Cryptocurrency Investors - Where to start?

TheCoilist

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This post is meant to be based on my naïveté. So please go slow. Lol

I do NOT have a lot of disposable income. However, I get a few dollars here and there that I think it would be fun to invest in cryptocurrency. The problem is that I know nothing about either cryptocurrencies or investing in such things.

How exactly does someone get started with investing in crypto?

I have read all kinds of articles and all of that, but what gateway do you use to put money into those markets and track the investments, etc?

Thanks!
 
This post is meant to be based on my naïveté. So please go slow. Lol

I do NOT have a lot of disposable income. However, I get a few dollars here and there that I think it would be fun to invest in cryptocurrency. The problem is that I know nothing about either cryptocurrencies or investing in such things.

How exactly does someone get started with investing in crypto?

I have read all kinds of articles and all of that, but what gateway do you use to put money into those markets and track the investments, etc?

Thanks!

I wouldn't touch cryptocurrency with a ten ft pole. I don't trust it. Start a Roth I.R.A instead.
 
I have plenty of retirement accounts already. Roth IRA, 401K, and 403b

I am not looking for another account like that. I’m more interested in doing investments that I can play with. Crypto seemed like the newest thing to invest in that may have some returns being that it is so new.

I would invest in company stocks, but I still have the same questions... how and where?
 
This post is meant to be based on my naïveté. So please go slow. Lol

I do NOT have a lot of disposable income. However, I get a few dollars here and there that I think it would be fun to invest in cryptocurrency. The problem is that I know nothing about either cryptocurrencies or investing in such things.

How exactly does someone get started with investing in crypto?

I have read all kinds of articles and all of that, but what gateway do you use to put money into those markets and track the investments, etc?

Thanks!



I googled " obtaining Cryptocurrency" and got a page with several listings .

I will just send you the link to this one .Seeing this one convinced me I would have a hard time even understanding this mumbo-jumbo .
I read somewhere about this guy who can't get to his vast fortune in Bitcoin because he lost or forgot his password . Being a cranky , old guy , I immediately got turned off by this guy's fast talking , homeboy , wannabe style ! :lol:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...28EDA3D47C6B6833072628E&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
 
Fortunes are being made as we speak. Bitcoin’s been around for over a decade. Not exactly fly by nite.
 
I have plenty of retirement accounts already. Roth IRA, 401K, and 403b

I am not looking for another account like that. I’m more interested in doing investments that I can play with. Crypto seemed like the newest thing to invest in that may have some returns being that it is so new.

I would invest in company stocks, but I still have the same questions... how and where?

I would rather invest in tulip bulbs. :cool3:

No, actually, I invest in solid dividend paying companies and a smaller portion in growth companies, through a combination of either direct stock ownership, or Exchange Traded Funds.
 
Welp, this would surprise some of you, but I invest in the stock market with my Christmas money. That's how I keep everything saved up. When I bought the scoop I had to say bye-bye to one of them, but this is only from a 12-year-old, so no serious suggestions here. Just consider.

Josh
 
I googled " obtaining Cryptocurrency" and got a page with several listings .

I will just send you the link to this one .Seeing this one convinced me I would have a hard time even understanding this mumbo-jumbo .
I read somewhere about this guy who can't get to his vast fortune in Bitcoin because he lost or forgot his password . Being a cranky , old guy , I immediately got turned off by this guy's fast talking , homeboy , wannabe style ! :lol:

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...28EDA3D47C6B6833072628E&view=detail&FORM=VIRE
Reminds me of the guy who accidentally threw out a hard drive containing Bitcoin worth 280 million now.
 
eToro is reportedly the best platform for trading crypto (https://www.etoro.com/en-us/). Also previously mentioned was RobinHood (https://robinhood.com/us/en/); I personally know people who use the RobinHood app and have regarded it highly; that said, there are some regulatory issues that that app is facing, and there is a movement to ban it in the state of Massachusetts (https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/04/16/robinhood-app-massachusetts-galvin-securities/). I think that the regulatory issues will blow over, but you never know.

Full disclosure: I have an economic interest in eToro.

My general opinion of crypto is that it is like a pet rock, if anyone remembers that craze. Crypto is nothing but a random arrangement of bits with an algorithm behind it -- if you can get someone else to buy your bits for more than you paid, then fine, but they have no value in and of themselves, only what someone else will give you for them.

Gold and silver are similar, a random arrangement of protons and electrons, and in the abstract, the mining process is similar (convert energy into the end product), and they are only worth what someone will pay you for them, but at least precious metals have non-market utility; specifically jewelry is pretty to look at, and they are useful in certain industrial processes. The same can not be said of crypto.

Fiat currency is much like crypto, it is basically random pictures of dead presidents or a random arrangement of pixels in a spreadsheet somewhere, and is only worth the goods and services someone will give you for it. Its store of economic value comes from the fact that it is basically a note that says "I did this for person A, so you, as person B, should do this for me". It is also quite entrenched, and so that gives it what economists might call "goodwill value".

Food, water, energy, and land (and similar things) are the only things with real value, as they have utility in the absence of a greater fool to buy them down the line. Even gold or silver, much less crypto, can't be eaten or burned as needed.

Circulating back to crypto, it is my opinion that it will become entrenched. Moreover, unlike fiat currency, there will be a strict limit on the number of coins for a particular crypto, and it will be well-known when that limit is reached. This will give it a slight advantage over fiat currency (the inability to print more of it by fiat).

