Help a Newbie - Am I Understanding This Correctly?

[SmokeyQuartz]

Hello! I just joined this forum after hearing it being mentioned in a book. It has been hard finding good information about bitcoin and crypto on the web so I'm glad I found this place! I have a few questions just to make sure I'm starting my crypto journey correctly.

Start:
I'm in California and have an Iphone.  I'd like to invest/play in BTC, ETH, LTC and a few others like DOT, LINK and possibly NFTs as I continue my research. I have a Coinbase Pro account and the Coin Wallet. I started it this week after getting out of Robinhood and learning more about Crypto and DeFi. I'm now realizing CoinBase Pro may not be my best choice and I cannot buy or exchange for DOT within it.

Where to buy?
I have a bank account and a debit card.  It was easy to buy in Coinbase pro although I didn't like the long hold times.
Coinbase Pro also doesn't offer DOT or a few others I'm interested in and is a custodial wallet which I see it is not recommended.
What the best exchange where I can link my bank account, send money to it and buy Crypto in California? Or are there any places where I can do this with my debit card? Is there an easier/better way?

Where to store?
Before I found this place and read reviews, I had signed up for an Exodus account. I haven't used it yet and am now thinking of an Electrum wallet. It's funny, many of the articles and videos I came across recommended wallets that are in your "not recommended list" like Exodus, Trust, Mycelium and CoinBase Pro.  I'll also get a cold wallet once I have enough for it to make sense.

So, I'd like to buy DOT (which is proving hard as it is not on Coinbase Pro) along with BTC and ETC mainly. Can I do this with a bank account, one exchange, and an Electrum wallet?  Am I missing anything?

Please help me start my crypto journey and not make any major mistakes that can easily be avoided.  I'll research the forums now but thought I'd post this first post in case a kind soul would be willing to help point me in the right direction.

Thanks!

SmokeyQ

[jackg]

I'm not sure on exchanges you can use in the US, my goto recommendation is binance but I don't think US customers can use them.

Electrum is probably one of the best wallets out there (especially for beginners) but it is only a bitcoin wallet so you'll have to find other wallets for dot/other cryptocurrencies (but you should be able to see what wallets they recommend to you anyway) - just try to find something we'll used and preferably open source.

[Slow death]

Here: https://www.binance.us/en/home ( for US customers)

about wallets, if you don't have a large amount and want to have a cold wallet in the future, then you can use Exodus temporarily. I use Exodus temporarily, then withdraw to cold wallet and exchanges.

[Findingnemo]

Trust wallet also supports DOT so if you are looking to store multiple cryptos in the same wallet then it can be one of the best option for you.

But if you are concerned about the security then create a wallet here : https://polkadot.js.org/apps/#/accounts

[SmokeyQuartz]

Thanks for all the replies so far!

I guess I should have posted my original plan:

1. Exchange USD from my bank account to Coinbase Pro via bank routing (was so easy on Robinhood)
2. Buy BTC, ETH with Coinbase Pro
3. Transfer BTC & ETH to Exodus Wallet
4. Use Exodus or Kracken to exchange BTC/ETH (or is there a better way to "pay") for other crypto (DOT) not available on Coinbase Pro
5. Transfer other Crypto to Exodus Wallet
6. Once enough funds are in Exodus, transfer to a Trezor.

After finding this beginners forum page, I'm questioning my Coinbase Pro and Exodus choices.

But if I am eventually transferring to cold storage, does it matter too much?

[Charles-Tim]

Where to buy?
I have a bank account and a debit card.  It was easy to buy in Coinbase pro although I didn't like the long hold times.
Coinbase Pro also doesn't offer DOT or a few others I'm interested in and is a custodial wallet which I see it is not recommended.
What the best exchange where I can link my bank account, send money to it and buy Crypto in California? Or are there any places where I can do this with my debit card? Is there an easier/better way?

I am not certain about this because I am not a citizen of US, you can try bittrex or kraken, they are both US based exchanges too. They both support Polkadot as well.

https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/bittrex/
https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/kraken/

It's funny, many of the articles and videos I came across recommended wallets that are in your "not recommended list" like Exodus, Trust, Mycelium and CoinBase Pro.

Check the link below to know that this forum still comment good about mycelium. The link is mycelium wallet board.
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=231.0

Exodus and trust wallets are close source wallets, which means there source codes are not available to the public, which means you do not know the code the both wallets are using, if you trust them you can use them, but if there is a malicious vulnerabilities inputed by the developers, you will not know. But, open source codes are available to the public, they are the ones that should be trusted.

Coinbase pro is an exchange. But, if you mean coinbase.com custodial wallet, it is not also recommendable because not your key not your coin. You need to have full control over your coin, but such wallets will tell you that you have the full control but they can freeze your account because you do not ha e full control over custodial wallet, those that have the private key to the wallet have the full control which means only people that owns coinbase.com have the full control. There are possible ways they can even block your account. But, on noncustodial wallets, you have your private key and you have the full control.

I'll also get a cold wallet once I have enough for it to make sense.

It will be good, they are one of the safest wallets. Like Trezor and Ledger Nano, they support bitcoin and as many as possible altcoins.

So, I'd like to buy DOT (which is proving hard as it is not on Coinbase Pro) along with BTC and ETC mainly. Can I do this with a bank account, one exchange, and an Electrum wallet?  Am I missing anything?

Electrum is not an exchange, it is a noncustodial wallet that is recommendable, you can not buy cryptocurrencies directly from bank using electrum wallet. Also know that electrum only support bitcoin. You can try Kraken or Bittrex like I mentioned above, then sending your funds to noncustodial wallet. If you have hardware wallet, then you can use it with electrum to support all the cryptocurrencies you mentioned.

But if I am eventually transferring to cold storage, does it matter too much?

Do you mean transaction fee, normal fee will be charged. What hardware wallet will encourage is the safety of your cryptocurrencies while online wallets are more vulnerable to online attacks.

[Slow death]

just to add one thing:

avoid using Bittrex, they have already frozen people's money in the past. you can use binance to buy bitcoin direct from your bank.

or you can use coinbase, but avoid using bittrex because they are not reliable

in binance it is possible to buy bitcoin with credit and debit card or with bank deposit (SEPA) I believe that these two options are available in Binance for people in the USA

[Findingnemo]

in binance it is possible to buy bitcoin with credit and debit card or with bank deposit (SEPA) I believe that these two options are available in Binance for people in the USA

In Binance US users can add debit card in their account as payment options and there is an official blog from Binance US itself but I don't see the credit card options, maybe it is not implemented yet.

Well they accepts ACH and wire transfer as well.