0 to Pro Crypto Trader: Your Ultimate Guide to Bitcoin and Altcoin Investing

Does this screen look intimidating? Don’t worry, you’ll know everything that’s going on by the end of this tutorial. If the giant image above looks scary, don’t worry. We’re going to dissect that beast and you’ll know everything you need to and more before the end of this article to start trading like a pro. If you want to jump right to the dissection, go to Step 2’s Dissecting the Interface subsection. If the giant image above looks scary, don’t worry. We’re going to dissect that beast and you’ll know everything you need to and more before the end of this article to start trading like a pro. If you want to jump right to the dissection, go to Step 2’s Dissecting the Interface Dissecting the Interface subsection. Join the PoolDay Crypto Chat Community_Sad that no one around you talks about crypto enough? Join our channel and chat about crypto 24/7._discord.gg Join the PoolDay Crypto Chat Community Join the PoolDay Crypto Chat Community _Sad that no one around you talks about crypto enough? Join our channel and chat about crypto 24/7._discord.gg In this tutorial, I’m going to introduce you to the basics of cryptocurrency trading and how to get into coins like Ripple. Just like in those For Dummies books, I’ll have highlights throughout the tutorial that give you some insight that I learned through hands-on experience: PRO TIPs — some things that you should know if you don’t already DISCLAIMER — clarifications so that things don’t catch you off-guard PRO TIPs — some things that you should know if you don’t already DISCLAIMER — clarifications so that things don’t catch you off-guard Things you’ll need if you want to follow along with this walkthrough: Coinbase Account Binance Account Passport/Photo ID to activate your Coinbase Account Coinbase Account Coinbase Account Binance Account Binance Account Passport/Photo ID to activate your Coinbase Account My tutorial is broken into four steps: Step 1 focuses on getting set up on Coinbase/GDAX and how to buy your starting cryptocurrency. Step 2 focuses on the exchange interface and maps out everything you need to know to start trading like a pro. Step 3 takes it a step further and brings you into a world of other exchanges, where you can start purchasing other cryptocurrencies like Ripple, Cardano, Verge, etc. Step 4 talks about good practices for safe-keeping and mitigating your risk of being hacked. I talk about the common scams/hacks to watch out for, and the different options for safe-keeping your items. Step 1 focuses on getting set up on Coinbase/GDAX and how to buy your starting cryptocurrency. Step 1 Step 2 focuses on the exchange interface and maps out everything you need to know to start trading like a pro. Step 2 Step 3 takes it a step further and brings you into a world of other exchanges, where you can start purchasing other cryptocurrencies like Ripple, Cardano, Verge, etc. Step 3 Step 4 talks about good practices for safe-keeping and mitigating your risk of being hacked. I talk about the common scams/hacks to watch out for, and the different options for safe-keeping your items. Step 4 If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments or DM me on Twitter — I’m probably much more responsive on Twitter, although I think I have a responsive track record here, too. DM me on Twitter Step 1: Buying Your First Bitcoin/Ethereum/Litecoin/Bitcoin Cash PRO TIP: You do NOT need to buy a WHOLE bitcoin/ethereum/litecoin/bitcoin cash, unlike in the stock market. You can own fractions of a cryptocurrency. PRO TIP: You do NOT need to buy a WHOLE bitcoin/ethereum/litecoin/bitcoin cash, unlike in the stock market. You can own fractions of a cryptocurrency. Coinbase interface is much simpler to use than exchanges, but also comes with inflated prices and heavy fees. There are many ways to get Bitcoin if you try hard enough, but the most straightforward way of getting it is by signing up on Coinbase to begin your purchase. While the fees on Coinbase are ridiculously high, right now it virtually monopolizes the market and is really one of the fastest ways to get your hands on cryptocurrency, so if you want to start trading immediately, Coinbase is one of the few options. An alternative is Gemini or BitStamp, but I recommend Coinbase because it has an exchange component to it, GDAX, which we’ll get to soon. Coinbase Gemini BitStamp DISCLAIMER: Signing up on Coinbase, as well as many exchanges, will require you to identify yourself, and Coinbase will report your transactions to the IRS, so do yourself a favor and do not try to dodge taxes. DISCLAIMER: Signing up on Coinbase, as well as many exchanges, will require you to identify yourself, and Coinbase will report your transactions to the IRS, so do yourself a favor and do not try to dodge taxes. Coinbase will report your transactions to the IRS, so do yourself a favor and do not try to dodge taxes. If you want your cryptocurrency right this instant, then you’ll have to buy from Coinbase. If you can wait a bit for it, then I’d recommend doing the following to avoid the heavy Coinbase fees: Do a direct deposit/wire transfer from your bank account. Wait for the deposit to arrive (usually 5–7 business days) Once the deposit arrives, go to gdax.com and buy your cryptocurrency from there. Do a direct deposit/wire transfer from your bank account. Wait for the deposit to arrive (usually 5–7 business days) Once the deposit arrives, go to gdax.com and buy your cryptocurrency from there. gdax.com PRO TIP: I recommend trickling investments rather than investing all at once to mitigate risk, unless you’re extremely confident. This means that, if you have $1,000 to spend, instead of putting it all in on one price, maybe put $250 in to begin with, wait a day or if you see a dip, and put in another $250, and it’ll average itself out to a lower buy-in price. I’m sure there’s a term for this. But I call it trickling. EDIT: It’s called Dollar Cost Averaging, thanks Matt Dorn! PRO TIP: I recommend trickling investments rather than investing all at once to mitigate risk, unless you’re extremely confident. This means that, if you have $1,000 to spend, instead of putting it all in on one price, maybe put $250 in to begin with, wait a day or if you see a dip, and put in another $250, and it’ll average itself out to a lower buy-in price. I’m sure there’s a term for this. But I call it trickling. EDIT: It’s called Dollar Cost Averaging, thanks Matt Dorn! Matt Dorn Step 2: Get On an Exchange (AKA What is GDAX? What Are Exchanges?) GDAX is an exchange that is owned and operated by Coinbase. If you’re looking to own any cryptocurrency beyond Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Bitcoin Cash, then you’ll need to learn about exchanges. This means if you want Ripple, or Verge, or yes — any other currency. If you’ve never dealt with an exchange before, don’t worry — the interface looks intimidating, and different exchanges have different layouts, but they all show the same information. Dissecting the Exchange Interface Using the GDAX exchange interface as our specimen, we will dissect it bit by bit so you can understand what you’re looking at. Please note that because this a guide for understanding the exchange, I will not be diving into the specific trading strategies that can be executed employing various aspects of the exchange. Exchanges have different layouts but will all display