Bitcoin-Explain to me how to buy these things

[Rhythmdoctor 1,463]

New ATH, even still the majority of this forum will continue to leave laugh emojis and posts of ridicule on how bitcoin is going to zero.  I've done my evangelizing over the years to everyone I know.  The 8 or so people who listened are ecstatic and will be more ecstatic when they can retire in a few years.  I'm done trying to convince people of the potential for bitcoin.  You either see it or you don't and once 20k confirms support, there's no looking back!

[Angry Beavers 2,061]

5 hours ago, Rhythmdoctor said:

New ATH, even still the majority of this forum will continue to leave laugh emojis and posts of ridicule on how bitcoin is going to zero.  I've done my evangelizing over the years to everyone I know.  The 8 or so people who listened are ecstatic and will be more ecstatic when they can retire in a few years.  I'm done trying to convince people of the potential for bitcoin.  You either see it or you don't and once 20k confirms support, there's no looking back!

agreed - lets go

[headcrack 70]

I knew I should have gotten in a few days ago when it was down to 17,800 but no, I stupidly thought it would go lower. 

[CowboyFan4822 37]

9 hours ago, Rhythmdoctor said:

New ATH, even still the majority of this forum will continue to leave laugh emojis and posts of ridicule on how bitcoin is going to zero.  I've done my evangelizing over the years to everyone I know.  The 8 or so people who listened are ecstatic and will be more ecstatic when they can retire in a few years.  I'm done trying to convince people of the potential for bitcoin.  You either see it or you don't and once 20k confirms support, there's no looking back!

45% of my portfolio is Bitcoin, I’m a fan 👍🏻

[Rhythmdoctor 1,463]

3 hours ago, CowboyFan4822 said:

45% of my portfolio is Bitcoin, I’m a fan 👍🏻

80/20 - btc/eth. 

[jb1020 1,547]

13 hours ago, headcrack said:

I knew I should have gotten in a few days ago when it was down to 17,800 but no, I stupidly thought it would go lower. 

I bought some at $13500ish a month or so ago.  Then bought some more around $17k.  I think I've done my homework now to where where I feel pretty commfrotable dumping some money into this now.  

I'm at 60% BTC, 20% XPR, 15% ETH and about 5% DNT.  

[urbanhack 12,437]

21 hours ago, Rhythmdoctor said:

New ATH, even still the majority of this forum will continue to leave laugh emojis and posts of ridicule on how bitcoin is going to zero.  I've done my evangelizing over the years to everyone I know.  The 8 or so people who listened are ecstatic and will be more ecstatic when they can retire in a few years.  I'm done trying to convince people of the potential for bitcoin.  You either see it or you don't and once 20k confirms support, there's no looking back!

Bitcoin will hit 100,000 before it goes under 10,000 again IMO.

[Exit 1 62]

What happens to the bitcoin when an owner dies and no one has the keys/password to his digital wallet?

Is that bitcoin essentially gone forever?

[Charlie Harper 1,215]

4 minutes ago, Exit 1 said:

What happens to the bitcoin when an owner dies and no one has the keys/password to his digital wallet?

Is that bitcoin essentially gone forever?

Yup

[hooter311 2,949]

2 hours ago, Charlie Harper said:

Yup

4 million of the future total 21 million bitcoins are already considered "lost".

[hooter311 2,949]

3 hours ago, urbanhack said:

Bitcoin will hit 100,000 before it goes under 10,000 again IMO.

💯

[leftcoastguy7 421]

Sure is a volatile little sucker.

Not for the short-term faint of heart. 

[Rhythmdoctor 1,463]

4 hours ago, urbanhack said:

Bitcoin will hit 100,000 before it goes under 10,000 again IMO.

I believe this to be true as well.  I don't think we'll ever see a $10k bitcoin again.

