Research is a necessary part of preparing to trade. You will need to do extensive research on several issues: what kind of asset is digital money and its main features, potential cryptocurrencies for trading and scam projects to avoid, reputable and secure trading platform, fundamental and technical analysis, etc. As you see, the list is rather large so you have to invest your time first to have more chances on successful trading.
The main challenge is to select the best coins and the most suitable platform for trading. With the first task, the list of the largest cryptocurrencies by the market capitalization can help. Because they are considered the safest and the most reliable coins for both investment and trading. When choosing the best crypto exchange, pay attention to the security level, trading fees, customer support, the number of the crypto pairs, and the availability of the wallet or mobile app. For me, these factors are crucial therefore, I use CEX: https://cex.io/xrp-eur. Also, it benefits me because enables trading both crypto to crypto and fiat to crypto.

Another platform with margin trading possibility that you missed is Cex (https://cex.io/margin-trading). I like it because it also accepts the fiat money deposit, which is very convenient. I use it as a fiat to crypto exchange and crypto to crypto trading platform. The number of available crypto is not large but the exchange takes advantage of the intuitive and comprehensive interface and reasonable exchange rates.

The strength of bitcoin is in its users. As more people use bitcoin, it becomes more resistant to any kind of manipulations. Governments can’t crack it, it’s already too late for preventing people from using cryptocurrencies. They can ban it, but it won’t stop people.

I didn’t notice big panic among the crypto believers. For instance, Roger Ver also known as “Bitcoin Jesus” is very bullish about the crypto market in a long-term (https://cointelegraph.com/news/roger-ver-sidelines-bitcoin-cash-war-to-present-crypto-bull-case?utm_source=telegram0&utm_medium=social). Yes, the bearish market is more durable than it was expected to be. But as you said crypto is unpredictable, that’s why it won’t behave similar trend like last year or two years ago. It’s not the biggest drop of bitcoin if we take a look at its history chart. So, there is nothing to worry about at all. On the contrary, there is only one way left - to rise in price.   

XRP is definitely a promising coin. It surprised me with having success on the market even while all cryptocurrencies are going down. I have some XRP for trading (https://cex.io/xrp-btc) which I perform on CEX. XRP has displaced Ethereum by market capitalization, now it’s the second biggest crypto after Bitcoin. Despite its disadvantage of centralization, we can clearly see that it is a solid investment.

Why not do that on the exchange? It’s the easiest and safest way to exchange cryptos. I recommend CEX as it is a trusted platform with reasonable fees for its services (https://cex.io/eth-btc).

People that don’t understand how cryptocurrency works will always find a pretext to criticize. If bitcoin goes down, they will claim it to be dead. If bitcoin goes up, they will call it a bubble. The nature of bitcoin is volatile but crypto has been successfully performing for 10 years. It won’t vanish or burst like a bubble. Unfortunately, we will still meet these statements until bitcoin becomes massive adopted.   

I consider CEX to be the best exchange for short-term trading. I like it for the simple and minimalistic interface, good level of security, and various payment methods available. Plus, it’s one of a few exchanges allowing margin trading (https://cex.io/margin-trading) that can considerably increase your profits. The platform has a high trading volume that shows users’ trust. I also use Binance due to the largest number of cryptocurrencies it provides. Find the place which is the most suitable for you.     

Currently, it is impossible to eliminate fiats. The world is moving towards digitalization and being cashless, but some parts of the world have neither Internet nor computers to be involved in that process. Population in some countries is still starving, they don't care about crypto. Fiat won’t disappear, otherwise, it would mean that government and the economy have failed. 

Cryptocurrency has a bright future. Even at this stage of development, cryptocurrency is better than fiat, it changes the buying barriers between countries. The world is moving towards digitalization, technologies are advancing and crypto will take the place it deserves. I think cryptocurrency is designed for the future and can’t be used now as a payment method because there is no infrastructure for that.

As far as I know, bounty campaigns don't bring profits like trading. So, if I were you, I would definitely choose trading. $400 is not bad for the investment. You can get portions of Bitcoin or some altcoins like ETH or XRP (https://cex.io/eth-btc) on exchanges like CEX. You can obtain any coin available there with fiats or major cryptos.

Yes, the crypto market has been showing stability for a certain period of time. I believe that this standstill will soon change and current prices will grow. Relative stability shows that the correction of prices has passed and the market is on its way to the bearish run.

Partially agree. Yes, for mining you will need a lot of money, additional devices, etc. But it has nothing to do with investing... You can start investing and get profits even with a small sum. Your “safety” actually depends only on you. If you follow certain rules to minimize risks, then you shouldn't have problems. For example, if you have a hardware wallet for storing your funds and chose a well-known and trusted exchange like CEX or Coinbase, you'll likely to earn something. CEX accepts cards and wires payments which allows not only buying but also exchanging coins. Say, you can exchange BTC for DASH (https://cex.io/dash-btc) or ZCASH (https://cex.io/zec-btc).

Nothing is safe, especially investments. There are always will be some risks. Usually, the higher is the risk, the higher is the profit. Before investing in Bitcoin, estimate the risks. You can lose x1 but you can gain x10 and even more. Apart from it, no investor is secured from scams, hackers, wrong decisions, etc. Build a plan and a strategy, learn the market – this will help minimizing the risks.

I would agree with reflector. Various trading-related social media channels, forums, articles, videos are good enough for getting some tips. But nothing more. Before choosing the exchange, you must do your own research. Define your goals and find a place that will meet your needs. I could suggest trying CEX. It's a simple and practical exchange which is friendly to new users. Also, they allow buying crypto for fiat money (https://cex.io/btc-usd). As for the sum, I think 500 usd would be enough for the start.

It depends on the exchange. Some can provide not just an in-built wallet but a cold storage (for example, CEX, https://cex.io/). That means your coins would be placed offline which prevents money theft. But anyway, hardware wallets are better.

As Apple promote their own brand, it is more likely they will create their own cryptocurrency to purchase Apple products more easily. It is also possible that Apple will accept Bitcoin. They try to be the most innovative in the industry and provide the most revolutionary products. And this can mean they will adopt cryptocurrencies.

Me too. By the way, what exchange are you using? I use CEX, https://cex.io/ which is practical and convenient. Their security is very solid and covers some drawbacks.

Very interesting idea. I've never thought about it. Thank for the suggestion, I think I should try doing in your way.
As for the exchange, I'm using CEX https://cex.io/. If you're looking for converting BTC to other crypto, I would recommend checking their currency pairs.

Agree with ForestEgan and megaplage. I would do it in that way. Recently, I've invested some sum in XRP at CEX because of their wires update: https://cex.io/wires-campaign/. And I liked this option.