Cryptocurrency Buyers Guide — 8 Steps

Guide to Stacking Your First Assets

Bitcoin is the standard for cryptocurrencies, and offers a measure of protection against inflation in times of stimulus and money printing, we will be using it as a quick example, though the steps are mostly the same for any other asset.

Here is a quick guide to acquiring your first pieces of this decentralized digital gold.

Exchange Account

1. Sign up for an exchange account like Gemini, Kraken, or Coinbase among others. Gemini Exchange
2. Like a bank, you’ll have to fill out some forms (KYC process), provide your driver’s license or ID, and be authorized. This process is sometimes instant, but may take a few days.
3. Finish the KYC process and have some cash ready in your funding account.

Paypal recently added support for purchasing crypto, but you won’t control your keys or funds (which is the point of crypto).

Making your first buy

Congratulations you now have access to a cryptocurrency exchange. Click around a bit, and find the Bitcoin Buy/Sell menu.

You don’t have to buy a whole BTC, you can buy smaller pieces called Satoshis. A good way to get started is buying a simple dollar amount.

1. Find the menu for Bitcoin and enter the desired amount in your native currency.
2. Click buy, and follow the instructions in the menus.

Gemini also offers recurring purchases which is a great way to stack Bitcoin over time. Perhaps a single reasonable buy order, and smaller recurring buys to increase holdings over time is a good way to get started.

Securing Your Assets

Securing your assets off the exchange and onto private keys which you control is crucial. Never leave these assets on exchanges long term. There are several ways of securing assets in your own private keys like hardware wallets, paper wallets, software wallets and more.

1. Buy a hardware wallet, print a paper wallet, or decide another way to create and save your wallet securely. Hardware wallets take the guess work out, as long as you securely store the seed words. More on best practices here.
2. Create a sending/withdraw transaction from the exchange where your crypto resides. Use the public address of the new wallet you’ve created, make sure to always double check the address where you are sending your assets. <<Cannot stress this enough.
3. That’s it! Once you’ve sent your transaction you can watch it being confirmed and processed on the network by following the transaction ID and searching for it on a blockchain explorer like BlockCypher.

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