If you have been searching for a comprehensive free cryptocurrency course for beginners, your search is over. This crypto course will push you from zero knowledge to a level where you can research, buy and sell crypto. The good news is that it is free. Taking part in this decentralized digital market is one of the ways to make some income online but remember it is highly volatile.
I have had many people asking me to teach them how to be a part of the cryptocurrency market. And no matter how hard I tried, it was difficult teaching each person on an individual basis. Therefore, I thought of a way of making the tutorials available online for anyone that needs them. The Free Cryptocurrency Course for Beginners comes from the experience I gathered over many years of teaching and discussing cryptocurrency.
Table of Contents
- Objectives
- What is cryptocurrency
- Why do you need to invest in cryptocurrency?
- How to buy cryptocurrency with fiat/cash on Binance
- How to trade different cryptocurrencies on Binance
- Storing cryptocurrency with Trust Wallet
- How to trade on Uniswap
- How to use PancakeSwap
- How to invest in cryptocurrency: Eight (8) areas to research.
- Conclusion
Objectives
1. Understand the meaning of cryptocurrency
2. Learn to buy cryptocurrency with fiat/cash on Binance
3. Learn to trade different cryptocurrencies on Binance
4. Learn to store cryptocurrency with Trust Wallet
5. Learn to trade on Uniswap (for ERC 20 tokens)
6. Learn to use Pancakeswap (for BEP 20 tokens)
7. 8 Areas to Research Before Investing in Cryptocurrency
What is cryptocurrency
We will get the definitions out of the way and delve into the more practical areas.
Cryptocurrency can be defined as a digital currency that uses a decentralized means to record and store transactions. It uses codes to prevent unwanted transactions and counterfeiting. Usually, it has no central regulating or issuing body.
Many only know about Bitcoin which happens to be the first cryptocurrency to exist. There are over 5000 cryptocurrencies currently in existence. However, a majority of them are not worth your time.
Why do you need to invest in cryptocurrency?
1. The market runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
2. It is decentralized and not controlled by any single individual that may influence it
3. It allows you to begin with any amount that you can afford. The barrier to entry is low
4. It is highly volatile. Well, this allows you to make a lot of profits when you have the appropriate knowledge. Remember, it can also make you lose a lot of money without the appropriate knowledge
5. You can use cryptocurrency to save or hedge your funds in USD in the form of stable coins like USDT, PAX, BUSD, etc. This action protects your funds against inflation. And these stablecoins maintain their value of around 1 USD over time. So, you will not have to worry about crypto volatility.
6. You are your bank. You own your cryptocurrency 100% once you have it in your wallet.
How to buy cryptocurrency with fiat/cash on Binance
This section is a practical area. And I will encourage you to take some time to follow and practice the process as we proceed. Note down any questions you may have and ask them in the comment section.
Binance is currently the largest cryptocurrency exchange available. You can use their website or app.
To buy with fiat or cash on Binance, you need to register an account, secure the account and verify yourself.
https://binance.com/en/register
Register a Binance account
1. Click on “Register”
2. Input your email address or mobile number
3. Add a referral ID if you have any
4. Select “create account”, and perform the jigsaw puzzle (dragging it to fit).
5. Complete the registration with the code sent to your email address or phone number.
Secure your Binance account
1. Select “Security” from the menu
2. Enable email and SMS authentication and Google authentication.
How to Enable Google Authentication
1. Download Google Authenticator from the app store or Google play store.
2. Click on Google authentication in Binance to display the QR code (image).
3. Scan the QR code with Google Authenticator.
4. Input the six (6) digit number displayed in the Google Authenticator into Binance.
Take a snapshot of the QR code with another phone or install the Google Authenticator on another device so you can scan the QR code.
Verify yourself on Binance
This step is like doing a KYC. You will need your BVN or an ID card (preferably an international passport). BVN may not work for everyone.
1. Select “Security” from the menu
2. Choose “Verify”
3. Choose Nationality and click “Start”. Most times, your nationality is already selected by default. Hit “Start”
4. Enter your personal information and click “Continue”
5. Choose your method of verification (BVN, ID card, international passport, driver’s licence) and proceed. Note that BVN alone does not work for every user.
6. Follow the prompts and do facial recognition.
7. Wait and get verified
To buy crypto with fiat or cash:
1. Wait for your account to be verified
2. Click “Trade” and select “P2P”
3. Select the cryptocurrency to buy with fiat. It could be BTC, ETH, BNB, USDT, DAI, or BUSD)
4. Choose the fiat (national currency) to pay with
5. Choose bank transfer as your Payment Option
6. Enter the amount in local currency and search for sellers
7. Click the Buy button beside the seller you find
8. Fill in the amount needed and proceed
9. Make payment to the individual’s account displayed within the time specified. Never use any crypto description
10. Crypto bought will be released within the specified time on the countdown
NB: you can appeal a trade any time something goes wrong.
