Bitcoin. I need advice and help

[ponyo]

Yesterday events in the stock market really made me sad and depressed. Not because I lost bunch of money because I didn't. But because I no longer trust the game and the system I play in. I first opened my brokerage account as soon as I turned 18 many years ago and started trading individual stocks. I learned lot over decades I've been trading. I saw some incredible things over time and experienced all the highs and the lows. The stock market has made me lot of money. Probably more money than person like me deserve. I knew the game was stacked against me and there were cheaters working behind the scenes but nothing shocked me like the open cheating that happened yesterday and no government or anybody at top saying a word or taking actions to stop or prevent the crooks who were doing illegal things openly and stealing from people so they wouldn't go broke themselves. Waking up today, I'm more depressed and sad than ever about the market, the system, and the whole situation.

Up until now, I have not taken any financial position in bitcoin. But after what happened yesterday, I need protection against the crooked elites who are openly robbing us. I need to finally start investing in Bitcoin and maybe other cryptocurrencies. But awhile I know my way around the stock market, I know nothing about crypto world and the best way to get started. So if any Bitcoin and crypto investing veterans here can help me get started and answer all the dumb questions I have, I would appreciate it.

My first question is, where should I open an account to buy and hold Bitcoin? Who's the best?

 

[snoopy7548]

My advice is to take the slow and steady approach - you just made enough playing the stocks that you're fully retired, correct? Can you dump all that into some index funds and let it ride, living off the interest? If so, do that. You're talking about gambling, not investing.

In short, quit while you're ahead.

 

[gorcorps]

Yesterday events in the stock market really made me sad and depressed. Not because I lost bunch of money because I didn't. But because I no longer trust the game and the system I play in. I first opened my brokerage account as soon as I turned 18 many years ago and started trading individual stocks. I learned lot over decades I've been trading. I saw some incredible things over time and experienced all the highs and the lows. The stock market has made me lot of money. Probably more money than person like me deserve. I knew the game was stacked against me and there were cheaters working behind the scenes but nothing shocked me like the open cheating that happened yesterday and no government or anybody at top saying a word or taking actions to stop or prevent the crooks who were doing illegal things openly and stealing from people. Waking up today, I'm more depressed and sad than ever about the market, the system, and the whole situation.

Up until now, I have not taken any financial position in bitcoin. But after what happened yesterday, I need protection against the crooked elites who are openly robbing us. I need to finally start investing in Bitcoin and maybe other cryptocurrencies. But awhile I know my way around the stock market, I know nothing about crypto world and the best way to get started. So if any Bitcoin and crypto investing veterans here can help me get started and answer all the dumb questions I have, I would appreciate it.

My first question is, where should I open an account to buy and hold Bitcoin? Who's the best?

Coinbase is the easiest to use from my experience, but IMO crypto is still more of a gamble than an investment. If what happened with the markets pisses you off, then something that's purely momentum driven like crypto is not going to make you feel any more in control.

 

[brianmanahan]

i use pro.coinbase.com, the fees to buy/sell are way cheaper than regular coinbase

plus pro has pretty graphs and charts

but i know almost nothing about BTC or ETH and am not confident in the future of it

i just wanted to buy and a hold a little in the off chance it's worth 1000x in 10 years

@Train told me to switch to pro, maybe he knows more about other possible places to open accounts

 

[zinfamous]

My advice is to take the slow and steady approach - you just made enough playing the stocks that you're fully retired, correct? Can you dump all that into some index funds and let it ride, living off the interest? If so, do that. You're talking about gambling, not investing.

In short, quit while you're ahead.

sounds to me like OP just wants to convert some % of cash to crypto, like holding precious metals. Not really trade it.

 

[Tweak155]

IMO the scams have barely started in crypto (I'm sure you've heard of the many stories in the past about coins disappearing, exchange scams, or startups that took the money and ran, etc). That isn't to say crypto itself is a bad thing, but just like anything with massive attention and popularity - the potential for scams also grows along with it.

From that perspective, it isn't all unlike the stock market and what has been happening for decades and most recently. So while I'm not saying stay away from crypto by any means, what I am saying is your reason for leaving the stock market lines up almost all too well as reasons not to get into crypto. You should maybe consider an alternate way of investing, such as in yourself by starting a business you would enjoy running, real estate, etc or some alternate means to invest.

 

[LikeLinus]

"shocked me like the open cheating that happened yesterday and no government or anybody at top saying a word or taking actions to stop or prevent the crooks who were doing illegal things openly and stealing from people so they wouldn't go broke themselves."

Curious, what exactly was illegal and how were they stealing from people?