the same information Market: you are viewing the information about BTC/USD right now (screenshot). You can choose to view different markets by selecting other options like ETH/USD, ETH/BTC (you can actually buy or sell Ethereum for Bitcoin and vice versa directly, rather than trading back to money and then buying the other coin. This saves an extra step and also avoids an additional transaction fee. You can do this for LTC, too, but not BCH, currently). Summary Information: View the latest information about pricing (Last trade price), price changes (24 hour price), and the amount of BTC that was exchanged on GDAX in the past 24 hours (24 hour volume). Sign In: You have to log in before you can trade! Once you log in, you’ll see options to DEPOSIT and WITHDRAW your cryptocurrency or money. We’ll get into that more later. DISCLAIMER: If you bought crypto or transferred funds through Coinbase, you’ll still need to hit the DEPOSIT button to move your funds from Coinbase over to GDAX, even though they’re owned by the same company. On your GDAX Interface, just click DEPOSIT, select the COINBASE ACCOUNT tab and you can choose what to deposit and how much to deposit. It’s instant and free. Trading Controls: This is where your control nobs are. You use this section to make deposits, withdraws, place buy orders, sell orders, etc. We’ll take a closer look at this in the next section. Order Book: It shows the sell orders(in orange) and buy orders (in green) currently listed. There are three columns of information: (1) market size tells you how big the order is (e.g., 6.1 means the order is for 6.1 BTC if we are looking at the BTC market), (2) price shows you the price of one bitcoin that the sell/buy is being executed for NOT the total price of the order and (3) my size shows if you have any orders in that price and if so, how large your BTC order is. For example, you may see a buy order for 1.6 BTC (1) that is asking for a price of $13,800 (2) per bitcoin, and 0.6 BTC of that total order is yours (3) because you put in a buy for it at that price. One other thing to note is the “spread” in the center, which indicates how far apart the buys and sells are; i.e., the difference between the sell and the buy. If the lowest sell is 15,000 and the highest buy is $14,950, then the spread would be $50. Candlestick Charts: in a nutshell, the candlestick charts will tell you the prices that trades have been executed in the past; i.e., what were people buying and selling for a minute/hour/day/month/year ago? In trading, the candlestick charts are vital, so it’s very important to know what they are saying. I won’t go into the topic of “reading between the lines” of the charts and trying to make pricing predictions but I’ll explain the basics of what it’s saying in the section following this. Orderbook Visualization: a visual representation of the orderbook. It gives a much faster way of digesting orderbook information, and can be important for trading analysis. Current and Historical Orders: take a look at the current orders you have in place, or view the history of your past orders. For current orders, you can cancel them if you want to in this panel. Trade History: The most recent trades that just took place by other people and you (if you made any trades). If a trade is sold at the sell price, it is orange, and if a trade is sold at the buy price, it is green. Market: you are viewing the information about BTC/USD right now (screenshot). You can choose to view different markets by selecting other options like ETH/USD, ETH/BTC (you can actually buy or sell Ethereum for Bitcoin and vice versa directly, rather than trading back to money and then buying the other coin. This saves an extra step and also avoids an additional transaction fee. You can do this for LTC, too, but not BCH, currently). Market: (you can actually buy or sell Ethereum for Bitcoin and vice versa directly, rather than trading back to money and then buying the other coin. This saves an extra step and also avoids an additional transaction fee. You can do this for LTC, too, but not BCH, currently) Summary Information: View the latest information about pricing (Last trade price), price changes (24 hour price), and the amount of BTC that was exchanged on GDAX in the past 24 hours (24 hour volume). Summary Information: Sign In: You have to log in before you can trade! Once you log in, you’ll see options to DEPOSIT and WITHDRAW your cryptocurrency or money. We’ll get into that more later. DISCLAIMER: If you bought crypto or transferred funds through Coinbase, you’ll still need to hit the DEPOSIT button to move your funds from Coinbase over to GDAX, even though they’re owned by the same company. On your GDAX Interface, just click DEPOSIT, select the COINBASE ACCOUNT tab and you can choose what to deposit and how much to deposit. It’s instant and free. Sign In: DISCLAIMER: If you bought crypto or transferred funds through Coinbase, you’ll still need to hit the DEPOSIT button to move your funds from Coinbase over to GDAX, even though they’re owned by the same company. On your GDAX Interface, just click DEPOSIT, select the COINBASE ACCOUNT tab and you can choose what to deposit and how much to deposit. It’s instant and free. Trading Controls: This is where your control nobs are. You use this section to make deposits, withdraws, place buy orders, sell orders, etc. We’ll take a closer look at this in the next section. Trading Controls: Order Book: It shows the sell orders(in orange) and buy orders (in green) currently listed. There are three columns of information: (1) market size tells you how big the order is (e.g., 6.1 means the order is for 6.1 BTC if we are looking at the BTC market), (2) price shows you the price of one bitcoin that the sell/buy is being executed for NOT the total price of the order and (3) my size shows if you have any orders in that price and if so, how large your BTC order is. For example, you may see a buy order for 1.6 BTC (1) that is asking for a price of $13,800 (2) per bitcoin, and 0.6 BTC of that total order is yours (3) because you put in a buy for it at that price. One other thing to note is the “spread” in the center, which indicates how far apart the buys and sells are; i.e., the difference between the sell and the buy. If the lowest sell is 15,000 and the highest buy is $14,950, then the spread would be $50. Order Book: one bitcoin that the sell/buy is being executed for NOT the total price of the order Candlestick Charts: in a nutshell, the candlestick charts will tell you the prices that trades have been executed in the past; i.e., what were people buying and selling for a minute/hour/day/month/year ago? In trading, the candlestick charts are vital, so it’s very important to know what they are saying. I won’t go into the topic of “reading between the lines” of the charts and trying to make pricing predictions but I’ll explain the basics of what it’s saying in the section following this. Candlestick Charts: Orderbook Visualization: a visual representation of the orderbook. It gives a much faster way of digesting orderbook information, and can be important for trading analysis. Orderbook Visualization: Current and Historical Orders: take a look at the current orders you have in place, or view the history of your past orders. For current orders, you can cancel them if you want to in this panel. Current and Historical Orders: Trade History: The most recent trades that