## **Beginners Guide to Cryptocurrency — the New Era of Money

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When I started exploring cryptocurrency in general and researching it, I was pretty excited and after a month or so of researching, I figured I was ready to trade and get into it. However, it was not as I expected; in other words, I was a little lost. I didn't know when to buy or when to sell, yet I kept going and now I am way more comfortable with cryptocurrency. If you feel lost right now or don't know how to start, this post is for you and stick around and let's dive in. ![giphy (2).gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVfdH5FqobTPF9uuXD66kAh48tz71ZhdUwfMsitJ9oZP4/giphy%20(2).gif) 1. ### **Your Soon Most Visited Website** [Coinmarketcap](https://coinmarketcal.com/) is very popular among cryptocurrency traders and it is commonly used to check the prices and see the coins/tokens market cap. Some other similar websites are [CoinGecko](https://www.coingecko.com/en) and [Cryptocoin](https://www.worldcoinindex.com/)
2. ### **Researching Coins/Tokens** I would suggest after you got exposure to the coins you should then start researching and becoming familiar with the ultimate goal/s of the coin/token you want to invest in. You can do that in two ways:
* [Upfolio](https://www.upfolio.com/100-coins-explained) helps you to have a glimpse in some of the most popular coins/tokens and categorizing them. This website would be a great start to have basic knowledge of the categorization of the cryptocurrency market and summarizing the motive behind the coin/token in very few words. [Upfolio](https://www.upfolio.com/ultimate-blockchain-guide) can help you in understanding blockchain, the underlying technology that all cryptocurrency is running on.
* [Medium](https://medium.com/topic/cryptocurrency) can be used for researching your favorite coin/token. Medium is used not only for researching your coins, there are guidelines and tips and tricks from various authors that you can benefit from, especially for beginners. A lot of cryptocurrency enthusiasts and experts use Medium to publish their news and opinions with the crypto-community.
3. ### **Exchanges for Buying Bitcoin/Ethereum Before Converting Them to Altcoins** ![giphy (4).gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmWvpGr11uFeh8toNyZfwAgTGmH1hbkE3VcmqGVQeDMfzw/giphy%20(4).gif) When you decide that you want to enter cryptocurrency, you need to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum, mainly those two, so that you will then be able to buy other tokens/coins through those two. You can use: * [Coinbase](https://www.coinbase.com/) is one of the most popular exchanges, especially for people in US and Europe. One of the disadvantages of Coinbase is they requires ID verification, charge high fees, and only list Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin cash, and Litecoin. They charge fees based on your region from 1.49% to 3.99%. However, it is pretty beneficial because you can exchange USD/EUR/GBP to cryptocurrency. They also provide you with a hot wallet, a digital place in which you can store your coins. They have iOS and Android version of their application. * [Coinmama](https://www.coinmama.com/) is another popular exchange in which you can buy two major cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin and Ethereum in USD and EUR. They also, as Coinbase, require ID verification which can take a little time. The transaction fee is 5.5%. One of the disadvantages of Coinmma, despite their fees, is that they only allow you to buy Bitcoin and Ethereum with fiat, they do not allow Bitcoin and Ethereum back to fiat. * [Kraken](https://www.kraken.com/) is popularly used in Europe and you can buy Bitcoin and Ethereum with USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CAD. They charge 0.16% fee for maker and 0.26% fee for the taker, for the clients having less than $50,000. The fees vary, depending on your volume. * [Litebit](https://www.litebit.eu/en/buy/ethereum) can be used for people in Europe and Netherlands in special and they provide you with their hot wallet. They charge generally €0.42 and the prices are in Euro. You can buy cryptocurrency in Litebit with almost no ID verification, creating an account and verifying you phone number but with limited amount to buy. * [Bitstamp](https://www.bitstamp.net/) lets you trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash. You can buy these with USD and EUR. They charge 0.20% fees for $20,000 and less trading and the fees decrease as you have larger volume. * Now, this website is very good for buying Bitcoin for those people living in some countries that don't have advanced banking systems or simply the other listed exchanges do not support their countries. [LocalBitcoins](https://localbitcoins.com/) can pair you up with sellers in your region so that you can buy Bitcoin directly or will just help you to buy Bitcoin from any other buyers around the world. However, keep in mind that it still requires Visa Card or Master card for this. [Indacoin](https://indacoin.com/en_GB) can also be used for people in those countries; however, they charge very high fees.
