Congratulations! You've made the decision to join the Bitcoin revolution!
But how exactly do you go about owning your very own Bitcoin or indeed any other Cryptocurrency?! This simple guide will provide you with the steps involved.
First you will need to convert your 'fiat' money e.g. GBP, USD etc. into one of the major Crypto's, those being Bitcoin, Ethereum or Litecoin.
To do this, the absolute easiest way is to open an account at Coinbase, they will ask a few questions to verify you and usually does not take very long at all. The exception is when Bitcoin has hit the news (again) and they are experiencing a large influx of new signups.
Once verified in Coinbase, your'e set! You can link a debit card which makes a transferring fiat super easy and you can transfer larger amounts direct from your bank account (SEPA transfer).
So now you have deposited fiat into your wallet you can view the Crypto performance charts on the dashboard and on the buy/sell tab you can buy your chosen currency, BTC, ETH or LTC.
Once you buy I recommend moving your Crypto to a software wallet like Jaxx or a hardware wallet like a Ledger Nano S.
For the more adventurous out there you may want to buy one of the other 1000's of cryptocurrency available! I don't blame you, there are a lot of fantastic projects out there, make sure you do your research on them.
To buy other Crypto like IOTA, NEO, Dash, Ark etc.. you will need to create an account at a larger multi-currency exchange such as -
- www.KuCoin.com - great for newer coins
- www.binance.com - Excellent overall exchange
- www.bittrex.com - great for the older coins
Once signed up you will have to transfer your Crypto to the corresponding wallet on that exchange. To do this, find the deposits page and choose what you would like to transfer. So if you have Bitcoin find Bitcoin in the list, hit deposit and it will provide you with a wallet address to send it to.
Go to where your Bitcoin is stored, choose to send from your Bitcoin wallet to the address provided by the exchange you want to send to. You will be prompted to enter the amount you want to send, asked to confirm off it goes!
Once at your desired exchange, navigate to the markets and place your bid to buy your selected alternative Crypto!