just took place by other people and you (if you made any trades). If a trade is sold at the sell price, it is orange, and if a trade is sold at the buy price, it is green. Trade History: Trading Controls and Candlestick Charts Okay, I had to separate this because if I added images into my numerical list it would screw up the formatting and what-not. Trading Controls Trading Controls PRO TIP: Check out Investopedia for more information Market Buys/Sells, Stop Losses, and Buy Limits. PRO TIP: Check out Investopedia Investopedia for more information Market Buys/Sells, Stop Losses, and Buy Limits. Buy/Sell: selecting between whether you want to buy more or sell what you have. This button doesn’t execute the trade. Market Order: doesn’t ask you for a price because it will buy however much you specify in Amount (5) at whatever price is the market price (the best sell price). If the current best sell price is not enough to fulfill your entire order, it’ll get the next best one, too, and keep eating all the sells until your order is fulfilled. The advantage of this is that you will be guaranteed to get your order filled, but disadvantage is that it may not be the best price if it drops lower. Limit Order: Limit Orders are made to maximize your earnings. Limit orders will execute your order at a certain price. For Limit Buys, it will buy at the price you specify or lower; a good use case for this would be if you think the price will dip later, and so you want to get in at a better price than the market price. You’d want to set a Limit Buy at the price you think it’ll hit, and once the price dips to that amount your buy order will execute. A Limit Sell will sell your specified amount once the price hits your specified Limited Price or higher. For example, if BTC is at $13,000 but you think it’ll get to $13,500 before dropping, you can set a Limit Sell at $13,500 and if it hits that price, it’ll automatically sell for you. DISCLAIMER: there are situations where your full order may not execute. For example, if you want to sell 10 BTC at $13,500 but buyers only buy 5 BTC before the price drops back down to $13,000, you’ll still have 5 BTC remaining, still waiting to be bought at $13,500. Stop Order: acting as an antithesis to Limit Orders, Stop Orders are designed to minimize your losses. Stop Buys means you will buy if a price becomes higher than a certain amount. For example, if BTC is currently $13,500 and you set a Stop Buy at $14,000, then if the price hits $14,000, your order will execute. Similarly, Stop Loss will sell at your specified price or lower. So if BTC is at $13,500 and you only want to sell it if it hits $13,000 (maybe that’s when you think it’ll really plummet and you want to reduce your losses) then you can set a Stop Loss to do this for you. The DISCLAIMER for Limit Orders (3) apply to Stop Orders, too. Amount: Specify the amount you want to sell/buy Total: The total crypto or money you’ll get in exchange for your sell or buy Execute: Hit this button and there’s no turning back. There is no “are you sure” it’s going to execute. So be absolutely sure. DISCLAIMER: for Limit or Stop orders, you can always cancel them in the Current and Historical Orders panel as long as they’re not executed yet. Buy/Sell: selecting between whether you want to buy more or sell what you have. This button doesn’t execute the trade. Buy/Sell: Market Order: doesn’t ask you for a price because it will buy however much you specify in Amount (5) at whatever price is the market price (the best sell price). If the current best sell price is not enough to fulfill your entire order, it’ll get the next best one, too, and keep eating all the sells until your order is fulfilled. The advantage of this is that you will be guaranteed to get your order filled, but disadvantage is that it may not be the best price if it drops lower. Market Order: Limit Order: Limit Orders are made to maximize your earnings. Limit orders will execute your order at a certain price. For Limit Buys, it will buy at the price you specify or lower; a good use case for this would be if you think the price will dip later, and so you want to get in at a better price than the market price. You’d want to set a Limit Buy at the price you think it’ll hit, and once the price dips to that amount your buy order will execute. A Limit Sell will sell your specified amount once the price hits your specified Limited Price or higher. For example, if BTC is at $13,000 but you think it’ll get to $13,500 before dropping, you can set a Limit Sell at $13,500 and if it hits that price, it’ll automatically sell for you. DISCLAIMER: there are situations where your full order may not execute. For example, if you want to sell 10 BTC at $13,500 but buyers only buy 5 BTC before the price drops back down to $13,000, you’ll still have 5 BTC remaining, still waiting to be bought at $13,500. Limit Order: DISCLAIMER: there are situations where your full order may not execute. For example, if you want to sell 10 BTC at $13,500 but buyers only buy 5 BTC before the price drops back down to $13,000, you’ll still have 5 BTC remaining, still waiting to be bought at $13,500. Stop Order: acting as an antithesis to Limit Orders, Stop Orders are designed to minimize your losses. Stop Buys means you will buy if a price becomes higher than a certain amount. For example, if BTC is currently $13,500 and you set a Stop Buy at $14,000, then if the price hits $14,000, your order will execute. Similarly, Stop Loss will sell at your specified price or lower. So if BTC is at $13,500 and you only want to sell it if it hits $13,000 (maybe that’s when you think it’ll really plummet and you want to reduce your losses) then you can set a Stop Loss to do this for you. The DISCLAIMER for Limit Orders (3) apply to Stop Orders, too. Stop Order: The DISCLAIMER for Limit Orders (3) apply to Stop Orders, too. Amount: Specify the amount you want to sell/buy Amount: Total: The total crypto or money you’ll get in exchange for your sell or buy Total: Execute: Hit this button and there’s no turning back. There is no “are you sure” it’s going to execute. So be absolutely sure. DISCLAIMER: for Limit or Stop orders, you can always cancel them in the Current and Historical Orders panel as long as they’re not executed yet. Execute: DISCLAIMER: for Limit or Stop orders, you can always cancel them in the Current and Historical Orders panel as long as they’re not executed yet. Candlestick Charts Candlestick Charts Chart Type: you can select between line or candlestick, but do yourself a favor and stick with the candlestick. Time Marker: choose the time interval you want to view. Some exchanges let you zoom in and out with your mouse, GDAX is not one of them. Overlay: adds in some technical analysis trendlines to make you feel like a pro, but I’m not going to go through the added value of those trendlines right now. Candlesticks: the meat of, well, the candlestick charts. Each candlestick represents the timeframe you selected; so if your Time Marker (2) is set to 1h, then each stick is 1-hour of time. The body demarcates the ‘Open’ and ‘Close’ prices, while the shadows show the highest and lowest prices of that time frame (also, the difference between the green and red candles being that the opening and closing prices are reversed) — edit by Bernard Pato. Orange bars mean that sells were heavier than buys during that hours, and greens mean that buys were heavier