When first getting started in cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, it's overwhelming to know where to start. There are now literally thousands of coins/tokens, exchanges, wallets, and discussion boards to choose from.

I have put together a list of what I consider to be the Tier 1 resources that newcomers to the space can use to get started. By Tier 1 I mean those that have i) established a high level of trust; ii) are mainstream (non-niche); iii) easily accessible to newcomers (low technical knowledge required).

I will be adding to this guide overtime as things evolve. Enjoy!

General Concepts

Start here to start your education. You'll find yourself referring back to these sites very often so go ahead and bookmark them.

CoinMarketCap.com - Contains a live list of all exchange-traded cryptocurrencies along with their market cap, which exchanges the coin is traded on and other relevant parameters. This is a good starting point to learn about the different coins and research new ones.

Bitcointalk.org - This is a discussion forum that while heavily focused on Bitcoin, contains extremely active sub-forums for the "Altcoins" as well. This was the first forum around back when Bitcoin was in its infancy, and it's interesting to read through the threads from 5 or 6 years ago to see how things have evolved.

Cryptocurrency Coins & Tokens

This is not an exhaustive list of all coins/tokens that are out there (there's more than 1000 publicly traded at the time of this writing), but these are a good starting point to get your feet wet. All of these have high market cap, a high trading volume, and are easy to purchase on mainstream exchanges.

Bitcoin (BTC) - This is the first and by far the most well-known cryptocurrency. Total market cap at the time of this writing is just under $300B USD, which puts it at about 45% market share of all cryptocurrency combined. I wouldn't actually recommend Bitcoin as a starter coin anymore due to some technical issues inherent to its design that are now surfacing (i.e. high transaction fees). Recommended wallets: Electrum or Bitcoin Core

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - In an attempt to solve some of the technical issues with Bitcoin I mentioned above, there was a "hard-fork" in Bitcoin during mid-2017 to create a new coin called Bitcoin Cash. Transactions are confirmed much faster with BCH and because the block size is scalable, the transaction fee issue is resolved as well. Recommended wallet: Electron Cash

Litecoin (LTC) - The original vision of this coin was to be the "silver" to Bitcoin's gold. At the time of this writing, LTC is actually ranked 5th in terms of market cap. Litecoin features faster confirmation times than Bitcoin and is steadily growing in popularity. Recommended wallets: Electrum-LTC or Litecoin Core

Ethereum (ETH) - This was the first blockchain project that attempted (and succeeded) to be something more that just a form of currency. The Ethereum blockchain is capable of running what's known as "smart contracts" which are essentially small programs that run on the blockchain. Recommended wallet: Ethereum Wallet

Cardano (ADA) - This is the next project led by Charles Hoskinson, who was one of the original creators of Ethereum. Sometimes referred to as the first "Generation 3" blockchain, ADA aims to solve a lot of the technical challenges afflicting other coins. Recommended wallet: Daedalus

Monero (XMR) - One of the most popular of a new breed of secure, untraceable coins. Unlike other blockchains where it is possible to trace every transaction, XMR uses techniques to ensure that all transactions are private, while still providing means of ensuring validity. Recommended wallet: Monero

Lisk (LSK) - Probably not a coin for absolute beginners but I am including it here because I think it has some very cool features. Lisk is a blockchain for running decentralized apps (DApps) similar to others such as Ethereum, but the difference is that Lisk DApps are written in JavaScript rather than a proprietary language. The benefit of this is that there is already an enormous number of existing JavaScript developers that will be able to begin deploying DApps in a very short period of time. Recommended wallet: Lisk Nano / Core

Other Wallets

For each coin listed above I've given links to the wallets I recommend. Most cryptocurrency wallets are limited to interacting with only one specific coin. There are other options though, a few of which I've listed below.

Exodus - One of the main roadblocks to more widespread adaptation of cryptocurrencies is the rather unintuitive nature and tech know-how required to get up and running with most wallets. Exodus is a multi-currency wallet that has a beautiful UI and is extremely user-friendly.

