Yes, there is a LOT of hype about crypto currencies, almost a Wild-West atmosphere to it. Yes, a lot of it is nonsense like NFT's, Dogecoin (though that one may actually go mainstream and not be a bad thing), environmental concerns with Bitcoin mining/trading (other currencies are MUCH less energy intensive - read up on it), etc. There is a whole sector called "shitcoins" which are loaded with ill-thought ideas and scams. But there are some potential real long-term good investments in that "altcoin" market.
There actually is a legitimate purpose to blockchain technology, and I'm surprised how much the traditional financial sectors are either too dumb to understand what's underneath they hype, or how much they actually fear it eating into their gravy train. Think fossil fuel companies' reactions to alternative energy - they bash it rather than join in. In the long run, blockchain stands to seriously disrupt the banking/intermediary industry and oligarchical hold on financial sectors, putting much more power in the hands of individuals by democratizing the trust in transactions, providing accessible forms of liquidity, etc. It will indeed change the world. I would advise you to really spend time digging into TedTalks and other presentations on the promises and potential pitfalls of blockchain before you dive into trading cryptocurrency.
I've started trading currencies in the past month and am doing pretty decently overall, but it is a volatile market and you can potentially lose a lot of money. You can also gain a lot, but I am starting small. My buddy has gotten me into it, and he is a very shrewd person who, based on all the research I've done, is doing all the right things to prevent getting burned, and has made a few hundred thousand dollars off of it. However, he may very well be an outlier.
There are two ways to look at it, much like the stock market - short-term riding waves of buying and trading off movement (you really have to think "buy the hype, sell the reality" at all times with this stuff and don't try to get rich quick), and the long-term investment into currencies, and also the underlying chains, which have significant backing by people who are willing to be identified, have legitimate business plans and extensive backgrounds, etc.
The first thing you want to start doing is researching existing coins and finding WHY they're a potentially good investment. You'll do yourself a favor to read up (I'm NOT recommending you invest in any of them) on the following: BNB/BNB Smart Chain, ETH (Etherium - which is both a block chain trading platform and a currency), GMR (Gamer), VET (VeChain - many serious backers, big clients) and most of all, ADA (Cardano - doing some really cool stuff, and a lot of good for the world). There's a mostly non-hype guy on YouTube who goes by 'JRNY Crypto' on YouTube, who gives a LOT of good advice on how to do research, how to trade without getting burned or blowing all your money on trading fees (Etherium trading fees are outrageously expensive).
When you feel like you've got a good handle on the understanding the realm, do the following:
1. You ABSOLUTELY MUST LEARN ABOUT RUGPULLS and HONEYPOTS - how to spot them, and how to avoid these scams:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/n76wtr/rugpulls_and_honeypots_what_they_are_and_how_you/
2. Learn how to spot potential good investments in new currencies:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/n9cby0/not_every_new_coin_is_a_shitcoin_how_to_spot_the/
3. Get the Binance.US (get the legit one) app to use as a money jumping point for investments. You will also need a wallet app called TrustWallet (get the legit one), which you would actually transfer money into from Binance into the wallet. I'm using the Voyager app to buy long-term investments.
4. Watch multiple tutorials on "Pancakeswap" and how to use it in TrustWallet to do the actual trades. Pancakeswap is a trading platform, but it also uses its own currency to provide liquidity, and it pays owners of their currency interest, and to "stake" their coins to provide liquidity. When staking, you're acting basically as a mini-bank or bondholder. Trading fees on Pancakeswap" are a tiny fraction of those charged on the Etherium trading platform.
This was all very confusing to me at first, but now after tons of research I am more comfortable with it and have a decent understanding of how it all works. If this all seems like too much to get your head around and too much work to do the proper research, I would advise not to do it. You can possibly look into some ETF's that allow you to invest in blockchain foundational/technology companies, but this also has risk.
If you feel like you want to start, take your time and START SMALL with a few currencies - don't throw $1,000.00 into something you don't know a lot about. Try $20 to $50 at a time. You want to get in early b/c you can SOMETIMES make a lot of cash if you do, but doing small amounts. If you don't mind gambling a small amount on new currencies, do your research and try it out. But also keep in mind the big potentially heavy hitters like Cardano, Etherium and others, that might be very good long-term investments.
Good luck!
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