than sells in that hour. As you probably guessed by now, tons of sells lower the price and tons of buys increase the price, which is visualized in the example. Stats: when you hover your mouse over the candlesticks, the stats bar gives specifics about the candlestick so you don’t have to eyeball things. NOTE: Stats on GDAX are only available for candlestick charts, not line graphs (see Chart Type (1)). Y-Axis (Time): Well, the time. X-Axis (Price): And… the price. Chart Type: you can select between line or candlestick, but do yourself a favor and stick with the candlestick. Chart Type: Time Marker: choose the time interval you want to view. Some exchanges let you zoom in and out with your mouse, GDAX is not one of them. Time Marker: Overlay: adds in some technical analysis trendlines to make you feel like a pro, but I’m not going to go through the added value of those trendlines right now. Overlay: Candlesticks: the meat of, well, the candlestick charts. Each candlestick represents the timeframe you selected; so if your Time Marker (2) is set to 1h, then each stick is 1-hour of time. The body demarcates the ‘Open’ and ‘Close’ prices, while the shadows show the highest and lowest prices of that time frame (also, the difference between the green and red candles being that the opening and closing prices are reversed) — edit by Bernard Pato. Orange bars mean that sells were heavier than buys during that hours, and greens mean that buys were heavier than sells in that hour. As you probably guessed by now, tons of sells lower the price and tons of buys increase the price, which is visualized in the example. Candlesticks: edit by Bernard Pato Bernard Pato Stats: when you hover your mouse over the candlesticks, the stats bar gives specifics about the candlestick so you don’t have to eyeball things. NOTE: Stats on GDAX are only available for candlestick charts, not line graphs (see Chart Type (1)). Stats: NOTE: Stats on GDAX are only available for candlestick charts, not line graphs (see Chart Type (1)). Y-Axis (Time): Well, the time. Y-Axis (Time): X-Axis (Price): And… the price. X-Axis (Price): Step 3: Buying More Altcoins, Withdraws, and Deposits In order to buy more altcoins beyond what’s offered on GDAX, you’ll have to explore the other exchanges. Because not all coins are available on one exchange, you’ll have to figure out which exchanges have the coins you’re interested in first. Check out coinmarketcap.com for that information. coinmarketcap.com PRO TIP: Coinmarketcap.com should be your right-hand man. Bookmark it. Whenever you are looking at a new altcoin, check CoinMarketCap to see its price and what exchanges it’s traded on. PRO TIP: Coinmarketcap.com Coinmarketcap.com should be your right-hand man. Bookmark it. Whenever you are looking at a new altcoin, check CoinMarketCap to see its price and what exchanges it’s traded on. To make this process easier to follow, I’ll be using Ripple as an example. To make this process easier to follow, I’ll be using Ripple as an example. Let’s pretend I just heard about this coin called Ripple. It’s been in the news a lot and now I want to know how I can purchase it. First, I’ll go to coinmarketcap.com to look for Ripple. After I find it and click on Ripple (ticker symbol XRP), it takes me to a page like shown above. Now, on the Tabs, click Markets to see which exchanges sell Ripple. You’ll see there are many to choose from. Markets List of available exchanges that trade Ripple (XRP) There’s a lot of information on CoinMarketCap (CMC), but I’ll save that dissection for a later article. For now, one thing to look through is the Pair column. This is important because you don’t only have to look for an exchange, but also one that trades using cryptocurrencies or money you have. For example, I have USD, so I shouldn’t be trading with Korean Won (KRW) on exchanges like Bithumb or Coinone. Instead, now I see some pairs with XRP/ETH, meaning I can buy Ripple (XRP) with Ethereum (ETH) on those exchanges. I decide to use Binance, so I have to head over the binance.com and create an account (although there’s nothing wrong with using Bittrex, I use Bittrex and Binance as well as many other exchanges). DISCLAIMER: The Binance link has my referral code, and I will make an affiliate fee if you click on it and sign up through me; I’d appreciate it if this guide helps you! https://www.binance.com/?ref=10373725 Pair binance.com DISCLAIMER: The Binance Binance link has my referral code, and I will make an affiliate fee if you click on it and sign up through me; I’d appreciate it if this guide helps you! https://www.binance.com/?ref=10373725 https://www.binance.com/?ref=10373725 WAIT — you might be wondering why I didn’t go for the XRP/BTC pair. That’s because I don’t like transferring BTC, and you shouldn’t either; out of all the coins you can transfer out of Coinbase, BTC has the slowest network speed and the most expensive transactions. Additionally, if you transfer LTC or BCH, you would have to then trade on the exchanges to buy BTC or ETH (this incurs a transaction fee) and then use that to buy XRP — why go through the extra step and pay an extra fee? PRO TIP: NEVER transfer Bitcoin out of Coinbase/GDAX to another exchange for trading purposes. Bitcoin can have very slow transaction speeds and high fees; instead, consider LTC, ETH or BCH. Personally, if I see the exchange I’m trying to transfer to has a marketplace of coins that can be purchased with Ethereum, too, then I’d prefer to transfer Ethereum. This helps me save some exchange fees because if I transfer LTC or BCH, then I’d have to convert it back to BTC by buying it on the exchange. PRO TIP: NEVER transfer Bitcoin out of Coinbase/GDAX to another exchange for trading purposes. Bitcoin can have very slow transaction speeds and high fees; instead, consider LTC, ETH or BCH. Personally, if I see the exchange I’m trying to transfer to has a marketplace of coins that can be purchased with Ethereum, too, then I’d prefer to transfer Ethereum. This helps me save some exchange fees because if I transfer LTC or BCH, then I’d have to convert it back to BTC by buying it on the exchange. So now it comes time to withdraw my Ethereum to Binance. After I go into the ETH/USD or ETH/BTC or ETH/EUR market on GDAX, I can click the WITHDRAW button within the BALANCE panel. Something like this should pop up: PRO TIP: you’ll see that mine has Two Factor Code in the box. I highly recommend you turn on two-factor authentication (2FA)using Google Authenticator. It is much more secure than 2FA using text messages or emails (text messages can be easily intercepted but I won’t go into the details, and email passwords can be compromised). It will prevent any unwanted guests from accessing your account and withdrawing your money. PRO TIP: you’ll see that mine has Two Factor Code in the box. I highly recommend you turn on two-factor authentication (2FA)using Google Authenticator. It is much more secure than 2FA using text messages or emails (text messages can be easily intercepted but I won’t go into the details, and email passwords can be compromised). It will prevent any unwanted guests from accessing your account and withdrawing your money. Once you see the Withdraw Funds box pop up, I will click on ETH Address (or BTC/LTC/XRP address depending on what you are transferring out). So, what is an ETH Address? Without going into the details of blockchain, it’s essentially my identifier. Every