Are you talking about the Reddit people stopping investors from short selling stocks and disrupting the market? Was what they did actually illegal? How did they steal anything from anyone?

Serious question. I don't play the stock market and it's never interested me. I have some stocks, but I don't sit around trading all the time. They were gifts from my company, awards and such.

 

[ultimatebob]

I'd buy it from Coinbase, but don't hold it there. I'd heard way too many horror stories of crypto exchanges getting raided and account balances magically getting "lost" in the process. Get an "offline" wallet for your private key.

 

[purbeast0]

"shocked me like the open cheating that happened yesterday and no government or anybody at top saying a word or taking actions to stop or prevent the crooks who were doing illegal things openly and stealing from people so they wouldn't go broke themselves."

Curious, what exactly was illegal and how were they stealing from people?

Are you talking about the Reddit people stopping investors from short selling stocks and disrupting the market? Was what they did actually illegal? How did they steal anything from anyone?

Serious question. I don't play the stock market and it's never interested me. I have some stocks, but I don't sit around trading all the time. They were gifts from my company, awards and such.

I think he's talking about how apps like Robinhood just stopped letting people buy/sell GME, AMC, and other stocks yesterday because they felt like it.

 

[gorcorps]

"shocked me like the open cheating that happened yesterday and no government or anybody at top saying a word or taking actions to stop or prevent the crooks who were doing illegal things openly and stealing from people so they wouldn't go broke themselves."

Curious, what exactly was illegal and how were they stealing from people?

Are you talking about the Reddit people stopping investors from short selling stocks and disrupting the market? Was what they did actually illegal? How did they steal anything from anyone?

Serious question. I don't play the stock market and it's never interested me. I have some stocks, but I don't sit around trading all the time. They were gifts from my company, awards and such.

Yesterday many large brokers stopped selling GME (and other stock) in what appears to be an effort to stop what the reddit investors were doing. They still allowed you to sell, but not buy, which is what the hedge funds tied into this mess want. It was clear evidence that some brokers are being controlled (or heavily influenced) by these large hedge funds, and that they will do whatever they can to prevent the common person (like the reddit group) from succeeding.

It's evidence of market manipulation, and something that should be investigated ASAP. Politicians from both parties yesterday were in agreement that it seems wildly suspicious and needs to be looked at.

 

[ponyo]

"shocked me like the open cheating that happened yesterday and no government or anybody at top saying a word or taking actions to stop or prevent the crooks who were doing illegal things openly and stealing from people so they wouldn't go broke themselves."

Curious, what exactly was illegal and how were they stealing from people?

Are you talking about the Reddit people stopping investors from short selling stocks and disrupting the market? Was what they did actually illegal? How did they steal anything from anyone?

Serious question. I don't play the stock market and it's never interested me. I have some stocks, but I don't sit around trading all the time. They were gifts from my company, awards and such.

They prevented retail from buying because they would've gone bankrupt. Brokers, clearing houses, hedge funds, the whole system. We were so close to possible system reset and the rich fucks losing everything. So they stopped us because it's cheaper to pay the fine and live than being completely broke and dead.

This is good summary of what happened yesterday. The war is not over.

https://www.reddit.com/r/wallstreetbets/comments/l7opbs

 

[drnickriviera]

IMO the scams have barely started in crypto (I'm sure you've heard of the many stories in the past about coins disappearing, exchange scams, or startups that took the money and ran, etc). That isn't to say crypto itself is a bad thing, but just like anything with massive attention and popularity - the potential for scams also grows along with it.

From that perspective, it isn't all unlike the stock market and what has been happening for decades and most recently. So while I'm not saying stay away from crypto by any means, what I am saying is your reason for leaving the stock market lines up almost all too well as reasons not to get into crypto. You should maybe consider an alternate way of investing, such as in yourself by starting a business you would enjoy running, real estate, etc or some alternate means to invest.

This is my take too. Wall street already has their mitts in crypto. What makes you think they will play nice with it?

 

[ponyo]

I'd buy it from Coinbase, but don't hold it there. I'd heard way too many horror stories of crypto exchanges getting raided and account balances magically getting "lost" in the process. Get an "offline" wallet for your private key.

I don't understand the whole offline wallet thing. That's another set of questions I have about what wallet to buy and how I move coins from my account to wallet and vice versa.

 

[Torn Mind]

I think you would need to understand forex in general as well. Since bitcoin is a currency like the euro, etc.

Bitcoin seems to no longer be under threat of being totally banned, so it will not being going back to $200 levels any time in the near future.

But it seems to be a coin of the whales' sentiment, since this breakthrough is crazy recent. The last time, it hit 20k, fell off, and then oscillated back-and-forth until this current explosion.

