Crypto ABC

So you have decided that you want to enter one of the most lucrative, volatile, unpredictable, unregulated, scammy, full of illegal activities (considered in other markets) industry right? Just because you heard from your 5th cousin’s friend’s third uncle that he made a nice $20k in just a few months?

Or maybe for some other reason… Well lucky for you I will help you get into this market. This post won’t be on how to trade, technical analyses or financial advice. This is the basics of the basics. What you have to do and what you have to know so you could take your first baby steps in playing in the crypto market.

The First place to start - What is Blockchain

My personal advice would be to get to know a little bit - at least the basics what is blockchain. In the end it is the main technology that allowed the creation of cryptocurrencies as we know.

A good read to start is Satoshi Nakomoto (creator of Bitcoin) whitepaper - you don’t need to read the whole thing just the underlying value of what is Bitcoin and the basic theoretical knowledge about blockchain. You can find his WP here - https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf.

I would suggest you read more about the technology and different applications until you grasp at least the basic understanding of what it is.

Now since you became an expert on blockchain technology (not) we can start with the fun part. If you did not understand I was sarcastic. However, luckily for you to speculate in cryptocurrencies, in a way, you do not have to understand the solution but more on how the market pulses. My suggestion is to look at crypto market in a way like a stock market just wilder, crazier and much much more unpredictable. Were market sentiment can change the next minute and a whale (big investor) could change it the other.

Second Step - Wallet

Before you can trade you need to have a wallet. And no I am not talking about those outdated leather wallets that you still carry in your back pocket that is easy to steal when you know few tricks. This is an e-wallet. There are many at the moment out there. Thus you have to be careful which you choose. And not all wallets accept all cryptocurrencies. Meaning you will have to have probably few of those.

Here is a list of few desktop wallets to look in:

• Myetherwallet
• Mist
• Metamask
• Jack
• Eidos
• Exodus

Or a more secure type hardware wallets:

• Trezors
• Nano ledger

If you would like an unhackable wallet - that is a paper wallet. The best definition may come from a post on bitcoin acquisition that describes paper wallets as a cheap and secure way of storing your bitcoins. It goes on to explain that when you request a paper wallet for a transaction, it generates an address for you (where your quantity of bitcoin is held digitally), and also provides you with two QR codes. One of these is for the aforementioned public address, and the other is your private key that you use to authorize transactions relating to that address. These wallets then are usually kept in a safety deposit box so that it wouldn't be burned, stolen or accidentally thrown out. But I guess for your needs an e-wallet will be more than enough.

In short a wallet is needed to keep your crypto that you won't be trading. Since exchanges are not safe and are at the moment easily hacked. Thus keep on the exchange the amount you either want to trade or not afraid to lose.

Third Step - Buying First Crypto

You have created your first wallet however, it shows 0 ether 0 bitcoin and if you choose a right wallet 0 in other 20 or more currencies. Fun fact there are over a 1000 cryptocurrencies on the market.
Your next question and I assume impatient one is - how can I get Bitcoin or Ethereum or if few of you who are more educated Litecoin in my wallet. That is actually very simple if you know where to go.

Key point you need to know - not all wallets are compatible with all cryptocurrencies!

Step 1 - have a bank account!
Step 2 - know the exchanges that trade cash or a market slang fiat (not the car) to crypto.

Some of those are:

• Kraken (it is also an exchange to over 10 cryptocurrencies)
• Bitpanda - takes a commision for an exchange
• Spectrocoin - takes a commision for an exchange
• Bitstamp
• Coinbase
• Gemini
• Coinmama

Great advice I got is to register in all of the exchanges. Cause you never know when one will stop accepting fiat or get hacked or some other unforeseen reason. And knowing the market these exchanges like to stop accepting new users for an extended period of time.

Step 3 - you have a bank account and an exchange account. Now you can deposit your fiat in an exchange and trade for the currency you want. Ta - da you got your first cryptocurrency.

Fourth Step- Trading

I guess after this adrenaline rush you are now thinking - damn I can be a day trader and quit my job. But where can I speculate on crypto market.

Well the answer is simple on the crypto exchanges.

Quick tip - as they say never keep your eggs in one basket same is here never trade on one exchange.

Quick tip two - do not keep your crypto on the exchange if you do not want to lose. Keep the one you will be trading actively and the ones you are thinking to keep long-term keep them in the wallet.

The main exchanges with highest volumes to trade at:

• Coinbase
• Kraken
• Bitstamp
• Bitfinex
• Bittrex
• Binance
• Kucoin

Fifth Step - Market News

As I mentioned before the market is strongly driven by feelings. Thus it is paramount you read daily news about the crypto, follow prominent/influencers both bloggers, youtubers, twitter and other channels just to get a general feeling where the market is moving or what coin is going or is trending.