exchange will have a different ETH address for me (as well as different addresses for every other crypto), and I can generate one myself as well (which I won’t go into in this discussion). By giving GDAX my Binance ETH address, GDAX will be able to send my Ethereum to the right place so that I can start trading on Binance. So how do I find my ETH address? Well, usually wallet address and information and stored under header tabs such as Wallet or Funds. For Binance, it’s Funds => Deposits Withdraws on the top right: After clicking, it’ll bring you into a screen that lays out all of the available cryptocurrencies on its exchange. On the far right, you’ll see DEPOSIT, WITHDRAW, and TRADE. If you click Trade, it will bring you to the exchange where you can make trades just like on GDAX (remember, the interface is different but the information it’s trying to tell you is basically the same). If you click Withdraw, it will bring up a screen that asks for similar information that GDAX asked for. What we want to do is (1) find Ethereum, and (2) click Deposit. Once you click it, the ETH Deposit Address should show up. Copy that and paste it back into GDAX in the DESTINATION box like so: PRO TIP: Check and double check your address because if it’s not correct, you will probably not receive your money. Once it’s out of your hands, there’s no way of finding out where it went. Also, Ethereum address will ALWAYS start with 0x. Makes it easier to check. There have been reports of viruses that will generate different withdraw addresses when you “paste” so be sure you double check. PRO TIP: Check and double check your address because if it’s not correct, you will probably not receive your money. Once it’s out of your hands, there’s no way of finding out where it went. Also, Ethereum address will ALWAYS start with 0x. Makes it easier to check. There have been reports of viruses that will generate different withdraw addresses when you “paste” so be sure you double check. After filling everything out and clicking Withdraw Funds, the withdraw process will begin. Ethereum is usually fair quick (under 10 minutes) but sometimes the network can be congested and it may take longer (I’ve experienced times when I don’t get mine for an hour). Once it arrives on Binance, you can start trading by clicking Exchange => Basic on the top left. PRO TIP: on Binance, Basic exchange is all you really need. Advanced just looks flashier and takes up much more of your computer’s memory. It can get pretty laggy, and last thing you actually want is laggy trades. So just stick with Basic. PRO TIP: on Binance, Basic exchange is all you really need. Advanced just looks flashier and takes up much more of your computer’s memory. It can get pretty laggy, and last thing you actually want is laggy trades. So just stick with Basic. Once you’re in the exchange, look on the right panel to start browsing through the available currencies you can trade. If you click ETH and then type in XRP, the ticker symbol for Ripple, you can quickly bring up the XRP/ETH pair. Once you click it, that exchange will load for you to start trading. The Binance exchange will look a bit different from GDAX, but that’s okay. Remember that it’s the same information, just displayed a little differently. For Bittrex, we can see order books on the left instead of right. On the bottom, we can make our Limit, Market, or Stop orders (they call it Stop-Limit). Trade History is on the bottom right, and the Market is on the top right. Stats are at the top — see? It’s just like GDAX but jumbled around. While I walked you through an example for buying Ripple on Binance, the same concept applies to any other currency you want to buy. The steps are simple: Check to see which exchanges the currency is on. Choose one. If you have to, fund that exchange by depositing into it (again, ETH is recommended if you can trade ETH for the currency you want) Start trading on the exchange! Check to see which exchanges the currency is on. Choose one. If you have to, fund that exchange by depositing into it (again, ETH is recommended if you can trade ETH for the currency you want) Start trading on the exchange! Step 4: Risk Mitigation and Securing Your Profits Congratulations, you’re one step closer to becoming the next crypto billionaire. With that being said, one of the things racing through your mind right now is probably how to secure all your money. With all the news about hacks and scams, the crypto world is a wild west and you can never be too safe. PRO TIP: the majority of hacks (but not all) revealed in the news are spoof sites. Spoof sites are websites that claim to be the real thing so they can steal your login information. For example, a website can pretend to be Coinbase, and when you get there, it’ll ask you to log in. Once you enter your username and password, game over — again, another argument for using 2FA, in case this happens to you. PRO TIP: the majority of hacks (but not all) revealed in the news are spoof sites. Spoof sites are websites that claim to be the real thing so they can steal your login information. For example, a website can pretend to be Coinbase, and when you get there, it’ll ask you to log in. Once you enter your username and password, game over — again, another argument for using 2FA, in case this happens to you. There are many different types of ways that “hacks” in the cryptocurrency world occur. Most of the time, it’s simply due to the investor not being careful enough; don’t take this the wrong way, I’m not saying they’re completely careless. Some of these “hacks” are very intricately designed, they can fool even the most veteran of traders. Here is a list of a few of the most common forms of “hacks” to keep your eyes and ears peeled (I put hacks in quotes because many times, it’s not actually hacking rather than scamming, but I put both into the same category of unfortunate events that occur in crypto): Five Top Common Crypto Hacks/Scams and How to Avoid Them Five Top Common Crypto Hacks/Scams and How to Avoid Them Fake Identities: when you start diving deeper into the world of crypto, you’ll eventually start to join communities. Often, in those communities, you’ll receive private messages from people. Sometimes, those private messages will be from people claiming to be moderators or founders of the coin. Avoid it: if someone ever sends you a message claiming to be someone official, never click on any links or reveal any identifying information to them. Ask the community if anyone else has received a similar message. Provide the username to the community. The moderators will be able to come in and ban them before any additional harm is done. Private-key Viruses: viruses that find there way into your computer commonly through malicious links and attachments. After getting into your computer, the virus proceeds to scan your files. Besides looking for the most obvious things like saved usernames/passwords and credit card numbers, nowadays viruses also look for things like private keys to access your cryptocurrency wallets. Avoid it: never click on links from random emails or messages; more recently, email scammers have taken on profiles of businesses like Bank of America and email you to do something as harmless as changing your password. As soon as you click the link, though, you have made yourself vulnerable to the possibility of viruses like this. Public-key Viruses: Similar to the private-key