[Angry Beavers 2,061]

1 hour ago, Rhythmdoctor said:

I believe this to be true as well.  I don't think we'll ever see a $10k bitcoin again.

agreed

[TripItUp 4,153]

2 hours ago, Rhythmdoctor said:

I believe this to be true as well.  I don't think we'll ever see a $10k bitcoin again.

very unlikely with institutional investment now

 

Edited December 17, 2020 by TripItUp

[Courtjester 3,366]

So for those of us that don't have a spare 18k sitting around--earlier it was mentioned you can buy smaller shares. What is the best site/strategy for that? 

[Ted Lange as your Bartender 2,658]

1 hour ago, Courtjester said:

So for those of us that don't have a spare 18k sitting around--earlier it was mentioned you can buy smaller shares. What is the best site/strategy for that? 

You can buy fractions through a PayPal account, but it seems like it’s more a trading vehicle than it being “your” Bitcoin, ie you currently can’t transfer it out of PayPal, you don’t get a wallet password etc..  But it’s really easy if you just want to buy some quickly.

Edited December 18, 2020 by Ted Lange as your Bartender

[greeklightnin 9]

2 hours ago, Courtjester said:

So for those of us that don't have a spare 18k sitting around--earlier it was mentioned you can buy smaller shares. What is the best site/strategy for that? 

Robinhood trades it for “free”

[CR69 1,502]

I’ve got about 1/3 of our assets in crypto lol. Not because I put that much into it but because I got into it when my daughter was born. Big fan long term, heaviest (in order) in BTC/ETH/XMR/XRP/LTC/DASH/NEO/BAT. 

Edited December 18, 2020 by CR69

[Binky The Doormat 12,942]

I'm probably going to live to regret this (hopefully live 25-30 years longer if healthy) ...but at this point I have zero crypto.  

 

[Rhythmdoctor 1,463]

4 hours ago, Courtjester said:

So for those of us that don't have a spare 18k sitting around--earlier it was mentioned you can buy smaller shares. What is the best site/strategy for that? 

You're not required to buy a full bitcoin.  Bitcoin can be fractionalized 8 decimal places. So you don't need to do anything unique, you can simply register on any exchange and buy whatever quantity of bitcoin you wish. You can setup recurring purchases which is a good way to dollar cost average.  I'd suggest Coinbase because they're insured and fully compliant with current regulations etc...  Coinbase will charge a premium in fees but at least it's a safe and trusted exchange.  I would suggest investing in a good cold storage wallet to transfer your bitcoin from exchange to the safety of your own possession.  Not your keys, not your coins.

[Rhythmdoctor 1,463]

1 hour ago, Binky The Doormat said:

I'm probably going to live to regret this (hopefully live 25-30 years longer if healthy) ...but at this point I have zero crypto.  

 

You will regret it and it's not too late.

[Dan Lambskin 13,615]

8 hours ago, Rhythmdoctor said:

You're not required to buy a full bitcoin.  Bitcoin can be fractionalized 8 decimal places. So you don't need to do anything unique, you can simply register on any exchange and buy whatever quantity of bitcoin you wish. You can setup recurring purchases which is a good way to dollar cost average.  I'd suggest Coinbase because they're insured and fully compliant with current regulations etc...  Coinbase will charge a premium in fees but at least it's a safe and trusted exchange.  I would suggest investing in a good cold storage wallet to transfer your bitcoin from exchange to the safety of your own possession.  Not your keys, not your coins.

Yeah I know Coinbase may not be the best (at least from a few standpoint) but that’s what I’ve always used

recently set up a $25 auto withdrawal each month.  Not much but better than just sitting in my savings account 

[Nathan R. Jessep 5,809]

9 hours ago, Rhythmdoctor said:

You're not required to buy a full bitcoin.  Bitcoin can be fractionalized 8 decimal places. So you don't need to do anything unique, you can simply register on any exchange and buy whatever quantity of bitcoin you wish. You can setup recurring purchases which is a good way to dollar cost average.  I'd suggest Coinbase because they're insured and fully compliant with current regulations etc...  Coinbase will charge a premium in fees but at least it's a safe and trusted exchange.  I would suggest investing in a good cold storage wallet to transfer your bitcoin from exchange to the safety of your own possession.  Not your keys, not your coins.

