So you had just bought your first cryptocurrency, and you wonder what’s next?
This is the question on many crypto investors’ minds after making their first decisive decision to buy. But, of course, this applies to any cryptocurrency, be it Bitcoin or another altcoin.
This article will list all the options you can consider once you have bought your first cryptocurrency.
If you need to purchase your cryptocurrency, you can do so at any of these crypto exchanges shown below. They all accept popular payment methods, e.g. credit/debit cards, PayPal, etc.
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What You Should Consider Doing After Buying Your First Bitcoin / Cryptocurrency
Here are the fifteen (15) ways to choose when you have your first cryptocurrency.
1. Staking
Proof-of-Stake consensus coins/tokens
The act of staking depends on the coin/token you have. It must be running a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus algorithm to enjoy staking rewards.
Yes, it is possible to earn passive income by simply delegating (staking) your crypto funds to being part of the network to help to validate and verify transactions. In return, you earn additional interests or rewards in the same coin/token.
Depending on your cryptocurrency or stablecoins and where you stake them, it is generally possible to earn between a 3% to 10% annual percentage yield (APY).
Staking can be a bit technical sometimes for users. For example, in the case of staking Velas (VLX) coins, one has to install their official wallet, send VLX inside, and find a good staking validator before starting to earn from staking. Fortunately, plenty of third-party services can help to stake your crypto assets.
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2. Savings Account
Deposit and Earn Interest
Just like in traditional banking services, there are crypto platforms that offer a legitimate cryptocurrency savings account. You deposit your spare crypto with them and agree upon a flexible or fixed deposit term duration. Then, they will loan it out to institutions and exchanges. In return, you earn crypto interests for doing so.
Go for;
3. Liquidity Pool
CrowdSourcing Cryptos
You become a liquidity provider (also known as a market maker) and deposit your crypto fund to a platform (commonly a decentralized exchange, DEX) for a specific term duration you agreed upon.
A liquidity pool is a smart contract where tokens are locked in, e.g. UniSwap DEX, to provide liquidity. Together with other coins/tokens pools, all collection facilitates automated trading between buyers and sellers while providing a fair market for all.
You get incentivised with crypto rewards in return for your help in providing liquidity to the pool.
4. Lending for Loan
Using Crypto as a Collateral
You can use your existing cryptocurrency to get a loan, usually in USD fiat currency, stablecoins or Bitcoin (BTC), without selling them away.
This method is known as crypto lending, borrowing, or yield farming. However, no matter the term used, the result is the same: getting a loan (usually fiat currency) from your crypto collateral (various crypto types supported).
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5. Swapping
Exchanging from one crypto for another
This is essentially swapping your cryptocurrency for another crypto without going through the selling and buying lengthy process. This is a direct swap exchange. For example, swapping your Bitcoins for Solana instantly.
You will get the market equivalent of that crypto. The swapping process will be automatically calculated and converted.
To perform crypto swapping, go to either;
6. Choose a hardware wallet
For the highest security of crypto storage
If you have many crypto assets and need to find the safest place to store them, then a hardware wallet is your only secure choice.
Alternatively, a hardware wallet will also suit you if you want to hold your crypto assets for the long term.
Look no further; go for either of these;
7. Choose a software wallet
For any specific storage needs
Most software cryptocurrency wallets are built and designed differently regarding features and audience. Whether you are looking for the most secure, safest, or most convenient software wallet, there are plenty to choose from.
Choose any of these secure and free software crypto wallets;
- Exodus (most user-friendly)
- Trust Wallet (most supported crypto-assets)
- Binance (best rates for buying/selling)
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8. Crypto Trading
Buying & Selling, Day-Trading and all
Depending on your preferences, you may like buying and selling cryptocurrencies to earn some side income, especially when the market is moving sideways.
For example, it is buying a coin at $100 and selling it when it hits $150. Then, wait for it to drop, buy the dip, and sell it when it bounces back. Repeat the process as many times as you deem fit.
When performing trades, the most important factors are price and security. You want to buy and sell at the most competitive rates out there. You want the exchange to be robust and safe with the highest security possible.
Go for Binance, Coinbase or FTX exchange.
9. Buying Stuff
Spend it the same way as fiat currency
An increasing number of established retailers are starting to accept cryptocurrency as one of their payment methods. More specifically, it is through the use of Bitcoin (BTC).
Some online merchants you can use crypto for purchases include OverStock, Microsoft online store and Newegg.
10. Cashing Out
Taking Profit
There may come a time when you decide to cash out some or all of your Bitcoin holdings. For example, maybe the price of BTC has gone up, and you want to take the profit out.
Regardless of the reason, most crypto exchanges will allow you to cash out via linking your crypto account to your bank account. However, you may have to sell your crypto for stablecoins or direct USD. Most of these withdrawals to the bank will take a few business days to process.
Some of the exchanges include Bittrex, Bybit and Crypto.com
If you want anonymity and certain price flexibility, go for LocalBitcoins, where you can list your Bitcoin offers to match a buyer. You can choose to meet up physically with the person for transacting. There are tons to choose from for payment methods, e.g. Paypal, Gift Cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay, and many more.
11. Donation
Giving back to society
Several non-profit charitable and research organisations accept donations in cryptocurrency.
Some of them include SaveTheChildren, The Giving Back and Electronic Freedom Foundation.
12. Buy NFTs
Collector’s Items
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) are highly popular digital assets that almost anyone can create, buy, or sell. Once minted (in other words, created), the NFTs exist in digital form and can easily be transmitted over the Internet.
Once bought, you own the right to a piece of artwork, a collectable or even a historical artefact. This is made possible by inserting code into the blockchain, specifically the metadata and uniqueID that makes ownership only one person at a time.
Payment-wise, this varies from the NFT that you are purchasing. For example, it can be in US dollars or a specific coin/token, e.g. Ethereum (ETH), to which you must connect your digital wallet to the marketplace to make a payment.
Some of the top NFTs marketplaces are OpenSea, Mintable and Rarible.
13. Buy MetaVerse Land
Owning a piece of Virtual Property
The metaverse is a digital reality space where users live their lives as an avatar in that space, commonly as a form of gaming. Your avatar behaves similarly in the real world and is controlled by you. It can hang out with friends, go shopping in virtual places and even watch a movie in the virtual environment.
Technically speaking, metaverse land ownership is a form of NFT ownership.
Buying a plot of land on the metaverse is gaining popularity due to certain land price hikes and consumers’ hype. Accessing the metaverse is generally done with virtual reality and augmented reality methods. The adoption of the metaverse lies significantly in the technical advancement of both ways.
To find virtual land for sale, you can go to Sandbox or Decentraland to explore and see.
14. Digital Payment
Cheaper, Faster and Move Internationally
For the world’s unbanked population with no access to a proper bank account, cryptocurrency can quickly provide them with digital wallets that send and receive money across borders.
For the security and privacy-conscious, there are privacy coins such as Monero (XMR), ZCash (ZEC) and Secret (SCRT) that makes tracing of transactions almost impossible with zero-knowledge proof algorithms.
Take Ripple (XRP) coin; for example, it is a cryptocurrency designed to be used for international payments and currency exchange. XRP is the technology behind digital payments, and many banks have adopted the use of XRP technology.
15. Just HODL
Long Term Investor
HODL is an intentional misspelling of the correct word “Hold”.
This means you hold and store your crypto assets safely for the long term. There is no rush to sell or trade, and there is no reason to cash them out. By doing so, you are a long-term crypto investor.
If you genuinely believe in the cryptocurrency project, you will tend to hold the crypto for the long term. Therefore, short-term price movements will not affect you emotionally or your conviction towards the project.