Thanks @jrcornel for your post. Thoroughly enjoyable and I can corroborate your story. I tried to register with may exchanges and I quickly discovered that it was not as easy as I thought. The processes are getting longer and more difficult to get through. And when you try to use other third party sites that allow you to convert from crypto to PayPal and vice versa, you will find out that you have actually lost money due to fees both ways (buying and selling) as well as Paypal fees. Sometime ago, I was trying out an exchange, by the time I was done, I had lost about 25% of my investment. For one to make headway and make profits with these other third party sites that charge fees both ways, then the value of your investment must be substantial.
For Steem, I am sold for life. This platform introduced me to what I know today about crytpocurrency. With my first set of earnings over a year and a half ago, I had to research how to convert my SBD & STEEM to dollars and boy, the research has proved invaluable. Even at $8 for 1SBD and $6 for STEEM, I believe it is still grossly undervalued and the correction is coming soon, so get ready everyone to ride on the crest of the Steemit wave.
Thanks once again @jrcornel for your post, truly insightful.