I know several have been discussed in the past, but right now what are the recommended brands/types of cold storage wallets? And is there a limit, or do I just need one to store all my crypto?

[Rhythmdoctor 1,463]

2 hours ago, Nathan R. Jessep said:

I know several have been discussed in the past, but right now what are the recommended brands/types of cold storage wallets? And is there a limit, or do I just need one to store all my crypto?

Different products have different offerings. I use the Ledger Nano S which allows you to store up to 4 different crypto currencies.  This device is $60.  The Ledger Nano X is $120 and can store many more than 4 different crypto currencies.  There is also the Trezor product which is similar to Ledger in reputation, quality and security.  I think either a Ledger or Trezor is your best bet.  Those two brands have the most reviews, most trust etc... Since I hold just 2 cryptos (BTC & ETH), I use the Ledger Nano S. There is no limit on how much of an individual coin you can store.

 

[Rhythmdoctor 1,463]

RE: Coinbase.  It's not perfect.  They 'crash' every time the market moves wildly up OR down.  I don't trade btc, I buy and hold so their deficiencies don't really affect me but it's still inexcusable for the top rated exchange to still have crashes during market volatility.  BUT, they are 'safe' for the consumer, compliant and regulated.  That's the only reason I recommend them. If you're trying to trade btc or eth, use a different exchange.  If you're just investinig long term, Coinbase will be the easiest to use with little worry, imo.

Full transparency, I use Coinbase Pro (a product of coinbase).  Fees are cheaper and I've never had any issues.

[urbanhack 12,437]

Not crypto, but been working with a buddy on investing strategy for both crypto, ETFs, and stocks.

Identified HUTMF (Hut 8 Mining Corp) as a good buy.

[Iceman03 530]

On 12/18/2020 at 11:58 AM, Rhythmdoctor said:

Different products have different offerings. I use the Ledger Nano S which allows you to store up to 4 different crypto currencies.  This device is $60.  The Ledger Nano X is $120 and can store many more than 4 different crypto currencies.  There is also the Trezor product which is similar to Ledger in reputation, quality and security.  I think either a Ledger or Trezor is your best bet.  Those two brands have the most reviews, most trust etc... Since I hold just 2 cryptos (BTC & ETH), I use the Ledger Nano S. There is no limit on how much of an individual coin you can store.

 

Ledger had a data hack not long ago. Seems to have been changing the protocol across the space for data deletion/non collection. That being said it was a pretty big F up that’s caused a lot of phishing. Just out of principle I would not recommend Ledger even though it has a simple interface. I’m switching over to a ColdCard and probably a Wasabi wallet.

[PinkydaPimp 2,188]

3 hours ago, Iceman03 said:

Ledger had a data hack not long ago. Seems to have been changing the protocol across the space for data deletion/non collection. That being said it was a pretty big F up that’s caused a lot of phishing. Just out of principle I would not recommend Ledger even though it has a simple interface. I’m switching over to a ColdCard and probably a Wasabi wallet.

What exactly happened?  Sometimes a good company who had an incident and responded well can be a good choice over an untested company.

[starnes13 0]

I know very little about this (as I'm sure will be evident in a second), but I started a small, weekly auto-deposit into Coinbase some time ago thanks to this thread...just kind of looking at it like a fun savings-type account gamble. It's definitely much more +ev than my current sportsbook account, so that's a plus.

At what point should I worry about transferring over my cryptocurrency to a wallet? Full disclosure, I don't even even close to a half of a full bitcoin yet, but it's gotten to be an amount that'd I'd be pissed/sad if it suddenly just disappeared for some reason. Is it even necessary to move funds to a wallet if I intend to do nothing with it for years and years?

