Brian Colombana: How to Buy Your First Cryptocurrency Coins

How to Buy Your First Cryptocurrency Coins (Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin, and NEO) and Tokens and what wallets to use. This article is for those who want to start buying their first cryptocurrencies.

People keep asking these questions online, so I decided that writing an article about it can be useful for many people. A lot of people want to get into the crypto-currency market but don’t know-how.

Well, most of us learned about Bitcoin years ago when it was worth a few cents per coin at most. Today one bitcoin is worth thousands of dollars. Ethereum went from $10 per Ether token in 2016, to more than $800 today! There are tons of cryptocurrency projects with potential yet undiscovered that could provide thousands of percentage gains in short time frames.

Cryptocurrencies are gaining more and more popularity day by day. But, only a few people understand the whole process of cryptocurrency trading. New investors always ask questions like – Where should I buy my first cryptocurrency? What wallet should I use? Do I need to register with an exchange? How do I know which is the best cryptocurrency to invest in? And how can they make profits from this market?

If you’re new to cryptocurrencies, don’t worry! We will answer all your questions on buying your first coins and tokens, on wallets and exchanges, says Brian Colombana.

First of all, let’s start with some basics about cryptos! If you already know the basics go straight ahead to section two (Buying).

What is Cryptocurrency?

A cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptography for security. A defining feature of a cryptocurrency, and arguably its most endearing allure, is its organic nature; it is not issued by any central authority, rendering it theoretically immune to government interference or manipulation.

Cryptocurrencies are classified as a subset of digital currencies and are also classified as a subset of alternative currencies and virtual currencies.

Altcoins:

The altcoin has been used as both an abbreviation of “Bitcoin alternative” and “alternative coin”. The word altcoin refers to any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin (including Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.). However, the term has often come to represent coins with smaller market capitalizations. At times, Bitcoin dominance has been over 80%, however, recently altcoins have been growing more popular.

What are tokens?

Tokens are blockchain assets that represent something else (either utility or security). The term “tokenization” is derived from the finance industry where it represents financial instruments such as bonds, mortgages, equity etc. Tokens are created and distributed to the public through an Initial Coin Offering also called ICO. You may hear about pre-sales or hard cap too which is just another way of dividing ICO funds.

Where to Buy Cryptocurrencies?

There are different places where you can buy cryptocurrencies depending on your location. This tutorial will show how to buy your first coins using Credit/Debit Cards and PayPal on top exchanges like Binance, Coinbase Pro (recommended) and Bitstamp. We will also create an account on Binance with our Credit/Debit Card in order to see how much our coins are worth in real-time.

As cryptocurrencies are becoming more mainstream, new cryptocurrency exchanges are opening every month catering to novice users who just want to buy the most popular coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum or Litecoin with fiat currencies. You can do that with a credit card for nearly all of the exchanges mentioned below, but some only accept wire transfers, SEPA transfers etc…

What is a wallet? How do I get one?

A Cryptocurrency wallet is a software program where you store your public and private keys which allow you to send or receive cryptocurrencies. A wallet contains your Public Address (which others can use to send you coins and tokens) and a Private Key (which only you know and is used to authorize outgoing transactions from your wallet). There are 5 types of wallets – Hardware, Desktop, Mobile, Web or Paper.

Coinbase

Coinbase is one of the most popular exchanges/wallets which allow users to buy cryptocurrencies using Credit/Debit Card, SEPA Transfers, etc… In order to buy your first bitcoins with a credit card go to the Coinbase website and create an account.

You will have to provide personal information that includes name, address, etc. They also ask for a photo of you holding a handwritten paper with “coinbase” written on it. After creating an account, click on Buy/Sell and choose which cryptocurrency you want to buy (in this case we will go with BTC).

You will see a list of brokers and the prices they charge. You may also notice that most exchanges allow users to buy bitcoins with a credit/debit card using an external broker like Coinbase Pro (GDAX) or Coinmama.

Conclusion by Brian Colombana:

Once you have bought your bitcoins you can transfer them to a cryptocurrency exchange in order to buy other altcoins. We will look at the exchanges that allow users to trade cryptocurrencies but also show how they are recording their profits or losses after each transaction. This tutorial is mainly for beginners who just want to understand the basics of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, etc.