virus in the way that it infects your computer, but the virus replaces any wallet address you copy with the wallet address of the attacker. Avoid it: take similar precautions as you would with the private-key viruses. Additionally, always check to make sure that whatever address you pasted is the address you copied. If that’s not the case, immediately stop using that computer for any cryptocurrency transactions. Spoof Website Scams: These sites will pretend to be everything from exchanges to your baby brother’s retirement fund. Usually, they take advantage of new buyers in the form of exchanges, buy an advertising space on Google, and wait for people to click the wrong site when they search for things like Binance (e.g., the ad might be Binance.net or binnance.com or something off). The new investor knows no better, clicks the wrong link, signs up and deposits funds. Wave those funds goodbye. Avoid it: don’t click random links, and always check the website URL to make sure it is HTTPS. On Google Chrome, it’ll be represented as a green lock symbol next to the URL. Also, bookmark all the websites that require cryptocurrency interaction: this includes exchanges and online wallets. NEVER Google it to find it and click links that pop up and NEVER just click the auto-fill on your URL bar, which can also easily be manipulated by viruses. To-good-to-be-true Offers and Links: This can very easily lead to viruses or spoof websites. Avoid it: no matter where you find them, whether it’s in emails or message forums, never click on a link unless you are absolutely sure about its origin. Fake Identities: when you start diving deeper into the world of crypto, you’ll eventually start to join communities. Often, in those communities, you’ll receive private messages from people. Sometimes, those private messages will be from people claiming to be moderators or founders of the coin. Avoid it: if someone ever sends you a message claiming to be someone official, never click on any links or reveal any identifying information to them. Ask the community if anyone else has received a similar message. Provide the username to the community. The moderators will be able to come in and ban them before any additional harm is done. Fake Identities: Avoid it: if someone ever sends you a message claiming to be someone official, never click on any links or reveal any identifying information to them. Ask the community if anyone else has received a similar message. Provide the username to the community. The moderators will be able to come in and ban them before any additional harm is done. Private-key Viruses: viruses that find there way into your computer commonly through malicious links and attachments. After getting into your computer, the virus proceeds to scan your files. Besides looking for the most obvious things like saved usernames/passwords and credit card numbers, nowadays viruses also look for things like private keys to access your cryptocurrency wallets. Avoid it: never click on links from random emails or messages; more recently, email scammers have taken on profiles of businesses like Bank of America and email you to do something as harmless as changing your password. As soon as you click the link, though, you have made yourself vulnerable to the possibility of viruses like this. Private-key Viruses: Avoid it: never click on links from random emails or messages; more recently, email scammers have taken on profiles of businesses like Bank of America and email you to do something as harmless as changing your password. As soon as you click the link, though, you have made yourself vulnerable to the possibility of viruses like this. Public-key Viruses: Similar to the private-key virus in the way that it infects your computer, but the virus replaces any wallet address you copy with the wallet address of the attacker. Avoid it: take similar precautions as you would with the private-key viruses. Additionally, always check to make sure that whatever address you pasted is the address you copied. If that’s not the case, immediately stop using that computer for any cryptocurrency transactions. Public-key Viruses: Avoid it: take similar precautions as you would with the private-key viruses. Additionally, always check to make sure that whatever address you pasted is the address you copied. If that’s not the case, immediately stop using that computer for any cryptocurrency transactions. Spoof Website Scams: These sites will pretend to be everything from exchanges to your baby brother’s retirement fund. Usually, they take advantage of new buyers in the form of exchanges, buy an advertising space on Google, and wait for people to click the wrong site when they search for things like Binance (e.g., the ad might be Binance.net or binnance.com or something off). The new investor knows no better, clicks the wrong link, signs up and deposits funds. Wave those funds goodbye. Avoid it: don’t click random links, and always check the website URL to make sure it is HTTPS. On Google Chrome, it’ll be represented as a green lock symbol next to the URL. Also, bookmark all the websites that require cryptocurrency interaction: this includes exchanges and online wallets. NEVER Google it to find it and click links that pop up and NEVER just click the auto-fill on your URL bar, which can also easily be manipulated by viruses. Spoof Website Scams: Avoid it: don’t click random links, and always check the website URL to make sure it is HTTPS. On Google Chrome, it’ll be represented as a green lock symbol next to the URL. Also, bookmark all the websites that require cryptocurrency interaction: this includes exchanges and online wallets. NEVER Google it to find it and click links that pop up and NEVER just click the auto-fill on your URL bar, which can also easily be manipulated by viruses. To-good-to-be-true Offers and Links: This can very easily lead to viruses or spoof websites. Avoid it: no matter where you find them, whether it’s in emails or message forums, never click on a link unless you are absolutely sure about its origin. To-good-to-be-true Offers and Links: Avoid it: no matter where you find them, whether it’s in emails or message forums, never click on a link unless you are absolutely sure about its origin. When it comes to cryptocurrency, you have to do a fine dance. There are things to consider when you lock away your coins. I’ve said this multiple times before, and I’ll say it again: at the least, use 2FA. Username and password combinations can easily be obtained in today’s world. PRO TIP: Use HAVE I BEEN PWNED. Enter your information, and it will scan a compendium of security breaches to see if your username/password/other information has been leaked in the past. Also subscribe to its notification system, it will let you know if you are ever exposed in future breaches. I cannot stress the value of this not just for crypto trading but for your overall security, too. PRO TIP: Use HAVE I BEEN PWNED. Enter your information, and it will scan a compendium of security breaches to see if your username/password/other information has been leaked in the past. Also subscribe to its notification system, it will let you know if you are ever exposed in future breaches. I cannot stress the value of this not just for crypto trading but for your overall security, too. HAVE I BEEN PWNED Revisiting the topic of where to keep your cryptocurrency, there are multiple options, each with their own pros