I don't get it...

Been watching videos on how this whole cryptocurrency thing works for 6 hours straight, and my head is spinning. I am literally having headaches as I type this and I'm gonna take a rest, but I need to get these questions out there before I collapse and forget about them...

So, after watching over 20 videos (possibly over 25) on cryptocurrencies and blockchains and other related crap I understood a few things, but some of the things that I still don't get with regards to crypto are the following...

1. How does crypto put the power in the hands of people instead of banks and governments since I will still need to pay the government fees for every crypto transaction that I make?
2. what the hell is the difference between coins and tokens. The most videos I watched on the topic of crypto have been about the difference between these 2, and I still don't understand shit about what each one of them does, which one I should mine, which one I should buy / invest in, where, and how to assess the real value of each coin / token.
3. is there any god damn platform out there that doesn't want to know my phone number, my physical address, the colour of my underwear and what I ate for breakfast in order to let me trade crypto? Again, as I understand, one of the strongest and biggest selling points of crypto over traditional currencies is the anonymity, decentralized aspect and empowering of the common folk instead of the ultra-rich and powerful institutions. But, by having to provide all sorts of documents and data about me to these "decentralized" sites and companies it basically turns the decentralized aspect into centralized one since instead of banks and governments I now give my data (thus my power) to new websites and companies which, frankly speaking, I wouldn't be surprised to be the same old google / amazon / facebook ones, but under different brand. This shit happens all the time with ultra-rich and powerful mobsters (they suddenly acquire a new name and continue with their manipulation and control but under a different brand).

I think I had more questions... I mean, I'm 100% sure that I had more questions, but my head hurts so bad that I need to lay down a little and understand how this whole cyrpto system works. So please, answer the 3 questions above as dumb-proof as possible because I've never been a finance / tech / investing oriented type of guy, and I like things to be simple and clear.

Thanks in advance for all of the confusion clearing explanations you can give. I appreciate your help.

1. I assume you mean taxes on crypto transactions. On some countries, every transaction is a taxable event. On other countries, people only pay taxes when they sell crypto for fiat money. There are even some countries where crypto is not taxed at all.
2. A coin is a cryptocurrency with its own blockchain, either coded from scratch, or as a fork (e.g. BTC and ETH). A token is a cryptocurrency created on another blockchain (e.g. SHIB is a token created on the ETH network, Safemoon is a token created on the BSC network).
3. Identity verification is legally required if you want to buy crypto with fiat or sell it for fiat. You may be able to find exchanges that do not require it, but they are not regulated.

R4v3nbl4ck said:

. There are even some countries where crypto is not taxed at all.

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Which countries are these?

krishnaverma said:

Which countries are these?

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Singapore, Portugal, Switzerland, UAE and a few others I don't remember.

R4v3nbl4ck said:

You may be able to find exchanges that do not require it, but they are not regulated

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that's exactly the point: if it's regulated it's centralized, and the reason I am making efforts in trying to understand (and eventually get into) crypto is precisely to get away from the preying eyes of governments, banks and ultra-powerful mafia corporations like google and amazon.

If this thing is regulated then it's no different to traditional currencies and the financial system we have, so what's the point in getting even more confused and waste even more of your life in trying to understand crypto then?? It all sounds like smoke and mirrors pulled by the ultra rich to trick people into getting even more ripped off, doesn't it?

R4v3nbl4ck said:

I assume you mean taxes on crypto transactions

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I honestly don't even know what I mean at this point. I am so confused, I will need a few days of clear head to let the information sink in and get organized by my brain, and then, based on the feelings instilled by the new hierarchy I will know whether this crypto stuff is beneficial or detrimental to mankind.

But anyway, yeah, taxes on transactions is what I probably meant, but if there are taxes on crypto transactions why won't these ultra powerful institutions find a way to tax everything that's done with crypto?? The whole bragging about this new and freeing financial system (crypto) is that transfers the power from banks and powerful governments / institutions / corporations to people so they can become rich instead of the already filthy rich mobsters. But then, if the powers that be find ways to still tax the people, crypto users or not, what's the point in using crypto then??? It makes no fucking sense to me

R4v3nbl4ck said:

On some countries, every transaction is a taxable event.

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but if some countries have found ways to still steal money from people, what's stopping all countries in following suit? That's what I'm trying to understand: how the hell do we shake these parasitic entities (banks, corporations, governments) off our shoulders so we, the little guys, can breathe a little and have some millions of dollars (all 8 billions of us, not just a select millions) in our NOT-bank accounts?

