How To Get Into Crypto

If you’ve heard about the wonders of crypto, but haven’t had the time to piece all the essential information together to get started; consider this your lifeline! 

Without all the bells and whistles, here is what you need to know to get started:

Types of crypto

Everyone knows about Bitcoin by now, but it’s not the only crypto option. In fact, there are endless cryptocurrencies. Depending on your necessities or goals, different cryptos can appease distinct purposes. 

In short, you have cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, tokens, and other forms of crypto. 

• Cryptocurrencies: a digital currency in which transactions are verified and records maintained by a decentralized system using cryptography, rather than by a centralized authority. 
  • Examples of cryptocurrencies are: Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Cardano (ADA) 

• Stablecoins: any cryptocurrency designed to have a stable price (barely fluctuates in value), typically through being pegged to a commodity, fiat currency, or asset.
  • Examples of stablecoins are: Tether (USDT), Dai (DAI), USD Coin (USDC)

• Tokens: Crypto tokens are digital assets that are built on another cryptocurrency’s blockchain which can be customized for various purposes or businesses. There are lots of different types of tokens and networks that support them, but that’s for another read. 
  • Examples of tokens are: Shiba Inu (SHIB), XRP (XRP)

And, no, you don’t need to be able to afford one full coin or token to invest in crypto. You can invest as much as you want and buy fractions of any crypto.

Set up a digital wallet

Before you buy crypto, you should first set up a place to store it, and the options are endless. Again, depending on where you are or your goals, different wallets appease different purposes.

Here are some digital crypto wallets considered great for beginners:

• Coinbase Wallet 
• Exodus
• MetaMask

There are MANY more wallets and it’s advisable to do a little research, but these three are a good place to start. After you download and install your preferred wallet, you’ll be guided to set up an account and complete some safety procedures. You’re now ready to buy crypto to deposit into your wallet! 

Important note, throughout your crypto journey, make sure to save all your passwords and keys in a secure and private place – if you lose any of these, you are subject to never access your crypto funds again.

Buy some crypto

Step one: find a crypto exchange of your choice. A crypto exchange is a platform where buyers and sellers meet to trade cryptocurrencies.

• Examples:
  • Coinbase Exchange
  • Binance Exchange
  • Limitlex Exchange 

Step two: create and verify your account. This is an essential step to secure your account and avoid fraud. Again, SAVE YOUR PASSWORDS! 

Step three: deposit as much cash as you’d like into the exchange to invest from your bank account. Mind this may take a little time to complete depending on the method you choose to deposit.

Step four: once there are funds in your account, you are ready to order your crypto of choice!

Step five: now that you have crypto, you have options. You can leave your funds in the exchange to fluctuate with the market, which is recommended as the value goes up or you can move the funds to your wallet which makes them available to you for your needs, or to keep it somewhere safe if the market plummets. That’s oversimplifying, but essentially that’s the gist! 

How to use your crypto

Now that you have bought crypto and have it in an exchange or your wallet, what’s next? 

Well, that’s up to you and your needs! 

• You can keep your crypto in an exchange and monitor it to know when to buy more and sell more. The simplest rule of thumb is to buy low, sell high. If you’d like some guidance on this, there are tons of resources online and on YouTube that help you monitor and learn to monitor your crypto in an exchange.

• You can sell your crypto in an exchange to cash out to your bank account, although sometimes the fees are very high to do so. This is a good option if you need cash for things that don’t allow you to pay with crypto or from your digital wallet. Keep in mind in some countries and cases this can become a taxable event.

• You can move your funds to your wallet. This is a good option once your crypto has accumulated enough value to take out of the exchange according to your needs or to keep it safe from fluctuations if the market is going through an unstable moment (which happens from time to time, it’s perfectly normal and you should continue to monitor to know the optimal time to jump back in). There are now options to deposit and withdraw funds from crypto ATMs directly from your wallet or even pay in-stores or online from your wallet. Check out www.forumpay.com for more on that!

• Buy stablecoins. In moments of high volatility, you can keep your funds in an exchange by buying stablecoins that barely fluctuate in value and make it easier to reenter the market to buy crypto at a time deemed optimal for you without having to move your funds from the exchange. 

And there are many many many more options available for your crypto, but again – this is a simplified guide to help you catch the crypto wave. From here, you are free to learn and invest as much as you’d like! We recommend checking out these articles! 

We hope this helps! For more information about all things crypto, visit us at www.forumpay.com. And don’t forget to follow us on Instagram and Twitter for more!