This post may contain affiliate links
Let me just start by telling you that I am NOT one of those crazy, faceless, get-rich-quick cryptocurrency people. I promise!
You know the ones I’m talking about. The ones who invite you to join, what appears to be, a perfectly normal online business FB group.
And then out of the blue, they turn it into a cryptocurrency MLM pitch. Yes, that has happened to me. [So embarrassed!]
Nor am I a gamer or drug dealer or tech mogul or any of the other things typically associated with cryptocurrency.
Who Am I?
No, I’m just a super boring mommy blogger. I typically cover topics like breastfeeding, back to school prep, and family-friendly meals.
However, I do have a finance background, so you will see more from me about couponing, saving money, home finance, funding education, and things like that over time.
So why on earth am I writing a post about cryptocurrency? It’s so outside of my niche that I’m a little scared to even write it, but it’s my blog and I can do what I want. Right?
Anyhoo – I am in no way [at all], claiming to have any legitimate knowledge about the cryptocurrency world. In fact, I think it’s big and scary and super risky! But that also happens to be what piqued my interest.
Let Me Back Up
Ok, so let me back up here a little bit. Of course, we’ve all heard rumblings and blips on our personal radar about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
We typically hear this as background noise while we listen to the news on our way into work in the morning or while dropping off the littles.
But I would venture to guess that most “regular” people are not actively seeking out information on this topic. And I think even fewer are female.
Seriously – just Google “cryptocurrency” or “Bitcoin” and tell me how many women are involved in the articles you find. Some may be the journalists, but they are always interviewing or reporting on men.
So again, why on earth am I even talking about this?
Well, because I, like you, have heard the same rumblings and blips on my radar. And have given cryptocurrency little to no thought other than to dismiss it as silly.
What Changed?
That is until I watched a super short docuseries episode about cryptocurrency.
Every night I get my kiddos snuggled into bed, which feels like it takes hours! And every night, before I turn out the light, I settle in to watch what my kids refer to as “mommy shows”.
Most of the time you will catch me watching binge-worthy series’ on Netflix like The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Shameless, or How I Met Your Mother.
But I’m also a sucker for a good documentary. And lately, I’ve been obsessed with the docuseries called Explained.
They are super short episodes explaining totally random topics like K-Pop, cricket, and the exclamation point. I love it!
One evening the Explained episode was about cryptocurrency, so I watched it. And it was SO interesting! And bewildering.
So I had to learn more! I immediately did some quick research on how to get started and within a week I was all set up with the tools I needed to dip my toe in.
I’m going to tell you what I did, which is by no means a recommendation to follow suit. And please, please, please just do this for fun.
Do not, I repeat, do not spend money that you cannot afford to lose. I view this somewhat like gambling.
My rule of thumb for things like gambling is to treat it like a night out. What would you spend to go to the movies, put-put golf or dinner + drinks? Don’t spend any more than that.
So this is what I did…
Download And Set-Up Coinbase
First, I downloaded the Coinbase app on my iPhone. And proceeded to set up and verify my bank account.
This is not necessarily an easy task, though it should be. Only the really big banks that show up on their list will automatically link up.
If you have to manually enter your bank or credit union, then it can take a number of days to verify. So you have to wait. I detest waiting!
You can also link up a debit card, which is supposed to allow you immediate access to purchase coins. But I had huge issues with that too.
The tiny test transactions showed up easily & the system said I verified my card. Then, when I went to make a purchase, it initially said it was a success, but within seconds I would receive an automated email from Coinbase stating that my bank had canceled the transaction.
So I contacted my bank and they said no, my account was clear, the test transactions clearly went through, so it wasn’t them canceling it. They advised I reach out to Coinbase. And of course, Coinbase said it wasn’t them, it was my bank…
So round and round I went. After four emails with my bank someone finally thought to contact their security department and determined that it was, in fact, my bank bouncing these back as no good. So I was able to get that resolved.
I get it, I really do. This can be some risky business. But be on the lookout for issues like this.
Please also be aware that you can only verify so many bank accounts in one week and can easily exceed the number of attempts to verify any given account in one day.
So have all of your ducks in a row when you start this process. And expect some roadblocks.
Purchase Cryptocurrency
Once I finally got all of this straightened out, I was able to make a purchase! Whew.
As I mentioned, I am super small time here. I am not a high roller by any stretch of the imagination.
So I bought $25 worth of Bitcoin. Do you know how much that bought me? It’s funny…0.00315559 BTC.
So one Bitcoin was worth approximately $7,922.45 at the time. As of today, six days later, it’s currently worth $8,265.57 according to Coinbase.
That’s also how long it took my purchase to go through completely. Six days is a long time to wait when you want to play around with things now!
So Now What?
One thing you should know about me is that I become easily obsessed. It’s probably kind of annoying to some people, but it’s the reason I know so many obscure details about a million random things.
Anyway, I quickly got sucked in and read a ton of articles about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general. I wanted to know what reputable people were saying.
One cool resource I found was an article titled “Cryptocurrency Predictions for July 2018” by Finder. I’m assuming that they must update this from month to month, so check it out if you’re curious.
They include a chart that shows predictions for where prices on 13 different coins will land as of both August 1st and December 31st. They also include a percentage change to December 31st.
