It’s fun, it’s freewheeling, it’s full of crazy young fools, and it's only just beginning.
Why should we old fart and fartarina investors miss out on the crypto bubble, sorry opportunity.
One downside. Crypto is a bit fiddly for those of us brought up on mechanical typewriters and rotary dial phones. But hey so was the Iphone. And we got the hang of them eventually.
Hello? Hello? Where’s the damned dial on this thing.
So, how does a dumbo wrinkly like myself get into crypto?
First, I had to find a way to convert my fiat into crypto.
And no, I don’t mean a crappy Italian car.
Fiat is the cyrptokids’ snarky term for steady, stable, widely-lusted-after currencies like the US dollar and the euro. Money you can actually buy stuff with.
Take it away Wikipedia… “Fiat money is a currency without intrinsic value established as money, often by government regulation.”
Hmmm maybe the bitcoin babies are being ironic. Sand has more intrinsic value than something like dogecoin or litecoin. You can make concrete with sand. Try making a brick out of ethereum.
Whatever.
There are numerous ways to transform dollars, yen, won or credit card into crypto. Numerous scams too.
Personally I use Gemini.com. This is a USA-based exchange which accepts telegraphic transfers from distant lands and applies KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures.
Beware fiat/crypto exchanges that don’t require KYC. They could be breaking anti-money laundering laws. This gives an idea of their priorities. In crypto I like to think it’s prudent to stay as legal as possible. Knowing the duplicitous and capricious ways of authority, I could be fooling myself.
Before switching into crypto apply basic KYE (Know Your Exchange) procedures. Exchange scams abound. That “online bank” could well be an elaborate sting run by an Estonian schoolkid. Just google [exchange name]+ scam + ripoff and see what comes up.
Gemini.com is a venture from the Winklevoss twins immortalized in the film The Social Network. The movie presented them as a pair of entitled, old-money American establishment preppies. Which, if accurate, they may too embarrassed to fail.
Woah WTF am I talking about? Money has no shame.
Anyway don’t switch into crypto without a plan. You might do very well in the currency exchange. However it’s hard to see the long-term value in simple currencies like bitcoin.
No, the real opportunity is likely in something like utility tokens. More on this topic to come.