Table of Contents

Introduction to Cryptocurrencies
Getting Started
What is Bitcoin and who created it?
Why are cryptocurrencies such a big deal?
How does mining work? (COMING SOON)
Conclusion

Introduction to Cryptocurrencies:

So you are interested in cryptocurrencies I see? Well, I've been a relatively long-term investor in Bitcoin. In this tutorial, I will provide the information I have learned over the years of investing / mining, what sites to use, etc.

The question lies… What are cryptocurrencies? According to Dictionary.com, the exact definition of a cryptocurrency is a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank. In short, cryptocurrencies are a form of currency used online. They are not a form of anything physically, which may turn many of you away. However, because of this, many individuals actually PREFER cryptocurrencies more because of the fact that they are less likely to lose them. In fact, they are unable to lose them using the correct techniques that will be in the rest of this guide.

Getting Started:

Getting started whether you are looking to mine, or invest, there will be many helpful tools you will need to keep in mind. The sites listed below are not personally created by me but are sites I have been using over my time dealing with crypto.

Bitcoin Exchange Sites:

Binance (http://binance.com):
Binance is a site that has been recently developed. To my understanding, it was made somewhere in 2017, however, it was more notable during August of 2017. Binance is a great site for everyone to use, however, I would say it is more towards intermediate investors. The reason being is that the graphs are relatively difficult to look at, and you may not exactly understand what is going on. Other than that, I would say Binance is a great site to use, they have relatively low fees compared to many other sites, and a substantial amount of crypto they add in every so often.

Pros:
Influx of new cryptocurrencies.
Not required to verify ID.
Good user interface.
Has a mobile application (iOS ONLY)
Cons:
Relatively new.
Not a lot of cryptocurrencies in general.

Bittrex (http://bittrex.com):
Bittrex is a site that has been out for quite some time. It was created in 2014 and has only been growing. I personally use Bittrex, however many people are not too fond of it. Essentially, now after registering you will be required to verify your ID. At times they have been known to lock accounts, but from my personal use, I have not had such a thing happen before.

Pros:
Influx of cryptocurrencies.
Has been out since 2014.
Good user interface.
Cons:
Required to verify ID.
Not a lot of new cryptocurrencies available.

Poloniex (http://bittrex.com):
Poloniex is a site that has various different pros and cons. Although relatively similar to both Bittrex and Binance, from my understanding, it's been out approximately the same time as Bittrex. I personally do not have a general opinion towards Poloniex, however from the research I've done, everything is as follows.

Pros:
Influx of cryptocurrencies (OLD AND NEW)
Has been out since 2014.
Good user interface.
Cons:
Required to verify ID.
Updates on cryptocurrencies occur not very often.

Price Checking Sites:

Coin Market Cap (http://coinmarketcap.com):
Pros:
One of the more notable sites, coin market cap is essentially used by everyone. It is the easiest to use, and essentially has every cryptocurrency price you would need to check.
Cons:
NOT real time.

Preev (http://preev.com):
Pros:
Real time.
Extremely easy to use.
Cons:
Features are limited to the three main cryptocurrencies. These include of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

Snipta (http://snipta.com):
Pros:
Real time.
Great user interface.
Extremely easy to use.
Owned by Omniscient (the Administrator of HackForums).
Cons:
Limited to only 8 cryptocurrencies. These include of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero, ZCash, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple, and Dash.

What is Bitcoin and who created it?

This information is really uncertain, because of the fact that the supposed founder stated that he had no clue w, at Bitcoin was or cryptocurrencies in an interview, however, only time can tell.

Information sourced from Wikipedia:
Bitcoin was invented by an unknown person or group of people under the name Satoshi Nakamoto and released as open-source software in 2009. Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services.

More info: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

Why are cryptocurrencies such a big deal?

In my opinion, cryptocurrencies are the future. Here are my reasons for this opinion:

Relatively low fees.
The transaction times are significantly faster than bank transfers.
The transactions are nearly untraceable.
Crypto makes millionaires.

Cryptocurrencies have been out for not even a decade. And yet, people have been becoming millionaires on a daily basis just from one good investment. Knowing this, every day we are figuring out new reasons why crypto is the way to go. Think about it… instead of having the government monitoring every transaction you make, why not use crypto and have them essentially unable to monitor your every move? Instead of having to wait 3 days for bank transfers to take place, why not use crypto and send money directly to others? Instead of spending 1+% on bank transaction fees, why not spend upwards to $0.20 for fees with crypto (disregarding Bitcoin)? And lastly, instead of investing in the stock market that does not exactly provide certainty in your money being a good investment, why not invest into crypto? It is essentially a certainty that your investment is a worthy one (if you invest into the right cryptocurrencies).

Conclusion:

At the moment, cryptocurrencies are still considered to be at relatively low prices. Now is the time to invest. Don’t let others tell you what or what not to do. Many of you reading this are still relatively young. Throwing $100-200 on a crypto you really believe will blow up in the future has much more worth than you think.

Additionally, as many of you that are relatively experienced can tell, I have not listed every resource that there is. If the resource is not listed, you can assume that I have no personal opinion on it, because I personally have never used it or have not used it significantly in the past.

UPDATE: 2/6/2018

So I've been seeing a lot of talk recently about Bitcoin and this entire "bubble." Obviously, everyone is assuming that bubble is about to "pop," but instead, I think otherwise. Yes, Bitcoin was at ~20k at a certain point during the year and now it's at ~6k, however what does that mean exactly? Well to me, it means that the market is simply stabilizing. And by that, I mean ACTUALLY stabilizing. If you take a look at the Bitcoin price throughout the recent years, you can see that at the end of the year,
Bitcoin is only rising in price, not dropping. From my speculations, it seems as if Bitcoin will reach an even higher high this year, and most likely restabilize back down to ~10-15k. So what does this mean for you investors? It simply means, be patient. Investing into cryptocurrencies isn't just some game. Nor is it just luck. It's patience and buying at the right place, at the right time.[/color][/color]