Scared Crypto Newbie in Ireland

[Thighknee]

Hi folks,

I apologise for making a new thread for all of this basic-to-you stuff but honestly I am terrified of messing this up and losing 100's of hard earned euros so hopefully the mods will bare with me here and i will update this thread with every step I take

Basically I am considering and infact really want to buy into a GB for the first time, I have never used crypto before and i find it very techy and VERY intimidating so with your help I will move in baby steps.

So far i have downloaded Kraken and I believe I can buy crypto there through my bank account. I have read in another thread that when i have it in my Kraken wallet/account that it is best to move it to another wallet and then onto the vendor/organiser of said GB.

When i have the money/crypto in Kraken can I leave it there while I ease into this some more or do I have to move it on straight away?

In posts in another thread by my fellow Gael @bamagirl26 and honorary Gael @ultima thule I read that "Exodus doesn't support web3 for new users anymore." (I don't know what that means)

What is the second best and easy to use wallet i could use besides Exodus?

What is "Gas"?

What is the most common crypto used for this kind of thing and do all vendors/GBs generally accept a few different ones?

Sorry to make this VERY long winded but again I am terrified of making one small mistake and losing the lot, I really appreciate the help here, on top of all the awesome advice you all have given me since I started this journey back in May

Go raibh míle maith agaibh! (A thousand thank you's!)

 

[HouseCat]

I’m pretty new to crypto (2 months) so I can’t answer everything (like I just now looked up what web3 is) but I’ll answer what I can. Excuse this if it’s clunky!

You can leave your money in Kraken. I would make sure it’s in a stable coin so you can avoid market fluctuations. Popular stable coins are USDC, PYUSD, USDT, which are tied to the USD. If you keep your money in Solana, Ethereum or Bitcoin, you could either make or lose money.

Most vendors will take one of these three stable coins, and will often accept Bitcoin as well.

The big networks are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX) and Solana (SOL); seems ETH and SOL are most popular. They also are coins. So I could send ETH on the ETH network & I could send USDT or PYUSD on the ETH network. USDT seems to be primarily only on the TRX network.

I like to think of gas like a toll on a private road. Say I’m in Dublin, but I want to get to Tullamore (vendor). Highway M6 is ETH network, M7 is SOL network in our example. I have my different coins, my cars. I have a Toyota (PYUSD) and Land Rover (USDC). In this example, eFlow and Easytrip electronic toll tags won’t work on the same roads; eFlow only works on M6 (ETH) and Easytrip only works on M7 (SOL). The vendor’s garage will only accept Toyotas (PYUSD), and they want me to take the M6 (ETH) to get there. So I get my Toyota (PYUSD coin), I make sure to put my eFlow (ETH gas) toll tag on, I take the M6 (ETH network) and my vendor will receive just what they want: Toyota that paid to use the M6 and is now in their garage (PYUSD-ETH).

When you get a Stable coin, the icon will often look like A bigger icon with a little one. There can be a few icons for the same Coin-network pair so don’t worry if yours don’t look exactly like this. The S is for SOL and the blue diamond is for ETH.

They are not interchangeable, so I can’t send PYUSD ETH on the SOL network. In the example above, PYUSD-ETH is my red Toyota, PYUSD-SOL is my blue Toyota, and the Vendor’s garage will only take red Toyotas (PYUSD-ETH) that take the M6 (ETH network). If I had instead taken my red Toyota (PYUSD-ETH) on the M7 (SOL network), I’d end up locked up for failing to pay the right toll and take the right highway (your money is gone or is gonna be very hard to retrieve.)

Gas is pretty cheap, and a few euro in SOL and ETH will last a while. SOL gas is cheaper generally. So if you want to send PYUSD coin to the vendor, you will also need to buy a little SOL coin or ETH coin.

An alternative to Exodus that seems popular is Cake. I don’t know much about it. Write down the 12-word key phrase on paper, copy it and put it in a few places. This will help you retrieve your wallet if you get a new phone and have to re-download apps for example.

 

[ultima thule]

Thighknee said:


Hi folks,

I apologise for making a new thread for all of this basic-to-you stuff but honestly I am terrified of messing this up and losing 100's of hard earned euros so hopefully the mods will bare with me here and i will update this thread with every step I take

Basically I am considering and infact really want to buy into a GB for the first time, I have never used crypto before and i find it very techy and VERY intimidating so with your help I will move in baby steps.

