Crypto Economy · April 29, 2022

Beginner’s Guide to Buying Altcoins

“How do you buy zcash?”, my friend asked over the holidays. After a muddled attempt to explain Bittrex, and Poloniex I realized that I didn’t know how to purchase zcash. I have been using bitcoin for over six months, but have not ventured  into the world of altcoins. This had to change!

Altcoins are everything but bitcoins. Altcoins don’t have the same valuation of bitcoins, but they are extremely important in the cryptocurrency space. Altcoins are where many of the innovation is happening. Bitcoins are primarily used to virtually move and store value in a distributed fashion.

Moving and storing virtual currency is cool, but there is so much more to the world of cryptocurrencies. Coins like ether can power smart contracts, which are automated agreements. Lawyers and clients may one day be able to write up legal documents that are executed by code. Coins like zcash were built to be completely untraceable, unlike bitcoin. Thanks to zcash, it is possible to discretely transfer money without leaving a trail of trackable data.

So, what is the most user-friendly way to get your hands on these awesome altcoins? Shapeshift!


What is ShapeShift?

ShapeShift is a cryptocurrency exchange. The beauty of ShapeShift is that you can purchase cryptocurrency without signing up. It is quite convenient. Exchanges are key if you want to gain access to cryptocoins that are more exotic than bitcoin!

Sold? Ready to get a hold of the “new, new, money”? Below is a handy tutorial on how you can get started trading cryptocurrencies!