Newbie questions crypto thread

Where do you store the coins that can't be loaded onto a Ledger Wallet Nano? Do you just leave them on exchanges?

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(12-31-2017 10:12 PM)Germanicus Wrote:  After an agonizingly long time of research and learning the very basics of blockchain technology, I've decided to get into crypto. So just after Christmas I started signing up for exchanges... and I am stuck. In particular I've gone the basic bitch route of signing up for Coinbase but I'm also trying to sort out GDAX. GDAX is not accepting my ID. Now I've taken some very clear pictures of my ID with both a digital camera and with my webcam, but GDAX isn't having it. I've also noticed that Kraken and Binance are very slow in processing my information. Is it something to do with extra traffic because finally people are jumping onto the crypto bandwagon all at once plus it being the Christmas/New Year holiday? Or are they usually this fucking frustrating and slow?

I recently got verified on Bitpanda and it actually worked. That said, I had to use their mobile verification app (since the web app didn't work.)

For me, Binance was pretty much painless to get on. What is the slowdown?

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How do you back up your 2FA device? I changed phones recently and I had to rescan all the QR codes from the exchanges. Luckily my old phone still worked so I could get back into my accounts. I'm worried that if my phone gets stolen/lost, I won't be able to access my accounts.

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(01-01-2018 03:34 AM)Malone Wrote:  I recently got verified on Bitpanda and it actually worked. That said, I had to use their mobile verification app (since the web app didn't work.)

For me, Binance was pretty much painless to get on. What is the slowdown?

Getting onto it was ok. Getting verified is the problem. GDAX won't accept my pictures and Kraken and Binance have apparently accepted my documentation for consideration, but I'm still not verified. After several days.

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(01-01-2018 11:13 AM)Germanicus Wrote:  

(01-01-2018 03:34 AM)Malone Wrote:  I recently got verified on Bitpanda and it actually worked. That said, I had to use their mobile verification app (since the web app didn't work.)

For me, Binance was pretty much painless to get on. What is the slowdown?

Getting onto it was ok. Getting verified is the problem. GDAX won't accept my pictures and Kraken and Binance have apparently accepted my documentation for consideration, but I'm still not verified. After several days.

I seem to have been able to register for Kraken a few days ago, but since then any attempt to log in or actually do anything on the site has been getting me a 404 Page Not Found error. Just tried again and it's telling me my password is incorrect, and it doesn't look like I'm getting my password reset email. Seems like the site is effectively down, at least from here in Central America.

Come to think of it, would this mean that if I'd purchased crypto with Kraken I would have no way to access it now? Newbie question I know, but that's why I'm asking it here.

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(12-30-2017 04:43 AM)Gas Wrote:  Is anybody using the Bitfinex "Funding Wallet" to earn some passive income? I have some ETH sitting around that I plan to hold long term, I thought I could hold it in Bitfinex instead and earn a few extra dollars. Anyone used/using it?

I did for a little while with some btc that I was hodling. You can get approximately 15-30% return per year using it

Outside of USD and BTC there is virtually zero demand for funding, so the interest rates for other coins are tiny.

I stopped funding because the rate of return you can get from trading far outweighs what you can get from funding right now.

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(01-01-2018 10:34 AM)Gas Wrote:  How do you back up your 2FA device? I changed phones recently and I had to rescan all the QR codes from the exchanges. Luckily my old phone still worked so I could get back into my accounts. I'm worried that if my phone gets stolen/lost, I won't be able to access my accounts.

When the QR code pops up there should be a recovery key under it that you can print out and store somewhere safe.

Otherwise if your phone is lost/stolen/damaged it will be a nightmare to get back into your account.

So if you didn't print or otherwise save those recovery codes I would recommend disabling the 2FA, then re-enable and save the code.

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^ Oh shit that's good advice, thanks.

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Hey guys. So I'm new to crypto and all but I want to invest in it. My question is, Is it too late in invest in bitcoin given the fact that its value has skyrocketed? Also, apart from bitcoin, is there any other good crypto one could invest in as a newbie?

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Quote: Is it too late in invest in bitcoin given the fact that its value has skyrocketed?

Probably not.

Quote:Also, apart from bitcoin, is there any other good crypto one could invest in as a newbie?

Yeah there's a bunch. Buy some ETH, maybe? Lots of people like ETH.