So far i have downloaded Kraken and I believe I can buy crypto there through my bank account. I have read in another thread that when i have it in my Kraken wallet/account that it is best to move it to another wallet and then onto the vendor/organiser of said GB.

When i have the money/crypto in Kraken can I leave it there while I ease into this some more or do I have to move it on straight away?

In posts in another thread by my fellow Gael @bamagirl26 and honorary Gael @ultima thule I read that "Exodus doesn't support web3 for new users anymore." (I don't know what that means)

What is the second best and easy to use wallet i could use besides Exodus?

What is "Gas"?

What is the most common crypto used for this kind of thing and do all vendors/GBs generally accept a few different ones?

Sorry to make this VERY long winded but again I am terrified of making one small mistake and losing the lot, I really appreciate the help here, on top of all the awesome advice you all have given me since I started this journey back in May

Go raibh míle maith agaibh! (A thousand thank you's!)

Click to expand...

If you have Revolut, which is very popular in Eire, I would suggest to use it for buying crypto. I do it that way and it's easy peasy imo. Regarding a wallet, can't help too much, cuz I'm using Exodus, and I have a web3 feature available...

 

[aca2310]

I've recently done this for the first time. Did it on Tuesday and I was shitting myself. I used ETH-USDC and a couple of quids worth of ETH.

I bought it all in Revolut (be prepared for them freezing it and suggesting you're being scammed - you basically have to agree you're prepared to lose the money before they release it).

I then sent it to Kraken.

From there I sent it to Exodus and paid the vendor.

It was marked as recieved by them about 5mins later.

Edit:

Something I did first though is load about ten quids worth on first and did a practice run, to make sure it goes where I wanted it to. That gave me a bit more confidence to send over the full amount. The fee on that and then the final sucked, but was worth it ultimately. When you send over the full amount buy more than you need. In my case I think the order was $667, so I bought $680 to make sure the fees didn't short change the vendor at the other end.

 

[Thighknee]

Thank you so much guys i am alot less anxious about it now! I think i may have originally read so much about it that i ended up just really confusing myself and then convinced myself that I would mess it up and lose it all and to stress out some more haha, my damn adhd

So I already have hit a small hurdle, I cannot get verified on Kraken because the address on my drivers licence is in Irish and on my bank statements etc they are in English so I need to change one officially to get them to match up for that Aaaargh!

I will download Cake and see if i can use that as a wallet, thank you so much @HouseCat @ultima thule and @aca2310 your advice and help is much appreciated

 

[HouseCat]

Thighknee said:


Thank you so much guys i am alot less anxious about it now! I think i may have originally read so much about it that i ended up just really confusing myself and then convinced myself that I would mess it up and lose it all and to stress out some more haha, my damn adhd

So I already have hit a small hurdle, I cannot get verified on Kraken because the address on my drivers licence is in Irish and on my bank statements etc they are in English so I need to change one officially to get them to match up for that Aaaargh!

I will download Cake and see if i can use that as a wallet, thank you so much @HouseCat @ultima thule and @aca2310 your advice and help is much appreciated

Click to expand...

Irish heritage & don't speak Irish, but I am PRO changing the bank address to Irish vs. changing driver license to English (probs also cheaper & less hassle). Keep the language alive!!!!

 

[aca2310]

Thighknee said:


Thank you so much guys i am alot less anxious about it now! I think i may have originally read so much about it that i ended up just really confusing myself and then convinced myself that I would mess it up and lose it all and to stress out some more haha, my damn adhd

So I already have hit a small hurdle, I cannot get verified on Kraken because the address on my drivers licence is in Irish and on my bank statements etc they are in English so I need to change one officially to get them to match up for that Aaaargh!

I will download Cake and see if i can use that as a wallet, thank you so much @HouseCat @ultima thule and @aca2310 your advice and help is much appreciated

Click to expand...

Kraken froze me out for 24hrs before I could do anything, but that was just for purchasing. If you're purchasing elsewhere, and then sending on to Kraken Wallet (Kraken App for trading, Kraken Wallet app for sending and receiving coin) you'll be able to get around that though. ChatGPT helped a lot, just make sure your coin network you're buying from matches what your vendor can receive. So mine was ETH-USDC, make sure you're not accidentally buying SOL-USDC or something. Good luck!