How to trade different cryptocurrencies on Binance
You may want to use the token you purchased with fiat or cash to buy other coins or tokens. Or you may want to sell coins or tokens that you have to another.
If you are on the Binance app, ensure your app is on the professional version and not on the lite version. To do this, go to the main menu located on the upper outermost left side, and toggle the “Binance Lite” there.
Transfer tokens from the P2P wallet if they are still there to the Spot wallet to trade between cryptocurrencies. Click “Wallet” to see these options.
The simplest way to buy other tokens with another token or to sell your tokens into other tokens is by using the “Convert” option under “Trade”. Then convert from the token or coin you have to another that you want.
Another easy way is to use the “Spot” option under “Trade”. Some users find the “Spot” option confusing because of the order book.
Spot trading Explained
We will use the BNB/ETH token pair image uploaded to describe this form of trading.
The example here is BNB/ETH token pair market. To choose other markets, click on the token pair name and search for another pair.
You can toggle between the Buy and Sell buttons.
The selling part of the trading book appears in red with the price and amount offered. These are orders from people that are willing to sell.
The buy part of the trading book is in green. These are orders from people willing to buy.
You are free to choose a sell order and buy it or choose a buy order and sell to it. You can also set your order at any amount you like and have it executed when the price reaches your target.
Leave the order at the “limit” order. You can also use a “market” to trade at the market price. However, this may not allow you to select the price you want. Advanced users can try “stop limit” orders.
Always know the market value of the tokens you are trading to avoid mistakingly selling or buying at an unwanted price.
NB: For those using the Kucoin exchange, transfer your tokens from the main wallet account to the trading account before you can trade.
Happy trading.
Storing cryptocurrency with Trust Wallet
Trust Wallet is an easy-to-use mobile wallet that can store multiple cryptocurrencies. It supports BTC, ETH, ETH-based tokens, Binance, Binance Smart chain tokens, and many others. You can compare Trust Wallet with Exodus Wallet to see what works better for you.
To start using Trust Wallet
1. Download the wallet from the app store or Google play store
2. Open the installed wallet
3. Select “CREATE A NEW WALLET”
4. Accept the terms of service after reading them.
5. Accept to back up your wallet and continue to the next page
6. Write down the 12 or 24-word recovery phrase that will be displayed. It’s important to write it down offline. This phrase is the ultimate key to your wallet. Whoever has it can operate your wallet.
7. Continue to verify the recovery phrase
And there you have your wallet
Adding coins or tokens
1. Click the menu at the top right corner and a list of available tokens will be displayed
2. Select the coin or token you want on your wallet
3. Type the name of your token and search for it if you cannot find it.
4. If you cannot still find it after a search, add the token as a custom token.
How to add a custom token
1. Access Add Token Screen
Click the sign at the top right corner of the screen, if the token is not available you would get a “no asset found,” then you can scroll down and tap on the add a custom token.
2. Get custom token info
The best tool for getting your custom token information is the Coingecko website. Search for the token/coin in Coingecko and copy the contract address. You can also locate the Etherscan page of the token from here and gather more information.
3. Fill Out Your Token Details
You can use the information you gathered from Coingecko or Etherscan to fill out your token details. Select the network the token is built on before filling in the contract address. Most times, other details are automatically filled in once you have filled in the contract address of the token.
How to trade on Uniswap
You can find so many hidden crypto gems on Uniswap before they enter mainstream exchanges and explode.
Uniswap is a decentralized exchange for Ethereum-based tokens. The major disadvantage of using it is that it has very high transaction fees. Fees can get as high as 100 USD (in ETH) these days. These high fees are not caused by Uniswap but by the Ethereum network that it runs on.
The easiest way to access Uniswap is by using the DApps browser in Trust Wallet. We already discussed the trust wallet yesterday. You can go back and refresh your memory. An advanced user may use Metamask and other methods to access Uniswap or other decentralized applications.
While in the DApps browser, type in uniswap.org into the address and load it. Hit the main menu while on the Uniswap home page and select “App”. And at this point, you will have the dashboard that allows you to swap between different tokens.
Uniswap launched version 3 a few weeks ago, and this version is what you will see by default. If there is no liquidity in version 3 it will direct you to the old version 2 if there is liquidity there and vice versa. Check the attached image.
To swap your tokens in Uniswap
1. Ensure you have enough ETH in your wallet for gas fees (transaction fees)
2. Select the tokens to swap. The one you are swapping from is on top and the new one you want to get is below. You can use the token contract address to add the token if you can’t locate the name. To locate the contract address, search for the token on coingecko.com or coinmarketcap.com
3. Choose the amount to swap and hit the swap button
4. Confirm the transaction. An important note here. Always crosscheck the transaction/gas fee before confirming the transaction. Some new users have lost a huge part of their funds to exorbitant transaction fees.
5. The transaction will be confirmed in a few seconds to a few minutes depending on the transaction/gas fee you used. The more the glass fee, the faster the confirmation.
