I bought some Cardano!
It was remarkably easy to diversify my crypto holdings, even though I'm a simple content-creator with limited technical savvy.
(I'm not necessarily recommending you do this, I'm just showing you what I did, so you can see how easy it is. I'm not being compensated by anyone. This is meant to inform. Date: Feb 26 2019.)
Get a wallet!
After deciding Cardano (ADA) was the cryptocurrency I wanted to experiment with, I downloaded and installed a Cardano wallet called Daedalus. Just as easy as any other program. While running, it operates a local network node silently in the background, which means it uses some computing resources (probably only an issue for older machines). Do NOT skip the "write down your password and store the paper somewhere safe" step.
Daedalus allows you to generate any number of receiving addresses, in case you want to use a different one for each person/company you transact with. Armed with a receiving address for my wallet, all I needed was some Cardano to put in it!
OnePageX
I already posted about this service here. I was excited to put them to the test!
I went to their website, which is very no-frills and easy to understand. No registration or account needed!
The minimum trade from Steem was about 22. I typed 22.5 Steem, entered my wallet receiving address, and clicked 'Start Exchange'.
Up popped instructions on how to proceed, including a 10-character 'deposit tag'. Through my Steemit account, I sent @onepagex the 22.5 Steem, including the 'deposit tag' in the transfer memo.
Without doing anything else, the onepagex website updated after a couple minutes:
An estimated 180 ADA (Cardano) will be mine, cool! That includes 2 small embedded service fees.
The website updated to say "complete" after about ten minutes.
I checked my wallet, and there is was:
Within an hour, I figured out how to use a new wallet, a new exchange service, and a whole new currency!
It was easier than setting up and learning how to use 'online banking' at a traditional financial institution, except much less annoying, and with no glitches.
Little services like this are popping up all over. Decentralized, mainly open source and transparent, nearly-free, and designed to work properly rather than sound good.
Extremely refreshing.
For someone like me, who hasn't participated in the traditional/mainstream/legacy banking world in years, but isn't a tech expert, this sort of thing can't happen soon enough! The big banks have held power over this planet for far too long. Their social engineering, endless wars, and fraudulent financial system are starting to crumble.
I have no bank accounts, no credit cards, no PayPal, nothing at all except a little bit of cash to connect me to that scammy old system.
Now, thanks to Bitcoin, then Steem, and now Cardano, I've got currency that can't be manipulated, that can't be rehypothecated, that can't be revalued by some government regime. I'm the only person who knows the phrase to access those funds. They go where I want them to go. I can cross international borders with millions stored in my memory. I can pay people anywhere in the world within seconds, for nearly no cost.
All that personal power is available to anyone who chooses to claim it. That is changing things.
The internet is a game-changer, and cryptocurrencies are the next level of that. Along with precious metals as a private physical store of value, cryptos put a little power back in the peoples' hands.
(Not financial or environmental advice.)
DRutter
Clearly excellent news for blockchain-dwellers like us! Being able to move crypto coins around, and exchange between them, is like lubrication for a financial engine.
Cool. I'm interested in why you're interested in Cardano. Maybe you can elaborate at some point?
Good question :)
I see cryptos as currencies first. As you've probably heard me say, I'm not an investor, and I actively avoid investing because I see it as harmful to others. I avoid it so much, that I predicted bitcoin would go from 1 cent to 1 million dollars (2011), but didn't get any, and watched it rise to $4000 (2017) before I accepted a fraction from some viewers who had made it big after hearing about bitcoin from me. I only accepted some bitcoin, after being offered stacks of it for years, so that I could finally use it as a currency. I used it to buy and sell things, and accept a few more fractional tips, before buying into my Steem stack a year ago. Now Steem is my daily use currency, but I see Cardano (ADA) as being another very valid and useful crypto.
Specifically why Cardano? What I know of it is that it was designed by engineers using the scientific method to guide decisions. I think that's pretty cool already. I know it's not a bankster coin like XRP (ripple), and it has some notable privacy advantages. They're working on upgrading the payment system so it can be scaled up for use by the entire world's population. Now I have a few bucks worth to play around with. Learn how the Cardano wallet (Daedalus) works, pay some people, get paid by some people. I know a few other people who use it regularly.
Another crypto I was considering was Litecoin. They're also doing a lot of good upgrading, and I see it kind of like the silver of cryptos. Bitcoin is kind of like gold - slower moving, better to own during downcycles.
If I was an investor, I'd be upset I didn't just hold my .2 btc through this correction, and just sit on the sidelines of Steem, watching the posts go by for the past year and a half. If I had done that, I could buy into Steem with my .2 bitcoin right now - 2200 Steem, almost double what I've worked full-time to earn. Ouch!
But I'm not an investor. I needed the Steem as currency, so I could buy my Steemit accounts and pay for my posts/comments. I didn't buy Steem with Bitcoin as an investment move. Since I'm not allowed in the traditional banking system anymore, cryptos are one way I can still buy, sell, save, etc.
Now, I bought some ADA with Steem.
It's a bit like owning some USD and some CAD. Both are spendable here in Vancouver, each has pros and cons, and their value fluctuates.
Also, I want to mention I used Steem to buy the ADA with, not because I don't like Steem (Gresham's Law), but because I currently have nothing else in the crypto world to pay with! It's like only having American Express, and going around everywhere asking "do you accept American Express?" Now I have a second currency, and out of the top 20 or so, ADA struck me as best.
I know that you already know the value of diversification, and this is kind of diversification.
Thanks for asking!
Thanks @drutter! We really appreciate you trying us out! Congrats on learning how to use a new wallet as well :)
You're welcome! I believe genuine word of mouth promotion is the most powerful kind. Thanks, and keep up the great work.
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STOPBut I'm already reaching for 3000 replies! (I didn't realize 2750 was a target as well.)