Thoughts from the tribe? I've actually done well on it this year, by pure dumb luck. Discussion, especially by anyone who knows more than I (which is a low bar to hurdle), is welcome.
With the explosive acceptance of crypto I'd wager the US govt will create a digital dollar at some point very soon. I mean, most dollars at this point are just numbers on a screen anyway.
Oh to have started 10 years ago.
I've dipped my toes into the waters and I'll probably drop a significant amount (for me) in the next month. I'm conservative so my "investment" money will go into classic Bitcoin and Ethereum. (Most of the currencies in circulation are sketchy)
There's something to be said for a currency that's not inflationary and a payment system that can't be censored/cancelled by the big tech, banks and payment processors.
David S.
Currency that helps prevent financial irresponsibility by our government is pretty exciting. Hard money could hopefully return us to sane fiscal policy.
I agree on digital dollars being inevitable, but fiat digital currency kinda defeats the point. A lot of people who are into crypto don't even like that it's now possible to get bitcoin futures because of concerns over price manipulation.
Following with interest. I had some coworkers invest their stimulus checks in crypto and it turned into 6 figures.
I’m late to the game but learning. The tough thing for me is knowing if/when I should sell. Currently I’m just buying and diversifying my portfolio with different cryptos. Some really risky ones like safe moon and shiba and some more stable ones like bitcoin and ethereum.
Reeks of massive bubble behavior. Anticipate lots of pain and lost savings to tulip mania 2021.
Fundamentally zero value as actual currency, 100% value in speculative buying/selling. It's all fun and games til the music stops. If you think you can time the market, have at it. Recognize it is gambling and spend accordingly.
There's a big difference between BTC & ETH and some random shitcoin pump & dump that was started last week.Originally Posted by Nephrology
Getting Started with Crypto.
1. What is crypto currency? Watch the first three videos in this series. (Part 4-6 are a direct advertisement for DASH, which really isn't worth bothering with)
2. How to buy crypto currency. I've chosen Coinbase. It's simple and easy. Create an account, link your bank account to it (you can't buy with a credit card), select BUY/SELL to buy some crypto. Purchase transactions take about a week to process. Coinbase will charge you a small transaction fee.
3. What to buy.
-Bitcoin (ticker: BTC) is the Glock of the crypto currency world. It's where I choose to put the bulk of my crypto that's earmarked "investment." There were some issues with transaction speed and expenses a couple years ago. I'm not clear on whether that has been resolved or not, but I keep a bit of Litecoin (LTC) for small transactions.
-Ethereum (ETH) is also a solid choice with some interesting potential uses beyond the scope of this post.
-Tether (USDT) is tied directly to the dollar. I wouldn't personally hold money in Tether, but it does make transactions across certain trading platforms fairly simple.
-There's a few notable currencies that specialize in making transactions extremely private.
-There's hundreds or thousands of others, most of which are complete garbage (shitcoins).
3. Holding your crypto currency.
As was mentioned in the videos at the top of the page, you need a place to store your keys (twenty to thirty character alpha-numeric codes that are kinda sorta like account numbers).
- You could memorize them or write them down. There's obvious risks to forgetting or loosing them.
- You could hold it on the exchange (Coinbase, etc). You can also send or receive money with an exchange. This is the simplest, but least secure method. The downside is they hold your private keys, not you. Much like a bank, if they get hacked or if the government bangs on Coinbase's door looking for info, you loose your crypto and/or your privacy.
- Online wallet. This is a separate app for your computer/phone/device that holds your keys securely and allows you to transact with that money. You hold your private keys. The good wallets deny themselves access to your wallet so it's much more hacker resistant and it's my understanding that they couldn't get the info if they wanted to. The downside is, they can't help you recover information either. I've used Jaxx Liberty and am now experimenting with Exodus Wallet. I've been happy with both. There are other solid options that are easy to use.
These are the two systems that I'll be using for the foreseeable future. I buy on Coinbase. As soon as funds become available, I transfer it off Coinbase onto my wallet app. While many wallet softwares will allow you to buy/sell crypto directly, I understand that keeping those operations separate is more secure and private.
- Hardware wallet. That's the bank vault. It's a separate physical device that holds keys. (example) It's the most secure but also most difficult to access. I don't use one yet.
4. Transacting with crypto.
When you purchase crypto, you're given a private and public key.
- If you want to send money to Bob, the wallet automatically uses the private key to make that transaction. You select SEND, enter they amount you want to send, input Bob's info (public key), verify you got it right, and hit SEND. Use Copy/Paste or the provided QR code to make sure all is well.
- You can give anyone your public key. All they can do with it is send money to it.
The whole process is very easy. If you would find screen shots helpful, let me know.
Shameless plug: If you sign up on Coinbase and buy at least $100 of crypto using this link, we both get an extra $10: Coinbase
Cheers,
D
David S.
I made a lot of money off of it.
I currently have zero holdings and I don't intend for that to change.
When people struck it rich in the Gold Rush days some of them invested their luck in saloons, general stores and rooming houses. Some went back out mining trying to get even richer. The former's descendants have generational wealth and the latter's descendants have meth habits.
I decided to take that lesson.
Not realty. Neither can effectively function as currency, both have value based purely on speculation. Those two are better established perhaps but fundamentally no different
The fact that we’re talking about them on P-F is a sign that the top of the market probably isn’t too far off
You know that guy that never thought 280 character messages would catch on . . .
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