yes and no just based on the stock market being open 930 am to 4pm and this being a 24 hour thing. the charts are the same tho but thats a given based on it being an investment like stocks. Bitcoin (BTC) is the main one and then theres major alts like etheruem (ETH) and smaller ones. To use BTC as an example. Its based on its value against the US Dollar (USD). Not like a stock that has a dollar value but is based on a companies revenue, profits, assets, etc. So BTC has a limited supply of 21 million I believe. People "mine" the coins and get rewarded. It was easier in the past, I never did it, but now I hear it takes complex machines and lots of electricity. So I think major companies do the mining mostly. But thats not something you have to worry about. The thing with BTC is that its still a fairly new thing so not many people or places accept it. Plus its going against the USD, which is the biggest and most important currency in the world. So the movement of the USD can have an affect on bitcoin. People are emotional creatures so things have an effect on the USD. For example, Trump tweeted something about the national guard or the protest earlier and Bitcoin shot up in value because investors saw that Trump said some major news and it affected the value of the USD, and when the USD loses value then most likely BTC goes up. As well as other alts at times. If you know how to read charts like in stocks then that is a good thing. For now, its many different factors that can affect BTC, like having more people investing and more businesses using it as a form of payment. Many people recommend something called Hodling, which is just holding but they created their own term. The common recommendation is whats called "buy the dip" which is a stock term as well. Thats buying when the price is low or gets lower. Now its over 10k right now and who knows if it'll dip back under again. As far as getting started, it depends on your thoughts and finances. Crypto is just like stocks in that you get what you put in. You can invest lets say $1000 and if it goes up 10% you then have 1100. Or you can buy an entire coin as well. Its not like stocks where you have to buy whatever the share price is or a certain amount. Whatever amount you want to put in is fine and that determines your profit and losses. Of course bankroll management and risk management is important but thats another lesson. It is a growing industry and likely to keep growing in the future so wise to have something invested in it.
but thats just me. And yeah any type of investing can be volatile anyways. It's a calculated risk that can get people decent rewards. That goes for crypto, pennies, forex, regular stocks even. And it's unique because it's a form of payment that is not a country ran currency. Nobody can regulate btc or control it. Countries can't print more of it since there's nothing to print. It's a new form of currency still gaining popularity. And it's something unique. The Fed keeps printing USD cuz of course people are in need now but the more dollars in circulation the less value they have. That's why bitcoin is unique because with only like 21 million circulating when its over, I think 18 million have been mined so far, it's not as common as the USD so it helps raise its value. Another thing is nobody knows if any currency will fail. Countries can devalue their dollar by changing interest rates. So people want something different and new. Something that isn't affected by interest rates either. 
. But I still got link at ico so I'll still get there.
