Just Buy Cryptocurrency, Don’t Understand It.
I found out about bitcoin in February of 2013 and fell in love with the concept. Unfortunately, I was to late to get into mining and decided to not buy any coins at $79. (No ‘Ragets’ right?)
I studied bitcoin throughout the year during it’s ups and downs (MtGox) and became fascinated by the decentralized currency.
People being able to instantly send .25 of a bitcoin to a loved on in China for a .0000011 transaction fee blew my mind. Travelers could withdraw USD from a bitcoin ATM without dealing with banks.
I was, and still am, fully submerged in the startup scene, so money was tight and investing was slim to none. I nickel and dimed it basically.
After spending a year day trading (regular stocks) I figured I would try day trading with bitcoin. I understood the overall concept, [blockchain](blockchain.info), exchanges, “parts” of the bitcoin protocol, and most importantly how to jump onto altcoins while they were on the rise. (Altcoins are any cryptocurrency other than bitcoin)
In one day, taking bets on two altcoins (X11, SilkCoin) I turned .25 BTC ($150 USD) into .75 BTC ($450 USD)
This may not seem like a lot of money to people, because it is not. But lets say you have to pay an electric bill, or make rent in San Francisco and don’t have the cash. Altcoins are a quick (risky) solution.
I called my parents and told them to buy 1 bitcoin on [Coinbase](coinbase.com), print the transaction off, and keep it under their mattress. They listened, and of course MtGox happened the same week. They lost money then, but bitcoin at the moment is on the rise, so they will be fine.
The moral of the story is bitcoin is volatile, but altcoins are 10x as risky. High risk, high return.
DO NOT INVEST MONEY YOU CANNOT LOSE. (That’s a given)
You do not have to understand how bitcoin works or the dynamics of mining pools, just buy into it.
Pieces of plastic and banks are ancient, and still use dead trees to notify you about low balances. Disruption is inevitable.
Don’t you want to get in early?
The best places for news and learning are [Coinbase](coinbase.com), [Coindesk](coindesk.com) and [coinIQ](coiniq.co)