Noob looking for information

[BTC_THH]

Hello, I am new to cryptocurrency, and suddenly found interest in it a couple weeks back. I took the dive and put some money down, but have no knowledge of it. I am in an upward trend right now, but I feel like I just threw money down and have no idea what I am doing and am just leaving it in there hoping for the best. I want to learn about cryptocurrency rather than just pay attention to the price of it going up an down. What makes a cryptocurrency a legitimate currency? I lurked for a bit and I am kind of getting a grasp on things, but I don't want to be ignorant about anything. I don't want to just throw my money at a currency because someone says it's the next big thing, I want to know why it is the next big thing. I understand the trading concept and wallets and so on, but what makes a coin such as bitcoin, xrp, ethereum, etc. really worth it? What are things to look out for in a coin that makes it attractive? I am definitely looking for extra income and I feel like cryptocurrency is definitely a great long term investment. Also, is there anyone in the Las Vegas area that is also into coin?

Thank you

[odolvlobo]

It is a mistake to invest in something you don't understand, and even worse to trade in things you don't understand. At least with Bitcoin, it might turn out to be a good investment. So, I recommend that you think of it a long term investment and sit on it.

In the meantime,

Start doing research.
Watch Andreas Antonopolis videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkxdys-Ek9U
Go to a meetup: https://www.meetup.com/Las-Vegas-Bitcoin-Meetup/

[somebody else]

Don't listen to somebody else before you listened your own thoughts.

Your opinion is worth much more than mine!

[Nagadota]

What makes a cryptocurrency a legitimate currency?

To answer that question you have to consider the characteristics of money, which are:  durability, portability, divisibility, uniformity, limited supply, and acceptability.

Cryptocurrency is infinitely durable.  It's "portable", in that you could hold it in a wallet like Mycelium on your phone and you can transport it anywhere in the world without an intermediary.  It's infinitely divisible and the smallest unit of a Bitcoin is typically regarded as one satoshi, or a hundred millionth of a Bitcoin (that much is impractical to spend now, but it's still relevant).  

It's uniform because counterfeit Bitcoin is impossible - the transfers of Bitcoin are verified in the blockchain to solve the double spend problem, which is an important function of the blockchain.

The supply is limited - the amount of Bitcoin distributed is the reward which is given to miners for mining a block, which was originally 50 Bitcoin and halves approximately every four years (currently at 12.5 Bitcoin for a block), and a block will always be mined approximately every ten minutes.  Fiat money is not limited as it is no longer based on anything with a limited supply and can be created at will by governments and banks, which is a key thing that sets Bitcoin apart and is the reason why some people regard it to be "digital gold".

As for acceptability, it's not accepted everywhere but as it matches all the other characteristics of money, this can change.

what makes a coin such as bitcoin, xrp, ethereum, etc. really worth it?

Bitcoin is worth it because of what I just described.  Ethereum is a platform for other people to create blockchain tokens, so it basically exists to spur other people to create original things.  Research smart contracts to find out more about how this works.

[Immakillya]

You can't just dive and buy some crypto if don't even have knowledge about it. That's very dangerous move. Better study the market first before jumping on trading. Don't even try FORex if you don't habe thw knowledge. Forex is dangerous than altcoin trading. In forex, you could lose your money there in a blink of an eye. About the question about legitimacy of being currency of bitcoin. Some think it is currency and some think its a commodity. But for me, its more of commodity to me than currency. Because you can't buy many things with bitcoin.

[Velkro]

I took the dive and put some money down, but have no knowledge of it. I am in an upward trend right now

That is not wise to invest in smth u don't understand. U did good decision tho, now time to learn.... a lot.
This is huge knowledge ahead of you, how bitcoins are made, why Bitcoin is true revolution comparing to simple "internet currency".
I recommend to watch bitcoin documentaries like rise and rise of bitcoin for example, great and fun way to learn.

