setup and trading sequence???

[scottmazzy]

Some questions about how to start...

1.  I downloaded a Blockchain.info wallet to receive my Bitcoin in.  Is this a safe wallet?
2.  From what I have put together so far, the way to do trades is to have a Bitcoin and to use portions of the Bitcoin to do the purchases.  Correct?
3.  If I choose Bittrex as an exchange, after registering, I would transfer the Bitcoin from my wallet and deposit it into my Bittrex account.  Once deposited I could use portions of my Bitcoin to pay for trading transactions.
4.  During the trading I will have to have a separate wallet for each type of coin I end up with?  Or can I just store the coin in my Bittrex account? 
5.  If I decide to do some trading on Poloniex then I will have to withdraw what is left of my Bitcoin from Bittrex and deposit it into my Poloniex account.
6.  Are there any wallets that can hold multiple coins like Eth, Btc, LSK, etc?

I am sure you guys are chuckling at my questions...but it would be a lot simpler if somebody made a reference manual as a guide.  Does one exist? 

Thanks for your help,
scottmazzy

[Qartada]

Some questions about how to start...

1.  I downloaded a Blockchain.info wallet to receive my Bitcoin in.  Is this a safe wallet?

It's safe in that it's a legitimate company and you have your private keys, yes.  However, you would be much better off going with a normal software wallet like Electrum to start off, because Blockchain.info is very poor at fee estimation and is known for regular bugs.

2.  From what I have put together so far, the way to do trades is to have a Bitcoin and to use portions of the Bitcoin to do the purchases.  Correct?

Yes, but coins are just what we mention to talk about exchange of value.  That value which is spent or that you own could be 0.0001 if you wanted (not that it's practical now).  But yeah, it's true that you spent parts of your Bitcoin to do purchases, if you own just exactly one.

3.  If I choose Bittrex as an exchange, after registering, I would transfer the Bitcoin from my wallet and deposit it into my Bittrex account.  Once deposited I could use portions of my Bitcoin to pay for trading transactions.

Yes.  I wouldn't call them transactions since they're not on the blockchain, but yes.

4.  During the trading I will have to have a separate wallet for each type of coin I end up with?  Or can I just store the coin in my Bittrex account? 

Exchanges are not very safe.  Cryptocurrencies have a terrible history with exchanges - one altcoin exchange called Cryptsy just vanished with all its users' funds and legal action against them is still in progress but people haven't got their coins back.

With regulation in the future this could change, but I wouldn't keep coins in the exchange for any longer than you absolutely need to for trading.  If you see any bad signs or evident incompetence from the exchange, withdraw and switch.  I see that you picked Bittrex first over Poloniex, good job.

5.  If I decide to do some trading on Poloniex then I will have to withdraw what is left of my Bitcoin from Bittrex and deposit it into my Poloniex account.

Yep.

6.  Are there any wallets that can hold multiple coins like Eth, Btc, LSK, etc?

There are wallets like Jaxx which can allow you to store multiple coins while controlling your private keys.  I don't know where it supports Lisk, but I wouldn't trust online wallets that support that many coins so I would personally feel safer going with Jaxx.  If there's any coin that it doesn't support, just download their respective reference client (it shouldn't be hard to have a lightweight/SPV node for most coins).

[arpon11]

I only have a blockchain.info wallet for the purpose of storing my bitcoin and any profit I make from my risk capital is transferred to my blockchain.info wallet. I opened my trading account with livecoin.net and poloniex for the purpose of trading altcoins, I didn't open a new wallet for each of the altcoins but used exchangers platform free wallet and if I make profit I will covert them to bitcoin on exchangers platform. I have been doing this and am satisfied with my results.

