If you’ve heard all the talk recently about Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, you might be wondering how you can get started investing in it.
There has been some recent media attention on Bitcoin in Australia, and some banks are making it difficult for people to invest and trade crypto. This may be because it is an unregulated investment. It is a highly volatile market and there are many scams out there offering high returns for your money.
With that being said, as long as you are only investing and trading money that you can afford to lose, then there is a chance of being successful in the crypto market. There are many more coins to invest in other than Bitcoin, these are referred to as alts - or alternative coins.
Some places to get started researching crypto include:
- Learn what a Blockchain is https://blockgeeks.com/guides/what-is-blockchain-technology/
- More about Blockchains
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/blockchain.asp - Learn about crypto currencies
https://mycrypto.guide - Learn about trading in general
https://www.investopedia.com - Keep up to date with crypto news
https://cointelegraph.com - More crypto news
https://www.coindesk.com - Learn the lingo related to crypto
https://cryptominded.com/glossary-cryptocurrency-terms-need-know/ - Babypips to start learning trading techniques
https://www.babypips.com - The Australian Tax Office advice for crypto trading
https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Gen/Tax-treatment-of-crypto-currencies-in-Australia---specifically-bitcoin/ - Nuggets News Australia - a great source of crypto information on this YouTube channel
https://www.youtube.com/user/australiaalex - Facebook group for beginner crypto investors
https://facebook.com/groups/171819240075376
Still interested in getting started trading crypto?
If you want to get started trading then you are going to need to start of by purchasing some currency. To do that you will need to make an account on at least one site to be able to purchase Bitcoin or alt coins.
The accounts you create need to be verified with your ID, this is to comply with Australian anti-money laundering laws.
These are the places I have created accounts on in order to purchase crypto:
- Coinspot - coinspot can take around 2 weeks to be verified. So I recommend setting up an account here as soon as you can. Coinspot doesn’t limit you to only buying Bitcoin, you can buy alt coins there too. They also allow Australians to sell back to AUD and withdraw.
https://www.coinspot.com.au?affiliate=XLNF7 - Coinbase - getting verified on here is much quicker than on Coinspot, but they don’t allow Australians to sell at the moment. They also only have some of the larger coins on here. If you are looking to trade, then purchasing ETH or LTC on here and then transferring to another wallet on an exchange has much cheaper fees than if you were to purchase Bitcoin and transfer it. To receive a free $10 worth of Bitcoin, sign up to Coinbase using this link
https://www.coinbase.com/join/5a44bf52303e1005a529603e
To trade your purchased coins for other coins join exchanges
- Binance - Binance is a very popular exchange, with very reasonable fees, 0.1% or 0.05% if you use Binances own alt coin BNB to pay for fees. This is a very cheap fee compared to some other exchanges, Binance is where I spend most of my time trading crypto.
https://www.binance.com/?ref=17082758 - KuCoin - fees are 0.1% on this exchange. You can earn a recurring bonus for holding KuCoins, much like receiving dividends from shares. Worth joining for access to some alt coins that are not available on Binance.
https://www.kucoin.com/#/?r=7Pvx8J
The above lists are sites that I use personally to buy and trade crypto currencies. By now, hopefully you have read some of the websites listed to learn about crypto and trading in general. From there you may have created your purchasing accounts, and possibly joined the exchanges recommended to you. Now there is the issue of security to mention.
Securing your investment
You may have noticed some of the above websites encourage you to set up 2 Step Authentication. I advise you to definitely follow their advise and protect your accounts from unauthorised access by taking a few minutes to set up the authentications on each site.
If you are planning on keeping your coins long term, then looking into wallets to keep your coins in would be a more secure way of keeping your investment safe. Leaving your coins in an online wallet means your investment is in their hands. If the website is hacked or goes bust, then you lose your coins.
Wallets come in many different kinds
- Online wallets - as previously mentioned
- Hardware wallets - which is a device you store your keys on
- Paper wallets
You would need to research crypto wallets to determine what is the best choice for you.
To keep track of all my coins and transactions I use an app called Delta. It will track your profits and losses for you using the data you input.
It is important to do your own research, and ride the highs and lows of the coins you are trading. Buy low, sell high, and don’t panic when they drop a little.
*Affiliate disclosure - some links included may be affiliate links, these may provide me with a small incentive for sharing at no extra cost to you.