It’s Blockchain Baby, Okay Now Baby Steps
By: Yalor Ethernal
Tags: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Blockchain Technology, Blockchain

Disclaimer: This is NOT financial advice, nor do I endorse ALL of the principles, practices or viewpoints of the people who wrote/filmed/spoke this content.

So you want to get into #crypto aye 🤔 well ❗️Be Warned❗️ at times this market is akin to a roller coaster up/down even sideways. There are a few things you’ll need to know before you get started, such as where the good resources are, who to listen to, what all the jargon means, how to get some crypto and finally the best possible way to secure your funds. In this article I aim to cover all this and more!

On that note, let’s get started but first the bad news:

Bad News

You probably won’t get rich investing into cryptocurrency 💸

You can lose money instantly and irrevocably for not paying close attention.

There are no lambos on the moon 🏎🌚😑

Good News

The community involved with Blockchain and Cryptocurrency is amazing and hilarious.

The possibilities for improving the lives of people and restructuring the current inequalities in our world are HUGE.

There will be cats, sooo many cats. Also rainbows and cats riding llamas with spaceships and all of this will be eloquently captured on T-shirts for your wearing pleasure 🐈🌈👕

Credit: Vitalik Amaze

One of the first places I tell people to start is Reddit, now I know what you’re saying “reddit is like a black hole, how will I ever find anything?”

Well there are these nifty little threads called “subreddits”. Here are my favorite: r/blockchain r/cryptocurrency r/ethereum. I actually found this great analogy on Reddit while gathering resources for this article explaining how blockchain transactions actually function:

See it’s not that complicated, it’s just magic 🧙🏽‍ Seriously though it’s incredibly important for people (YOU) to understand what’s happening at the moment and what is at stake for the parties involved, make no mistake big changes are headed our way.

There is a LOT of misinformation about crypto so it’s important to get your facts straight, this was recently published in the Mirror UK…

Please don’t be one of these people 🤦🏻‍

You Speak Blockchain 🗣

The following list will help you familiarize yourself with basic blockchain terms. For a deeper dive into terminology or when you come against words that make you say “what the eff” see The Decryptionary 🛠

The Blockchain: an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value, more on blockchain.

an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value, more on blockchain. Node: a computer connected to the blockchain network using a client that performs the task of validating and relaying transactions.

a computer connected to the blockchain network using a client that performs the task of validating and relaying transactions. Mining: is the process used for securing the blockchain network and validating the transactions essentially 24/7 computer accounting called ‘verifying transactions’, more on mining.

is the process used for securing the blockchain network and validating the transactions essentially 24/7 computer accounting called ‘verifying transactions’, more on mining. Web3.0: is many things but primarily a way of referring to the complete reinvention of the web, more on Web3.0.

is many things but primarily a way of referring to the complete reinvention of the web, more on Web3.0. DApp: is an abbreviated term for a decentralized application that runs on a peer-to-peer network, more on DApps.

is an abbreviated term for a decentralized application that runs on a peer-to-peer network, more on DApps. DAO: is an abbreviated term for decentralized autonomous organization. A business or organization whose decisions are made electronically by a written computer code or through the vote of its members, more on DAOs.

is an abbreviated term for decentralized autonomous organization. A business or organization whose decisions are made electronically by a written computer code or through the vote of its members, more on DAOs. Decentralization: as described by Webster “the dispersion or distribution of functions and powers”, but this definition has grown to encompass a field much wider than power, I recommend reading more on Decentralization and really getting a feel for what it’s all about.

Remember the more you read the more you know (tweets don’t count) and in this space the more knowledge you have the better informed you will be about trades, investments and changes in the market. Think of this as dipping your toe in the pool because it barely scratches the surface.

Who’s Who Round Here

Now that you know what’s what, you need to know who’s who. I like to start with the highly meme worthy, Vitalik Buterin, founder of the Ethereum Blockchain. He’s known for his amazing wardrobe and ruthless criticism of ICO’s and other project he does not support, see twitter go wild.

The BBC even made a nice “intro to crypto” video with him and some others from the Ethereum Project!

BBC Talks Blockchain

For a slightly more technical intro with Vitalik, see this Techcrunch Interview.

The second notable figure is Satoshi Nakimoto.

Satoshi created the first digital currency known as Bitcoin. Currently Bitcoin has the largest market capitalization of any coin at an astounding

$151,640,096,037 as of 04/26/2018. You can check this yourself at Coin Market Cap.

The thing is, that no one really knows who “Satoshi Nakimoto” is, because he has never publicly revealed his identity. Many people believe it is the man in the image to the left but he fiercely denies it.

There’s a slew of conspiracy theories about who he/they are but for the sake of staying on track I’ll just give you this one.

There are plenty of other folks who gladly claim credit for their work though, for starers Andreas Antonopoulos, Omar Bham AKA Crypt0News and Bettina Warburg on Twitter.

The next subject is storage and exchanges, what are they, which ones to use and how to protect yourself from the gov’mnt, “ooops did I say protect yourself, I meant comply with” 😇

The first thing you need to know is that if you are using a website (aka exchange) to store your coins, then you are putting them at risk. Exchanges are huge targets and they get hacked all the time. You want to hold your own keys, I suggest getting a Ledger Nano S, which is a hardware wallet. This is by far the most secure way to store and hide your crypto, just make sure you back it up very well. You will get a string of 24 words that you need to store somewhere safe.. Ideally you put them in 2 safe places!

Ledger Nano S

Next up, markets:

Like I mentioned above it’s NOT a good idea to keep your coins on an exchange long term, but markets are necessary for trading/selling currency when you need to.

I understand not everyone can just #HoDL for life, although I wish they would.

The fastest way to get started is to open a Gemini account. Deposit cash, then buy ETH/BTC/… whichever your choose. Then when/if you’re ready to start trading head over to Bittrex. You’ll have to set up an account and register your identity and everything, so be prepared with your documents. Also, make sure you set up a 2FA security log-in, which is an additional log-in code that is usually sent to your phone or email. Remember all these transactions are now being registered with the IRS, so you should “probably” consult a tax agent at some point.

If you want to go off the books and avoid exchanges then something like localbitcoins.com is a good option, and once again reddit is your friend: ask questions, read other people’s findings or even go out and find others who want to buy currency from you. This will serve 3 purposes:

#1 Helps you avoid paying taxes (which is illegal and I would never advise you to do…🤫)

#2 Allows you to pull some profit from your investment which reduces your exposure to lose.

#3 Brings others into the crypto space which expands the market for all of us!

Think about it…..

At this point the question you need to be asking yourself is, “Why do I need to know this?” and the answer will vary wildly from person to person.

I chose to get involved with crypto because at the time it seemed exciting and interesting during a period when job satisfaction was low and desire for novelty was high. This might not be a good enough reason for you to go any further, but I recommend figuring out if you have one and writing it down. Things can move really fast here, with an unlimited amount of lambo memes and ICO scandals it’s important to remind yourself what you’re here for. There are many schools of thought about what this decentralized movement is all about, so decide for yourself.

The most powerful motivator of all is your own will power: if you believe in something, you can overcome great odds to achieve it.