALOGedBRAINED<FOLKSLIKEME' - you can access the most awesomemest wallet since last Tuesday!
Ahhhhhh!! Run away... run away...!!
Dude, pictures! And, videos.... Yeah, now we're talkin'! SHOW me how your product works. I'm not insulted you're assuming I'm ignorant on this stuff. I am, fercryinoutloud! Give me steps I can follow easily..
After all that, I finally found one I'm not intimidated by.
Hint to devs: If you can make this old broad understand your stuff, you're on the right track.
So where did I end up?
Exodus
Simple, straighforward and I'm not even aware of the coding. It allows me direct swaps between currencies without a side trip through Bitcoin and saves me that transaction fee. The only 'gripe' I have is they're currently limiting the variety of 'mainstream' currencies they're handling. Right now it's only Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Dash, and Litecoin. I'm hoping that list expands to reflect the growth in the market. We'll see, but for right now, this will serve.
Prior to selecting the wallet, I had consolidated all my diverse micro buys back into Bitcoin. I wanted to start off my wallet 'clean' - with only one type of coin in hopes of making things easier to keep track of from here on out. Ironically, the only type of currency in my wallet is Bitcoin. At least that offers me the most flexibility if or when I need to transfer out of the wallet.
So, I have a my official starting point and a shiny, brand new wallet! Woohoo and many thanks to my 'coach' @barrydutton, for making me learn the 'why' along with the 'how'.
Nuts and Bolts posts that were especially useful:
Upvote, ReSteem, 
THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT!
Thank you for sharing your story. :)
WoooHoo!!
Thanks! :-D
I just happened along this in the feed, we happen to have 3 trending posts btw us today in the same categories.
You have been great Deb, you are awesome and I had tagged you on the Twitter earlier to say my today's articles' both might be of interest to you, and now I see this --- I know it will be.
Thanks for the friendship and the shout out. I told you that you might like that Exodus wallet once you investigated!!!
I am proud of you.
We steem on as @runridefly would say.
@fulltimegeek -- Look at Deb's progress in #Crypto !!! Good times!!!
@paulbuikema will be up to speed soon too as a #Steemit and #Crypto101 noob !!
Wait, what!?!! We're trending and I missed it... dang it. I had to go do a visit right after I posted this so wasn't here to see it. I'm glad you caught it @barrydutton. Congrats on having 2 hit the list! Well done, indeed!
Yeah, the Exodus one definitely is perfect for us beginners. I was so thrilled when it worked the first time I tried it. No error messages or backtracking. It does what it's supposed to do with no hassles. Thanks for pointing me in that direction. I'm not sure if I'd have even found it, let alone picked it if I was trying to decipher this stuff on my own. #Crypto101 to the rescue!
Proud to call you friend, too, and you deserve the recognition. I'd have given up by now if it weren't for the support you've given.
Aw, that is nice, you encourage me on the darkest days sister, you should be a motivational speaker. I have a #SteemitLove for you my friend!!!
I grabbed a screenshot of our 3 at the top hours and hours ago, in case you missed it, you may have done that too, I see something in my notifications but I am going oldest to newest and already online past 10 pm EST.
Oh, good, you got it! I did indeed miss it. The shot I posted shows us on the Hot List as 2, 3, and 4 of the top 4. That was just recent, too. We're getting there, bud, and days like today are a nice validation.
Now, get offline and go get some rest. ;-P
Congratulations on finally getting a wallet. It is very daunting and very scary especially if you're playing with currency. I definitely like Poloniex better than Bittrex and I'm steering clear of Xapo because of their fees. I have OpenLedger too but have no idea how to use it. Basically, darlin' - I'm signing up for any site that I hear about, test the learning curve, and see what I see.
I'm so glad @barrydutton was able to help you out. He's a great guy :)
Thanks, @merej99. I took my time because I was afraid if I messed up, I wouldn't be able to back-track. With that mindset, I wanted to be doubly sure of my choice. @barrydutton basically walked me through my baby steps by e-mail, hence 'coach'.
Sounds like an interesting experiment... poking around so many different sites! Have heard of OpenLedger, but not Xapo. I'm probably going to let this step soak in before I go exploring. It takes a while to process and assimilate new info into what I've learned. Soon, tho...
OpenLedger is complicated LOL. All the Steemit users here with this reward or that reward trail or token are paid to recruit users to open wallets on OL or a few other portals that lead to the BTS (Bitshares) wallet/trade/exchange site.
Then you will clear your cache and lose the wallet and then have to go and restore it with the backup you create when you open it LOL.
Oh, and good to see you around again. Your smile was missed...!
I've missed you guys! I am resolved to pop in at least once a day - even if it's a quick comment and no blog post. I'm working on my energy level after a full shift on my feet plus a few miles walking commute. And with that, I'm pissed that I'm not skinny yet! LOL
Oh, man, that's just not fair! There oughta be rules about that stuff... says the dog-walker with the spare tire. Lol! Tip for tired feet and 'quick' rebound... 20 minutes with Epsom Salt (use lots!) soak in water hot as you can stand it. Guaranteed fix.
And no one said you had to do a post every day... comments are just as fun, imo. Like this.... ;-P
Thanks!
OpenLedger is complicated LOL. All the Steemit users here with this reward or that reward trail or token are paid to recruit users to open wallets on OL or a few other portals that lead to the BTS (Bitshares) wallet/trade/exchange site.
Then you will clear your cache and lose the wallet and then have to go and restore it with the backup you create when you open it LOL.
Good lord, I only peek at OL once in a while just to see that my numbers haven't changed. Honestly, I haven't taken the time to explore it and do my due diligence with it. But I'm so glad you mentioned about creating a backup of it because I'd hate to lose access because I cleaned out the cache!
ask me how I know LOL.
It prompts you to make a backup when you open a wallet there, so I was lucky in that regard -- but re-installing it was not hard, I had help from someone on chat who deals w those everyday there. If you do not remember making the back up -- even tho they prompt you on start up like I said....
better safe than sorry, head there and make one now. Honestly.