How to use PancakeSwap
PancakeSwap is a decentralized exchange for tokens on the Binance Smart Chain. The major advantage of this exchange is the very low gas/transaction fees. The fees mostly run in fractions of a dollar. However, you may not find all the tokens you want in this exchange because many tokens are built on the Ethereum network. We’ll watch and see if this changes in the future.
One thing you’ll notice is that Binance Smart Chain tokens use the same address as the Ethereum tokens. In order words, ETH addresses are compatible with BSC addresses and vice versa.
The trust wallet DApps is an easy way to connect to PancakeSwap. You can also toggle between different networks (Binance Smart chain, Ethereum, etc) in the DApps browser of the trust wallet.
Advanced users can connect with Metamask after they must have added the Binance smart chain network details to their Metamask network settings.
Remember that you need BEP 20 BNB or BSC BNB to use this exchange. That’s what the transaction fees are paid in. Just the same way you use ETH to pay transaction fees in Uniswap.
To use PancakeSwap in Trust wallet
1. Go to trust wallet DApps browser
2. Type pancakeswap.finance and enter
3. If it asks you to connect, click the second to the last sign (it’s mostly an ETH sign) at the upper right corner and select “smart chain”
4. Then, go to the main menu, select trade, and then select Exchange.
5. Select the tokens you want to swap. And confirm the transaction. You can use token contract addresses to add tokens too.
Boom, the transaction will process, and you will have your tokens.
Increase the slippage if the transaction fails.
How to invest in cryptocurrency: Eight (8) areas to research.
I am aware that some traders prefer gambling with shit coins to investing in tokens or coins with a good fundamental. Yes, one may get lucky and make lots of profits from shit coins before they crash. However, I see this as the Ponzi part of crypto. More people lose at the end of the day.
The approach we will discuss in this Free Cryptocurrency Course for Beginners will enable you to identify solid projects when they are still cheap.
Eight (8) areas to research are:
1. Tokenomics: this is token economics.
You can find information on the number of tokens, distribution of the coins or tokens, and uses of the coins or tokens from their whitepaper. Locate the white paper on the project website or their listing on coingecko.com.
The best indicator of how much a token is worth is not the unit price but the market cap. Many erroneously think the unit price is the principal indicator of the value of a coin or token. For this reason, you find people asking what coin or token under 1 dollar can buy.
To get the market cap, multiply the number of tokens in circulation by the unit price.
The more the percentage of tokens in circulation, the better. It means there are fewer tokens that can enter circulation to dilute the unit price. You have to consider the possibility of more coins or tokens entering circulation at once. You can find this information by searching for the token release schedule.
Furthermore, consider the number of tokens reserved for the team. It is better to have a team with a small percentage of the total coins or tokens than have a team with a large percentage. There is a fear of dilution of the price when a team holds a significant portion of the total coins or tokens.
2. Team and advisors
The people behind a token are significant. They drive the development of the project. The project may suffer and struggle if the team fails to drive its improvement. And so will your investment.
Your mind will be more at rest if the team is known, capable, and suitable for the project.
Google searches, Linkedin searches, and directly contacting any firm or association linked to the team members are ways to research a team. You can also check if they have had any video interviews.
I usually stay away from any project where I cannot find or locate their team members.
3. Community (telegram, Twitter, Reddit, and Others)
A token with a toxic community can hurt your investment.
4. Marketing Efforts
Run some searches online and check if you can find the token in different places online. A coin or token that only you know will get stuck with you. Ensure some other people know about it online.
5. Exchanges
Tokens listed in only exchanges with fake volumes are a disaster waiting to happen because you may buy them but cannot sell them.
Ensure the token is on exchanges with real and genuine volumes or that the team behind it can list it in exchanges with authentic volumes.
The volumes from decentralized exchanges are usually genuine. Many centralized exchanges have fake trade volumes.
Check the exchange trust score in the exchange section under each coin on coingecko.com. This section sometimes helps to determine if you can trust the trade/liquidity going on there.
6. Development
Check the GitHub repository to see how far the project is going and when they did an update to the codes. You do not want to invest in a project that has not had its codes updated in a long time. Who knows if the project has been abandoned?
You can find this repository address from the token listing on the coingecko.com website.
Note that not all projects have a GitHub repository.
Check the project roadmap from their website and see if they achieve the items listed. A project that meets the deadline is more likely to deliver.
7. Partnerships and Investors
Token projects that have confirmed big names as partners or investors are more likely to draw attention. For example, a project with a partnership with Google should be taken more seriously than a similar project without such a partnership.
8. Competitors
It is better to invest in crypto projects that are different and innovative or those with the same strength as competitors but cheaper. Being cheap alone is not a good reason to invest in a token project that does not have the technology that supports its development and growth.
Conclusion
The cryptocurrency market is very volatile and investing in it comes with some risks. However, doing proper crypto research helps to reduce the risks. I desire that this Free Cryptocurrency Course for Beginners will help you to kickstart your journey. You can also explore other ways that one can make some income online by reading through our other blog posts.