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(01-02-2018 05:30 PM)Stonk Wrote:  Hey guys. So I'm new to crypto and all but I want to invest in it. My question is, Is it too late in invest in bitcoin given the fact that its value has skyrocketed? Also, apart from bitcoin, is there any other good crypto one could invest in as a newbie?

I'm in the same boat, man. Been thinking about investing in crypto since the late summer and that's when I started to sit down and learn about it. I had a busy fall with work and life commitments so I was still learning and not fully comfortable when Bitcoin really took off, so I missed the boat there. Which I don't feel too poorly about since my life experience has taught me to have a solid base of preparation before embarking on anything serious-- and I wasn't squared away and I wouldn't have been able to take proper and intelligent advantage of the situation.

It's just recently that I've started to make my first solid steps. From what little I know and what information resources there are available, I'd say Bitcoin is still a worthy investment, albeit don't focus exclusively on it. Ethereum and Litecoin are also worth a look, and keep your eyes on some of the alt coins making their way up. Ripple, RaiBlocks, Monero, and a couple others have some great potential. Using Bitcoin, Litecoin, and Ethereum for purchasing some of these coins on certain exchanges is also a potentially useful strategy.

Just do your homework-- a lot of that being reading and listening to the experienced guys on this sub-forum talk. There is some absolute gold standard advice here. I've learned a lot of solid information just from lurking and reading and making hours worth of notes and then comparing it to what I see elsewhere on the internet.

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Where do people buy bitcoin if they are using a UK bank account?

I've found it really difficult, and have used other methods here in Mexico instead.

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Bitpanda worked nicely for me in the EU.

When it comes time to verify, use the mobile app instead of the web app. It works, web app doesn't seem to.

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What protections are experienced crypto investors taking to hedge against a crash to one of the major coins?

For example, lets say I purchase 1 Bitcoin on Coinbase / BDAX and then divy that up into alt-coins via Binance / Bitrex.

Is there a possibility that any exponential gains made via the Alt coins are negated by a crash in Bitcoin / Ethereum.

My understanding is that only Bitcoin / Ethereum / Litecoin / Monero are directly transferrable to USD. So any gains would be obsolete if a major coin experiences a severe drop in value.

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What place has a Monero/USD pairing?

In answer to your question, you don't hold the BTC for long enough for the drop to matter.
YOu sell the altcoin for BTC and then immediately sell the BTC, holding it for only an hour or so.

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What causes certain crypto transfers/withdrawals to take DAYS, while others are moved in minutes?

For instance, I am trying to withdraw crypto from an ICO I just bought to MyEtherWallet, and its already been three days.

Similarly, when I moved ETH from coinbase to Binance, it also took over twenty four hours.
However, I previously went to pay for something in bitcoin, and the transaction was almost immediate.

Why the differences?

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You're not using enough gas when you do your ETH transfers.
The ETH network is really backed up lately, and the default gas prices (Which were set when ETH was far smaller than it is now) are no longer sufficient.

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(01-02-2018 08:02 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

Quote: Is it too late in invest in bitcoin given the fact that its value has skyrocketed?

Probably not.

Quote:Also, apart from bitcoin, is there any other good crypto one could invest in as a newbie?

Yeah there's a bunch. Buy some ETH, maybe? Lots of people like ETH.

If I buy ETH on coinbase now, can I realistically expect to be able to convert some of it to Ripple and Monero in the near future? I'm a newb and still somewhat confused about how to actually purchase Ripple and Monero, the two cryptos that actually interest me the most.

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(01-03-2018 09:40 PM)bucky Wrote:  

(01-02-2018 08:02 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

Quote: Is it too late in invest in bitcoin given the fact that its value has skyrocketed?

Probably not.

Quote:Also, apart from bitcoin, is there any other good crypto one could invest in as a newbie?

Yeah there's a bunch. Buy some ETH, maybe? Lots of people like ETH.

If I buy ETH on coinbase now, can I realistically expect to be able to convert some of it to Ripple and Monero in the near future? I'm a newb and still somewhat confused about how to actually purchase Ripple and Monero, the two cryptos that actually interest me the most.

Of course you can.

I just bought a little bit the other day and the whole thing from initial buy to downloading new coins to my wallet took <1hr.

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(01-03-2018 10:06 PM)Adonis Wrote:  

(01-03-2018 09:40 PM)bucky Wrote:  

(01-02-2018 08:02 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

Quote: Is it too late in invest in bitcoin given the fact that its value has skyrocketed?

Probably not.

