Getting started investing in Altcoins

[MoonQuake]

Hi all,

I've been interested in cryptocurrencies for a while now. Did some research on the net and read some posts here on the forum. Been looking at different wallets etc... but can't seem to find the best way to proceed for what I have in mind.

Basically, I would like to invest for mid-long term in a handful of altcoins selection. I've been checking out the market by making a dashboard for myself on Coincap, been checking out Poloniex and Bittrex exchanges and looked up info on the companies/people behing the different altcoins I want to buy.

Now, I don't want to start trading every other day and stuff. What I want to do is, for example, buy 100$ worth of let's say Monero, Maidsafe, Ethereum and Dash and let it all sit hoping values will rise and then mauby in 6 months/1 year time, sell them and hopefully make a profit.

I know I need to buy Bitcoins first in order to exchange it for other currencies but what I have a hard time grasping is the best way to proceed to buy the altcoins and the best way to store them afterward. As I read that it's not a good idea to leave them on the exchange wallet.

So... Do I absolutely need to go through an exchange to convert my Bitcoins into other currencies? Can I use only something like Shapeshift or something better?

Once I got all my currencies... Can I store them on a hardware wallet or one software wallet where I could see all my currencies?

Or do I absolutely have to transfer each currency into it's own wallet and then transfer it back to the exchange wallet when I want to sell?

Many thanks for your help!

[1713936751]

1713936751

[jeffthebaker]

If you don't mind, I'd like to share a bit of unsolicited advice-

Don't trade altcoins solely as long term investments. If you're going to do this, at least include Bitcoin for a large portion of your portfolio. The fact of the matter is, on average, altcoins overtime will depreciate in value to nill. In general, they just aren't good long term investments to make. Beyond this, comparatively large or well known altcoins don't have the same explosion factor as the unknown shitcoins, but they both have the potential to die.

What I would suggest (and what many people seem to do here) is to start out with a small amount on Yobit or Poloniex and just play around for a while until you get a good grasp on the market as a whole. Once you've familiarized yourself with a number of coins, you can put larger amounts into coins you are personally bullish on- coins that have missions or communities you actually believe in. On top of this, you can do some day trading if you'd like.

[MoonQuake]

If you don't mind, I'd like to share a bit of unsolicited advice-

Don't trade altcoins solely as long term investments. If you're going to do this, at least include Bitcoin for a large portion of your portfolio. The fact of the matter is, on average, altcoins overtime will depreciate in value to nill. In general, they just aren't good long term investments to make. Beyond this, comparatively large or well known altcoins don't have the same explosion factor as the unknown shitcoins, but they both have the potential to die.

What I would suggest (and what many people seem to do here) is to start out with a small amount on Yobit or Poloniex and just play around for a while until you get a good grasp on the market as a whole. Once you've familiarized yourself with a number of coins, you can put larger amounts into coins you are personally bullish on- coins that have missions or communities you actually believe in. On top of this, you can do some day trading if you'd like.

Any advice is welcomed.

Yes, Bitcoin was intended as the major more "stable" part of my investment. That's why I'm not planning on betting more than 100$ per Altcoin.

Thanks!

[MicroGuy]

Yes, Bitcoin was intended as the major more "stable" part of my investment. That's why I'm not planning on betting more than 100$ per Altcoin.

In terms of storing altcoins, it's okay to leave them on Bittrex (can't vouch for all exchanges) until their individual values exceed some predetermined threshold. That threshold will depend upon the level of convenience desired and your level of competency.

For me, I would feel comfortable leaving any altcoin wallet worth a few hundred dollars on Bittrrex and sleep really good at night. If you get heavy into a particular coin, then you might consider using a local wallet and following best wallet practices.

No need to have dozens of altcoin wallets installed on your local machine. Opinions will vary.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

If you don't mind, I'd like to share a bit of unsolicited advice-<snip>

Lol, he's asking for advice here.

OP, you're going to get opinions on every coin under the sun here, and this topic comes up a lot on this forum, so you ought to do some reading.

My advice is to NOT invest in altcoins, because the vast, vast majority are complete crap and should only be held on the order of nanoseconds when day trading.  They're not for long-term, because there's not going to be anyone wanting to hold them in a year, two years.  If you buy one or two of the big ones (Litecoin, DOGE, etc.), that's probably not that bad of an idea, but you've got to be really careful.

[jeffthebaker]

Yes, Bitcoin was intended as the major more "stable" part of my investment. That's why I'm not planning on betting more than 100$ per Altcoin.

In terms of storing altcoins, it's okay to leave them on Bittrex (can't vouch for all exchanges) until their individual values exceed some predetermined threshold. That threshold will depend upon the level of convenience desired and your level of competency.

For me, I would feel comfortable leaving any altcoin wallet worth a few hundred dollars on Bittrrex and sleep really good at night. If you get heavy into a particular coin, then you might consider using a local wallet and following best wallet practices.

No need to have dozens of altcoin wallets installed on your local machine. Opinions will vary.