[scottmazzy]

So Poloniex has a exchangers platform free wallet?  And any profit can be converted into Bitcoin which can then be transfered to your personal Blockchain.info wallet?    I am trying to open my account through Gemini.  It seems like a professional setup but is taking a long time.  I am unsure how expensive their fee will be for me to purchase a Bitcoin.  I am assuming that you did some type of bank transfer to fund your Livecoin.net account and then purchased your first Bitcoin through Livecoin.  Did they charge a lot to sell you a Bitcoin?  I researched Cex.io and found that their charge was 7% which I found to be ridiculous.

[Qartada]

So Poloniex has a exchangers platform free wallet?  And any profit can be converted into Bitcoin which can then be transfered to your personal Blockchain.info wallet?    I am trying to open my account through Gemini.  It seems like a professional setup but is taking a long time.  I am unsure how expensive their fee will be for me to purchase a Bitcoin.  I am assuming that you did some type of bank transfer to fund your Livecoin.net account and then purchased your first Bitcoin through Livecoin.  Did they charge a lot to sell you a Bitcoin?  I researched Cex.io and found that their charge was 7% which I found to be ridiculous.

You really shouldn't use Blockchain.info as a newbie, but it really is very simple.  You get a certain amount of Bitcoin, say 0.1, you get an address from your Blockchain.info wallet and you copy and paste it to send.  It's just a normal Bitcoin transaction. 

For buying just use a proper exchange like Bitstamp or GDAX.  Fees should be about 0.25% or less if you buy a lot.

[amacar2]

1. Blockchain.info web wallet is quite secure but not the most secure wallet, electrum and trezor (hardware wallet) can provide highest level of security.
2. You have to send bitcoin from your wallet to bitcoin deposit address you get in exchange platforms like poloniex and bittrex to purchase other alts
3. Bittrex can also act as your bitcoin and altcoin wallet so you don't have to create separate wallet for alts you will purchase there.
4. Yes you can send bitcoin between exchange platforms by withdrawing coin from one to deposit address of another.
5. There are many multicoin wallets but I suggest you to use Jaxx wallet (https://jaxx.io)

[scottmazzy]

Yahoo...I made some major progress today. 

1.  I was able to download and set  up an Electrum wallet.  I will also download a Jaxx.io wallet
2.  I was able to get my account set up at Coin Base and  purchased my first BTC.  I got it at $2294.20 plus $34.18 fee.  I figure that is a decent price.  There is a 5 day delay on receiving my coin since it is a bank transfer.

Wow...what a learning curve.

Thanks for your help,
Scottmazzy

[BluePoppy]

I think storing your coins offline is a good idea. online wallets aren't a safe place to keep you money stored.

[scottmazzy]

Yes...I'm looking at Leger Nano S.  Not sure how difficult it is to use.

[JellyO]

the most important thing you need to know about cryptos is to not store you coins in an online wallet or exchange. they are not safe. I lost close to 10btc from an online wallet that got hacked. I still don't have those coins today. Exchanges are the same as well. don't trust anyone else with your coins other than yourself.

[scottmazzy]

After reading this forum I've seen more than one situation as you have gone through.  Electrum is on my computer and I would transfer my coins to it.  But since my computer is connected to the internet does that make Electrum less than safe?

Ledger Nano S or Trezor would be totally separated from hacking.  That type of hardware might be the way to go.  Your thoughts?

[pooya87]

After reading this forum I've seen more than one situation as you have gone through.  Electrum is on my computer and I would transfer my coins to it.  But since my computer is connected to the internet does that make Electrum less than safe?

Ledger Nano S or Trezor would be totally separated from hacking.  That type of hardware might be the way to go.  Your thoughts?

it makes the wallet less safe not less than safe
we call it hot wallet, and it is best not to keep large amounts in it. try to keep what you spend in the hot wallet and keep the rest in cold storage.
you can read this about cold storage: http://docs.electrum.org/en/latest/coldstorage.html
and the risk is that your computer can get infected with a malware and you can lose your funds. but cold storage since it is never connected to outside world can not be infected by anything so the funds are safe (if you make a proper cold storage of course).

i am not using any hardware wallet to comment on it but they are easier to use and are safe as cold storage.