4. ### **Buying Altcoins with Bitcoin/Ethereum in Exchanges** ![giphy.gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQme24NZ1KS17tvySVucTKzvQ5WaRQW9ajir59VTfYoR3kK/giphy.gif) To be familiarized, any coin/token beside Bitcoin is called altcoin. These are some of the most-used exchanges in cryptosphere: * [Kraken](https://www.kraken.com/) also provides trading altcoins as well as Bitcoin. The fees and other descriptions about Kraken is provided in the previous list. * [Bittrex](https://bittrex.com/) is one of the most widely used exchanges. You can find a wide spectrum of altcoins in Bittrex. They require ID verification and charge 0.25% commission fee for trading any altcoin. * [Binance](https://www.binance.com/?ref=21593775) is very popular and does not require verification as long as you keep your trading volume between 2 BTC, and then they require ID verification. They charge 0.5% fees for buying and selling altcoins there, depositing altcoins is free, and you can buy Binance token, BNB, so that you get a 50% discount charging 0.25%. Binance also has iOS and Android apps and for your PC, too. * [HitBTC](https://hitbtc.com/) lists various altcoins and they charge 0.1% for the taker and the maker is free of charge. One of the benefits of HitBTC is that it allows you to trade up to a limited amount of BTC without requiring ID verification. * [OKEx](https://www.okex.com/) has application for Windows and MAC. They also have a long list of altcoins that you can trade with. They charge -0.1% fee for the maker and 0.1% for the taker. * [Bitfinex](https://www.bitfinex.com/) is advanced exchange that I personally do not recommend for beginners because it is quite complicated. One of the advantages of Bitfinex is that they let you trade both long positions and short positions and they let you lend money there. On the other hand, one of the disadvantages of Bitfinex is that you should first deposit $10,000, fit or cryptocurrency, so that you are allowed to trade there. They do not require ID verification if you only trade cryptocurrency/altcoins, but they do require ID verification if you want cash out fiat there. One of the major benefits of Bitfinex is that it gives your almost all of the necessary tools for technical analysis. * [Yobit](https://yobit.net/en/) has variety of altcoins and charges 0.2% for trading. It does not require ID verification up to a limited amount of trading. Yobit has chatting feature while trading; however, I do not recommend going by their words because most of the times they are chatting to pump and dump coins. * [Kucoin](https://www.kucoin.com/#/) charges 0.1% for trading charges and they have a fixed withdrawal fees of the altcoins. Kucoin does not require ID verification for trading. Kucoin provides traders with charts quite flexible and you can use a lot of indicators. * [Changelly](https://changelly.com/) has limited altcoins, but it is quite good for beginners and easy to use. They charge 0.5% fee. * [Gate.io](https://gate.io/) has a good list of altcoins and charges 0.2% for trading. It charges no fees for deposits. They also have application. * [Bitmex](https://www.bitmex.com/) allows traders to not just trade, but margin trade, too. They have KYC, Know Your Customer, and they charge 0.0250% fee for the maker and 0.0750% fee for the taker. Their fees vary from 0.0250% to 0.25% depending on the cryptocurrency or altcoin you are trading. The only one downside to this exchange is that it does not host various altcoins, they are pretty limited.
5. ### **Wallets for Keeping Your Coins/Tokens** You have to get to know the difference between coins and tokens. Simply put, coins have their own separate blockchain and wallet; on the other hand, tokens are created upon other coins, on their platform called smart contracts. Tokens use the coin's codes and modify their codes to fit their need. You might wonder what this has to do with wallets, but you can store your tokens in the wallets of their original platform; for example, you can store your Poe.t tokens in Ethereum's wallet. * One of the popular wallets for Ethereum and its tokens is [MEW wallet](https://www.myetherwallet.com/). MEW wallet is an online wallet, hot wallet that you can store your ethereum and tokens. * [Exodus](https://www.exodus.io/) is a PC hot wallet that supports some major coins, such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, EOS, etc. * [Jaxx](https://jaxx.io/) is another desktop wallet that supports major coins and has iOS and Android application. * If you want the wallet for any other coin, please check their official website in which you can download it on your PC and store your coins.
6. ### **Websites for Technical Analysis** ![giphy (3).gif](https://steemitimages.com/DQmVNNrZXaEjEhJ2FNi28HiS9MfQDrZAWSkFpTPpo9D9zRa/giphy%20(3).gif) * [Tradingview](https://www.tradingview.com/) is the leading platform for cryptocurrency technical analysis in which you can use the charts for free by creating an account and view other technical analyst experts there.