That last one is super interesting. So, for fun, I picked a handful that had the highest percentage change predictions for December 31st and wrote them down.
My plan was to purchase $5 of each and see what happens.
Cryptocurrency: TRON (TRX)
The prediction for the highest percentage change was TRON (TRX) at 342%. It would be easy to buy $5 in this because it was only valued at $0.039 as of June 28th.
Or so I thought.
When I looked up how and where to buy TRON I was flummoxed. I couldn’t just buy it quickly and easily with cash on Coinbase like I did with Bitcoin.
But I love a challenge.
It turns out that TRON isn’t openly traded on the US market. So what to do?
Back to Finder, I went! I found this article titled “Where To Buy, Sell And Trade TRON (TRX) Cryptocurrency In The US”
Sign Up With Binance
So purchasing TRON is at least a two-part process.
First, you need to purchase at least 0.0011 Bitcoin. As I mentioned, I bought mine on Coinbase.
Next, you need to set up a Binance account. This has a few steps, but it’s easier than setting up Coinbase because you don’t have to link any bank accounts.
Then you have to transfer some of your Bitcoin to Binance. This is remarkably easy.
Start in Binance on your computer by selecting “Deposits” under the “Funds” tab and select Bitcoin (BTC) as the “coin/token to deposit” and click “Show QR Code”
Then go into Coinbase on your phone and select the transfer arrow in your account on Coinbase. Enter the amount you want to transfer in USD and select the method as QR code. Then you can take your phone and scan the Binance QR code on your computer to link the funds.
It usually only takes between 5 – 30 minutes for you to see the deposit in your Binance account.
This is where the fun begins! Now you can buy other coins!
And Then
Ok, so now I have some Bitcoin left in my Coinbase account and I transferred enough over to Binance to buy something new.
As I mentioned before, I really wanted to purchase $5 in TRON. So that’s exactly what I did – kind of.
It turns out that you cannot make a purchase on Binance with less than 0.0011 BTC, although it says 0.001. So that took some troubleshooting and a few more transfers.
Eventually, I had enough in my account to make the purchase. And instead of $5 it ended up being between $8-$9, but that was fine with me.
I located TRON (TRX) on the exchange and identified where to buy. At first, I thought about doing a Limit order, which is the first choice. But, as I mentioned before, I’m not a patient person.
So I decided to do a Market order instead, which is immediate. I figured out how much TRON I could buy with my 0.0011 BTC by manipulating the numbers around in the Limit order section. And carried that number over to the Market section and made my purchase. It was instantaneous.
BTW – I realized later that the Market section will tell you the maximum quantity you can buy based on your account balance. So if you are using your full account balance in Binance, then you can just use that number instead of messing around in the Limit section.
I was able to purchase 239.76 TRON with 0.0011 Bitcoin. This is worth about $9.06 today.
Cryptocurrency: Cardano (ADA)
The second highest prediction for percentage change was Cardano (ADA) at 299%. So I decided to do the same thing with that the day after I bought TRON.
This transaction was super quick and easy compared with the trial and error of the past week.
I was able to purchase 52.947 Cardano with 0.0011 Bitcoin, which is also worth about $9.06 today.
So What’s Next?
In addition to TRON and Cardano, they also predicted EOS at 246% and Ethereum (an industry favorite) at 104%.
So those two are next on my list. I will probably buy a little bit more in those, like $15 and $25 respectively.
That’s because they seem to be solid contenders for stable growth based on the research I’ve done. Whereas the other two are more of a fun gamble.
I also have my eye on Ripple but don’t think I’ll make any moves on that for a while yet.
Finally, I purchased an additional $25 in Bitcoin today for two reasons. First, I used up much of my original purchase buying TRON and Cardano.
And second, this week is supposed to be a good week to buy. Because Bitcoin is supposed to be low leading up to the expiration of something called the CME BTC Futures Contracts tomorrow. I haven’t the vaguest idea why or what that means, but feel free to Google it if you’re curious!
Once that transaction goes through, I will be moving it to a more secure location in my Blockchain wallet on my iPhone!
In Conclusion
In the past week, I’ve gone from knowing zilch about cryptocurrency to owning approximately $50 worth of Bitcoin (BTC), TRON (TRX) and Cardano (ADA). All because I chose to watch the docuseries Explained for “mommy shows” the other night. Now I’m obsessed and can’t get enough!
I’m super curious to see if I make any fun money with these!
So what do you think? Do you think I’m crazy? Or is this really the wave of the future?
Do you own any cryptocurrency? How has your experience been?
I’d love to hear in the comments below!
UPDATE [08/01/18]
I checked the Finder predictions for 08/01/2018 and they fell short. They predicted that as of August 1st TRON would be at 0.120, but it’s at 0.03249. ADA was predicted to hit 0.237 and it’s only at 0.13249. And EOS was shooting for 10.33, but’s at 7.23.
That being said, the charts are expected to be erratic and unpredictable. And I still think they will ultimately recover from the current dip. We’ll see!
And I started the documentary “The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin” on Amazon last night; it’s more in-depth and quite interesting as well!
PS \
And don’t forget to check out all of my favorite things on my recommendations pages for the best of everything to make your life easier whether it’s parenting, budgeting, family living or blog related. Thanks again for visiting…I hope to see you again soon!!
Leave a Reply