A big one. Not insurmountable but...like I said in the posts, it's actually a positive to people who figure it out. 99.9% of the world hasn't gotten into this stuff yet and most won't until they make it easier. By then, there will still be large gains to be had, but probably not like this. So it's worth figuring out.

As much as people bad mouth it, Coinbase is really the place to start. You can get on there fairly easily and get some money into the space. You can fund your account with US dollars or buy bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, and now bitcoin cash...although that last one is probably the root of this latest freefall so you may want to shy away from it for now.

Once you get something in there, then you can start figuring out how to take the next steps. Anything you buy in Coinbase you can leave there, especially if its a smaller amount. The "danger" is that although the blockchain itself is unhackable, Coinbase is a centralized location and thus is a bigger target for hacking. Obviously, the safeguards and security they have in place are extremely good but....just as a bank is where all the money is, it becomes a target for the treasure it holds. So, there is some risk in leaving it there. Banks are insured by the FDIC. Crypto isn't.

Wallets come next. Jaxx is a pretty good one. Myetherwallet is also supposed to be good although they've had issues with hackers phishing their web address and people sign up for fake wallets and lose their money. The site itself is good but you need to check and doublecheck that the site you're on is the real one. You should never click a link to go there. Always type it in manually until you have it set up and can bookmark it yourself. Realistically though, the best answer is to spend $75 and get a hardware wallet. The Ledger Nano S is a good one and can handle most of your coins/tokens. The nice thing about that one is that their website has a few step-by-step videos to get you set up so you'll know you're doing things right.

That's where I'd start. Seriously, if you're new and uncomfortable, take $50-$200 (whatever you're comfortable with risking) and get it into the market. Once you're in, you'll be able to gain some confidence in how things work and if you make a mistake, you're not killing yourself. As I wrote about, it took me two full months of piecing money into the market before I got everything I was willing to risk in. And I didn't put in a lot. Just $150 here, $100 there. The fees are pretty steep when you do it that way but the potential we're talking about with these things is so great those fees aren't really important until you know what you're doing.

I'm around a lot until at least after the New Year so if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Oh, and by the way, if your plan is to buy Steem and not worry about the others, then I would get Litecoin first. You can't buy Steem with dollars. You need to use one of the other currencies. Of your choices, Litecoin has the cheapest fees and transfers the quickest over here so that's the way to go.

PS. You're going to get rich off my upvotes.... :-)
PPS. Do you know how to get emojis on Steem? I've seen others use them but don't know where to get them.