How to Buy Sell or Trade Crypto or Bitcoin: For Beginners

It's quite easy to buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies- but it does depend on where you are based. To buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies:

-Create an account with local online exchange
-Transfer fiat money into the account
-Exchange fiat for available cryptocurrencies on the crypto exchange
-Once you have your first crypto you can use it to buy other cryptocurrencies on other exchanges

You may find the original guide with images easier to read.
If the local exchange doesn't offer the particular cryptocurrency you are after, then you can open up a secondary account with any exchange around the world that does offer it. Once you convert fiat to any cryptocurrency, then it is easy to exchange with any other crypto asset (altcoin).The most challenging part is indeed the first purchase using fiat currency. Not all exchanges will offer purchase of crypto in your country's domination. Also some exchanges will only accept users from the country they are based in.Exchanges offer convenience and transparency of price- they are also fairly low fee- especially compared to buying typical shares for example. But if you do not have a local online exchange then there are other methods of purchasing bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Other methods could include (depending on where you live):

Bitcoin ATMs
Retail outlet that may offer bitcoin purchase (e.g. news agency)
Facebook or other online forums
Wire transfer foreign currency to an exchange that deals with that foreign currency (if the exchange allows this)

Facebook and online forums can be a very risky as you are placing blind trust in the seller to fulfill the sale after you transfer them the money.You also need to have some knowledge on wallets and have one setup in order to receive your cryptocurrency. They are also not as common.You reduce such risks through an online exchange. Most exchanges now:

provide real-time pricing
ability to purchase more than just bitcoin
provide liquidity (enough volume so that you can buy sufficiently and quickly)
graphing and analytical tools
online multi wallets to store multiple cryptocurrencies

Remember, you don't need any of this if you just want to simply buy some cryptocurrency. In which case you essentially need one that converts fiat to crypto

Buying and trading cryptocurrency 101
Once you have your first Bitcoin - or any other coin for that matter- it gets easier to purchase or trade with other cryptocurrencies. For example nearly all exchanges offer BTC pairs- allowing you to buy other crypto with bitcoin. Some exchanges offer more pairs, e.g. ETH, LTC, etc. So that you can buy other coins with Ethereum, LiteCoin etc.The following example is from BTCMarkets.net which allows you to trade between the Australian Dollar, BTC or a limited range of other popular coins.

Say you find a reliable online exchange but it only allows you to purchase bitcoin. In that case, you can open up a second account with any other preferred exchange around the world, send your bitcoin to that exchange, and buy other crypto with bitcoin. You no longer need fiat currency to buy or trade.In the same example, if you wanted to sell your crypto, you'd have to sell for bitcoin on the second exchange, transfer the bitcoin back to the local exchange, and sell that bitcoin for fiat.

The good news is that most exchanges now offer more than just Bitcoin. So you can buy or sell fiat for a range of cryptocurrencies without being limited to buying or selling bitcoin first. But every exchange is different, and every exchange is limited on which crypto pairs it offers, as well as the altcoins it offers for buying or selling.The following example is from Bittrex.com which allow you trading in three different markets(or pair options): BTC, Ethereum, or USDT. Meaning you can exchange other cryptocurrencies directly for Bitcoin, Ethereum or the USDT.

How to Buy and Trade Cryptocurrency (step by step)
Let's show you exactly how you can buy, sell, or trade cryptocurrency as part of your own trading strategy.We'll go through how to buy cryptocurrency using fiat all the way to placing your first crypto to crypto trade:
Step 1: Purchase crypto using fiat
Step 2: Set up a crypto to crypto exchange account
Step 3: Transfer crypto from one exchange to another
Step 4: Place your first crypto to crypto trade

I've discussed how Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies can be used in a different article.

Read:[/b] Using Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies

Purchase cryptocurrency using fiat
The first step is to purchase your cryptocurrency with fiat money. Depending on which exchange you choose for this you may be able to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, or a whole list of other coins. Usually fiat to crypto exchanges are limited in the number of coins.In this example, let's go with Coinbase- as it's one of the biggest and offered around the globe in over 20 countries.

Step 1: Create account on exchange
Go to Coinbase.com and create your account.
You will receive an email to confirm you email ID. Once you follow the instructions you will be guided back into Coinbase.

Step 2: Verify your account and add payment method
If you have provided you mobile number during the setup then fantastic! That's a good way to increase security for your account. You will receive a text message on your phone providing a one-time password.Other exchanges will allow you to setup 2FA- you can use a 2FA app such as Google Authenticator. In that case, instead of receiving a text message, the app will provide a one-time use password.

Step 3: Add a payment method
The good thing with Coinbase is you can buy using a debit or credit card. Most exchange will not allow you to do this.So go ahead and ad a payment method by clicking on 'Buy/Sell' in the menu first.

Step 4: Buy your first Crypto
Once you add funds into the account, you are ready to buy your cryptocurrency. You have a choice between Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin.Simply click on Buy/Sell, and select the cryptocurrency you want to buy, and place your buy order. You should see that you will have BTC in your account in a short while.If you only want to buy and hold the coins offered in Coinbase, then that's it. In this case you may wish to consider better and more safer storage methods.Otherwise, if you want to buy other cryptocurrencies, follow next steps as it is also one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges while offering a large number of altcoins to choose from. You can also trade in the Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance, and USDT markets.So let's proceed to the next step.

Setup a secondary exchange

Step 5: Create a Binance account
Use the following referral link from me if you like: https://www.binance.com/

Step 6: Enhance your account with Google 2FA
Once again, make sure you add more security to your account by setting up 2FA.Once your Binance account is setup, it's recommended to transfer some Bitcoin or Ethereum into here. So let's do that next!

Transferring exchange to exchange (Crypto to crypto)
We want to transfer Bitcoin or Ethereum to Binance. Because Binance let's you trade in four markets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, and BNB (Binance's very own coin).

Step 7: Get the public address of you Ethereum wallet in Binance]

Click on Funds then Deposits and search for Ethereum in the window that shows up.

Once the results come up, you'll see an option to Deposit on the right hand side. Click on this to go to the wallet.

Make sure that you click on the deposit button for Ethereum and no other. This is extremely important!In the next window, once again, make sure that you are in the Ethereum (ETH) wallet.You'll see your public address here. This is the address you need to deposit INTO this wallet.

Step 8: Send Ethereum from Coinbase or other exchange
In Coinbase, go to your account, select Send under Ethereum and paste your address that you copied from Binance.It's extremely important once again to select the right wallet in Coinbase. Make sure you select 'send' under Ethereum.Double check the Binance address- make sure no digits are missing. Triple check this if necessary- once you send funds you cannot get them back if you make a mistake.Complete your transfer.Wait a few minutes and check that you have received the funds in Binance (may take up to half hour or longer). Pro tip: Always send a tiny test amount first, then repeat the process if everything is successful

Making your first cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency trade
Excellent! so you made it this far. Hopefully you've completed the steps as required, and made sure you've sent to and from the right addresses. It's time to make your first trade.
Step 9: Access the exchange
Going back into Binance, you need to access the exchange interface. Select either Basic or Advanced. In our example, we'll go into advanced. Don't worry, it's not any harder than basic. In fact I think it's a better user interface.

You can read the rest of the article here where I continue to explain how to buy sell or trade your first crypto.