 

[bamagirl26]

HouseCat said:


I’m pretty new to crypto (2 months) so I can’t answer everything (like I just now looked up what web3 is) but I’ll answer what I can. Excuse this if it’s clunky!

You can leave your money in Kraken. I would make sure it’s in a stable coin so you can avoid market fluctuations. Popular stable coins are USDC, PYUSD, USDT, which are tied to the USD. If you keep your money in Solana, Ethereum or Bitcoin, you could either make or lose money.

Most vendors will take one of these three stable coins, and will often accept Bitcoin as well.

The big networks are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tron (TRX) and Solana (SOL); seems ETH and SOL are most popular. They also are coins. So I could send ETH on the ETH network & I could send USDT or PYUSD on the ETH network. USDT seems to be primarily only on the TRX network.

I like to think of gas like a toll on a private road. Say I’m in Dublin, but I want to get to Tullamore (vendor). Highway M6 is ETH network, M7 is SOL network in our example. I have my different coins, my cars. I have a Toyota (PYUSD) and Land Rover (USDC). In this example, eFlow and Easytrip electronic toll tags won’t work on the same roads; eFlow only works on M6 (ETH) and Easytrip only works on M7 (SOL). The vendor’s garage will only accept Toyotas (PYUSD), and they want me to take the M6 (ETH) to get there. So I get my Toyota (PYUSD coin), I make sure to put my eFlow (ETH gas) toll tag on, I take the M6 (ETH network) and my vendor will receive just what they want: Toyota that paid to use the M6 and is now in their garage (PYUSD-ETH).

When you get a Stable coin, the icon will often look like A bigger icon with a little one. There can be a few icons for the same Coin-network pair so don’t worry if yours don’t look exactly like this. The S is for SOL and the blue diamond is for ETH.

View attachment 33473View attachment 33474

They are not interchangeable, so I can’t send PYUSD ETH on the SOL network. In the example above, PYUSD-ETH is my red Toyota, PYUSD-SOL is my blue Toyota, and the Vendor’s garage will only take red Toyotas (PYUSD-ETH) that take the M6 (ETH network). If I had instead taken my red Toyota (PYUSD-ETH) on the M7 (SOL network), I’d end up locked up for failing to pay the right toll and take the right highway (your money is gone or is gonna be very hard to retrieve.)

Gas is pretty cheap, and a few euro in SOL and ETH will last a while. SOL gas is cheaper generally. So if you want to send PYUSD coin to the vendor, you will also need to buy a little SOL coin or ETH coin.

An alternative to Exodus that seems popular is Cake. I don’t know much about it. Write down the 12-word key phrase on paper, copy it and put it in a few places. This will help you retrieve your wallet if you get a new phone and have to re-download apps for example.

Click to expand...

WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EXPLANATION!!! How the heck did you know how to make THESE analogies? Do you go to Ireland often?

 

[bamagirl26]

I was also going to say, I had an easy time the first few times after I figured out UDSC- Sol, but then yesterday I was asked to send USDT TRON and I was a bit anxious about messing it up. I asked Chat to give me a step by step instruction of how to make the swaps and it was VERY helpful.

 

[HouseCat]

bamagirl26 said:


WHAT AN INCREDIBLE EXPLANATION!!! How the heck did you know how to make THESE analogies? Do you go to Ireland often?

Click to expand...

Haha, no, I just looked at a map and looked into what the Irish version of the US EZ Pass is!

I've only been to Ireland once (Dublin) when I was in my 20s, and it was during HOLY WEEK! LOL I picked the one time of year when business hours are short, it's hard to buy alcohol and things are closed. Nonetheless I had the most amazing time! It is such a beautiful city, the people are so friendly, and I did lots of tours, museums, and even some good Holy-Week-ignoring nightlife! (And met a very cute, polite boy who I kissed by the River Liffey...shh..don't tell my husband! LOL! Don't worry...it was long before we met.) My fave was the Oscar Wilde museum as he's one of my favorite authors and is a total ICON! I look forward to going back, and this time will get out to the countryside and County Kerry, where my grandfather's family is from. I am sure I'll find 90,000 distant relatives since I have a super common Irish last name (kept my maiden name. Couldn't change it after my grandpa passed...it's a family gift.) And they will all look at me like "You say you're of Irish descent, are you now?" Because I'm biracial (Black/white) and apparently I look Puerto Rican (which I will confirm or deny after our summer trip to PR!)

