Let’s GO!
WELCOME TO THE CRYPTO RABBIT HOLE.
Being that I get calls, emails and texts from friends and family asking how they get into crypto on a weekly basis I thought I’d put this page together to help you get started. If you haven’t picked up The Bitcoin Standard then you owe it yourself. It’s a good starting point and outlines the history and future of money. Just don’t let finishing the book stop you from getting into crypto any longer!
Remember: Time in the market is more important than timing the market. There is no better example of this than looking at the price of Bitcoin (BTC), or Etherium (ETH), or…
The first thing you need to do is to find a crypto exchange that provides an onramp for your currency. I use CoinSquare and have recommended a half dozen of you to do the same. Kraken also provides Canadian fiat onramps.
EXCHANGES – BUY/SELL
CoinSquare
Toronto based CoinSquare has been great to me and is my gateway to move Canadian dollars into the world of crypto. Simply sign up and follow their wire info to fund your account. CoinSquare is IIROC regulated – the 1st in Canada!
Kraken
US based Kraken is a one of the largest exchanges and has been around since 2011. They have special banking licenses out of Wyoming so expect them to be around for a long while as they take banking to the next level. Get a Kraken account and grab your bluechip coins like BTC, ETH, ADA, DOT, LINK, LTC, AAVE, ATOM and others here. Similar to Coinbase but without the high fees and also offers more coins.
Binance
You’ll be needing a Binance account. They offer the most coins, offer high liquidity, fair fees, and innovative staking programs on some coins. Their Canadian dollar onramp isn’t great yet (high fees and low limits) but you’ll be sending your BTC and ETH here most likely to get other ALT coins. Binance is the largest crypto exchange.
Sign up and we both save 10% on our trading fees.
*Remember. You will need to provide KYC documents to these exchanges but the process is usually quite quick. Always keep your account info up to date and get two factor authentication set up for added security.
I have signed up to probably 10 different exchanges, but only use 3 or 4 most of the time. 99% of you won’t need any other exchange than what I have listed here – so don’t worry about it too much. Just get going. Today.
PASSIVE INCOME – EARN
Staking
Many tokens can be staked. Staking is a way of securing the blockchain and as a reward you receive % of the transaction fees earned by the protocol. Don’t overlook the powerful effect of slowly amassing additional tokens for very little risk. Farming is another story but if you are willing to take on additional risk with the potention of impermanent loss you can earn some very high API’s. Farming is the method of staking two tokens in a predetermined ratio for the reward in a 3rd token.
Kraken and Binance both offer some great single sided staking options to non-US clients.
STORAGE – HODL
Ledger Hardware Wallet
One of the first things you need to do is to protect your coins and there is no safer way then in a hardware wallet like a Ledger. I have the Ledger Nano S and it is easy peasy. You don’t need to get the Bluetooth model. Lot’s of great YouTube vids that walk you through step by step process.
Another option would be a Trezor but I liked the form of the Ledger as it’s basically a USB stick and reviews always had it as 4 stars.
Not your keys, not your crypto. Take control and move the bulk of your portfolio to an offline device like a Ledger.