 

Thanks, and happy day-after-Christmas!

[urbanhack 12,437]

Just a reminder that if you use Blockfi to buy and store your Bitcoin, they are paying you 8% interest!!

 

[Iceman03 530]

17 hours ago, PinkydaPimp said:

What exactly happened?  Sometimes a good company who had an incident and responded well can be a good choice over an untested company.

They weren’t forthcoming to start out. They said it was only a small email leak. Turns out it was several thousand from June on that had full address, emails and phone numbers. The list was distributed free on a hacker site. They weren’t fully truthful about it until it became overt. 

10 hours ago, urbanhack said:

Just a reminder that if you use Blockfi to buy and store your Bitcoin, they are paying you 8% interest!!

 

I’m not saying don’t do this but just know they rehypothecate your Bitcoin to provide their loans. You are taking on counter-party risk. Everything seemed to be fine during the February crash though. Also takes a bit longer to free up and move your Bitcoin. 

[CowboyFan4822 37]

18 hours ago, starnes13 said:

I know very little about this (as I'm sure will be evident in a second), but I started a small, weekly auto-deposit into Coinbase some time ago thanks to this thread...just kind of looking at it like a fun savings-type account gamble. It's definitely much more +ev than my current sportsbook account, so that's a plus.

At what point should I worry about transferring over my cryptocurrency to a wallet? Full disclosure, I don't even even close to a half of a full bitcoin yet, but it's gotten to be an amount that'd I'd be pissed/sad if it suddenly just disappeared for some reason. Is it even necessary to move funds to a wallet if I intend to do nothing with it for years and years?

 

Thanks, and happy day-after-Christmas!

I just moved onto Coinbase to where my deposits aren’t even able to removed off of it yet.  I intend to move them to an offline wallet ASAP because I can’t really see a reason not to have that safety net for the amount on there.

[PinkydaPimp 2,188]

28k!

[beer 30 3,447]

On 12/18/2020 at 12:02 PM, Rhythmdoctor said:

RE: Coinbase.  It's not perfect.  They 'crash' every time the market moves wildly up OR down.  I don't trade btc, I buy and hold so their deficiencies don't really affect me but it's still inexcusable for the top rated exchange to still have crashes during market volatility.  BUT, they are 'safe' for the consumer, compliant and regulated.  That's the only reason I recommend them. If you're trying to trade btc or eth, use a different exchange.  If you're just investinig long term, Coinbase will be the easiest to use with little worry, imo.

Full transparency, I use Coinbase Pro (a product of coinbase).  Fees are cheaper and I've never had any issues.

Is there a particular reason Coinbase won’t take deposits from PayPal? It’s frustrating when you have $ in an online service recognized by about everyone at this point but can’t move it into Coinbase without jumping through a ton of hoops.

[TripItUp 4,153]

Quote

5 hours ago, beer 30 said:

Is there a particular reason Coinbase won’t take deposits from PayPal? It’s frustrating when you have $ in an online service recognized by about everyone at this point but can’t move it into Coinbase without jumping through a ton of hoops.

 

coinbase sucks...use Robinhood.

[CowboyFan4822 37]

5 hours ago, TripItUp said:

coinbase sucks...use Robinhood.

Robinhood you don’t actually own the coin and can’t take it off of the exchange into a ledger.  You’re also paying any fees that Robinhood has to pay to secure the crypto (it’s in their terms) since it is different from their free stocks.  You don’t see the fee but it is factored into the price they display the various cryptos at.  I just got out of purchasing mine at robin hood for these very reasons.  Why does Coinbase suck ?  I’ve been able to deposit, purchase, etc. easily or is there other reasons ?  Honest question as I’m open to learning if there is a solid case.

[CowboyFan4822 37]

Maybe there’s a third even better option someone else knows ?  Is binance any better ?