 

[bamagirl26]

HouseCat said:


Haha, no, I just looked at a map and looked into what the Irish version of the US EZ Pass is!

I've only been to Ireland once (Dublin) when I was in my 20s, and it was during HOLY WEEK! LOL I picked the one time of year when business hours are short, it's hard to buy alcohol and things are closed. Nonetheless I had the most amazing time! It is such a beautiful city, the people are so friendly, and I did lots of tours, museums, and even some good Holy-Week-ignoring nightlife! (And met a very cute, polite boy who I kissed by the River Liffey...shh..don't tell my husband! LOL! Don't worry...it was long before we met.) My fave was the Oscar Wilde museum as he's one of my favorite authors and is a total ICON! I look forward to going back, and this time will get out to the countryside and County Kerry, where my grandfather's family is from. I am sure I'll find 90,000 distant relatives since I have a super common Irish last name (kept my maiden name. Couldn't change it after my grandpa passed...it's a family gift.) And they will all look at me like "You say you're of Irish descent, are you now?" Because I'm biracial (Black/white) and apparently I look Puerto Rican (which I will confirm or deny after our summer trip to PR!)

Click to expand...

housesat, you are the coolest cat I know (well, besides my two tuxedos <3 ) I like black and white

 

[ultima thule]

aca2310 said:


I've recently done this for the first time. Did it on Tuesday and I was shitting myself. I used ETH-USDC and a couple of quids worth of ETH.

I bought it all in Revolut (be prepared for them freezing it and suggesting you're being scammed - you basically have to agree you're prepared to lose the money before they release it).

I then sent it to Kraken.

From there I sent it to Exodus and paid the vendor.

It was marked as recieved by them about 5mins later.

Edit:

Something I did first though is load about ten quids worth on first and did a practice run, to make sure it goes where I wanted it to. That gave me a bit more confidence to send over the full amount. The fee on that and then the final sucked, but was worth it ultimately. When you send over the full amount buy more than you need. In my case I think the order was $667, so I bought $680 to make sure the fees didn't short change the vendor at the other end.

Click to expand...

Revolut not gonna suspend or freeze your account, only for buying crypto. Could do if ya would transfer crypto directly to the vendor. And I don't get why you send crypto from Revo to Kraken at first and then from Kraken to Exodus???. I send directly from Revo to Exodus, which is established on my name and have never had any issue.

 

[Thighknee]

HouseCat said:


Irish heritage & don't speak Irish, but I am PRO changing the bank address to Irish vs. changing driver license to English (probs also cheaper & less hassle). Keep the language alive!!!!

Click to expand...

You're dead right @HouseCat our native language and culture is the most important thing in the world to me, luckily enough I am from an area that still speaks mostly in Irish (Gaeilge) so I am fluent from birth.



You should absolutely go to Kerry sometime! It is absolutely stunning, along with Donegal, Cork, Waterford etc, most coastal places here are really beautiful but those ones are the best for scenery, the craic and peace and quiet!

Regarding my dip into the crypto world, i have funded my coinbase account straight from my bank with enough euros to buy what i need in the GB, i presume i just use that to buy USDC-Sol on coinbase and then send it to the GB organiser through their web page. Or would it be better to move it onto another wallet from there to distance the trail to my bank?

Go raibh maith agaibh as ucht an cabhair go léir, is iontach an áit seo don corp agus an t-anam!

 

[bamagirl26]

Thighknee said:


You're dead right @HouseCat our native language and culture is the most important thing in the world to me, luckily enough I am from an area that still speaks mostly in Irish (Gaeilge) so I am fluent from birth.



You should absolutely go to Kerry sometime! It is absolutely stunning, along with Donegal, Cork, Waterford etc, most coastal places here are really beautiful but those ones are the best for scenery, the craic and peace and quiet!

Regarding my dip into the crypto world, i have funded my coinbase account straight from my bank with enough euros to buy what i need in the GB, i presume i just use that to buy USDC-Sol on coinbase and then send it to the GB organiser through their web page. Or would it be better to move it onto another wallet from there to distance the trail to my bank?

