2017 year is marked by a surge in the popularity of cryptocurrencies. During the the year, all cryptocurrencies demonstrated the astonishing dynamics, characterized by an increase in value. Such events aroused great interest, many representatives of the public consider the cryptocurrency as an effective investment tool. Bitcoin holds first positions and remains the most popular cryptocurrency. Our guide will help you get started with Bitcoin.
What is Bitcoin? Why should I use Bitcoin? How do I get started with Bitcoin? How do I buy Bitcoin? You will find all answers in our guide.
Some people do not buy Bitcoin because they do not understand the blockchain technology. But you do not need to understand technology to use it. The same situation was in the time when Internet has just appeared. Nowadays, not everyone understand the Internet technology and how it works, but everyone uses Internet.
Most of experts and crypto enthusiast are sure that Bitcoin is here to stay, it is already proven that its technology is working and it is secure.
Probably you have already been thinking about Bitcoin purchase and to get started with Bitcoin but high price discouraged you? Do you think that currently Bitcoin is too expensive? But keep in mind that when the Bitcoin price was $10 or $100, most of potential investors thought the same – it is too expensive and they postponed the Bitcoin purchase.
Probably now it is the right time to stop delaying and get started with Bitcoin?
What Is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is a new generation of decentralized digital currency, created and operating only on the Internet. It is not controlled by anybody. The currency issue occurs through the work of millions of computers around the world using a program for calculating mathematical algorithms. This is the essence of bitcoin. It is easy to transfer Bitcoin like to send out email. Electronic payments occur without intermediaries (banks), therefore the commission is very small compared to bank commissions. All operations are performed directly between bitcoin users, and all this is due to decentralization, which is provided by the blockchain.
One of the advantages of Bitcoin is protection against inflation. There are no banks that can print more and more currency to decrease the value.
Why Use Bitcoin?
Probably you have already wondered many times why should you use Bitcoin instead of your bank cards or cash. There are many answers. The first cryptocurrency has many methods of using and benefits.
Fast worldwide payments. You can transfer Bitcoin around the globe and it will take you only few seconds.
Low commission fees. Сommissions for the Bitcoin transfer cost a penny compared to bank transfers.
Bitcoin is a safe system. Nobody can not fake it. It is secured by means of math and cryptography.
No third party are involved in transaction.Only you control your money.
Bitcoin is an anonymous payment network but the most transparent payment network in the world. It’s transparent because the ledger of all transactions is public.
Bitcoin network is a peer-to-peer payment network. It is decentralized.
Protection against inflation. Purchasing Bitcoin, you protect your money against inflation. Bitcoin has a limited supply to save the value of your money. There are only 21 million Bitcoins that can be mined in total.
How to Get Started
Since you have already got familiar with Bitcoin, it is time to get started with Bitcoin.
If you follow our advises, it only takes a few minutes.
There is nothing complicated about Bitcoin as many think.
It’s easier than many think with Bitcoin. But when it comes to your money you will feel secure with guidance.
Here are four steps to start using Bitcoin
Create a Bitcoin Wallet
You need to create Bitcoin wallet to receive and send bitcoins. It is very easy to create a Bitcoin wallet. But first you can be confused because there are many various types of wallets and different security. Each Bitcoin wallet contains a private key – it’s a secret code that you can use to manage your cryptocurrency. In fact, it’s not the money itself (the bitcoins) that should be stored and protected, as we are accustomed to, but private keys that confirm that you are the the owner of Bitcoins on this wallet. It means that you have to protect your private key and not show it to anyone.
We highly recommend you to buy a hardware wallet.. That is the best type of cryptocurrency wallet. It is very easy to use and very safe. Nowadays Ledger Nano S is the most popular hardware wallet on the market. Read our Ledger wallet guide to learn more.
Buy Your First Bitcoin
You can buy Bitcoin in three various ways. The most popular and usually easiest is to buy Bitcoin on a cryptocurrency exchange. The second way is when you sell a product and service and accept payment in Bitcoin.
The third way is to earn Bitcoin through mining. You have to buy and install software on your PC to verify transactions and get rewarded with Bitcoin. However, it’s not so easy to make Bitcoin with mining since it requires special knowledge and a lot of resources.
As we mentioned above the most common is to buy your first Bitcoin on a reliable and solid cryptocurrency exchange. There are hundreds exchanges on the market nowadays. We recommend you to buy your first Bitcoin on the following exchanges: Coinbase, Bitfinex, BTCC, Bitstamp.
Protect Your Bitcoins
Have you purchased your first Bitcoin? Congratulations! Now you are member of cryptocurrency community and financial world of Future!
The next step you need to do is to protect your Bitcoin by taking control of your private keys. When you purchase Bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchange, your money (or private key) is stored in your account at the exchange. This is dangerous as the exchange stores and controls your crypto asset. The whole target of Bitcoin is to manage and protect your own money. If you store your Bitcoin on cryptocurrency exchange, your account may be restricted or blocked. Anything can happen with exchange in future – it may go bankrupt or even can be hacked and you can lose your money.
To protect your Bitcoin, you should transfer it from the exchange to a secure Bitcoin wallet. We strongly recommend you to transfer your cryptocurrency to a secure hardware wallet.
Send and Receive Bitcoin
To receive Bitcoin, you only need to give the sender your public Bitcoin address. It consists of a code between 27-34 letters and digits. Bitcoin address can look like this: 1BvBMSEYstWetqTFn5Au4m4GFg7xJaNVN2
Your private key looks almost the same but it is shorter. Never ever share your private key with anyone! Most wallets create QR codes of the keys, to make it easier to send and receive cryptocurrency.
Nowadays there are a lot of shops and services that accept payment in Bitcoin.
To pay anyone or send Bitcoin is very easy. You need to make only few steps:
Open your wallet and visit “Send” page
Fill in the recipient’s public Bitcoin address. Also you can scan the QR code
Fill in an amount you are planning to send
Check the address and amount to be sure that there are no any mistakes
Press Send
Bitcoin transaction normally is done directly, but it may take a few minutes. If you send a large sum of money, you should wait for at least 6 confirmations to be sure that the transaction is not canceled. Please, do not forget! After confirmation, the transaction can not be canceled or refunded. Under no circumstances. No one can interfere in the process – neither you, nor your bank, nor recipient. No one. If you send money, you send it. That’s final. If you sent your money to a fraudster or a hacker stole them from your computer – no one will help you.
If you follow our advices, you will get started with Bitcoin without any problems. I hope you found our guidelines helpful.
