Cryptocurrency For Newbies | What I've Learned

Connor has gotten himself into the whole Cryptocurrency thing - he recently posted about this on his post Cryptocurrency| Join the hype - and I have sat back and watched him not only thoroughly enjoy himself but researching the hell out of the coins, tokens and markets. At first, he used a small amount of his own money - £100 or so and take on the whole cryptocurrency journey as a ‘’hobby’’ after all he had nothing to lose really as he started by buying coins that were obscure enough to be quite low in price.

For him, the main issue was the technicalities about what wallets to use, what coin to buy to then trade for an obscure coin and what would work out financially best while considering the transaction fees and timescales it takes to process each transaction.

See if you’re not quick then what could be priced low, could rise before your transaction has completed therefore leaving you in the dust. And, that’s why the research he puts into the markets and trading is not only important but is imperative to him making money rather than losses.

I tend to stay out of the way with Crypto, leaving Connor to make his own choices as it’s his ‘’hobby’’ and that’s the way I see it. The money he has made is wholly his and not mine although he would beg to differ but as long as he continues to enjoy it and it doesn’t control him then why should I bother?

I also love how he has gotten my sons into it, my middle son has started trading and is earning money but its the passion he has that gets me. He'll go on the computer and I presume he's playing games or on Youtube like other eleven-year-olds but nope, he's checking the markets and shouting to Connor about inflated and deflated prices - I'll see them rush together to watch the market and decide on trading options.

Sounds dull, but it's very sweet to see both of them enjoy their common interest.

I've learnt some things just from listening to them both and from seeing Connor grow and develop along this crypto journey what I have realised as a newbie off the back of our many discussions is:

✔Beginner Buy - Purchase Litecoin first then trade this for the smaller coins down the road. This costs less and has a smaller transaction fee than Ethereum and Bitcoin.

✔Markets - Use Binance, Kucoin, Cryptopia, and Coinbase as they seem to have the more reliable coins and tokens on there and you can see clearly how they are trending and the statistics that you really need to make an informed decision.

✔Research the company behind the coin first – Is the coin going to be used for anything, if so what? Research if the coin will be used publicly, are there any announcements to say it's going to be utilised by any big or large commercial companies? If so then its one to keep an eye on.

✔Daily work – Check your coins daily, multiple times per day if you can. Connor uses an app called Blockfolio to keep track of what’s rising and declining as well as his total wallet profits.

✔Hold on – When things crash it's easy to fall prey to the need for cashing in – but – hold on. When things crash, they always rise, usually within 24-hours so be brave enough to hold on until things rise then make an informed decision.

✔Selling Popular Coins – Sometimes you will want to hold onto ‘’trend’’ coins but there are times you need to get over that and make a decision on whether that trend coin has the ability to inflate further or will it just stay steady? Steady won’t make you much, especially when you could sell some or all of that coin for a more obscure coin that will rise way more. Plus selling for obscurer coins usually means you get more coins for your money, which means your more likely to profit more when they rise.

✔Keep track of wallets – Like I’ve mentioned above, either use an app, print paper wallets or keep a diary of wallets and logins. I got Connor a Ledger S to keep his wallets offline, not only is this easier for him to use it’s far safer too as it means he’s less likely to get hacked.

✔Don’t stress – There will be days where your profits will increase tremendously and other days where you will lose thousands, the way Connor views it is that as long as it never decreases below what he’s put into it, then he hasn’t lost. Losing thousands because of a crash isn’t really ‘loosing’’ because you never cashed out. That money technically wasn’t yours and isn’t until you cash out.

Overall many people have scoffed at the whole blockchain and cryptocurrency trend – there’s a reason it is a popular way to trade and that’s because it works and isn’t closed off to those who can’t afford to put in thousands to get started.

£10 or £20 is all you really need to get started to purchase a few coins which are enough to get you going. Although the more coins and money you put in the larger your profits increase but on the same note, the more they can decrease. So, never put in more than you can afford to lose. Be wise with trading and calm – freak purchases, not paying attention to figures when buying or selling and selling due to panic will result in you not getting too far with it.

So far this month with minimal financial input Connor hit the 10k mark which is great for him. I’m very proud. This will (hopefully) continue to rise each month until he earns a good amount. But also remember that when you cash out you must put aside a percentage to cover the tax. Granted some people don’t do this but then you’re leaving yourself open to the taxman chasing you, legal implications and a prison sentence so don’t be silly about it. It’s tough seeing a huge chunk going to the taxman but it's worth it when you think about the safety of your future.

So if you want to make 2018 a financially better year, or learn a new skill – I can only recommend Connor to help you out. He Tweets over on @SweetElyseUK regularly about Crypto topic and is planning on making more of a feature on the blog about ways to improve your finances, cryptocurrency and the ins and outs of it so head over to his blog or social media. He’s always happy to comment back and answer any questions you may have.