Quote:Also, apart from bitcoin, is there any other good crypto one could invest in as a newbie?

Yeah there's a bunch. Buy some ETH, maybe? Lots of people like ETH.

If I buy ETH on coinbase now, can I realistically expect to be able to convert some of it to Ripple and Monero in the near future? I'm a newb and still somewhat confused about how to actually purchase Ripple and Monero, the two cryptos that actually interest me the most.

Of course you can.

I just bought a little bit the other day and the whole thing from initial buy to downloading new coins to my wallet took <1hr.

May I ask which exchanges you used and where you're located? I'm getting my ass handed to me by exchanges being unusable from my location (e.g. coinbase) or just being completely down (e.g. Kraken). Also, out of curiosity did you convert ETH to XMR or XRP? That's what I really want to do but my understanding is that I'd have to purchase ETH on one exchange then use it on another to buy XMR and XRP which I just haven't been able to figure out.

I'm in Central America, by the way.

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(01-03-2018 10:32 PM)bucky Wrote:  

(01-03-2018 10:06 PM)Adonis Wrote:  

(01-03-2018 09:40 PM)bucky Wrote:  

(01-02-2018 08:02 PM)SamuelBRoberts Wrote:  

Quote: Is it too late in invest in bitcoin given the fact that its value has skyrocketed?

Probably not.

Quote:Also, apart from bitcoin, is there any other good crypto one could invest in as a newbie?

Yeah there's a bunch. Buy some ETH, maybe? Lots of people like ETH.

If I buy ETH on coinbase now, can I realistically expect to be able to convert some of it to Ripple and Monero in the near future? I'm a newb and still somewhat confused about how to actually purchase Ripple and Monero, the two cryptos that actually interest me the most.

Of course you can.

I just bought a little bit the other day and the whole thing from initial buy to downloading new coins to my wallet took <1hr.

May I ask which exchanges you used and where you're located? I'm getting my ass handed to me by exchanges being unusable from my location (e.g. coinbase) or just being completely down (e.g. Kraken). Also, out of curiosity did you convert ETH to XMR or XRP? That's what I really want to do but my understanding is that I'd have to purchase ETH on one exchange then use it on another to buy XMR and XRP which I just haven't been able to figure out.

I'm in Central America, by the way.

Since you are in Central America, but have a US credit card/bank account, you have a somewhat different situation. To solve this, you have two options, according to what I was able to find:

1. Use a VPN to sign up on Coinbase. I wrote about this here:

/thread-66252...pid1708202

I tested this with my VPN just now, and I was able to create an account. To do this, you will need a US phone number, proof of US citizenship, etc. Be warned that there is an inherent risk with this method that your account will be locked.

2. Sign up with an exchange that supports Central American countries and the US. I found this one, which supports all Central American countries except Belize:

https://satoshitango.com/

This site only supports BTC though, and I think the exchange fees are high as well. So you will be paying very high fees both to buy BTC as well as to transfer it to another exchange that trades XRP and XMR, such as Binance.

There is also this site, where you can directly buy ETH with credit card:

https://www.coinmama.com/

Fees are probably the highest in the industry though, at 6%. People have also reported long delays in receiving their coins, and the exchange is of course slammed right now with everyone trying to sign up.

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@RedPillUK I found Bittylicious to be the most painfree way of purchasing BTC and ETH with a UK bank account.

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Maybe you are much better off purchasing them in Mexico though so that you don't leave a paper trail in the UK as sooner or later I imagine they will want to regulate and tax to the max, maybe even like the USA wanting their citizens to track every crypto to crypto trade and pay tax on that.

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Thanks, the dream

I've tried a few websites. Coinbase didn't support it. Coinify verified me but still waiting for bank transfer to appear, seems suspicious. BitPanda I fully verified with today and then I had mysterious transaction error when I tried to pay..

I will probably try Bittylicious and if that doesn't work I will just have to open a bank account here (I need to do that anyway but it's difficult for me to get proof of residence to open one) I had to use an ex-girlfriend's bank account to purchase before. I'm not too scared of tax as it's just small amounts I'm playing around with. Besides I can only be taxed when I try and cash it out. For that I have a few ideas in case I do have a lot of money to cash out.

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On Bittylicious, you just get given the bank details of the person you're buying the coins from then its up to you to transfer them the money and when you do, Bittylicious automatically releases the coins. It's much more straightforward and transparent than any other UK bitcoin service that I've used.

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