While learning about bitcoin may be time-consuming, it’s in the investor’s best interest to be well informed on many different aspects of the market. Cryptocurrency and bitcoin are both heavily nuanced fields, so becoming an expert is sure to take time and a lot of reading.
If you’re new to the world of investing in crypto, it’s wise to choose an exchange platform that is designed with new users in mind. Exchanges like Bitvavo can offer high security and easy to use software that is perfect for beginners. But, with crypto, there is always more to learn.
Bitcoin Expert: Industry-Specific Jargon
With any niche industry, you’ll need to know the lingo before anyone will readily believe you’re the best. Not to mention, that because bitcoin and cryptocurrency are so technologically specific, it’s almost impossible to use well without understanding some of the more important terms. So just like physicians need to have an understanding of Latin, as a bitcoin expert, you’ll need to learn this language.
Keep in mind that this isn’t an exhaustive list, so if you come up against terms you’re unfamiliar with, it will serve you well to get them properly defined.
Address
Bitcoin addresses work similarly to bank account numbers in that they are unique signifiers for transactions. Addresses are used to transact bitcoin, without the need of any other personally-identifying information. Each address is unique to a transaction, so once bitcoin has been sent to it, it is never used again.
Blockchain
The blockchain is the public record and ledger of all bitcoin transactions. Once a transaction has been logged into the blockchain, it is time-stamped and immutable. This, along with the transactional addresses prevent double-spending.
Hash Rate
Hash rate is the unit of measurement of the processing rate and power of the bitcoin network. This is a real-life “speedometer” of how many calculations the network is capable of making per second.
Mining
Mining is how new bitcoins are released and how transactions are verified. Computers within the bitcoin network perform mathematical computations in order to verify which transactions are valid. The owners or operators of these computers are called “miners” and are rewarded for the calculations with freshly minted bitcoin.
Market Cap
Market cap refers to the highest valuation of bitcoin at any given time. This value is arrived at by taking the total number of bitcoins in existence and multiplying it by the current price per coin.
P2P
Standing for “peer-to-peer” these networks function similarly to exchanges but are fully decentralized- allowing users to interact directly with other users.
Follow the Bitcoin Experts
There is a ton of really great information online when it comes to bitcoin. That being said, there’s also a bunch of not so great guidance as well. Take the time to read up on what’s happening in bitcoin markets from trusted news outlets, but also dedicate some of your social media spheres to experts. Whether you’re looking at Twitter, YouTube, or Reddit, there are bitcoin experts all over these platforms that are willing to give helpful and useful insights.
While Reddit is indeed a type of social media, it’s one that functions quite a bit differently than other forms of social media. The platform was built in such a way that it’s users remain anonymous, with no identifying personal information provided. Reddit communities, called “subreddits”, are individual feeds that are dedicated to one specific focus. These feeds are designated as r/Whatever topic that group is dedicated to.
Reddit has historically offered some of the best, genuine advice regarding cryptocurrencies and the users who interact with them daily. It’s largely believed that this caliber of advice is owed to the anonymous paradigm. These individual feeds also work like forums, so users can interact with one another and ask any questions they might have. Some of the best subreddits to follow if you want to know more about cryptocurrency or bitcoin are:
- r/Cryptocurrency
- r/Bitcoin
- r/BTC
YouTube
There is a myriad of YouTube channels dedicated to answering questions regarding cryptocurrencies, how they work, explaining underlying technology, and keeping you up to date on the latest available information. The top followed YouTube channels for information about bitcoin and cryptocurrency are:
- Crypto Bobby
- Box Mining
- Andreas M. Antonopoulos
Quite possibly one of the most influential social media platforms, Twitter offers its users a gateway to hearing what relevant industry leaders have to say. When considering bitcoin and crypto, most of the highest followed accounts are ran by people who have developed crypto technologies themselves, or have made millions investing in it.
- Justin Sun
- John McAfee
- Vitalik Buterin