Go raibh maith agaibh as ucht an cabhair go léir, is iontach an áit seo don corp agus an anam!

Click to expand...

that may be good for a group buy, I havent done one, but if you want your money to not have traces back to you, I think it is good to open Exodus and that way, your money is kind of being held by an intermediary/middle man. Maybe this is best when buying from Vendors, but again, not sure about Group buy protocol.

Failing miserably at Gaelic over here. Ive been watching Children's programs (and saw Shrek in Gaelic) was epic! Cá bhfuil tú sa Ghaeltacht? IS that right? I have a lot of fam from Donegal, but all moved to Co Tyrone, my dad and bro in Dub, and all my other aunts/uncles/cousins in Waterford. I hope to be headed over in Jan again, was just over in May.

 

[Thighknee]

bamagirl26 said:


that may be good for a group buy, I havent done one, but if you want your money to not have traces back to you, I think it is good to open Exodus and that way, your money is kind of being held by an intermediary/middle man. Maybe this is best when buying from Vendors, but again, not sure about Group buy protocol.

Failing miserably at Gaelic over here. Ive been watching Children's programs (and saw Shrek in Gaelic) was epic! Cá bhfuil tú sa Ghaeltacht? IS that right? I have a lot of fam from Donegal, but all moved to Co Tyrone, my dad and bro in Dub, and all my other aunts/uncles/cousins in Waterford. I hope to be headed over in Jan again, was just over in May.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much @bamagirl26! Ill move it to either Exodus or Cake wallet and then onto the organiser, i will send a few euros worth first just to make sure i dont make any dreadful mistake and lose the lot

Beidir go bhfuil aithne agam ar do shinsir ansa! Nó béidir gur col ceathracha muid

(Edit: TMI )

 

[bamagirl26]

Thighknee said:


Thank you so much @bamagirl26! Ill move it to either Exodus or Cake wallet and then onto the organiser, i will send a few euros worth first just to make sure i dont make any dreadful mistake and lose the lot

Yeah you were right! Táim ó Gaeltacht beag i oirdheisceart na hÉireann i contae Phort Láirge, beidir go bhfuil aithne agam ar do shinsir ansa! Nó béidir gur col ceathracha muid

Click to expand...

go-way. My sis just moved to Passage East. Loads of fam in Phort Lairge. Hubby and I were just over looking at that Area and Arthurtown, but also went as far out as Dungarvan. I absolutely adore your little part of the world. I suppose you are a bit further West even. there's a new dev in kilmacthomas goin too... we were sayin it would be so nice to be on the greenway. Anyway, small world Slainte!

 

[ultima thule]

Thighknee said:


You're dead right @HouseCat our native language and culture is the most important thing in the world to me, luckily enough I am from an area that still speaks mostly in Irish (Gaeilge) so I am fluent from birth.



You should absolutely go to Kerry sometime! It is absolutely stunning, along with Donegal, Cork, Waterford etc, most coastal places here are really beautiful but those ones are the best for scenery, the craic and peace and quiet!

Regarding my dip into the crypto world, i have funded my coinbase account straight from my bank with enough euros to buy what i need in the GB, i presume i just use that to buy USDC-Sol on coinbase and then send it to the GB organiser through their web page. Or would it be better to move it onto another wallet from there to distance the trail to my bank?

Go raibh maith agaibh as ucht an cabhair go léir, is iontach an áit seo don corp agus an t-anam!

Click to expand...

Ya from Donegal mate? Due to my job I'm in God's country once a week and in some places like Gweedore or Gortahork people speak gaelige just commonly...fun fact I know only a few words, but me daughter speaks it quite good...

 

[Thighknee]

No man im way down in the sunny south East, I've been to the Gaeltachtaí in Donegal many times though its a stunning county and lovely friendly people. Thats class your daughter is speaking it too, keep it up its very important!

 

[Thighknee]

I'm happy to report that i have finally done it!! Thanks so much to everyone who helped out, its such a relief to have this knowledge now, it opens up many more doors toward my self improvement, at better prices too!

 

[Rolltide61]

When I'm reading these posts, in my head they have Irish accents. That is totally bizarre.