Treznor - A very popular hardware (physical) wallet that supports Bitcoin, Litecoin, and ERC-20 tokens.

Ledger - A company that produces a variety of excellent hardware wallets that support about 2 dozen currencies at the time of this writing, with more being added.

Exchanges

The easiest way to obtain coins is to buy them on a cryptocurrency exchange. Some exchanges allow you to deposit fiat currency (i.e. USD, Euros, etc.) which can be used to buy cryptocoins. Other exchanges deal only in cryptocurrency only.

Coinbase - By far the most user-friendly and accessible exchange, Coinbase allows customers to buy Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Bitcoin Cash using a credit/debit card. Purchase limits are quite low ($100 - $200 per week to start off), transaction fees relatively high due to the use of credit cards, and the exchange rate is poor compared with other exchanges. Despite the negatives, I recommend using it as a means to buy your first cryptocoins so that you can practice sending it to a wallet or another exchange. The low purchase limit will keep you relatively low-risk as well.

Kraken - In my opinion, the best and most trustworthy of all the mainstream exchanges is Kraken. There is a more rigorous account setup / validation process that you must go through to get started, and fiat currencies can only be added via bank wire transfer, but at the highest approval level $100,000 USD can be deposited per day. Cryptocurrencies can be deposited almost instantly however. Exchange rates are excellent and fees are low which make Kraken a good choice for trading the tier 1 coins. More speculative coins are not offered for trade on this exchange.

Poloniex - An exchange that doesn't allow deposit of fiat currency, but offers several dozen coins to trade. Also has a good reputation and user-friendly interface.

Shapeshift - Very different from the other exchanges because no account is required and offers the ability to exchange between a very large number of different cryptocurrency types. Again, not really for beginners but if there's an oddball coin you want to buy this is an easy means to do so without the need to setup an account on one of the more traditional exchanges.

Mining

Another option to obtain coins is to mine them yourself. Options for doing so range from the very simple (see the links below), to extremely complex (requiring special hardware and configuring specialty mining software).

Profitability Calculators - Before getting into mining, it's important to determine whether it will actually be profitable for you to do so. Most coins now are being mined overseas with dedicated equipment and cheap electricity costs. This site however lets you enter in parameters such as your processing speed, power consumption, etc. and calculate profit (or lack thereof) per day, week, month, and year.

MinerGate - By far the easiest way to try Cryptocurrency mining for the first time is to join the MinerGate mining pool. You can create an account, download their software, and be mining in under 10 minutes, with no complicated setup required.

Bitmain - Not for beginners, but for interest-sake check out Bitmain. They are the leading manufacturer of Application Specifc Intergrated Circuits (ASICs). An ASIC is essentially a specialized computer that is optimized for mining cryptocurrencies. Mining farms use hundreds or even thousands of these devices.

Initial Coin Offerings

Most new cryptocurrencies go through what's known as an ICO (Initial Coin Offering) to raise funds for their development. This is a play on the Initial Public Offering (IPO) seen in traditional financial markets.

ICObench - A platform that allows the listing of ICOs along with details, videos, ratings and assessments.

Altcoins Announcement Forum - A subforum of Bitcointalk.org, it's pretty much a prerequisite for all new coins to post an announcement here. Beware that many of the threads here are very "spammy" and of limited value.

Major Players

This is not an all-inclusive list, but here are a few of the well-known people in the Blockchain world to add to your twitter feed.

Charles Hoskinson (Twitter / Steemit / LinkedIn) - Charles was one of the original creators of Ethereum (ETH), is now invloved in the development of Cardano (ADA), and is a very influential person in Blockchain technology.

Roger Ver (Twitter / Steemit / LinkedIn) - Somewhat of a celebrity in the Bitcoin arena, Roger was a very early investor and has been involved in several startups related to the field.

Other Tools

Telegram - Is the communications / messaging platform of choice in the Blockchain World.