How to invest in bitcoin
Many of those who bought bitcoins years ago are millionaires. It is actually a large group of early investors that found themselves to have the equivalent of millions of dollars… almost overnight. Disclaimer: I'm an old school italian and do not believe buying and selling stocks is a "proper" investment. I believe "playing" is the most appropriate term when it comes to buying and selling shares. It's a gamble, you have absolutely no control over what is going to happen. Not to mention the huge bubble it's going through, even worse odds than going to Vegas! If you believe the stock market is to be intended as an investmens, I'll gladly tell you how to invest in bitcoin. :) Spoiler alert: the key to investing in bitcoin is to buying bitcoins. Actually, that's pretty much everything you need to do. To do so, you need to find an intermediary and transfer the money. After a few days you will see the number of bit coins you purchased appear on your dashboard. All jokes aside, picking a good intermediary is very important. There are many scam sites out there just waiting for your money. I personally recommend Coinbase, but unfortunately only works with a US bank account. The exchange rate bitcoin/USD on Coinbase is slightly worse than on other websites but I believe it comes with higher security and ease of use, which is crucial for newbies. They have raised over six million dollars from investors. It is a website you can trust. Alternatively, You can find a comprehensive list of available bitcoin operators here.
The cool thing about Coinbase is that it also offers (free) a whole "merchant" section. Here you can set up payment button, donation system, subscribers etc, just like you would on paypal. Only difference it's in bitcoin, and no fees! See the button to the right? I made it using Coinbase's button creator in less than one minute.
The complete process is very straightforward: signup, link you bank account, verify it and then buy. I really encourage you to buy (ehm, I mean invest) even just $10 in bitcoins. It will make you feel good, empowered and in-the-know… :) Who knows, perhaps in a year we'll meet and you will tell me how this one time you read a blog post that told you to buy bitcoins and now you are a millionaire. It could happen… Check it out!
The tempting fact is that bitcoin is not mainstream (yet) therefore it can still grow: both the US mass population (i.e. non tech-savvy) and other large asian countries (following China) still need to make their move so you're still among the early adopters (although it's currently at 1BTC=$1000).
If you already bought some bitcoins to try it, and are now considering making a more substantial purchase, you might want to read more about how to assess its future here or also peek at the rationale of why other people did it.
From an economical point of view, bitcoin enthusiasts believe that it will end inflation due to its finite amount and that it can't be lost/destroyed.
The key take-away here is that regardless of whether we are in a bitcoin bubble, the concept of an online "new" currency is here to stay.