So, this is my advice so people starting out with cryptos. It's all the things I could think of that I believe you should know/do. I don't get into the whys and the wherefores, but you can ask me about those.
I just wanted a quick checklist so I can be sure to enlighten people on all the important basics. I need a section on securing your cryptos, but that's going to take some more doing. If you have any thoughts on things I should include, please let me know :)
Val’s Cryptos Checklist
Download the Jaxx wallet from https://www.jaxx.io or the Exodus wallet from https://www.exodus.io. Check back periodically for updated versions. I check every week or every month.
BACK UP YOUR WALLET. Both of the above wallets will give you a 12 word backup, from which you can recreate your wallet, in case your computer crashes, etc. Print/write these words on a piece of paper and stash them in your safe, old book, etc.
If you put a wallet on your phone – DO NOT STORE CRYPTOS ON THERE. Phones are the most insecure devices, and were quite literally devised to spy on you on behalf of governments (plenty of info on the Internet) however, a hacker can just as easily take hold of your phone and information, including the keys to your crypto wallet. Use phone wallets ONLY if you’re about to make a purchase with cryptos, and transfer ONLY the amount you’re going to use. Transfer unused amounts back to your main wallet. Also, if you put a wallet on your phone, back it up as well.
NEVER EVER conduct financial business on a public network. Use your phone’s internet or you home internet, or maybe your workplace internet if they allow it, otherwise you run the risk of getting your information stolen.
If you’re in the US market, set up an account at all the following exchanges so you can purchase cryptos:
a) https://www.coinbase.com – the easiest and quickest to get onto. They only buy/sell bitcoin, litecoin and ethereum.
b) https://www.kraken.com – they offer a large variety of cryptos, even ones that aren’t supported on Jaxx and Exodus.
c) https://www.gemini.com – similar to Kraken, but they are owned by the Winklevoss brothers of Wall Street fame.If you’re in the European market, set up accounts at these exchanges:
a) https://www.kraken.com – they offer a large variety of cryptos, even ones that aren’t supported on Jaxx and Exodus.
b) https://www.bitstamp.com – same as Kraken, but based in Europe.Set up account on https://www.poloniex.com which is an exchange that simply lets you exchange between cryptos. In other words you can’t send them fiat currency to buy cryptos. You just use cryptos to buy cryptos. I use this exchange when I want to buy cryptos that aren’t listed on the exchanges I use to buy them. For example, I wanted to buy NEM tokens (XEM) and I had to go there to do it.
The safest strategy is BUY and HOLD Bitcoin, Ether and Litecoin. The markets will be a roller coaster ride (down and up) but are trending higher – not all cryptos mind you. There are a lot of junk cryptos who will not make it. There are over 900 cryptos as of this writing.
Other coins that I pay attention to:
a) Dash, Monero, Zcash – these are the main privacy coins, through which transactions are nigh impossible to trace
b) Nem (XEM) is another privacy coin with other uses. I have an eye on them because they’re very cheap and may appreciate a lot
c) Veritaseum – Reggie Middleton’s answer to a crooked stock market, and other such markets. He’s already sealed the deal with the Jamaican stock market, and has others in the pipeline. His token has not been picked up by the main crypto exchanges, probably because he takes out the middleman (i.e. the exchanges) and lets you do your exchanges cheaper and directly peer-to-peer.
d) Pillar – they have a great idea, and got lots of support during their ICO and Pre-ICO. They’re starting with a wallet like Jaxx or Exodus which will support the top 50 cryptos, but they intend to create an operating system for your phone/computer, which will void the need to install a million and one apps. You simply subscribe to services that you want and the wallet handles all the necessary underlying cryptos for you.
e) Salt – they will offer a secured lending platform based on cryptos. Instead of selling your cryptos for fiat, you can borrow against them and get fiat back. When you pay the loan back (with no early payoff fees) you get your cryptos back.Bookmark/consider the following websites:
a) https://www.tradingview.com – their free account lets you see a lot of valuable information. They also have a paid account, but I haven’t found a need for that. In here you can see where money is flowing between the Bond Market, the Stock Market and Cryptos.
b) https://www.coinmarketcap.com – they take the current prices of multiple exchanges, average them out, and that’s what you see. If you click on a particular coin, and then on markets, you can see what each market’s price is (so you can pick the best price when buying or selling, for instance).
c) https://www.steemit.com – this is a social media website, akin to Facebook, but it lets you earn the Steem crypto-currency by creating, upvoting and re-blogging good content. It’s free to sign up. There’s also a lot of news and information about cryptos. It’s generally a fairly helpful community. You can cash out your Steem for fiat at an exchange.
d) https://www.icoalert.com – list of upcoming and past ICOs. BEWARE: not all ICOs are built the same. There are lots of scams, as anyone and their mother can create an ICO. Much like SNAP (Snap Chat) may spike up and then crash and burn. I only recommend ICOs that have a spine, a future business model that gives them legs. Remember, cryptos are software and anybody can make a better version and attract more attention. It’s the Free Market at its best.
e) https://etherdelta.github.io – a specialized exchange that lists tokens that aren’t listed anywhere else, e.g. Veritaseum. A lot of ICOs have used this exchange for that reason. I highly recommend creating an account here if you want to invest in ICOs, or want to buy tokens (after the ICO) that aren’t listed on the main exchanges above.
f) https://www.myetherwallet.com – this is an online only wallet for Ether (the token of the Ethereum network on which most ICOs are based). Some ICOs don’t support you sending them tokens directly from your Jaxx or Exodus wallet, and this is another alternative. Like Ether Delta, My Ether Wallet also supports unlisted tokens so you can see your balance online, trade them, etc.
g) https://halfpasthuman.com – this is Clif High’s site. He has a monthly cryptos report he puts out for $99. He is very knowledgeable about programming and cryptos in general. He also has a youtube channel and twitter account, and he gets interviewed periodically on other channels. Fair warning, he gets into some very intense information which you may find far fetched. If you’re not into what he calls woohoo, listen only to his cryptos advice. He claims his record is about 50% on the predictions he’s been making since 1991. On cryptos, I would say he’s been about 80 or 90% accurate.
h) There’s lots of great information on youtube about cryptos, just don’t take any old recommendation about ICOs and cryptos to invest.
Amazing article! Very informative even for someone who is not a complete novice! Upvoted and followed
Thanks :) and good luck to all of us!
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