One week as a crypto noob

This all started because I wanted a new social media platform to get away from Facebook. I found Steemit through internet searching and decided to try it out. While getting familiar with Steemit I learned about the Steem dollars and figured it was a great entry to the crypto currency market. I thought I could buy it now while it was unknown and when Steemit gets super popular I could cash it out and buy a Lambo (im thinking a white one lol).

 I had already missed the boat with Bitcoin. I first heard about BTC years ago when silkroad was getting all the attention in the media. At the time Bitcoin was about at about $8 (you could buy an ak-47 on silkroad for like 120 BTC, approx $800 USD). So with todays BTC prices the regret is pretty strong.

  With dreams of buying low and selling high for massive profits in a single day, I searched around for the easiest way to buy Bitcoin using my debit card.  

 I tried the instant gratification of Changelly. Changelly was a first choice because I could buy Steem directly from them. Waited and waited for a confirmation and.. nothing.  Moved my way over to Coinbase, got an account all set up and again, Nothing was happening. The transactions kept getting cancelled. Of course this is all happening while my banks costumer service is closed on a Friday night.  Finally Saturday morning comes and I called the bank, turns out they automatically block these types of transactions due to fraud. Unlocked my card for Coinbase, finally was able to connect my accounts and get a verified account status. Went kayaking for the day so didnt actually buy any Bitcoin.

 Whoot! Finally Sunday have some time to drink a coffee and buy myself some Bitcoin.  Nope.. transaction cancelled. WTF!

This is getting old real fast. I missed out on buying Bitcoin during a couple nice dips 3 days in a row now and im getting a little perturbed about it. FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is starting to kick in. Monday arrives and I call the bank again. My card was only unlocked for 24 hours.

After what seemed like an eternity, I'm able to purchase some Bitcoin on Coinbase. It was around $2540 or so. The price was unimportant to me because I just wanted to buy the Steem dollars.

 While this is all going on, of course I was scouring the internet for the best tips and tricks to trading in the crypto markets.

I decided that Stratis is the best buy to see some quick cash growth. Since you cant buy STRAT on Coinbase, I had to create another account on another exchange to buy the STRAT. Poloniex was easy to create an account since there was no credit/debit card/bank account information being used. I buy in at an ATH (All Time High) around $8.40USD (only got like 9 STRAT for about $75US).. it did climb to around $10 that day or the next, so i'm thinking awesome look at me! I'm making money! Then the Bitcoin plummet to $2200 happened, my Strats hit around 6 bucks and havent reached higher than low $8 range since. But I'm not weak, I'm a HODLr (Its very easy to misspell HOLD when typing fast, so HODL has kind of taken on a life of its own in the crypto communities). You "Hold" if you have faith that the price of a coin is going to go back up. hopefully to a new All Time High, sell and get rich, or hopefully to at least break even.

 I heard about the other most talked about cryptocoins out there like Ethereum, was around $220us, now its hitting the $350+ range and I didnt buy any :(  Litecoin, a $25 coin that is up around $45+, again, I didnt buy any. 

 I saw an opportunity with Basic Attention Token (BAT), but I couldnt buy it on Poloniex or Coinbase, So again, I had to create another account on yet another exchange site.  I found Bittrex, created an account, bought $100 worth of Bitcoin on Coinbase and sent it to my Bittrex wallet... easy.  I thought BAT was trading in a uptrend, and I learned from my STRATIS mistake. I looked at the chart and picked a spot I thought BAT would drop back down to, after a couple trial and error I was able to figure out how to create a BUY ORDER, then went to bed. Got up the next morning and what do ya know, I now own some Basic AttentionToken! Sweet! I was even happier to see it didnt dive much below my BID price. So I'll take that as a win, however, it hasnt made much of a rise, so Im just in a HODL right now.

 Since then I have made the judgement call to get in on IOTA (IOT) (had to create ANOTHER account on Bitfinex), Ripple (XRP), and WAVES. I have very little money tied to this, about $200 worth of Bitcoin, and once all the transfer fees are figured in, It has taken a week to break even ish, about $10.00 "profit" hahaha

  My get rich quick plan has turned into a buy low, HOLD, and hopefully in a couple months, 1-3 years, 3-5 years hopefully I'll have added wealth to what I put in.  Add diversification in multiple Alt Coins (Anything that isn't Bitcoin is an Alternative Coin, hence the term AltCoin) maybe I can catch a couple SELL high points along the way. 

   If you're thinking about getting in the Cryptocurrency market, I would stick with a couple well known and fairly well trusted exchange sites. Dont expect an overnight miracle, it took Bitcoin years to become what it is today. The future looks good for the market however. Do Your Own Research (DYOR) you'll see this a lot if you frequent any crypto groups, pages, forums and the like. Dont trust that any coin will give you huge returns just because it is mentioned somewhere in those pages/groups. More than likely its just being "PUMPED" up to create interest so noobs will buy it, driving the price up, then the people who are tired of Holding it will DUMP it, collecting their profits and leaving you stuck with junk. It happens all the time. PUMP & DUMP is the term, try not to get caught up in it, sure, if you're good, you might be able to cash in., but its pretty risky.

    There are a few people out there who will give good advice, but you'll have to use some critical thinking to determine who they are. 

 Oh yeah, I still dont really know much about what "Blockchain Technology" is or why its so revolutionary. I probably should educate myself, maybe I'll get to that this week while I wait to free up some more funds to invest.

Good Luck to you all, may the profit be with you... to the moon!