R4v3nbl4ck said:

A coin is a cryptocurrency with its own blockchain, either coded from scratch, or as a fork (e.g. BTC and ETH). A token is a cryptocurrency created on another blockchain (e.g. SHIB is a token created on the ETH network, Safemoon is a token created on the BSC network)

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uhm, yeah, that's what everyone in the tutorial videos says, but how do I (or any other unknowledgeable person out there, which are probably billions of) knows which one of the 1000s of cryptocurrencies (with 100s being invented each day) is a coin, and which one is a token? And how will they know which coins / tokens are safe to invest in given how insanely much these things fluctuate and how easily they can be inflated? This whole cryptocurrencies crap looks like a scammers' paradise. They either can't be controlled and regulated, and when they can be controlled and regulated they automatically become centralized, which defeats their purpose of being a decentralized currency.

tazarbm said:

that's exactly the point: if it's regulated it's centralized, and the reason I am making efforts in trying to understand (and eventually get into) crypto is precisely to get away from the preying eyes of governments, banks and ultra-powerful mafia corporations like google and amazon.

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You can think of crypto as cash, and exchanges as banks. You don't have to trade crypto using centralized exchanges like Binance or Coinbase. Have you ever heard of DeFI (decentralized finance)? There are a lot of ways to trade crypto outside centralized exchanges.

tazarbm said:

If this thing is regulated then it's no different to traditional currencies and the financial system we have, so what's the point in getting even more confused and waste even more of your life in trying to understand crypto then?? It all sounds like smoke and mirrors pulled by the ultra rich to trick people into getting even more ripped off, doesn't it?

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One point of crypto is freedom. You can send and receive crypto without relying on a third party. Try making a $100k bank transfer. Your bank will block it unless you call them first and explain in detail what you're doing, why, how you got the money in the first place, and so on.
Another point of crypto is protecting against inflation. If you keep dollars in your bank account, they lose value each year. Assuming a 6.8% inflation like this year, if you have $100k now they will become $50k in 10 years. Meanwhile, if you invested $100k in BTC now, in 10 years you could possibly be a millionaire.

tazarbm said:

uhm, yeah, that's what everyone in the tutorial videos says, but how do I (or any other unknowledgeable person out there, which are probably billions of) knows which one of the 1000s of cryptocurrencies (with 100s being invented each day) is a coin, and which one is a token? And how will they know which coins / tokens are safe to invest in given how insanely much these things fluctuate and how easily they can be inflated? This whole cryptocurrencies crap looks like a scammers' paradise. They either can't be controlled and regulated, and when they can be controlled and regulated they automatically become centralized, which defeats their purpose of being a decentralized currency.

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If you want to know whether a crypto is a coin or a token you have to research it. Usually the official sites have information about that. You can easily find out whether a crypto has its own full blockchain, or it's just a token created on an already existing network.
The safest crypto to buy are the ones with solid use cases, for example ETH or ALGO. I highly recommend researching each crypto before buying it. Keep in mind 99% of crypto are shitcoins with no use cases. Be careful with those.

R4v3nbl4ck said:

in 10 years you could possibly be a millionaire.

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see? This shit right here scares me away from investing in anything ever again. As someone who has had a period of 6 years (between 2008 and 2014) going from one scam to another in various industries, I am afraid of investing even a single cent in anything anymore.

R4v3nbl4ck said:

Have you ever heard of DeFI (decentralized finance)?

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not yet. I just got into the whole crypto thing earlier this morning. I still have a lot to learn, but at a 1st impression, I don't like this new system. I feel more comfortable with the paper money that lose value over time. At least I know what I'm having in my hands. With cryptocurrencies I have nothing in my hands. I have a potential (that word again, huh?) value locked somewhere in god-knows-what network of computers that I have no control over, but 3rd parties have (so, centralization all over again...)

R4v3nbl4ck said:

There are a lot of ways to trade crypto outside centralized exchanges

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that'd be awesome, it looks like something I'd be interested in. I will google it and see if I can find any such decentralized exchange, but if you know of a legit (non-scammy) one that also doesn't have transaction fees and doesn't ask for my phone number and what brand my socks are, share it!

R4v3nbl4ck said:

One point of crypto is freedom

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except that I don't see it. I mean, ok, compared to the example you gave about banks and transfers I can see the "freedom". But I don't see the part where everything is decentralized (ie NOT regulated by my government, google, or the financial raptors in the USA). But then again, I do need to do more research as I'm very new to crypto-crap in general, so I don't fully understand how it works

R4v3nbl4ck said:

You can send and receive crypto without relying on a third party

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HOW ?!? All of the transactions I make are through 3rd parties, be it banks or websites that have sprung up over night.

R4v3nbl4ck said:

Try making a $100k bank transfer. Your bank will block it unless you call them first and explain in detail what you're doing, why, how you got the money in the first place, and so on.

