Well, I guess I'm pretty much all in now. Oh boy, I can't believe I just transferred 4400 steem to my account. That's pretty much all my precious money in the whole, wide world. Ayayay. Grandma would not approve, that's for sure. I should say that I am not planning on making this blog a ##steemFTW / ##getRichorDie / ##brutalcashROOAAAAR kind of blog. This is simply a milestone worthy of mention for my still very young steemit user, which I have hopelessly ambitious plans for. One day I want to be able to make a living off of steemit!
This guy appeared right after. Must be a real sucker for steem! Gave him a whack.
I mean, the potential for steemit is just WOOOOW. You better believe it, Grandma! I would never have done this ludicrous thing otherwise. The idea of having almost all of the money going back to the users - handed out by the users - is nothing short of genius. If you make great content, someone will notice you and have the power to reward you for the value you have provided them. It's democracy 2.0! And due to the recent hardfork, steemit has never been more user friendly to those of us who are just getting started. It's all about power to the community!
Ok. So how did I go about getting steem? While there are definitely faster methods out there, the approach I ended up taking is at the very least cheaper than buying directly from steemit.com. First thing you need is some bitcoin; the go-to currency for buying and selling all types of cryptocurrency. I got mine at Localbitcoins, where you choose one particular seller and his price. This way you can get some of the cheapest bitcoin out there. You then contact him, and follow the instructions attached to the payment method, e.g. national bank transfer. It is not at all fast, but as said, you may be able to find a good price for your money.
You then need to set up an account on any of the crypto markets that allow for trading between bitcoin and steem. I decided on Bittrex, which I found to be very user friendly. But most important is the fact that on Bittrex, account verification is very easy, and you can quickly upgrade your withdrawal limit. For this, you need to upload ID and have Google Authenticator on you mobile device for 2FA(Two-factor authentication).
Once you've received your bitcoin, it's time to begin the nerve-racking transfers.
First is from LocalBTC to Bittrex. You need to know the wallet address you are sending to. To find out, log into Bittrex and click "wallet". Then click the "+" next to "Bitcoin".
Then you have to click "generate address", after which your screen should look like this, but with your own unique address.
Copy the address, and head over to LocalBTC. Go to "wallet" and paste the address in the correct text box. Enter the amount you wish to send and click "continue". Make sure your address is correct! You don't want to risk losing your BTC.
After you have bought steem at a price you're content with, you're ready for the last transaction. Now you also need a receiving address of sorts, namely your "Memo Key". It can be found in your steemit "wallet" --> "permissions". Copy the key.
To initiate the transfer from your Bittrex account, click the "-" next to "Steem". This window should now pop up.
Paste the "memo key" in the upper box. Then type your steemit account name in the second box. Lastly, decide the amount of steem you want to send. Double check your Memo KEY! I myself had to start off with a test, just to be sure it worked.
Unlike Bitcoin, Steem is sent in just seconds! You should almost instantly get notified about the transaction.
All this took me quite some time to figure out. My way is of course not the only one, but if you happen to be new to the cryptoverse, then this is a very concrete approach; comparatively cheap, but slow.
As to my own steem, I haven't decided whether I should power up or not. Right now it's just sitting tight in my account. All in all I am simply happy I took the decision which I see giving my life in a new direction. This is definitely my last post about any cryptocurrency for a very long time. The whole affair has made me tense up way more than I'm comfortable with.
