Crypto-currency Exchange: It's harder than you might think

Since 2014 I've been mining Scrypt coins on various machines; from USB Dual Miner up to AntMiner L3+. I was very much into mining all sorts of coins on Mining Pool, MultiPool, Prohasing, Clevermining, even on small-time mining operations of obscure coins.  I was very excited about the awesome possibility that some day the millions DOGE (or whatever) that I had would be very valuable.  While a million DOGE at the time of this article is actually worth above $6,000, it is not worth millions (like a million LITE coin would be).

The trouble is not in the value, but in the exchange.

As an example, someone might have an incredibly valuable object or property, but it is only valuable if there is a market for the item(s).  No market, no value; no matter how much one might value it personally.

The Good

Fortunately there are many markets for Cryptocurrency, but not all exchanges trade every coin.  And even within exchanges, not all coins are transferable.  For example, using YoBit Exchange, one cannot trade AERON coin, it is only trade-able on Binance Exchange.  Or if one is trading on Bittrex, one cannot exchange CARBON coin for anything.  Bittrex Exchange only exchanges between BITCOIN and other coins. Another example; one cannot exchange ETHEREUM for LITE coin on Bittrex. 

The Bad

Unfortunately, not all exchanges are active and even within those that are active there is still a fee to be paid for both transfers and trades.  What's more, if no one is willing to buy for the price that is desired, the coins will not sell at all.  Just because there is an exchange offered, like CARBON to NYC coin, doesn't necessarily mean that anyone is interested in acting on it.

I appreciate that the exchanges allow for all the same basic trading features as typical stock markets.  For example; Limit, Max, Market and Good-Til-Cancelled are all standards with most markets.   If one wishes to sell or buy a coin for a particular price that is not currently available, the market will support the option.  It might very well be a while until that coin sells or can be purchased, but at least one does not have to wait around in real-time for the opportunity.

Thousands of Coins

There are so many coins available, it is difficult to track them all and their current price.  Also, no one knows that future, so it's all speculative about what will be worth more or less in the future.  I've looked through the entire list, and have traded some obscure coins.  But I do not enjoy the arduous process of attempting to estimate the market.  It is a massive mire that could very well occupy all one's precious time. 

My Advice... Stick to less than 5 coins or at least setup a trade to convert regularly to something that is a bit more stable (even if it's USD)