That said, there are problems at the present time. It is too volatile to be a store of value. Bitcoin, for example, went from about 60K to 45K in a few days (these are rough numbers from memory and not intended to be exact, just illustrative). That's real money. Fiat currencies do not do that. A 1% move in a fiat currency is considered a big deal.

Moreover, while the supply of say, bitcoin, is limited by algorithm, the supply of coins in general is not limited. Anyone with the tech savvy can create a new coin. For example, dogecoin, which was created as a joke, is up some 400% in recent times. This is akin to discovering that all the gold has been mined, so let me create something else in the lab that people may or may not find as shiny. It is a backdoor way to dilute the limited supply, and in a sense, is like the 100 or so fiat currencies around the world, or whatever it is.

So, my overall opinion is that these coins will find a stable value at some point in the future (just like tulips have). We just don't know when or at what point relative to other assets. So, I view them as nothing more than trading/gambling devices at this time.

HTH. FWIW, I am an economist and professional trader, but my opinions aren't really more valuable than anyone else's. Just throwing it out there.
 
............Fiat currency....... is only worth the goods and services someone will give you for it. Its store of economic value comes from the fact that it is basically a note.........

Good point !

I am not any economics expert but I learned a good while back that the "notes" the public has been in the habit of calling "money" (I do it myself :lol:) is not really money in the true definition of what was considered Constitutional money but as a note is indeed merely basically a "promise" :lol: but I don't want to turn this into any political discussion so I'll leave it at that :lol:
 
Don't invest anything you can not afford to loose is the bottom line for me. As far as cryptocurrencies, sure, why not give it a shot but don't expect a quick return. Think of it as instead of going on a weekend vacation put that money in crypto and just leave it for say 6 years and then see what you have.
I remember when I first heard about bitcoin and it was going for about 50 cents.... Regrets? I've had a few...:lol::lol::lol:
 
While the current mathematics knowledge makes it extremely hard to factor, what happens if someone in the future solves that problem?

Aluminum used to be a very valuable metal, until they invented a process for extracting it simply, and then the value plummeted. I can't rule out this happening to cryptocurrency.

I will resort to barter before I get into cryptocurrency.

-- Tom
 
I remember when Bitcoin was $2 in about 2010, and I contemplated buying some. $50 then would make me a millionaire today.

I'm like you. I have a 401k, Roth and pension account, but I wanted something more. Robinhood is ok for stocks. Coinbase is the most legit crypto platform where you can buy, sell or trade. For some of the new or emerging coins, you might look on other platforms like Binance. I've made good money in the last couple years doing my research and gambling on young cryptocurrencies. The value can really take off.
 
Being that no one has ever explained what cryptocurrency is in a clear and concise way, it falls into the scam category imo...,
 
eToro is reportedly the best platform for trading crypto (https://www.etoro.com/en-us/). Also previously mentioned was RobinHood (https://robinhood.com/us/en/); I personally know people who use the RobinHood app and have regarded it highly; that said, there are some regulatory issues that that app is facing, and there is a movement to ban it in the state of Massachusetts (https://boston.cbslocal.com/2021/04/16/robinhood-app-massachusetts-galvin-securities/). I think that the regulatory issues will blow over, but you never know.

Full disclosure: I have an economic interest in eToro.

My general opinion of crypto is that it is like a pet rock, if anyone remembers that craze. Crypto is nothing but a random arrangement of bits with an algorithm behind it -- if you can get someone else to buy your bits for more than you paid, then fine, but they have no value in and of themselves, only what someone else will give you for them.

Gold and silver are similar, a random arrangement of protons and electrons, and in the abstract, the mining process is similar (convert energy into the end product), and they are only worth what someone will pay you for them, but at least precious metals have non-market utility; specifically jewelry is pretty to look at, and they are useful in certain industrial processes. The same can not be said of crypto.

Fiat currency is much like crypto, it is basically random pictures of dead presidents or a random arrangement of pixels in a spreadsheet somewhere, and is only worth the goods and services someone will give you for it. Its store of economic value comes from the fact that it is basically a note that says "I did this for person A, so you, as person B, should do this for me". It is also quite entrenched, and so that gives it what economists might call "goodwill value".

Food, water, energy, and land (and similar things) are the only things with real value, as they have utility in the absence of a greater fool to buy them down the line. Even gold or silver, much less crypto, can't be eaten or burned as needed.

Circulating back to crypto, it is my opinion that it will become entrenched. Moreover, unlike fiat currency, there will be a strict limit on the number of coins for a particular crypto, and it will be well-known when that limit is reached. This will give it a slight advantage over fiat currency (the inability to print more of it by fiat).

That said, there are problems at the present time. It is too volatile to be a store of value. Bitcoin, for example, went from about 60K to 45K in a few days (these are rough numbers from memory and not intended to be exact, just illustrative). That's real money. Fiat currencies do not do that. A 1% move in a fiat currency is considered a big deal.

Moreover, while the supply of say, bitcoin, is limited by algorithm, the supply of coins in general is not limited. Anyone with the tech savvy can create a new coin. For example, dogecoin, which was created as a joke, is up some 400% in recent times. This is akin to discovering that all the gold has been mined, so let me create something else in the lab that people may or may not find as shiny. It is a backdoor way to dilute the limited supply, and in a sense, is like the 100 or so fiat currencies around the world, or whatever it is.

So, my overall opinion is that these coins will find a stable value at some point in the future (just like tulips have). We just don't know when or at what point relative to other assets. So, I view them as nothing more than trading/gambling devices at this time.

HTH. FWIW, I am an economist and professional trader, but my opinions aren't really more valuable than anyone else's. Just throwing it out there.

This is a really great post.
 
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