So to get this party started, I just initiated a purchase of .1 bitcoin on Coinbase. As such, my cryptfolio now stands at...

Currency Cost Basis Value
BTC $1,484.12 $1,462.33

I think this is probably a high price to pay, and that with patience I could have gotten in in the $12k range. I chickened out buying ETH at $187 a couple months ago, though, and don't want to kick myself later. If BTC drops, I may ick up more very soon. The Coinbase fee was roughly $22. The transaction is expected to complete one week from now, on Jan 11th. This leads to one big problem with Bitcoin, it is slow. While Bitcoin is the current standard (ie Cash) in crypto, the speed of the blockchain will likely result in it being replaced at some point in the future with a better currency. This probably won't happen for a couple years, but be forewarned, when the new standard emerges, BTC will go to zero.

Once the transaction clears, my intent is to use the Changelly exchange to convert some of my BTC to Monero and Ripple. This will result in my having a couple different wallets. I'll follow up next week after conversion and provide info on what I've come up with around best practices with online wallets.