What a difference a couple years can make!As I wrote here recently, some of my media colleagues in 2014 wanted to hear nothing about Bitcoin or cryptocurrency and I was effectively shunned from some of the shows I'd gotten used to guesting on.Not a day goes by that someone isn't emailing me or DMing me on Twitter, desperately asking how to buy Bitcoin.How to get in.How to store it.You know, the newbie questions.Man, it really got me down for a while - being told I was promoting something bad and trivial, when I knew in my heart (and the math clearly corroborated) that cryptocurrency is not bad, is not trivial, is not a fad - it's a very big emerging idea.One of those big ideas that could change everything in the years ahead.Bitcoin is a big deal.HOW TO BUY A BITCOIN When friends ask me how to buy Bitcoin, I usually just direct them to my friend invite page on Coinbase so they get some free Bitcoin as a bonus.Coinbase has more than 4.1 million customers in 32 supported countries.They're US-based, backed by some tech heavyweights including Marc Andreessen's VC fund, and in the couple of instances where I've had trouble, their support was always fast and cleared things up.

Ethereum has skyrocketed in name recognition and usage since it launched a year ago, but it is still collectively only worth less than one tenth of Bitcoin's market cap - as I file this, Bitcoin is worth $10.41 billion, while secondplace cryptocurrency network Ethereum is worth $972 million.The currency used within Ethereum, Ether (ETH), is mined and traded much like bitcoins are. after you're logged into your account: that page lets you trade Bitcoin in your Coinbase account for Ether (you can also deposit fiat currencies there), or trade your Ether back into Bitcoin.ethereum secIf that's too confusing, it has been reported that Coinbase will be adding an Ether direct buy feature to their platform later this month, making it easier for non-pro cryptocurrency users to get hold of the currency.ethereum trust twitterHOW DO I STORE MY BITCOINS AND ETHERS?litecoin pool share

A number of excellent options here.Some users prefer to store their Bitcoins on a hardware wallet, such as the Bitcoin Trezor from Satoshi Labs (Trezor's team are reportedly working on hardware wallet support for Ether, too).Another popular option for storing, sending, and receiving Bitcoins is the free Electrum wallet software for Mac, Windows, and Linux.(An Android version of Electrum is now also available.)What about for Ether?At the moment, the official wallet / browser Mist is a popular option for the desktop, while the Jaxx.io smartphone wallet app for Android and iPhone is becoming popular among Ethereum casual users as well.bitcoin android nfcThe snappy Jaxx mobile wallet also works with Bitcoin.bitcoin clone php scriptI'M SO EXCITED, BUT SCARED!ericsson bitcoin

Cryptocurrency is a new and exciting field when you first look into it - even several years into researching the industry, I learn new things every day.While it's true that cryptocurrency markets can be very volatile, and less forgiving, than traditional fiat currency markets - it's also true that crypto is incredible to be a part of in these early years.Even with the volatility and uncertainty, there's something very efficient and fair about cryptocurrency.The source code for Bitcoin and Ethereum is out in the open: experts review and add to it constantly.Millions of people already use digital currencies including Bitcoin and Ether.Although it's a brave new world, many of us are taking the leap and building this new economy out - not only because it benefits us more than the fiat economies we have no control over, but because it is truly fun.When you buy your first Bitcoin, you join this strange club.Where this all goes in the end, no one can tell with certainty yet.But in the meantime, you can follow my musings over on Twitter and watch my weekly interviews with leading cryptocurrency experts over on the YouTube channel.

Full disclosure: Not financial advice, provided for educational purposes only.Not intended as a recommendation to buy or sell any cryptocurrency or asset.At time of publication, I do hold some bitcoins and ethers in my long term portfolio.Our popular wallet works on your Android or iPhone in addition to your web browser.Read more › We store the vast majority of the digital assets in secure offline storage.Read more › Digital currency stored on our servers is covered by our insurance policy.Read more › Maintain full control of your private keys with our multi-signature vault.Read more › Send and receive digital currency that is immediately exchanged to your local currency.Read more › Invest in digital currency slowly over time by scheduling buys weekly or monthly.Choose how much bitcoin you want to spend then submit your Ether address Myetherwallet supports Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, and all ERC20 Digital App Tokens You can buy Ethereum Crowdsales directly with MyEtherWallet and store all your tokens there!

If you don’t have any bitcoin, scroll down to buy ethereum with a bank account, debit card, credit card, or cash!Can’t load widget For an ETH or ETC Address use a Multi-Currency wallet like Jaxx.io  Exodus  Coinomi If you want the Official ETH wallet download and sync:  Mist Wallet The mist wallet needs to download the entire ethereum blockchain which might take a few weeks You can’t buy Ether directly with cash, yet. to convert the bitcoin to ethereum.Set an order for how much cash you want to spend on Ether then once you have BTC it will only take a few minutes to trade for ETH.Here are a few places you can buy btc with cash: Pick a mobile wallet to receive your bitcoin with, then you can send it to changelly for ethereum. –  Find cash for bitcoin deals, service worldwide.Peer 2 Peer Bitcoin Marketplace  has four Ethereum trade markets ETCBTC, ETCUSD, ETHBTC, ETHUSD.Bitfinex is offer service worldwide who wants to buy ether with a wire transfer.

This is also the only place to margin trade ethereum classic and they offer up to 3.33x leverage.NOTE:  Bitfinex is currently having issues with U.S.banks blocking their transfers.US Residents who want to buy Ethereum via bank transfer should use Coinbase.Special offer:  Buy $100 or more worth of Ethereum at Coinbase, get $10 in Bitcoin for free! has added Ethereum to their retail platform.You can now use Coinbase to buy ETH directly with your bank account, debit or credit card. to trade Ether against BTC or USD.Coinbase DOES NOT offer Ethereum Classic.Cex.io offers easy ways for users to buy ethereum with a credit card, debit card, bitcoins or a bank transfer.Like most digital asset exchanges you will need to verify your identity before you can buy ether with a CC.Cex has been around for years as one of the most popular places to buy bitcoins with a debit or credit card, now you can buy Ether too.Ethereum is quickly becoming one of most recognized crypto-currency projects and is gaining main stream attention by large companies who seek reliable decentralized ledger services.

The Ethereum network is a develop playground.Anything you can think of you can code and load onto Ethereum and it will be available for anyone to use world wide.Is ethereum the next Bitcoin 2.0?Ethereum Classic is the original Ether that was created in 2014.In June of 2016 an Ethereum contract known as  ‘The DAO‘ executed some poorly reviewed code that sent investors money to an unknown users Ethereum address.In an attempt to cover their own financial losses, the Ethereum foundation decided to hard fork the coin to return all of the lost Ether.The hard fork took place on July 20th, 2016.This didn’t sit well with the Ethereum community because the purpose of decentralized blockchains is to have immutable ledgers that no central authority can disrupt.By hard forking the coin, The Ethereum foundation proved that they don’t care about the fundamentals of what Ethereum was supposed to be, so the community split and many refuse to support the Ethereum foundation since trust has been broken.