Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin - How to Buy (and Keep!) Crypto

Episode Date: January 10, 2022

If you’re game to invest in crypto, you may be wondering: how do I buy coins? Do I just go to the crypto store? All will be revealed today on Money Rehab! Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Money rehabbers, you get it. When you're trying to have it all, you end up doing a lot of juggling. You have to balance your work, your friends, and everything in between. So when it comes to your finances, the last thing you need is more juggling. That's where Bank of America steps in. With Bank of America, you can manage your banking, borrowing, and even investing all in one place. Their digital tools bring everything together under one roof, giving you a clear view of your finances whenever you need it. Plus, with Bank of America's wealth of expert guidance available at any time, you can feel confident that your

money is working as hard as you do. So why overcomplicate your money? Keep it simple with Bank of America, your one-stop shop for everything you need today and the goals you're working toward tomorrow. To get started, visit bofa.com slash newprosmedia. That's b-o-f-a dot com slash n-e-w pros p-r-o-s media. bfa.com slash newprosmedia. Hey guys, are you ready for some money rehab? Wall Street has been completely upended by an unlikely player, GameStop. And should I have a 401k? You don't do it? No, I never do it. You think the whole world revolves around you and your money.

Well, it doesn't. Charge for wasting our time. I will take a check. Like an old school check. You recognize her from anchoring on CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg. The only financial expert you don't need a dictionary to understand. Nicole Lappin. Bitcoin has been around since 2013, and I think it's safe to say that it's not going anywhere

anytime soon. And neither is crypto at large. So if you're thinking of hopping on the crypto train, you'll need to ask yourself, how do I actually invest? That's what money rehabber Danny is wondering. Here he is. Hey, Nicole, my name is Danny and I'm a musician in Nashville. I've listened to a handful of your episodes on crypto and I've decided I want to invest. But of course, not more than 1% of my total net worth, like you say. I know this might be a stupid question, but how do you actually buy crypto? Where should I start? Do I need to mine crypto? Okay, so Danny, there are no stupid questions in money rehab. But before getting into your question, let's take a quick step back for any money rehabbers who haven't listened to my previous episodes on crypto.

If you lost Danny when he mentioned mining crypto, I'll give you a little refresher. Cryptocurrency can be created in a process called crypto mining. I covered this process a bit in episode 94, how an online currency hurts the world IRL. And we'll cover the nitty gritty more in future episodes. But for now, all you need to know is that crypto coins are created in a process called mining. Cryptocurrency mining is bad for the environment and all around difficult. So if you're not up for mining cryptocurrency yourself, don't fret. You can still get in the crypto game by buying coins. Whether or not crypto is right for you is a whole other

question that we will contemplate in tomorrow's episode. For now, I'm just going to tell you how to get it if you choose to do so. For those who are worried that getting crypto requires high-level tech wizardry, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Buying cryptocurrency is very easy. You buy and sell cryptocurrencies on an exchange like Coinbase, Gemini, or Binance, where buying and selling is very similar to stock trading. Some apps that transfer traditional currencies are also getting into cryptocurrencies, like Cash App and Venmo. When you buy crypto on an exchange, you don't need to buy a whole coin. You can choose how much you want to invest and buy a fraction of a coin. For example, if you want to invest in Bitcoin, you don't need

to shell out 43 grand, which is the price of one coin at the time I'm recording this. You can invest $1,000, $100, or even $1 in Bitcoin. It's up to you. Once you buy some coins, the best storage method is a wallet. A digital one, of course. Because the world of cryptocurrency isn't regulated like traditional investment trading and is a frequent target for hackers, it's important to protect it with a digital wallet via companies like Coinbase Wallet, Exodus, Electrum, or Ledger Nano. So you want to lock up your crypto tight, but not too tight. Let me ask you something.

And it may sound like a trick question, but it's not. When would an investor that has put money into an investment that's booming feel more and more resentment every time the value of their investment goes up? When that investor can't access their investments, of course. Believe it or not, some investors can't reap the benefits from their extremely valuable Bitcoin investments because, and I'm actually being serious here, they forgot the passwords to their crypto wallets. In fact, it's estimated that of all of the Bitcoin that has been mined so far, around 20% of it is in wallets that owners can't access. A representative of a company called

Wallet Recovery Services, a pretty straightforwardly named company that helps folks restore access to virtual accounts, said in an interview in the New York Times that their representatives get 70 requests a day from people who want help recovering their crypto information. In the same article, the New York Times also spoke to an investor who was locked out of a wallet containing 7,002 Bitcoin. At the time I'm recording this, that Bitcoin investment is worth, are you for it? $328 million. If you can stomach it, I encourage you to look up the value of Bitcoin now and see how much his wallet is worth. Can you imagine more than $300 million to your name and you can't access it because you forgot your password? It is bonkers to me that there is no break in case of emergency option for people to reclaim their crypto if they got locked out of

their wallets. But that's the double-edged sword of cryptocurrency. One of the characteristics of crypto use that many investors appreciate is that it allows for more privacy than traditional currency. But at the same time, that increased privacy makes it impossible to retrace your steps to prove ownership. For today's tip, you can take straight to the bank. If you do buy crypto, please, please, please come up with a strategy for remembering your password. There are apps like Keeper that are designed to help you keep track of your passwords in one secure place. You could also go old school and write down your password on a piece of paper and store that page in a secret place. Whatever works also go old school and write down your password on a piece of paper and store that page in a secret place. Whatever works best for you. Here on Money Rehab, we're all about

helping you make smart investments and making sure you're able to cash in on those investments when you're ready. Money Rehab is a production of iHeartRadio. I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Our producers are Morgan Lavoie and Mike Coscarelli. Executive producers are Nikki Etor and Will Pearson. Our mascots are Penny and Mimsy. Huge thanks to OG Money Rehab team Michelle Lanz for her development work, Catherine Law for her production and writing magic, and Brandon Dickert for his editing,

engineering, and sound design. And as always, thanks to you for finally investing in yourself so that you can get it together and get it all.