The most usual questions from the newbies into cryptocurrency are "How do I buy ... coin?" and "What wallet should I use to store the ... coin?". Of course, apart from "What will be the ... coin value in ... years?". I don't have a crystal ball, so I'm not going to answer the last one. I'll start with the exchanges and how you can buy the coins and I'll add a post about how to store the coins later.
Please understand that investing in cryptocurrencies is a very high risk and you take all responsibility for all your actions. Don’t invest more that you can afford to lose.
From some perspective, trading cryptocurrencies is similar to trading stocks or commodities. You (usually) trade on exchanges. You pick the ones that that you want to use, sign up, validate your identity and start trading.
Trading with cash
We refer to cash as fiat money. Fiat money is any currency that has been established as money by government regulation. You usually use cash to buy the top cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and some others. Of course, you need to send fiat money to the exchange before you start trading. And when it arrives, you can start. Here are of the exchanges that allow you to trade with fiat money.
Europe
USA
China
Other
Trading cryptocurrencies
Some exchanges, such as Bitstamp or Coinbase list only some of the currencies and not the altcoins. Altcoins are smaller coins (cryptocurrencies) that you quite likely never heard of, such as PIVX, Verge, Pillar and many others. You can check Coinmarketcap for the list of all currencies. When you click on the currency, you will see the list of all exchanges where you can trade it.
Some of them are:
Check the reviews from other users, make your own research and pick the exchanges that will fit your needs. The exchanges mentioned here are mostly the ones with highest volume.
This is definitely not a full list and if you feel that's it's missing any important player, let me know in the comments.
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