To those of you who've noticed my absence over the last ten days or so: I'm not gone for good. I've been working on a music video that's taking longer than anticipated/expected and haven't felt inspired to write until now. Having multiple creative interests sometimes leads to one taking priority over others. I'm only a third of the way through that, so will return to working on it after publishing this.

I'm assuming here that you already know a bit about crypto, since you're reading this on Pub0x. If not, feel free to check out my "introduction for laymen" posts. (See the "resources" links.)

Introduction

While you don't strictly need standalone wallet software (such as Atomic and Exodus), it definitely can't hurt to move away from using custodial wallets in the long term. They're easy enough to set up, so you might as well do that. Being the paranoid control freak I am, that route seemed most sensible to me when I started and it hasn't come back to bite me (except the once I lost my keys, but that was my own fault and a learning experience).

I pretty much started with cryptocurrencies and associated technologies in 2016, being introduced to them by a colleague who'd put some money into Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Ripple (XRP), of all things (back when Ripple looked like it might go places). Everything that I didn't learn from him or friends in the cryptoshere, I pretty much taught myself. That includes reading books, as well as content on various Hive Websites, read.cash, Pub0x and the whitepapers of crypto projects. I've watched a few things on YouTube (and far more on CVn) as well. I'm still in search of more info, having the voracious mind that I do.

Don't Trust, Verify!

If you have access to the Internet (which I assume you do, since you're reading this on Pub0x), you have the whole world's information at your fingertips (or at least a search or two away). You just need to dive in, somewhere. In my experience, trial and error are unavoidable. They have certainly been part of my process in doing research and applying what I've found. No matter how much reading and knowledge-gathering I've done (and the more, the better, IMO), they are never adequate preparation or substitute(s) for actual application and practice, getting my hands dirty. That's true of not just participation in the cryptosphere (exchanges, faucets, offerwalls/surveys, etc.), but across all endeavours involving technology and/or education and research of some kind. Yes, you will make foolish and regrettable mistakes that will cost you, but you have to be prepared for that and learn from them. They can't be entirely avoided, AFAIK, even with all the advice and warnings you can get.

That stated, a lot depends on how deep you want to dive (or not), too. It's a big rabbit hole, but you don't have to go all the way down it in one go, either. (You can take a four hour course on Python, but you can also take a sixty hour or six month one, for example. I'm pretty sure you could find plenty of options on a site like Udemy, depending on what suits you and how much you want to learn. Perhaps this is obvious to you: While the four hour course is probably serviceable to a beginner eager to jump in, the sixty hour course is going to teach you far more of the language and give you a better base. The six month course should cover everything in the core of the language in extensive detail. Of course, there's no guarantee that any of them doesn't contain a lot of irrelevant detail or waffle, as Mosh's videos tend to.) Even then, learning about a technology from books, blog posts and Q&A sites is going to pale in comparison to actually using it regularly. (I probably learnt more in the first six months of my first Web development job than I did in four years at varsity. I've been doing development for over a decade. While books certainly help with the learning process, they'll never distill/replace hard-earned experience into an easily-accessible form. We might need the chair from The Matrix for that.)

I'm not sure that I can adequately explain or teach how I check if something is a scam or not. It seems to me to be an application of common sense, honed by living in Africa and being subjected to the nefarious opportunistic schemes of so-called "Nigerian princes" who need help "recovering" their fortunes. You and me both, mate ...

Do you know how to fly that thing?

If something even seems too good to be true, it probably is, particularly online. Celcius, FTX, Gemini/Genesis, Hyperfund and Tornado Cash are cases in point. Most faucets and play-to-earn games are in that category. (Here's looking at you, Crypto Zoo!) Even Odysee and Read.cash have stopped paying out. Cashrain probably will too, soon.

The Internet is full of scams and scammers after your crypto and/or fiat, people whom will go to great lengths to get it if they think it's worth their while. Hell, I've worked for corporations that aren't much different (except that they actually provide a product or service in exchange, deceptive and rubbish as it may be). In the case of corporations/organisations/projects in the cryptosphere, look for and read whitepapers (not blue or yellow ones, which some like to pretend are legitimate). As with the wider Web, anyone with deep enough pockets can pay some slick murketing spin doctor to create some buzzword-laden drivel and a Web developer to put it up on a Website. Just because it looks snazzy, that doesn't mean it's worth your time. That's why you buy junk food and MS Windows (and all the other things that are bad for you, really), for example. Being a Web developer who has built some fancy sites and unfortunately associated with sales and marketing types (as well as creating tools to examine and analyse user activity and data for them), I know that full well.