[Charlie Harper 1,215]

1 hour ago, CowboyFan4822 said:

Robinhood you don’t actually own the coin and can’t take it off of the exchange into a ledger.  You’re also paying any fees that Robinhood has to pay to secure the crypto (it’s in their terms) since it is different from their free stocks.  You don’t see the fee but it is factored into the price they display the various cryptos at.  I just got out of purchasing mine at robin hood for these very reasons.  Why does Coinbase suck ?  I’ve been able to deposit, purchase, etc. easily or is there other reasons ?  Honest question as I’m open to learning if there is a solid case.

Unless you're trading BTC, I don't see the downside with Coinbase. Their fees are a tad higher and the site can crash during the peaks and the valleys, but it's a trusted place to buy bitcoin. The company is in the process of going public so they have a vested interest in protecting your funds. 

I know people like to have the keys and take their BTC in cold storage, but I don't trust myself not to lose the physical wallet or remember the password to something I rarely use. 

[SFBayDuck 7,346]

27 minutes ago, Charlie Harper said:

I know people like to have the keys and take their BTC in cold storage, but I don't trust myself not to lose the physical wallet or remember the password to something I rarely use. 

I don’t really understand this. It seems analogous to holding physical stock certificates instead of just trusting Fidelity or Etrade or whatever to hold your shares. Seems way higher risk to me. 
 

For context I “bought” my first little bit of Bitcoin on PayPal the other day. Seems like a good way to dip my toe in the crypto water, a place to put some cash instead of a savings account, understanding it’s much higher risk. Am I wrong?
 

 

[Charlie Harper 1,215]

41 minutes ago, SFBayDuck said:

I don’t really understand this. It seems analogous to holding physical stock certificates instead of just trusting Fidelity or Etrade or whatever to hold your shares. Seems way higher risk to me. 
 

For context I “bought” my first little bit of Bitcoin on PayPal the other day. Seems like a good way to dip my toe in the crypto water, a place to put some cash instead of a savings account, understanding it’s much higher risk. Am I wrong?
 

 

You're right. I think it stems from the fact that cryptocurrency was created to be anonymous and separate from traditional banking and oversight. Now we're here.

[CowboyFan4822 37]

2 hours ago, SFBayDuck said:

I don’t really understand this. It seems analogous to holding physical stock certificates instead of just trusting Fidelity or Etrade or whatever to hold your shares. Seems way higher risk to me. 
 

For context I “bought” my first little bit of Bitcoin on PayPal the other day. Seems like a good way to dip my toe in the crypto water, a place to put some cash instead of a savings account, understanding it’s much higher risk. Am I wrong?
 

 

Stocks and the like are regulated and have different insurances so fidelity, etc. cant just close up shop or not give you your stock.  If you don’t have the private keys to your bitcoin, you don’t actually control them. The exchange (PayPal, Coinbase, etc.) simply has an obligation to give you some bitcoin if you ask them. Exchanges get hacked all the time, they can go out of business or refuse your withdrawal due to some regulatory issues. If you don’t actually control the keys to your bitcoin, all you have is an IOU of a third party. 
 

Now I agree Coinbase going public and being a reputable exchange is a good place to store them.  My friend who has been investing in crypto for years recommend I store them at BlockFi as it’s basically free interest on your Bitcoin.  And to also download Coinbase pro not just Coinbase as the fees are less with it

[jb1020 1,547]

On 12/17/2020 at 8:18 AM, jb1020 said:

I bought some at $13500ish a month or so ago.  Then bought some more around $17k.  I think I've done my homework now to where where I feel pretty comfortable dumping some money into this now.  

I'm at 60% BTC, 20% XPR, 15% ETH and about 5% DNT.  

So the XPR deal bite me a little bit.  Admittedly, I was going off "twitter hype" when I bought in.  I'm just going to hold what I have...its not too much.  

What else do you crypto guys diversify into?  ETH and LTC are viable options right?  There's not a future for these like there is for XPR/Ripple is there?  Sounds like there is still a possibility XPR will get pulled from the exchanges.  