Didn't Bittrex just get hacked like a couple months ago?? The unfortunate fact of the matter is no centralized exchange should be trusted. It's a shitty situation because there aren't great alternatives to storing off of exchanges without losing the convenience and accessibility associated with holding coins on exchanges.

[muhcoins]

Now, I don't want to start trading every other day and stuff.

so... you want easy money without effort, is that it? sorry dude... but that doesnt sound good.
you dont need to be trading every day, but you will need to be "following" your investment every day. otherwise you will be probably losing money. this market is pretty volatile, in one day you have 100% profit and next day you lost everything.

if all you want to do is hold, i would say to stick with bitcoin.

Can I use only something like Shapeshift or something better?

yes, you can use shapeshift and other services like that(and that's an exchange too), but, in most cases, you will be paying higher fee's.

[shield132]

Every altcoin was it's own wallet, you can't use one software for them but you can use one hardware, for example you can use flash drive and install different coin's wallet on it.
100$ isn't high to risk in altcoins if you have somr money of course. As you said, you don't want to trade every day but wait 6 month and get profit isn't easy. For example if you'll invest in litecoin, as you see it's price isn't going and it won't give you a profit but also you don't know which altcoin will get popular and worthy. If you can, than risk and do that but if you'll try daily trade, it will be better.

[dwgscale11]

Buy some litecoin, going to do very well in 2017

[MoonQuake]

Thanks for all the input so far.

Let me clarify a couple of things...

I'm not asking about which or which coin to invest in. Since my original post, I bought some Bitcoins and then trade some into XMR and ETH.

Now I'm trying to figure out a way to get some XRP's into a wallet other than their Gatehub + gateway mess.

Also, I'm not buying and sitting. I'm watching the markets many times each day to try and grab a sense of how it's moving in order to shift currencies if needed.

Thanks.

[pokerplayer]

I will start this days to invest serious money in altcoins.I will go to find one of trading altcoin sites where I can see that it is added chat so I can speak with other traders and like that invest smarter when I find clever trader.

[Munti]

I will start this days to invest serious money in altcoins.I will go to find one of trading altcoin sites where I can see that it is added chat so I can speak with other traders and like that invest smarter when I find clever trader.

Troll boxes are the worst place to seek advice.

[Pursuer]

I will start this days to invest serious money in altcoins.I will go to find one of trading altcoin sites where I can see that it is added chat so I can speak with other traders and like that invest smarter when I find clever trader.

clever traders are not wasting their time in chat telling others their secrets and telling them what to do. they silently trade, and most of them trade with bots which means they don't even visit the website of the trading site to be able to participate in chat.
the only people who are in chat are those who have bought some shitcoin and now are bag holding it, trying to find a fool to buy it from them.

[clickerz]

In altcoins, I mostly doing short trade on most coins as prices as always unstable. You can check on thier traded volume and history. Also, include bitcoin in your cryptos,its a good one. In altcoins ICN is a good altcoins so far together with Eth. A least trade with the top 20 altcoins,check also ANN here forupdates.

[Big Naturals]

If you don't mind, I'd like to share a bit of unsolicited advice-

Don't trade altcoins solely as long term investments. If you're going to do this, at least include Bitcoin for a large portion of your portfolio. The fact of the matter is, on average, altcoins overtime will depreciate in value to nill. In general, they just aren't good long term investments to make. Beyond this, comparatively large or well known altcoins don't have the same explosion factor as the unknown shitcoins, but they both have the potential to die.

What I would suggest (and what many people seem to do here) is to start out with a small amount on Yobit or Poloniex and just play around for a while until you get a good grasp on the market as a whole. Once you've familiarized yourself with a number of coins, you can put larger amounts into coins you are personally bullish on- coins that have missions or communities you actually believe in. On top of this, you can do some day trading if you'd like.

Very good advice, that is my thinking too

[President79]

When trading bitcoin vs. dollar looks stagnant, then I choose a trading altcoin. I usually have a altcoin trend trading is great, I always see the analysis of pricing in the last 24 hours, I am not afraid to take risks, after purchase, a maximum of 3 hours I have to sell again and proven effective.

[Big Naturals]

I will start this days to invest serious money in altcoins.I will go to find one of trading altcoin sites where I can see that it is added chat so I can speak with other traders and like that invest smarter when I find clever trader.

Troll boxes are the worst place to seek advice.

I have been observing these troll boxes lately, many drunk men arguing, avoiding their responsibilities,  nothing to learn there, professional traders use automated bots, not manual trades.

[Arvydas77]

My personal advice is - do not read trollbox ever. Traders are shitting everyday for their own purposes. I also do not advise you to invest $100 only in BTC because with altcoins you can make better profits. In my opinion to buy XMR and ETH was a mistake. Why? Because they done their run up and now just sitting high, going sideways. I suggest to you to buy altcoins only out of top 10 marketcap. By doing so you can get huge profits of 100, 200, 500 or even 1000%! Just look at fundamentals of the project, market capitalization and potential growth. Calculate everything, fill your bag and wait for a pump. After it comes, sell out and take your profits. This is how it works