In Capitalist America, comedians tell the truth, because nobody else will.

Learn to Earn? (An exchange might not do you good.)

As for Coinbase, I'm personally of the opinion that it's best avoided (especially if you're starting out with crypto and don't yet have much experience). I don't understand why it is so popular. That company/disservice tends to pull a lot of BS, at least in my brief experience with it. Their customer service/tech support department seems to be brain-dead, judging by the content of my email correspondence with them when initially looking for an exchange to use. I'm sure that moderately educated chimps with keyboards could do no worse a job, if not marginally better.

Coinbase is not alone in that, though; a lot of centralised exchanges tend to be questionable in terms of being efficient, helpful and reliable. I've dealt with some of them and it's likely that you will too, if you haven't already. Your mileage may vary widely. So far, I've had good experience with KuCoin, but haven't used it much, since such exchanges as I do make, I do from within Atomic Wallet.

Generally, "learn and earn" programs are a con in some way, which is unfortunate. If they pay out less than $10 for your efforts, especially in Ethereum (ETH) or ERC-20s, I advise not bothering: By the time it's in your wallet, you'll likely have lost at least 50% (if not more) of your crypto to gas fees. (Regular readers will know I'm not a fan of the "rich people's crypto" and many of its permutations, even after the merge, MATIC being an exception.)

As with anything, the best approach is probably to learn as much as you can before you dive in, within reason (although the two tend to be complimentary/iterative in nature). I certainly don't blame you for wanting to recoup some of your costs; it can be quite an investment. Doing so wont completely prevent you from ever getting scammed (because there are the rare few whom are very crafty) or missing out on a genuine golden opportunity, but it will help. The cryptosphere is still young and there are going to be plenty of opportunities to get stuck in in the future. (Of course, the sooner you start, the better, but don't let FOMO be your guide or you will regret it.) I recommend picking up books or watching videos by/from people like Pomp and Andreas Antonopolous (the Beginning/Learning Bitcoin/Crypto type stuff). Also, search for content on topics that interest you or are related to ones that do. (Whatever you do, just don't use Google, for reasons on which I have elaborated elsewhere. I recommend Presearch, which pays you crypto for using it. I've put a signup link for it in the "resources" section.)

I know, I know, these days people don't want to read anything that requires their attention for more than five minutes and expect to be spoon-fed (which is not exactly a new phenomenon; books like Teach Yourself {X} in Ten Minutes a Day or ~ in a Month of Lunch Breaks exist). Unfortunately for them, nothing worthwhile is ever easy. If you want to get anywhere and stay there, you actually have to work at it yourself (or pay someone qualified to do it to help you, which includes me).

Crypto Won't Get You Rich Quick

If you're in the cryptosphere because you have the mindset that pumping fiat into a project or six, waiting for it to 10X and then exchanging it for fiat again is a good idea, I have bad news for you (and the SEC probably does as well). If you're in crypto to "get rich quick" or "profit" financially, then you're not only missing the fundamental point of crypto (as folks like Silvain Saurel and Satoshi Nakamoto will confirm), but you're also opening yourself up to being a target for scammers whom want to take advantage of your unbridled greed. That kind of thing is one of the factors making the cryptosphere toxic, which it really needn't be. You're doing it wrong and should be ashamed of yourself for stooping to such lows. Maybe you're not as bad as the scammers or Gary Gensler, but you're certainly not helping (particularly because people like you have given people like Gensler and Yeller mistaken ideas about cryptocurrencies).

I hope that helps you get wherever you're going (or at least research and evaluate it). If not, there's about seven minutes of your life you're not getting back. Thank you for spending them reading this. Toss a shitcoin (or small fragment thereof) to your witcher and all that, yeah?

As always, the above is not to be taken as financial advice. Operating in the cryptosphere is risky and that risk lies with you.