If this is your first article about BitCoins, it may too late for you to become an accidental millionaire buying low and selling high, but it's certainly not too late to learn more about how Bitcoins work--after all, much of the world (including "investors") still don't.There's no denying that Bitcoins have changed the way humans think about about money. You'll soon see that the way bitcoins work is VERY different than conventional currency.  Understanding the basic mechanics of this cryptocurrency is a great first step in taking advantage of the opportunities presented by this revolutionary system of exchanging money.  Read on, friend, there is a lot to learn!PS I don't claim to be an expert on this topic.  I do know that the resources below are some of the best I’ve found find online.  If you know of something better, leave me a note in the comments section.

Bitcoins: What Are They?

What's a bitcoin? There really isn't a one word answer.... in fact even the great Khan Academy, a website famous for it's concise and clear educational videos, found it necessary to answer the question "What is BitCoin?" in a 9 video series; each lesson is over 10 mins long!  That being said, these video explanations are a fantastic place to start.

PS If you're new to finance, and you're a dedicated self-learner, you will definitely benefit from checking out the bigger section titled Money, Finance and Central Banks.  HUGE shoutout to Khan Academy for making top-notch education free for anyone and everyone!

Here are all 9 videos:

Another great read: learn about Bitcoins in this article on FreeCodeCamp.com.

Step 2: Get Started

If you watched the videos above, you probably couldn't help but notice something.... at the time of that video recording, 1 bitcoin was about $35.  As I type this, a single 1 bitcoin is almost $50,000USD! If you're interested in how to accept bitcoins as a form of payment, check out Coinbase—it’s what I use. Feel free to drop me an email if you’d like help setting it up on you’re own site, and be sure to sign up with my link for $10 in Bitcoin just for using my link! Best of all, you can accept a huge selection of crypto currencies, even on a Squarespace site (like mine!), not just Bitcoin!

Coinbase (get $10 for using this link): coinbase.com/join/colett_61?src=ios-link

Here are some more resources on how to accept crypto payments:

https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/wallets/

https://bitpay.com/

http://www.wpbeginner.com/plugins/how-to-accept-bitcoin-payments-in-wordpress/

https://medium.freecodecamp.org/future-of-bitcoin-cc6936ba0b99

As I learn more I will continue to contribute to this article.  In the meantime, do your homework and watch/read the above videos and articles.  I'll be back soon.... -Chris