I was almost about to send it to the wrong address/person. Since the amount was pretty large I had a mini-heart attack. What can I say? I lived to tell the tale.  Luckily I saw what I was about to do in the nick of time. Phewww!!

wonderful paintings! you have real talent there! I especially like the Ethereum paintings and the colors you used in them. Do you paint other stuff also? Just curious.

Hey Bitcoinstein! First of all best of luck in your cryptocurrency endeavor! It's a wildly volatile market so I hope you understand that. For anyone looking to keep a tab on all the latest crypto news and developments I would suggest you to follow the official twitter handles of major cryptocurrencies like @Ripple and their founders like Brad Garlinghouse(Ripple), Vitalik Buterin (Ethereum guy), etc. Online sites like cointelegraph, coindesk, ccn, coinmarketcap, newsbtc, etc are also helpful. They keep publishing latest reports, analysis, articles and opinion pieces which are very informative. Join forums like Bitcointalk and get talking with experienced traders.

My advice to newbies would be that always be in the loop about what is happening in the crypto realm. It's a comparatively new kind of currency in the  market and with new technological developments (read blockchain, etc) taking place almost everyday and fluctuating govt stance on cryptos, it is bound to effect your darling coins too. Understand what you are getting into before you put your hard earned money at stake. Just because it is big these days doesn't mean it is necessary for you to invest in it!

There are many ways of educating yourself about cryptos. First of all get yourself acquainted with the blockchain technology and how it works. For news updates and other related information there are useful sites like coindesk, newsbtc, coinbase, ccn, cointelegraph and many more.  There are many useful videos and analyses on Youtube as well.

Finland because I want to see the northern lights and Austria because I find it dreamy

Wow. Thanks for putting up this great list. I wish i would have seen it earlier. Similar to these forex brokers, is my broker Finpro Trading with which i am associated for a long time. They have also added Bitcoin as deposits/withdrawal at zero transaction costs. Other trading conditions are also good with them. Perhaps you could add them to this list after checking out for yourself.

Hey @RobertCollins, thanks for sharing this list! It looks well formed and is very helpful.  I was just wondering if any of these brokers offer negative balance protection also?  A lot of traders dig nbp these days. I wish I could get some more info in this regard. And there doesn’t seem to be any mention about the minimum deposits that these brokers accept.  I’d really appreciate if you could update this list with these particulars. I think it would make it more informative.

Simply put Bitcoin is a decentralized virtual currency meaning it does not exist in any physical form. It is based on the principles of mathematics and cryptography. If you understand it well yourself then you shouldn’t have much trouble explaining it to someone else.

exactly what i would say!

Work hard and gain as much knowledge as possible.  You'll need to understand the nature of cypto markets very thoroughly as these are very volatile. Be well aware of the risk you can afford to take.

Bitcoin has huge potential for making you rich and since its supply is limited it makes it all the more interesting for people to go gaga over it. While it's true that the probability of earning profits through bitcoins is high it is equally possible to lose all your investment also. It is a highly  volatile market. Bitcoin trading is no child's play. It isn't a toy that you can just invest in without understanding it first.

This is big news for the crypto world. When a reputable exchange like this starts offering cryptos it would help investors’ confidence.

There's a multitude of factors which contribute to people's apprehensions about bitcoin like lack of regulation, high volatility,hackings, not enough knowledge and understanding of cryptocurrencies. Some people even view BTC as a ponzi scheme.

How high do you think BTC will go by the end of this year?

The first and foremost thing before investing in Bitcoin is knowledge and understanding. Just because it has become the latest buzzword among people with high potential for enormous profits does not mean that you also have to invest in it to be the cool dude. Unless you understand it well, its performance, how it works, its behavior, history and the current circumstance surrounding it it'd be dangerous to invest in BTC as it tends to be a highly volatile market. You could end up with huge losses instead of gains. Moreover there are conflicting views about its future. You have to consider all of this. Secondly, if you have decided to invest in it, don't start with what you cannot afford to lose. And always trade on reliable crypto exchanges to ensure safety of your transactions and funds.

Even though BTC transactions can be tracked closely  there are a lot of cyber miscreants who have laundered money through bitcoin. Last year the DEA of the USA released a report stating that BTC was being used for money laundering activities related to trade. Even recently a study by CipherTrace has revealed that crypto users rely on money laundering mixing services to convert their illegal money into clean money. So there’s no denying that bitcoin can’t be used for such purposes. To keep this issue in check governments and regulators need to come up with stricter AML provisions.

I think for a newbie their posts will definitely be a little less refined than those of experienced members or traders because they lack that kind of knowledge. Moreover as mlgblockchain said these forums provide newbies a platform to get and share ideas and experiences by interacting with experienced traders. That said, I believe it is more important to stress on the essentials of learning about cryptocurrency trading. Once you have gained sufficient knowledge in this respect you’ll be better armed to forge into the crypto trading battlefield as you will understand the price movements and market dynamics in a better way and thus will be able to make more money while minimizing your losses.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency meaning it does not exist physically but in digital form. It is based on the concept of blockchain which is an amazing technology. You can buy bitcoins via fiat currencies and trade them through  cryptocurrency exchanges. Since it is a very volatile currency you have high chances of making profits but also equally high chances of incurring losses, so I’d suggest you do a thorough background research on this topic before venturing into the world of Bitcoins or for that matter any other cryptocurrency. Best of luck!

Nicely put. Risk is an inherent part of all aspects of our lives. If you want to gain something in trading (crypto, forex, or any other kind) be it in terms of profit or experience you will have to take some minimum amount of risk. If you fail you'll have earned a valuable lesson. However it should be a well calculated and measured risk such that it doesn't put all your finances in jeopardy. Be aware of the possible consequences of the risk that you are undertaking and whether you are equipped to deal with them.