The best time to get into crypto was yesterday.
The next best time is today.
For those already involved in crypto navigating its vast techno-memeical landscape seems easy & intuitive. For those that have not yet had the chance, but want to enter the crypto space all the moving parts may seem overwhelming. Like any financial instrument, crypto is full of noise. Crazy asset names, confusing acronyms, abstract use cases, memes, Chads & battle-ready trolls pollute the space & deter professional newcomers.
There are good news; the crypto industry is extremely young & always changing; new opportunities arise every day.
Disclaimers:
_ Crypto is a gigantic experiment, be prepared to lose everything
_ Crypto is much more volatile than traditional assets.
The single most important step on the journey through crypto is to get exposure & start being an owner of crypto assets. A lot of people will taunt that the best way to get started in Bitcoin & crypto is to read the original whitepaper. That whitepaper is succinct, brilliant & likely overly technical for the layman/woman. Suggesting somebody read that in order to get into crypto is like suggesting somebody just read a handbook before going skydiving. There is an old adage, where money flows, attention goes. Getting even a little bit of financial interest in any subject will invite the desire to learn more.
There is no asset in particular that you must start with; however, it is a good rule of thumb to have the majority of a crypto portfolio in the more trusted assets namely Bitcoin (and maybe if you're feeling a little more adventurous some ETH, LTC, UNI or ZRX). **{this author is sovereignty first, personally prefers a Bitcoin dominant portfolio. I am a fan of altcoins with powerful decentralization-driven use cases. I do not like XRP/Ripple & would never recommend it. However, if that is the path you chose then, by all means, welcome to crypto}.
While there is no wrong way to start getting involved it is worth keeping in mind that one of the most cost-effective & risk-managed methods to get into crypto is through DCA / Dollar Cost Averaging. Rather than dumping all of your cash/liquid assets at once, break the total sum into smaller portions & commit to buying in on a set schedule.
(For example; I have $1,000 & want to get some Bitcoin. Bitcoin is at $50,000. If I buy BTC all at once I will have 1/50 (2%) of a Bitcoin or 2,000,000 satoshis. I can be very affected by large movements of 20% & dont want to regret my decision. So, for the next 5 weeks, I buy $200 worth of Bitcoin every Wednesday. Lets assume that that Bitcoin goes down every week.
Week 1 - 400,000 sats ($200 @ $50,000btc)
Week 2 - 440,000 sats ($200 @ $45,000btc)
Week 3 - 440,000 sats ($200 @ $45,000btc)
Week 4 - 500,000 sats ($200 @ $40,000btc)
Week 5 - 500,000 sats ($200 @ $40,000btc)
This means that i now own 2,280,000 satoshis or 2.28% of a BTC. When Bitcoin returns to $50,000 the same $1,000 will now be worth $1,120. Profit from the price & not incurr large short term losses.
But starting into crypto is not the same for everyone; people have their own unique financial situations that might not allow them to simply buy Bitcoin.
That is absolutely ok, not having capital upfront is not a reason to not be involved. There are so many opportunities to get some cryptocurrency for free! Sure this method probably won't bring you insane wealth, but it will focus your mind & push you in the right direction.
But before embarking on any kind of crypto journey, Get a place to store your crypto. While it may be against the crypto/cypherpunk manifesto, using coinbase is one of the simplest ways to start up. Conveniently enough, they have a huge earn program. It is possible to earn anywhere between $16 & $200 for absolutely free. Once you have a wallet, a place to store your assets, you can now go explore cyberspace for opportunities to acquire crypto.
Starting at 0
If you don't know where to start, then just start somewhere. Now that your wallet is set up it's time to load it up with some crypto!
Stack sats: Lolli, Fold. spin & collect daily micro rewards. Before you know it you will begin to stack up your first 1,000 satoshis; then 2, then 5, then 10. Plus, who knows maybe you will get lucky & collect a lucky random 100,000 rewards.
Free crypto booster distribution Events. Plenty of prominent crypto platforms & services offer opportunities to earn for free. One of the most popular free coin earners is coinmarketcap.com/earn. Literally, just watch a video, learn about a project & earn crypto. You will easily find more with a simple “earn free crypto” google search.
Airdrops. Super popular in the crypto industry, airdrops are events that distribute the digital assets of budding crypto startups for free. There are tons of resources to claim an airdrop & is usually hassle-free. You can just google “airdrops/crypto airdrops” and find a bunch, but here are a few resources that I recommend from trial: https://airdrops.io/, https://airdropalert.com/, https://icomarks.com/airdrops. The rewards are typically small, however, there are events in crypto history where airdrops have made people substantial amounts of wealth (eg. ONT/ONG).
SM campaigns. As you might already know, social media is a powerful tool. There are always influencers & crypto projects running some kind of growth campaigns where they reward participants. Some of these campaigns can easily be in the thousands of dollars, while the vast majority tends to fall in the single/double-digit range. Might as well like & retweet for the chance to win some rewards.
As you begin to accumulate more & more crypto you will run into more opportunities. With $100 accumulated you can start going to exchanges and earning deposit bonuses to begin trading. One foot in front of the other, slowly but surely, gradually & then suddenly.
Starting at 1
If you have some savings that you are looking to maximize returns on or some cashflow coming in, then you are in the right place. Welcome, here in the cryptoverse we do not turn down new entrants & are more than happy to share the abundance of opportunities!
Briefly mentioned above, Dollar-Cost-Averaging, or DCA, is largely considered to be the most cost-effective, risk-adjusted method to enter the space. It is the single method that succeeds every back-testing trial & provides ample returns. Here we can turn to good ole’ coinbase again. They have a nifty “DCA” option that allows you to invest regularly & automatically on your preferred schedule.
Market Buy all of it. The most simple of all approaches. Deposit all money on exchange; Buy everything you can in one single swoop. Just be prepared; if you plan on investing serious sums of money you must be willing to absorb the illiquidity; incur some slippage.
The Next Step
The best thing to do once you have your foot in the water is to get familiar with the water itself. Begin to learn as much as you can about the crypto industry as a whole;
- Dabble with some whitepapers (https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf)
- Locate some news outlets (here are 3 that I use: https://cointelegraph.com, https://decrypt.co/, https://newcointimes.com/)
- Identify a bunch of tools to help you investigate the markets (coingecko.com, CryptoCompare.com, Messari, coinmarketcap, etc.)
- Download some apps, play with some dapps & start looking into DEFI.
The Infinite frontier
Now that you have a wallet, some cryptocurrency & you are aware of the landscape; what comes next?
Intuitively most people turn to trading. Could be an option, trading crypto is extremely lucrative if done correctly & painfully painful if done incorrectly. There are literally tens of thousands of venues to trade; here are 438 exchanges listed.
So what then; mining? Mining is a great way to diversify a crypto portfolio for some “steady” consistent crypto accumulation. However, mining is rather complex & the risks that it carries are sometimes difficult to calculate properly. You can try to do some cloud mining, but as another general rule, it is best to minimally rely on custodial mining solutions. Here are a few that are reputable & have been/are being used by the author today (not endorsements): Genesis Mining, https://hashflare.io/, https://scryptcube.com/en.
Over 12 years in & the crypto industry is still only budding. The space moves at blinding speed. Get ready to make money, lose money, learn a lot & be part of the greatest financial revolution in human history.
It is a pleasure to have you on this journey. May crypto help you grow your wealth & I hope to meet you on the moon one day 😜🥂