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true. Sad, but true...

R4v3nbl4ck said:

Usually the official sites have information about that

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which are the official sites? Do you mean official sites of each cryptocurrency separately, or is there an official site of all cryptocurrencies together? But then again, if there was a single site that aggregates them all it means that everything is centralized, doesn't it?

R4v3nbl4ck said:

The safest crypto to buy are the ones with solid use cases, for example ETH or ALGO

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yeah, I noticed that Ethereum (and Bitcoin actually) have been mentioned a lot in the videos that I watched. Never heard of ALGO yet.

Still, thanks for the recommendation. I will look into it

R4v3nbl4ck said:

I highly recommend researching each crypto before buying it. Keep in mind 99% of crypto are shitcoins with no use cases. Be careful with those.

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I'll obviously research it, because I've got scammed too many times (apparently I am one of the most gullible people on Earth), so I want to avoid this.

Thanks for the explanations. I still have questions (as you can see from my quoting of your answers), but I'll find them all... eventually... Thanks again, and God bless you!

tazarbm said:

see? This shit right here scares me away from investing in anything ever again. As someone who has had a period of 6 years (between 2008 and 2014) going from one scam to another in various industries, I am afraid of investing even a single cent in anything anymore.

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Yes, there are a lot of crypto scams going on. That's why you should do your own research and only buy legit coins like BTC and ETH. No one can guarantee a certain price, but you can be sure they are not scams.

tazarbm said:

not yet. I just got into the whole crypto thing earlier this morning. I still have a lot to learn, but at a 1st impression, I don't like this new system. I feel more comfortable with the paper money that lose value over time. At least I know what I'm having in my hands. With cryptocurrencies I have nothing in my hands. I have a potential (that word again, huh?) value locked somewhere in god-knows-what network of computers that I have no control over, but 3rd parties have (so, centralization all over again...)

that'd be awesome, it looks like something I'd be interested in. I will google it and see if I can find any such decentralized exchange, but if you know of a legit (non-scammy) one that also doesn't have transaction fees and doesn't ask for my phone number and what brand my socks are, share it!

except that I don't see it. I mean, ok, compared to the example you gave about banks and transfers I can see the "freedom". But I don't see the part where everything is decentralized (ie NOT regulated by my government, google, or the financial raptors in the USA). But then again, I do need to do more research as I'm very new to crypto-crap in general, so I don't fully understand how it works

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I'm glad you said you will do more research. Crypto is complex, you can't expect to learn everything in a week. Not even in a year. Even if you learned everything (which is impossible), by the time you finished, newer methods and technologies would have been released and you would need to learn those as well.

tazarbm said:

HOW ?!? All of the transactions I make are through 3rd parties, be it banks or websites that have sprung up over night.

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Let say you bought 1 ETH on Coinbase. You can send it to a decentralized wallet like Metamask or Trust Wallet and do whatever you want without Coinbase's permission. You can trade it, send it to someone else, receive more, stake it to earn interests, and so on.
This is DeFi in a nutshell. However, it's a complex matter. Much more complex than buying and selling crypto on Coinbase. You would need a few months just to learn the basics. Please note that I'm in no way an expert, I'm still learning. You never stop learning.

tazarbm said:

which are the official sites? Do you mean official sites of each cryptocurrency separately, or is there an official site of all cryptocurrencies together? But then again, if there was a single site that aggregates them all it means that everything is centralized, doesn't it?

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I meant the official site of each coin. You can also check sites like CoinMarketCap or CoinGecko if you want to see the prices and data about most of the existing cryptocurrencies.

R4v3nbl4ck said:

decentralized wallet like Metamask

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so, who owns Metamask if it's decentralized? Metamask - being a website - belongs to someone, therefore it is being owned and controlled by the owner, which means that it's not decentralized. This is why I keep saying that crypto is just smoke and mirrors, but beneath all of it there is still someone (a corporation more likely) that pulls the strings and which get the lion's share on all transactions being made with crypto. Therefore, crypto is not decentralized.

I really wish someone proved me wrong...

tazarbm said:

so, who owns Metamask if it's decentralized? Metamask - being a website - belongs to someone, therefore it is being owned and controlled by the owner, which means that it's not decentralized. This is why I keep saying that crypto is just smoke and mirrors, but beneath all of it there is still someone (a corporation more likely) that pulls the strings and which get the lion's share on all transactions being made with crypto. Therefore, crypto is not decentralized.

I really wish someone proved me wrong...

