The Depot

An amount that would annoy you to lose but not change your life. For most people learning, that's a couple hundred dollars. The goal of your first six months is education, not returns — you're paying tuition to the market either way, so keep the tuition small.

It's too late to buy 2013 Bitcoin, sure. Whether it's early or late for anything else depends entirely on what you're buying and at what valuation — the same question you'd ask about any asset. Being "early" to a bad project is worse than being "late" to a good one.

For small amounts you actively trade, an exchange is fine and simpler. For anything you'd be upset to lose, self-custody with a hardware wallet is the standard answer — several large exchanges have failed and taken customer funds with them. Not your keys, not your coins is a slogan because it kept being true.

Leverage turns a temporary drawdown into a permanent loss. Most people who blow up their accounts do it with leverage, usually within their first year. If you use it at all, use it after you've been consistently profitable without it — which is a much higher bar than most people expect.

In most jurisdictions, yes — selling, swapping, and sometimes earning crypto are taxable events, and record-keeping is your responsibility from day one. Rules vary widely by country and change often. Talk to an accountant who has handled crypto before; this page can't be that person.