Another airdrop for ERC20 tokens. Check out https://etherbtc.io to participate in the airdrop!

I would recommend that if you are that new and really don't know what you are doing, you refrain from investing real money until you learn a bit more. I would recommend spending a lot of time on investopedia reading about technical and fundamental methods of valuation. I would also recommend practicing trading using a demo account (paper trading) which you can do for free here: www.demoinvestor.com

Once you can profit off of something like that relatively consistently, you could ease your way into trading with real money. You have to be careful though because if you aren't knowledgeable and extremely confident/comfortable in what you are doing, then you are essentially gambling.
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Thank you, ktabb! I have been interested in a trading for a long while, but I've been refraining from trading real money for quite some time. I've messed around with stocks & amenities paper trader apps before, and I think I have a general idea of what I need to do. That said, day-trading is not something I am interested in doing at the moment. I'm trying to go long on something like ETH, LTC or even BTC. I like the prospect of ICOs, though, and am wondering what platform people generally use to trade ICOs. Anyway, thanks again for the help! It is very appreciated!

Thank you very much, I will definitely check it out! I was actually able to get my coinbase running again lastnight, and went in for some LTC/ETH. But I am definitely looking for an alternative. Thanks again!

Hey, thanks! I actually just found Polo and made an account. Seems pretty confusing at first glance, but I'll do some reading and research to figure it out. Found some pretty horrifying reviews about it, too; allegedly, it isn't "allowed" in my state (washington) so I just used an old address (childhood home in Illinois)....which I'm worried will mess me up later on....

Hello everyone,
  I am pretty new to BTC and other "crypto-currencies". I have been interested for awhile, and I've known about them....I just never understood all the trading jargon that comes along with it. Anyway, in the past few months I made some purchases/sales on CoinBase (mobile) and would like to get a little more serious about various coins. Recently, CoinBase changed it's identity verification stuff, and despite having a verified account, I can no longer use coinbase to trade. Anyway, I am wondering what platforms you all actually use to trade various AltCoins and BTC. Also, I have a BlockChain mobile wallet with no actual knowledge of how to use it. Is there a better/more secure storage method that would more suit the needs of a beginner? I have looked at a few hardware wallets, but I'm not very familiar with anything, really.

  My major concern is that, each time I find a website to purchase/sell currencies, I end up finding a boat-load of horrible/terrifying reviews about their system. Just looking for something reputable to get me started.

Anyway, any help is greatly appreciated.
-Shrimp