What would the best way for a beginner to get started. Beem thinking about it for a while but it seems to complicated.
First off, 85% dumps are pretty-much built in to the game. If you have diamond hands and are prepared to play a long game then great, but if the thought of seeing what you own wildly swing down in nominal value/price is likely to cause you distress or upset, then I'd say leave it all well alone.
Believe it or not, that kind of thing also happens in the real world too. I am sure that anyone who bought Amazon shares at IPO or with 3 years of launch and were still holding today would have a big smile on their face, but be aware that they would have had to live through 3 almighty price dumps during that time.
Going in and out of crypto from the physical fiat world involves allot of friction and sometimes cost too. When singing up for an exchange like say coinbase or crypto.com etc etc expect to have to go through the AML/KYC procedures just like you would have to if you are singing up for a high-street bank.
Most exchanges/custodians would rather that you kept your crypto assets with them (ie within their custody as discussed earlier in this thread). Personally I prefer to hold my stuff in a wallet/s that are under my own exclusive control.
Setting up a crypto wallet of your own is fairly simple, but can bite if you get it wrong. That said, you are far more likely to fall victim to social engineering than technical issues. Wallets (and by extension addresses) are a product of traditional private-key/public-key cryptography. The rule is simply this:
It is safe to reveal your public key/your address, but never ever ever reveal your private keys to anyone for any reason. There is never ever a legit' reason for anyone to reveal a private key to anyone. (private keys are also known as 'seed words'). Keep a record of your private keys safe and never ever keep them on any device like a computer or phone etc.
Personally I do not trade and would not recommend it to anyone. Whilst I understand the motives and desire for doing it
@loncell's and @Paloescaban's advice given above in this thread is very true. If you must trade, then take your profits from time to time and be happy that you have done so. This is true in both the fiat world and the crypto world.
For me crypto has been a remarkable journey and has taught me more about our real world and how the money and the fiat banking system actually works than I could have possibly imagined in the beginning. I guess that we all think that we 'understand money', but when you actually get into this stuff for real you get exposed to some very interesting things and possibilities for the future. I honestly believe that we are witnessing the beginnings of what will become the biggest transfer of wealth in modern history and that crypto is not just here to help out, it's here to take over,,,,,, and yes, I want my own chunk of it; I am in it for the tech' because the tech' fascinates me, but man-ohh-man I am in it for the price too. I conclude that the internet's made-up funny money is simply better stuff than the government's made-up fake funny money.
The only advice I can really give, is to do your own research, don't let the sun get in your eyes, and play the long game. Remember too that all of it is just arithmetic.
At the end of the day, the main people who get very rich in crypto, are coin creators, exchange owners (who's business model is to wreck their customers (this applies to all exchanges)), and those people who simply acquire/buy and hold for a long time. (Hold On for Dear Life - HODL).