[CowboyFan4822 37]

8 minutes ago, jb1020 said:

So the XPR deal bite me a little bit.  Admittedly, I was going off "twitter hype" when I bought in.  I'm just going to hold what I have...its not too much.  

What else do you crypto guys diversify into?  ETH and LTC are viable options right?  There's not a future for these like there is for XPR/Ripple is there?  Sounds like there is still a possibility XPR will get pulled from the exchanges.  

I was recommended to look into NEO.  Friend of mine has held over 5k of them since it from $4 to $140 and now back around $25.  Still think he’s nuts not selling some back then but I’m looking at around 80% BTC, 15% ETH 5% NEO.  I’m sold on BTC around long term to not diversify into the alt coins.

also would have to use an exchange like Binance to purchase NEO.

[jb1020 1,547]

1 minute ago, CowboyFan4822 said:

I was recommended to look into NEO.  Friend of mine has held over 5k of them since it from $4 to $140 and now back around $25.  Still think he’s nuts not selling some back then but I’m looking at around 80% BTC, 15% ETH 5% NEO.  I’m sold on BTC around long term to not diversify into the alt coins.

also would have to use an exchange like Binance to purchase NEO.

Yeah, I'm sold on BTC as well, but don't want to miss an opportunity to like NEO going from $4 to $140.  Certainly wouldn't hold a coin like that for too long.   

I'm holding BTC for the long run.  

[TheDirtyWord 977]

15 hours ago, CowboyFan4822 said:

Maybe there’s a third even better option someone else knows ?  Is binance any better ?

Binance is solid, Kraken/Gemini also good options.

I’d also look into BlockFi which is the equivalent of a crypto bank that gives you 6% interest on your first 2.5 BTC.

[TheDirtyWord 977]

I’ve become a cryptoholic so to speak these last 3-4 months and have gone in pretty heavy.  Aligns with my world view and as someone whose spent their career in the enterprise technology space, I’ve witnessed adoption cycles of new entrants into the market as they create better business models for their customers.

There are tons of great resources out there, but I’d call out Real Vision Finance which has launched a Crypto specific channel if you’re really looking to go down the rabbit hole.

[TheDirtyWord 977]

On 12/16/2020 at 12:42 PM, Rhythmdoctor said:

New ATH, even still the majority of this forum will continue to leave laugh emojis and posts of ridicule on how bitcoin is going to zero.  I've done my evangelizing over the years to everyone I know.  The 8 or so people who listened are ecstatic and will be more ecstatic when they can retire in a few years.  I'm done trying to convince people of the potential for bitcoin.  You either see it or you don't and once 20k confirms support, there's no looking back!

If I could appeal to you on this front.

This is the time for you to amp up your evangelizing.  Sometimes people are simply not ready to hear ‘the story’ so to speak.

Much has happened this past year which has provided for the best business case for BTC’s adoption and integration into Modern Monetary Theory (MMT).  As such, while I don’t doubt you’ll still see laugh emojis, their frequency will decrease me thinks and the ROI you’ve likely reaped is the best armor against them anyway.

 

[CowboyFan4822 37]

1 hour ago, TheDirtyWord said:

Binance is solid, Kraken/Gemini also good options.

I’d also look into BlockFi which is the equivalent of a crypto bank that gives you 6% interest on your first 2.5 BTC.

🙂🏻BlockFi is exactly what my friend told me to put it in.

[CowboyFan4822 37]

1 hour ago, jb1020 said:

Yeah, I'm sold on BTC as well, but don't want to miss an opportunity to like NEO going from $4 to $140.  Certainly wouldn't hold a coin like that for too long.   

I'm holding BTC for the long run.  

Yeah I wouldn’t it’s def. a gamble.  I’m content watching btc.  Same guy who told me to buy NEO told me to buy ETH when it was $12.  I didn’t, whoops 🤦🏻‍♂️.