and cons: Keep it on the exchange — this is the easiest option and allows the fastest route for liquidation. You don’t need to wait for your funds to transfer over to the exchange to liquidate. You can also easily exchange coins and diversify your portfolio at will with other available coins in the portfolio. The major disadvantage is that you don’t have control over your wallet. If the exchange is hacked, declares bankruptcy, or something else, you, as well as everyone else with money on the exchange, may not be able to retrieve funds anymore. This happened with Mt. GOX. Keep it on the exchange with 2FA — while this adds an extra layer of security against your exchange account being accessible by hackers, the disadvantages of keeping it on the exchange apply here as well. Also, if you lose your phone with Google Authenticator, don’t expect to be able to access your trading accounts anymore; your Google Authenticator cannot be accessed anywhere other than on the phone you installed it. Pro Tip from Glen Radica: if you lose your phone with Google Authenticator, don’t expect to be able to access your trading accounts anymore; your Google Authenticator cannot be accessed anywhere other than on the phone you installed it. So always keep your Google 2FA device very safe and secure. Keep it in an online wallet — services like My Ether Wallet offer users an option to access their wallet on a blockchain online. The added advantage of doing this is that now you have full control of your wallet because you keep the private key. Even if MEW’s entire website disappears for eternity, you will always be able to access your wallet through your private key. I’m not going to get into the technology of why this is, but just know that you can. The disadvantage, though, is that there are many Spoof Website Scams (see Top Five Common Hack/Scams above) that will try to take your private key, so if you’re not careful and you enter your private key into the wrong site, someone else may be able to access your wallet and withdraw all of your funds. DISCLAIMER: did you click the My Ether Wallet link I supplied? Did you check if it was the right link? Well, it is, don’t worry; but I just wanted to take this opportunity to bring up the point about security and vulnerability again (we explored this in the previous section on common hacks and scams). Always check. Keep your coins in a hardware wallet — wallets like Nano Ledger S take care of your private keys for you, so you never have to copy or paste them, and they will never have to be saved anywhere. This means you are less vulnerable to exploits where the hacker(s) can steal your private key, such as keyloggers, copy-paste loggers, file scanners, etc. You will also have a backup of your secret key, which means that you can still access your account in case you lose your ledger. The disadvantage, though, is that every time you want to exchange your coins, you have to move it from the wallet to the exchange, which incurs a small transaction fee and also can take a while depending on network congestion. Also, if you lose your hardware wallet, you can still access it with your unique secret key, but if you lose that then… good luck. Keep it on the exchange — this is the easiest option and allows the fastest route for liquidation. You don’t need to wait for your funds to transfer over to the exchange to liquidate. You can also easily exchange coins and diversify your portfolio at will with other available coins in the portfolio. The major disadvantage is that you don’t have control over your wallet. If the exchange is hacked, declares bankruptcy, or something else, you, as well as everyone else with money on the exchange, may not be able to retrieve funds anymore. This happened with Mt. GOX. Keep it on the exchange Mt. GOX Keep it on the exchange with 2FA — while this adds an extra layer of security against your exchange account being accessible by hackers, the disadvantages of keeping it on the exchange apply here as well. Also, if you lose your phone with Google Authenticator, don’t expect to be able to access your trading accounts anymore; your Google Authenticator cannot be accessed anywhere other than on the phone you installed it. Pro Tip from Glen Radica: if you lose your phone with Google Authenticator, don’t expect to be able to access your trading accounts anymore; your Google Authenticator cannot be accessed anywhere other than on the phone you installed it. So always keep your Google 2FA device very safe and secure. Keep it on the exchange with 2FA Pro Tip from Glen Radica: if you lose your phone with Google Authenticator, don’t expect to be able to access your trading accounts anymore; your Google Authenticator cannot be accessed anywhere other than on the phone you installed it. So always keep your Google 2FA device very safe and secure. Glen Radica Keep it in an online wallet — services like My Ether Wallet offer users an option to access their wallet on a blockchain online. The added advantage of doing this is that now you have full control of your wallet because you keep the private key. Even if MEW’s entire website disappears for eternity, you will always be able to access your wallet through your private key. I’m not going to get into the technology of why this is, but just know that you can. The disadvantage, though, is that there are many Spoof Website Scams (see Top Five Common Hack/Scams above) that will try to take your private key, so if you’re not careful and you enter your private key into the wrong site, someone else may be able to access your wallet and withdraw all of your funds. DISCLAIMER: did you click the My Ether Wallet link I supplied? Did you check if it was the right link? Well, it is, don’t worry; but I just wanted to take this opportunity to bring up the point about security and vulnerability again (we explored this in the previous section on common hacks and scams). Always check. Keep it in an online wallet My Ether Wallet Top Five Common Hack/Scams DISCLAIMER: did you click the My Ether Wallet link I supplied? Did you check if it was the right link? Well, it is, don’t worry; but I just wanted to take this opportunity to bring up the point about security and vulnerability again (we explored this in the previous section on common hacks and scams). Always check. Keep your coins in a hardware wallet — wallets like Nano Ledger S take care of your private keys for you, so you never have to copy or paste them, and they will never have to be saved anywhere. This means you are less vulnerable to exploits where the hacker(s) can steal your private key, such as keyloggers, copy-paste loggers, file scanners, etc. You will also have a backup of your secret key, which means that you can still access your account in case you lose your ledger. The disadvantage, though, is that every time you want to exchange your coins, you have to move it from the wallet to the exchange, which incurs a small transaction fee and also can take a while depending on network congestion. Also, if you lose your hardware wallet, you can still access it with your unique secret key, but if you lose that then… good luck. Keep your coins in a hardware wallet Nano Ledger S PRO TIP: if you plan on buying a hardware wallet like a Nano Ledger S, NEVER buy a second-hand one, only buy from the official Nano Ledger S supplier. There has been a reported incident of a second-hand hardware wallet being used to steal someone’s