OP, the most important question is whether you have lost significant sums of money in the past, and what was your reaction. Making money in crypto is not so much about tech right now as it is human psychology.
I started putting small amounts of money 2 months ago, just $100, then another $100, then another $200... Made some trades, Ethereum also rose by itself, and over 2 weeks $1000 became $1600.
Then I went all in shorting LTC when it pumped, and lost $700 in a blink.
I've made a lot of stupid purchases in my life. Wasted thousands here and there buying shit I didn't really want or didn't feel like returning. But none of that felt as bad as watching my money disappear into thin air because I made a stupid choice. Felt like crap for a few hours after that... Then decided to never margin trade again, and just invest with caution.
At this point I put $6,000 in crypto, and my crypto assets are valued at $15,000. Got more money in the bank, but I'm fine leaving it there. There's Veeky Forums newfags who popped up literally 3 days ago and made much more riding the BCN, DGB and REDD pumps at the right time. There's also professional traders who make millions in the actual stock market, or billionaires who earn dozens of millions, hundreds of millions in passive income. There's always someone who's going to be luckier than you, who's going to be more ballsy and make more as a reward. Know your profile. Invest what you can afford to lose, psychologically. Buying at an ATH isn't so bad if you believe it has momentum, but don't go all in.
Get your feet wet with half a thousand to a thousand... Buy some ETH, play with it, transfer some to an exchange, a wallet, get familiar with the technology, the community, the bullshit and the actual value. Ramp it up over time. Once you feel informed, then comes the point when you can buy REP. It's going to moon this summer, screencap this.