[U2]

Ripple is a bankers coin. Banks just keep investing in it. It's not a real crypto and it's pure garbage. ETH is smart Contracts which basically 99% of the world couldn't even tell you what it would be for but anyways it's very centralized and has LOTS of bugs CONSTANTLY. There was even an exchange Quadrigacx that had a $14million mistake made from Ethereum. How's that for a kick in the pants? Do your research. If you're looking at altcoins try to find the negatives rather than the posisitives. Usually they only want you to know the posisitives and every shill for the coin is the exact same because of you invest your money their coins are now worth more. Look up honest reviews and do your own research. If you see the words insta-mine or pre-mine stay out. The dev owns enough coins to crash the whole market at any point.

[Velkro]

Ripple is a bankers coin. Banks just keep investing in it. It's not a real crypto and it's pure garbage.

Agree 100%. Anyone could create such coin, "premine" it, create how many he want from thin air because theese are just records in database.
Pure scam coin pretending to be real decentralized cryptocurrency.

[Maheshkumar_Hrangkhawl]

Since you have invested so much in crypto-currency, you need to learn the basic information about their technology and usage. Also, you need to learn how to store these coins safely and securely, and how to take backups. I prefer offline storage, such as paper-wallets. Also, you need to set a future target, for profit-booking.

[iluvpie60]

The first thing I and others are noticing, is that you put money into something you don't know much about. Though Bitcoin may be one of the safer things to do this in(since it is very useful and valuable) I would say that you should probably think about cashing out what you cannot afford to lose.

If bitcoin goes to 1 dollars tomorrow, are you going to be financially paralyzed and not have money? Are you ready to lose everything you put into BTC?

Another thing is that you should invest in some alt-coins if you are looking to really invest. Having it all in BTC can make you lose lots of money. All it takes is another MTGOX being hacked again for price to go down hard.

Read more through the forums and FAQs here. There are some posts you can read in the newbie section.

Don't be afraid to ask more questions.

Search up youtube videos or podcasts and listen to all you can.

Andreas Antonopoulos is a good listen, find his stuff.

[CoinBuzz]

If you are completely newbie, I would suggest to start with some of the faucets and get some bitcoins as you can understand how bitcoin works.

[Netnox]

If you are completely newbie, I would suggest to start with some of the faucets and get some bitcoins as you can understand how bitcoin works.

Faucets are just a waste of time and effort. The payouts are ridiculously low, and to reach the threshold you need to continuously visit the site for 60 - 70 days. And there is no guarantee that the site will not close down during this 60 days period. My advise is to increase the post count and activity, and then to join some sig campaign.

[Okurkabinladin]

Hello, I am new to cryptocurrency, and suddenly found interest in it a couple weeks back. I took the dive and put some money down, but have no knowledge of it. I am in an upward trend right now, but I feel like I just threw money down and have no idea what I am doing and am just leaving it in there hoping for the best. I want to learn about cryptocurrency rather than just pay attention to the price of it going up an down. What makes a cryptocurrency a legitimate currency? I lurked for a bit and I am kind of getting a grasp on things, but I don't want to be ignorant about anything. I don't want to just throw my money at a currency because someone says it's the next big thing, I want to know why it is the next big thing. I understand the trading concept and wallets and so on, but what makes a coin such as bitcoin, xrp, ethereum, etc. really worth it? What are things to look out for in a coin that makes it attractive? I am definitely looking for extra income and I feel like cryptocurrency is definitely a great long term investment. Also, is there anyone in the Las Vegas area that is also into coin?

Thank you

Listen to what others have said.

Bitcoin is really great investment and as any investment it is worth little research before you dive in. Find the right moment to make best on your initial funds and perhaps find a some use for it in your daily life.

Gambling with bitcoin is as bad as with dollars, youll end up poor. So invest, dont gamble.

[Heyyyrenz]

before you invest or do something like that mining or investing i think you should be in here for a while and roam to different places here, different topics forums. about bitcoins, minings, gambling or investments you will learn different things by reading here and roaming around. The pros here will give you advice and guide you on what you're planning to do just don't be afraid to ask or create a thread just make sure that you're on the proper location to post your topic