 

[AdamK47]

Yes, buy Bitcoin at all time highs.

 

[LikeLinus]

Yesterday many large brokers stopped selling GME (and other stock) in what appears to be an effort to stop what the reddit investors were doing. They still allowed you to sell, but not buy, which is what the hedge funds tied into this mess want. It was clear evidence that some brokers are being controlled (or heavily influenced) by these large hedge funds, and that they will do whatever they can to prevent the common person (like the reddit group) from succeeding.

It's evidence of market manipulation, and something that should be investigated ASAP. Politicians from both parties yesterday were in agreement that it seems wildly suspicious and needs to be looked at.

Prevent the common person succeeding. But wasn't this a whole campaign lead by a group of people on Reddit to intentionally screw over the brokers to stop them from short selling stocks? Short selling isn't illegal or stealing, right? So Reddit users decide to try to combat it and stop the from doing so.

Isn't that market manipulation as well? It sounds like a case of Pot meet Kettle. But I could be totally wrong.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/robinhood-customers-sue-over-removal-164733860.html

"While users of the trading platforms claim in court filings that they suffered losses from the restrictions, legal experts say brokerages have broad powers to block or restrict transactions -- all of which is spelled out as part of customer agreements everyone signs to gain access to the services.

“I’m looking at the Robinhood contract, and it says in black and white they can block or restrict trades at any time,” said Jeff Erez, who runs a Miami-based law firm specializing in securities-fraud litigation and represents plaintiffs in a lawsuit filed last year against Robinhood related to service disruptions. “I’m not aware of any law that would guarantee you a right to purchase a certain security at a certain brokerage firm.”

So their Terms and conditions specifically state they can restrict trading at any time. So what they did was not illegal, apparently.

 

[ultimatebob]

I don't understand the whole offline wallet thing. That's another set of questions I have about what wallet to buy and how I move coins from my account to wallet and vice versa.

It's pretty easy... you don't want your private key anywhere where it can get stolen. People do dumb stuff like leave a copy it in their GMail account, and then their Bitcoin wallet gets emptied when their account gets hacked.

 

[sdifox]

5 Best Cold & Offline Bitcoin Wallets [2023]

www.buybitcoinworldwide.com

I would suggest a hardware wallet and lock it up in a safe deposit box when you are not doing any transactions.

 

[ultimatebob]

Yes, buy Bitcoin at all time highs.

Yeah, I wouldn't buy right now. Wait for the next dip.

 

[ponyo]

5 Best Cold & Offline Bitcoin Wallets [2023]

www.buybitcoinworldwide.com

I would suggest a hardware wallet and lock it up in a safe deposit box when you are not doing any transactions.

Thanks. That looks like good bit of information. I plan on doing lot of reading and research when I have time over the weekend.

 

[ponyo]

Yeah, I wouldn't buy right now. Wait for the next dip.

I'm not looking for anyone's advice about what's good price for Bitcoin or not. No offense but none of you know the future price. If you did, you would already be rich from Bitcoin. I'm not aware any of you made a killing by being right on Bitcoin. You can show proof and correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[SunnyD]

I'm not looking for anyone's advice about what's good price for Bitcoin or not. No offense but none of you know the future price. If you did, you would already be rich from Bitcoin. I'm not aware any of you made a killing by being right on Bitcoin. You can show proof and correct me if I'm wrong.

To be completely honest, what has been happening with GME and the other short stocks has been the DAILY NORM for crypto in general, since day one.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

I'm not looking for anyone's advice about what's good price for Bitcoin or not. No offense but none of you know the future price. If you did, you would already be rich from Bitcoin. I'm not aware any of you made a killing by being right on Bitcoin. You can show proof and correct me if I'm wrong.

I did okay, made several k with a mining rig, sold at about 99% of the ~17k peak. Now's not the time. It's gonna flutter up another 10% before dropping to ~15k, buy then.

EDIT: Also, use coinbase, they're good, and a lot of banks integrate with them well. I can see my crypto assets right on my USAA dashboard.

 

[AdamK47]

I'm not looking for anyone's advice about what's good price for Bitcoin or not. No offense but none of you know the future price. If you did, you would already be rich from Bitcoin. I'm not aware any of you made a killing by being right on Bitcoin. You can show proof and correct me if I'm wrong.

I'm boring. I do market index funds. Rarely look at them. Doing good so far.

 

[echo4747]

I dont much about bitcoin. what makes you think it would be safe from the "crooked elites"? Alternatively what about something like gold or silver or real estate ? maybe some other type of commidity