Ask HN: I have $ 1k and don't know much about Bitcoin. How do I get started?

Apologies if this sort of information is redundant, but if you're just looking for an understanding of how it all works, this article helped me quite a bit https://www.igvita.com/2014/05/05/minimum-viable-block-chain...

Not an interesting pointer, but a warning:

Don't invest more than you can afford to lose

Every inversion has risk and benefits. Be sure that if there is a problem and you lose all your inversion you are going to be fine.

If you're in the US, coinbase.com is a good, safe option.