Step By Step Beginner's Guide to Getting Started in Cryptocurrency

This is a guide I made a couple months ago for friends that were interested in getting started but overwhelmed with where to start. I try to cover the basics but not put so much information in that it becomes a crutch. I encourage anyone who uses this to do as much research as possible and take your security very seriously.

There is a very steep learning curve to truly understanding what makes Bitcoin, Distributed Ledger Technology (Blockchain) and all of the incredible things the 1st, 2nd and 3rd generation block chains are trying to achieve. At the core lies the fight against corruption, the fight for privacy, and an attempt to return ownership of personal and private data back to the people. This is a new bleeding edge technology community that is attracting the most highly intelligent and highly motivated employees from all of the top financial and tech companies of the world- not to mention other industries such as academics. The more you read and debate and discuss and participate the more excited you will become. Do Your Own Research- this is an open source, passionate community and there are lots of amazing resources out there if you take the time.

1. Sign up for Coinbase and GDAX and link your bank account of choice. GDAX is a trading platform owned by Coinbase which allows you to enter limit and stop orders and also avoid fees. This is going to be your main USD--->crypto and vice versa link. @geminidotcom is currently struggling with ID verification but is my first pick and I'm sure they will scale soon.

2. Sign up for https://www.Binance.com and any other exchange you want. I recommend making multiple accounts with the same email/password combo. My favorite is binance.com but Kucoin shares is becoming a strong contender and decentralized exchanges are growing in volume every week.

3. Verify your ID on Coinbase and Binance. This is for Know Your Customer laws/anti money laundering. On Binance it also allows you to withdraw up to 100 Bitcoin /day. Which is very impressive.

4. Gather the tools and resources you will need including a cold storage wallet, bookmark coinmarketcap.com, download an app to track your portfolio and other coins. My favorite is Crypto Pro app in the iOS store for $5. Invaluable tool.
   Download Google Authenticator app and enable two factor authentication inside your account settings on binance and Coinbase. Print your recovery code for the Google 2FA and hide it somewhere safe. Do not screenshot it and do not save it to your computer. The entire point is to not let it be visible to hackers.

5. Once your ID is verified on Coinbase and your account is linked you are ready to make a purchase. I'm a big bitcoin believer but the majority of my coins/assets are smaller coins with large growth potential so I use Ethereum as my exchange currency due to it being faster and cheaper to send. At this point you have two choices. You can buy a coin through Coinbase and LOCK in the current price but the coin will not arrive in your account for 6-7 days. This is a rule they put on new users. OR you can do a wire transfer into GDAX by clicking the "Deposit" button inside GDAX and only have to wait 3-4 days for the money to arrive but the coins now may be more expensive. This is a choice you have to make.

6. Once you have the Ethereum /Bitcoin in your account you can now send it to your Binance or other exchange so that you can purchase other crypto currencies. This is very important to note: each crypto currency that the exchange offers has its OWN specific wallet address. If you send Litecoin to a bitcoin address you're going to have a bad time. I've done it. Your money is now gone forever lost in the ether. Each time you send /receive a crypto currency you need to be focused and paying 100% attention and double check EVERYTHING. The saddest part about losing coins is they are always growing more valuable and the mistake becomes worse over time. In Binance click on the " funds" tab on the top right hand side of the page. Select "balances" in the drop down menu. Find Ethereum and click on the Deposit button. Copy this address. Now open Coinbase and click on "Accounts" click on the "send " button for the account that you wish to send. Paste the Binance address and Enter the USD amount of the coin you would like to send. For your first time sending a coin send the minimum amount and wait until it shows up in the "deposits" tab on Binance before sending the entire amount.

7. Once the Ethereum arrives in your exchange account click on the homepage or the Markets tab and select "ETH markets" tab and find the coin you would like to buy. You can either buy the coin right at the market price by entering the amount and price and clicking buy or you can place a limit order below the market price and wait for the price to drop down to your order. Patience usually pays off but the Markets are so volatile that sometimes I will use market orders.