Bitcoin Investing: 6 Very Useful Tools

Starting investing in Bitcoin comes with high opportunity but also with high risk. This cryptocurrency market isn’t for the faint-hearted and you should have a strong stomach before starting to invest in it. Maybe you already made your first steps into this new wonderland but got a little lost into terms like – tokens, altcoins, secure wallets, cryptocurrency exchanges and so on. If all these terms made your head spin, don’t worry this is quite normal!

So how does a beginner(or noob) get a good start in this new exciting digital world? In this post, I will break down some useful tools available when Bitcoin investing comes to play.

1. Cryptocurrency wallets

When it comes to Bitcoin investing you have to own and store it somewhere. To do this you can use digital wallets to store your Bitcoin or Ethereum safely. Almost every single cryptocurrency token out there already delivers a cryptocurrency wallet so the options available are very large. Which of these available wallets is most suitable for you?

The answer is, it depends on your plans with cryptocurrency. If you are a ‘crypto believer’ and want to store it safely for a long period of time(> 1 year) a hardware wallet would meet your needs most.

On the other hand, if you want to own several cryptocurrencies and take profit now and then a software wallet would be more appropriate.

Hardware wallet

To store your Bitcoin in a hardware wallet is the most safe way to do to protect yourself from hackers or other bad actors.

Hardware wallets are special devices that securely store the secret key (private key) needed to authorize a transaction on the device itself. Moreover, a hardware wallet, unlike a software wallet on a computer, is not vulnerable to viruses and malware.

Buy a hardware wallet

For buying a hardware wallet, currently, there are two providers which have the most trusted reputation in this new industry. The companies are Trezor and Ledger Nano.

At Trezor, you can already own a hardware wallet at a price of 59 euro or 65 USD. Nano Ledger also offers advanced possibilities, but you can also own a wallet starting from 59 euro or 65 USD.

Software wallet

These are wallets which you can run on your local machine like a desktop PC or at a mobile device. Software wallets can be divided in two categories :

• Hot wallets – These are wallets that have a live connection to the internet. This is very important if you want to have access to your cryptocurrencies 24 hours a day and from anywhere in the world.
• Cold storage wallets – These are wallets which don’t have access to the internet(offline wallets) and you can only access it by a specific device which runs the software. Your cryptocurrency will be stored on the local hard disk of this device.

Useful tools

My favorite software wallet is Electrum(Bitcoin only!) and you can download it here. If you are planning to buy several different cryptocurrencies than its better to use a multi crypto wallet. Good examples of these are Exodus and Jaxx.

2. Cryptocurrency exchange

A cryptocurrency exchange is an online platform where investors can go to buy any form of cryptocurrency with for example USD or EURO. Investing in cryptocurrency brings you here where other traders are willing to buy and sell cryptocurrencies on a regular basis.

If you are planning to do this then the exchange will be in control of your wallets(private keys) and account balances. The advantage of this is that you can’t lose your private keys or crypto’s. Also the exchange will take care of your account and has your back when something bad occurs(mostly hacks).

My favorite platforms are Binance an Bitfinex and I use them both. Both platforms are cryptocurrency trading platforms which gives users the possibility to buy and trade any form of cryptocurrency.

If you are an European native and want to buy cryptocurrency with EUR or GBP then it’s better to go to Binance Jersey.

Bitcoin investing

• Binance – Binance originally targeted the Chinese market for trading cryptocurrencies. Due to policies by the Chinese government which are crypto unfriendly, Binance removed its headquarters to Malta in Europe. In 2017, they decided to scale up and target a global audience. Currently, Binance handles more than 2.6 billion! transactions within 24 hours and is one of the biggest trading platforms.
• Bitfinex – Bitfinex is also a very large trading platform which exists for a while now in the cryptocurrency market. Its headquarters are based in Hong Kong and mostly serious investors ($10 000 + accounts) using this exchange for trading.

3. Bitcoin debit card

Another important tool in this modern environment is a cryptocurrency debit card. Personally, I travel a lot and with a cryptocurrency debit card. With this card it allows you to have access to borderless money instantly in a very easy way.

This opportunity of being in control of your own digital money which is borderless gives me a lot of benefits when traveling. One of the main reasons is that you don’t have to deal with the local currency anymore, because you can use the VISA network which handles your transactions.

With crypto currency debit card you can buy or sell crypto for fiat but the charged fees are cheaper than using regular fiat currency exchanges.

To buy or sell crypto, you can do it from within their platform or App and they choose the exchanges with the lowest exchange rate. It doesn’t matter where you are located in the world, because their platform offers you to trade from anywhere. The cryptocurrency debit card I use and recommend is Wirex.

Crypto back program

Unique in the service of Wirex is their ‘Cryptoback’ program. This service is one of my favorites because it gives you the ability to earn crypto while you buying something with crypto. Every transaction you make gives you 0.5% back in BTC. This can only be done when you are in the possession of a Wirex card and do an in-store purchase. The rewards are paid instantly and in Satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin.

It’s also possible to exchange your crypto in traditional currencies. Currently, they offer 10 traditional currencies to be exchanged: EURO, USD(US Dollar), GBP(British pound), YPJ(Japanese Jen) and some others.

4. Technical analysis

If you are serious about investing in cryptocurrency and did setup on a cryptocurrency exchange you’re ready to enter the world of the crypto traders. In my opinion there are two types of traders: long-term trader(swing trader) and short-term traders(daily). It’s up to you to choose which best fits your character. Whether you choose to trade short-term or long-term you need some extra tools to make good buying decisions.

Tradingview

First you need to know how to do technical analysis which is the study of price patterns. A good place to learn this is Investopedia. There are also several other important tools out there for using daily charts, but the most popular is Tradingview. You can start there with a free account and add(up to three) technical indicators in your charts.

5. Buy/sell Bitcoin instantly

For investors who don’t trust a cryptocurrency exchange, but still want to own Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency this option suits it best. Currently, there are several online platforms out there which offer you to buy or sell your crypto anonymously and very quick. There is just one downside: you have to pay more in fees compared to a regular online cryptocurrency exchange.

These services of buying cryptocurrency instantly is quite old and in the early days(2013) this was a common way of getting your crypto quick. These services are still there and have even improved over time. Coinmama for example, offers a way to sell your cryptocurrency for fiat(USD), in a very fast way(hours), and has been offering its service since 2013.

Another trustworthy peer-2-peer platform is Paxful which allows you to buy or sell Bitcoin directly from other people without paying fees to a middleman or third party.

6. Information and resources

Nowadays social media is being used particularly by every human being under the age of 40. Starting being profitable in the cryptocurrency markets then it’s a must to have social media to get the most actual information about the markets.

Twitter

Twitter is a very popular and one of the mostly used tools, so it’s crucial to set up an account there. On a daily bases, a lot of information is being shared by professional traders/investors and it’s very easy to start following them. Here I will give you a list of my favorite Twitter accounts:

Other resources

Also, for more technical information about the blockchain network like daily transactions or hash rates you can visit Blockchain.com. Another important source of information comes from Coinmarketcap which lists all available cryptocurrency coins and their stats. Also, there is a brand new website for not missing out on rising altcoins.

Conclusion

Starting investing in cryptocurrency could be a real bummer when you don’t know much about this market yet. Of course, there is a lot of information on the internet available, but this could also be a little bit overwhelming. I hope with this article, I have given you the most important tools for starting with cryptocurrency and be profitable in the end.

For more info on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies and creating your own freedom in a digital way: Visit my website Releaseyourdigitaltalent.com.