Key websites to follow:

• Coinmarketcap.com - all crypto coins aggregated and showed prices.
• Bitcoinwisdom.com - bitcoin movement across the market.
• Coindesk - news site
• Themerkle - news site
• Cointelegraph - news site
• NewsBTC
• Reddit - Bitcoin

Sixth Step - The Lingo

It is essential in this market to understand the local lingo. There are no better ways to expose yourself as a beginner as by not knowing the slang! So the key slang words you should know are as follow!

HODL

Example: "Stay strong, HODL even when the price drops."
In early bitcoin forums, someone posted a message that spelled the word "hold" wrong, and readers interpreted it as an acronym "hold on for dear life," Saddington explains. "Now, it's become a meme of sorts, so that when the prices are highly volatile, bitcoin buyers say 'HODL!'" Saddington describes himself as "a long-term HODLER."

FUD

Example: "If someone tells you bitcoin is a bubble."
This one is simple, Saddington says. FUD means "fear, uncertainty and doubt." Bitcoin followers advise to HODL your coins despite the FUD of those outside the community.

Sats

Example: "How many sats are you buying at this price?"
"Sats" is short for "satoshis," a term derived from the first name of bitcoin's mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto. It refers to the smallest fraction of a bitcoin that can be sent, which is 0.00000001 of a bitcoin. Instead of looking at bitcoin in terms of a dollar value, "real traders look at sats, or satoshis," says Saddington.

Whale

Example: "There must be a whale behind this coin's movement."
"A whale is someone who owns a lot of cryptocurrency," Saddington says. "According to statistics and the addresses that you can find online — because bitcoin isn't truly anonymous; you can actually find the whales — these are the people who own a ton of bitcoin. We're talking about like hundreds of thousands of bitcoin or more."
If a "whale" sells a lot of their stake, it can cause the price of a cryptocurrency to dip by flooding supply, he explains.

Pump and dump

Example: "This coin's chart looks like it was a pump and dump."
"Pump and dumpers are people who often say, 'Hey, let's all of us together pump this coin,' which means buy the coin, create the demand in the market, the coin will go up in value," Saddington says. Then, everyone "dumps" the coin and sells.
These schemes are often orchestrated through apps like Slack or Telegram, he adds, and advises curious chatroom readers to be aware of such gimmicks. An investigation into "pump and dump" schemes by Business Insider found the practice to be an "open secret among many cryptocurrency traders."

Bagholders

Example: "I think this coin is going to sell off, and someone's going to be left as the bagholder."
"A bagholder, essentially, is a very unfortunate soul who at the end of the day — maybe from a pump and dump — who got 'held with the bag,' which means they wanted to sell at a higher price, but the market moved too fast," Saddington says. Then, that person is left with "a coin they don't want at a price they can't sell it [at]."

Mooning

Example: "Ripple is mooning!"
If something is "mooning," that means a coin's price is experiencing a spike. "That is often what you'll see on Twitter, or social media sites," he says. "That is one term that I don't enjoy."
Crypto-watchers will often get excited about minor bumps in price and boast that their coin is headed "to the moon," Saddington says, sometimes only in an effort to inflate the price for their own gain.
"I think mooning is one of those terms I'd like to remove from the general vernacular," he says.

Other key information and advices

• The Market is sentimental more of a feeling driven rather than logic. Meaning the earlier you find out about something big happening that could impact the market or coin the better you are off.
• One big pocked individual can ruin your predictions or market sentiment.
• People are driven by Fomo, Greed and Senseless fear.
• 1 month in crypto economy is like one year in a normal one.
• Learn about technical analysis if you are seriously thinking to trade more then Hodl.
• Technical analysis can be easily overturned by one big individual with deep pockets.
• Rumors work as well for the crypto as against.
• News sites are not biased. They are all driven by greed of money. Thus if someone pays a large amount of cash for shitty news they will do it.
• Get Twitter - all who are something in crypto are there. Follow as many. You can easily notice the market sentiment there.
• Create your own source of news and always rotate it.
• Read the latest news, gossips at least bare minimum once a day.
• Final word practice with TA and Market sentiment to catch the trade. Be ready to lose it all at first. Thus trade only that you are ready to lose.
• Same applies if you are planning just to hold and hope it will rise.
• Always do your own analysis. Third party can be as an indicator but not the main drive for buying
• Youtubers knows shit. Do not trust their blind evaluations.

Final word

This is not a financial advice always do your own research.