coins from their wallet. PRO TIP: if you plan on buying a hardware wallet like a Nano Ledger S, NEVER buy a second-hand one, only buy from the official Nano Ledger S Nano Ledger S Nano Ledger S supplier. There has been a reported incident of a second-hand hardware wallet being used to steal someone’s coins from their wallet. steal someone’s coins from their wallet Glossary of Crypto Lingo Everyone knows that to be a pro trader, you must talk like a pro trader. Also you need to know what the pro traders are talking about. Some of these terms are used in everyday speak too, and others are specific to trading. Altcoin: usually used to describe any cryptocurrency that’s not Bitcoin. Sometimes, people use it to describe any coin that’s not Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin. Maybe even Ripple is included nowadays. Dump: when a coin’s price starts to dip faster and harder than it’s done in the recent past. FOMO: Fear of Missing Out — the act of buying in or wanting to buy in after a recent spike in price in hopes that the price hike is not over yet; i.e., having a fear of missing out on any potential profits that are left. FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt — used to describe inaccurate news or misinformation. It’s used subjectively, so people may start calling news FUD just because they don’t want to hear it, even if it’s true. HODL: Hold On for Dear Life — the act of holding a coin for long-term investment, rather than short-term profits or selling immediately during a dump or dip in prices. Moon — subjective description of when a coin begins to increase significantly in price in a short amount of time. Recent example includes Ripple in December, 2017. Pump and Dump — an orchestrated, manipulative move conducted by whales or groups of people to buy a coin at a low price, artificially increase the price of said coin, and then proceed to sell all of that said coin at a higher price. This is a very slimy move in the crypto world, although I hate to say that it’s seen more often than we’d like. Pump and dumps are only designed for a few people to truly win, while everyone else rides a high risk of losing money. I never recommend trying to jump in on a Pump and Dump. Satoshis (sats) — one Satoshi is equal to 0.00000001 Bitcoin, which is the smallest number of Bitcoin that you can have. Think of Satoshis as the Pennies of the crypto world. A few reasons why people measure coins in Satoshis rather than dollars or cents: 1) some coins (take Dogecoin as an example) are well beneath the cost of a penny because they might be worth just .00000001 BTC. So even when they double in value to .00000002 BTC, it’s still one penny in the fiat world. 2) when a coin is .00000001 BTC, it’s easier to say 1 sat than to type out 0.00000001 BTC. Shitcoin — subjective speak to describe a coin that the speaker thinks has no future or adds any value to the world or crypto or the world in general. TA: Technical Analysis — the practice of examining trade patterns through candlestick charts and other forms of orderbook analysis to attempt to derive a prediction of trade prices and find opportunities to invest. Altcoin: usually used to describe any cryptocurrency that’s not Bitcoin. Sometimes, people use it to describe any coin that’s not Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin. Maybe even Ripple is included nowadays. Altcoin: Dump: when a coin’s price starts to dip faster and harder than it’s done in the recent past. Dump: FOMO: Fear of Missing Out — the act of buying in or wanting to buy in after a recent spike in price in hopes that the price hike is not over yet; i.e., having a fear of missing out on any potential profits that are left. FOMO: Fear of Missing Out FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt — used to describe inaccurate news or misinformation. It’s used subjectively, so people may start calling news FUD just because they don’t want to hear it, even if it’s true. FUD: Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt HODL: Hold On for Dear Life — the act of holding a coin for long-term investment, rather than short-term profits or selling immediately during a dump or dip in prices. HODL: Hold On for Dear Life Moon — subjective description of when a coin begins to increase significantly in price in a short amount of time. Recent example includes Ripple in December, 2017. Moon Pump and Dump — an orchestrated, manipulative move conducted by whales or groups of people to buy a coin at a low price, artificially increase the price of said coin, and then proceed to sell all of that said coin at a higher price. This is a very slimy move in the crypto world, although I hate to say that it’s seen more often than we’d like. Pump and dumps are only designed for a few people to truly win, while everyone else rides a high risk of losing money. I never recommend trying to jump in on a Pump and Dump. Pump and Dump Satoshis (sats) — one Satoshi is equal to 0.00000001 Bitcoin, which is the smallest number of Bitcoin that you can have. Think of Satoshis as the Pennies of the crypto world. A few reasons why people measure coins in Satoshis rather than dollars or cents: 1) some coins (take Dogecoin as an example) are well beneath the cost of a penny because they might be worth just .00000001 BTC. So even when they double in value to .00000002 BTC, it’s still one penny in the fiat world. 2) when a coin is .00000001 BTC, it’s easier to say 1 sat than to type out 0.00000001 BTC. Satoshis (sats) Shitcoin — subjective speak to describe a coin that the speaker thinks has no future or adds any value to the world or crypto or the world in general. Shitcoin TA: Technical Analysis — the practice of examining trade patterns through candlestick charts and other forms of orderbook analysis to attempt to derive a prediction of trade prices and find opportunities to invest. TA: Technical Analysis I hope this tutorial has covered everything you need to get your feet wet with trading cryptocurrencies, both the major ones and the smaller ones. If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below or DM/tweet at me on Twitter. I’m happy to go into more detail on any of the topics I haven’t covered here. DM/tweet at me on Twitter If you’re ready to move into altcoins and want to give Binance a try, I would appreciate if you signed up through my affiliate link. Maybe even click it for now and then you can decide to sign up in the future! my affiliate link My Medium channel is focused on showing readers that it’s not too late to get into cryptocurrency, so I’ll always provide updates on random portfolios I create and some buying strategies such as this tutorial. I would appreciate a follow! Want to reach out to me by phone? Chat with me: Kenny Li — Bitcoin and Blockchain_Entrepreneur. Cryptocurrency Thought Leader, Trader, and Mentor. Top 50 Bitcoin Influencer on Medium @WandererLi_clarity.fm Kenny Li — Bitcoin and Blockchain Kenny Li — Bitcoin and Blockchain _Entrepreneur. Cryptocurrency Thought Leader, Trader, and Mentor. Top 50 Bitcoin Influencer on Medium @WandererLi_clarity.fm Kenny Li - Hacker Noon_Read writing from Kenny Li in Hacker Noon. Out to prove that it's not too late to get into cryptocurrency. Entrepreneur…_hackernoon.com Kenny Li - Hacker Noon Kenny Li - Hacker Noon _Read writing from Kenny Li in Hacker Noon. Out to prove that it's not too late to get into cryptocurrency. Entrepreneur…_hackernoon.com