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Metamask is just an app to access the blockchain. I would highly recommend learning how blockchain works. Most of them are truly decentralized and not controlled by companies like Metamask.
If you have time, this free Bitcoin course is a great way to start: https://learn.saylor.org/course/view.php?id=468

@MOD,. Pin this post as a newbie guide for newcomers?
@OP sorry I am new to crypto too and apologies in forehand (I assume you were expecting some constructive response than this)
@R4v3.... thx for the effort and explanation

shadow2015 said:

@OP sorry I am new to crypto too and apologies in forehand (I assume you were expecting some constructive response than this)

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I'm in the researching and learning phase, which is why I'm open to all explanations I can get

tazarbm said:

Been watching videos on how this whole cryptocurrency thing works for 6 hours straight...

So, after watching over 20 videos (possibly over 25) on cryptocurrencies and blockchains...

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6 hours-20/25 videos of researching about Crypto and Blockchains is not enough, not even close! Try it harder!

Hi again everyone.

After several more hours of watching youtube to understand crypto, I have new questions. Can someone knowledgeable answer them? Please!

Also note that everything I'm asking about crypto from now on is taking into consideration these 2 conditions that are very important for me:

- everything needs to be decentralized
- everything needs to be anonymous while still SAFE (so, no KYC required, no phone number required, no 2FA required, etc. Just safe, anonymous, free, and decentralized everything. And yes, I really do mean ALL of these 4 paramount conditions need to be present at the same time... Ok, I could give up the free condition, I can live with having to pay transactional fees as long as they're under 1%. But the other 3 conditions stand)

So, here is what I would like to know your opinions about:

1) which decentralized exchanges are the best and safest to trade crypto on, ANONYMOUSLY (without having your IP tracked, transactions tracked by governments / banks / google and their grandma / etc)?
2) which decentralized marketplaces are the best and safest to stake crypto on, anonymously?
3) which decentralized sites / exchanges / marketplaces are the best, safest, and most anonymous for liquidity investing in crypto?
4) which decentralized sites offer the highest interest on crypto staking?
5) where can you acquire NFTs, how (do you need to buy them, or do other rules apply??), and where can you see which NFTs are being released each day?
6) what are the best (again, DECENTRALIZED AND ANONYMOUS only) staking and liquidity investing sites that support the coinomi wallet? And the reason I have chosen the coinomi as my default wallet is - again - because it offers the most anonymity among most wallets, and also because it's free.

I will definitely have more questions (and I will also definitely research crypto in more detail before I make a decision on what to buy, trade, invest in, and stake), but I still wish to hear your recommendations. So, please, chime in if you know the answers to my questions, don't just sit there in the corner, all alone, flipping me off

Thanks in advance for any info that clears up my confusion about crypto, and that might help me stay away from crypto scammers

I see where OP is coming from. He is so used to fiat and regular finances that crypto makes no sense. That's ok, even to this day I make myself some of the questions you are making, but you don't have to understand every inch of the crypto space to benefit from it.

See crypto as the internet, who owns it? No one owns the internet. There are plenty of parties involved and controlling it, but to shut down the internet ALL of them should be at one and this is nearly impossible. If your hosting company goes down, guess what, your website will go with it but the internet won't be bothered by this.

There have been crypto exchanges that vanished with people's money and tokens that did the same but the same has happened with fiat, stocks, and whole banks going bankrupt.

Unless you are Elon Musk and planning to put a trillion dollars into crypto I recommend you chill a bit. With proper risk management, research, and security measures you are good to go.

RottenApple said:

I see where OP is coming from. He is so used to fiat and regular finances that crypto makes no sense. That's ok, even to this day I make myself some of the questions you are making, but you don't have to understand every inch of the crypto space to benefit from it.

See crypto as the internet, who owns it? No one owns the internet. There are plenty of parties involved and controlling it, but to shut down the internet ALL of them should be at one and this is nearly impossible. If your hosting company goes down, guess what, your website will go with it but the internet won't be bothered by this.

There have been crypto exchanges that vanished with people's money and tokens that did the same but the same has happened with fiat, stocks, and whole banks going bankrupt.

Unless you are Elon Musk and planning to put a trillion dollars into crypto I recommend you chill a bit. With proper risk management, research, and security measures you are good to go.

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true, but there are still places where you can trade crypto, invest in, and stake that are safer than others. Oh, and which are also decentralized and anonymous. It's just that being 100s or 1000s of such places I don't have the time and knowledge to research every single one of them. And by the time I'm done researching them all probably a few 100s more will have popped up outta nowhere and then I'll have to start all over again, and the cycle continues indefinitely. And my time on this planet is not indefinite

So, what are the safest, most anonymous, decentralized and free (or at least very cheap) places that meet my conditions: trade crypto, invest in crypto, stake crypto, acquire and monitor tokens, acquire and monitor NFTs, and which also work with the coinami wallet?