Lindhyde5238

The best way to learn about bitcoin, is to jump in and get several in your "pocket" to obtain a feel for how they work.

Despite the hype about how exactly difficult and dangerous it might be, getting bitcoins is a lot easier and safer than you may think. In a lot of ways, it really is probably easier than opening a merchant account at a normal bank. And, given what has been happening in the bank operating system, it is probably safer too.

There are a few what to learn: getting and utilizing a software wallet, learning how exactly to receive and send money, learning how to buy bitcoin from a person or an exchange.

Preparation

Before getting started, you need to get yourself a wallet. Offline paper wallet You can certainly do this easily enough by registering with one of the exchanges that may host wallet for you. And, although I think you are going to want to have one or more exchange wallets eventually, you need to start with one on your own computer both to have a better feel for bitcoin and as the exchanges are still experimental themselves. When we get to that stage of the discussion, I am advising that you get in the habit of moving your money and coins off the exchanges or diversifying across exchanges to help keep your money safe.

What is a wallet?

It is a way to store your bitcoins. Specifically, it is software that has been made to store bitcoin. It might be run on your pc, laptop, mobile device (except, as yet, Apple) and can also be produced to store bitcoins on things like thumb drives. If you are worried about being hacked, then that is clearly a great option. Even the Winklevoss* twins, who have millions invested in bitcoin, put their investment on hard drives which they then put into a safety deposit box.

*The Winklevoss twins are the ones who originally had the theory for a social networking site that became Facebook. They hired Mark Zuckerberg who took their idea as his own and became immensely rich.

What do you have to know about having a bitcoin wallet on your pc?

Below you can download the original bitcoin wallet, or client, in Windows or Mac format. They are not just wallets, but are actually portion of the bitcoin network. They will receive, store, and send your bitcoins. You can create a number of addresses with a click (an address is a number that appears like this: 1LyFcQatbg4BvT9gGTz6VdqqHKpPn5QBuk). You will see a field where you could copy and paste lots like this from the person you would like to send money to and off it'll go directly into that person's wallet. You can also create a QR code which will let someone take a picture with an app on their phone and send you some bitcoin. It is perfectly safe to provide these out - the address and QR code are both for my donations page. Feel free to donate!

NOTE: This sort of wallet acts both as a wallet for you and as section of the bitcoin system. The reason bitcoin works is that each transaction is broadcast and recorded as a number across the entire system (meaning that every transaction is confirmed and made irreversible by the network itself). Any computer with the proper software can be part of that system, checking and supporting the network. This wallet serves as your personal wallet and also as a support for that system. Therefore, remember that it will take up 8-9 gigabytes of your computer's memory. Once you install the wallet, it will require as much as each day for the wallet to sync with the network. That is normal, does not harm your personal computer, and makes the system as a whole more secure, so it's a good idea.

Bitcoin Qt

The original wallet.

This is the full-featured wallet: create multiple addresses to receive bitcoins, send bitcoins easily, track transactions, and back up your wallet.

Outside of the time it requires to sync, this is usually a very easy to use option.

Seek out Bitcoin Qt wallet download to get their site.

Armory

Runs along with Bitcoi Qt, so that it has all of the same syncing requirements.

Armory permits you to back up, encrypt, and the ability to store your bitcoins off line.

Search for Bitcoin Armory Wallet to find their site.

If you don't want to have that much memory used or don't want to wait for your wallet to sync, there are good wallets that do not make you sync the entire history of bitcocin:

Multibit

A lightweight wallet that syncs quickly. This is good for new users.

Search for Bitcoin Multibit Wallet to find their site.

Electum

In addition to being quick and light, this wallet lets you recover lost data using a passcode.

Search for Bitcoin Electum Wallet to find their site.

After you obtain the wallet set up, take a few minutes clicking around. What to look for:

o There will be a page that shows you how many bitcoins are in your wallet. Take into account that bitcoins can be split up into smaller pieces, so you may see a decimal with a lot of zeros after it. (Interesting note, 0.00000001 is one Satoshi, named after the pseudonymous creator of bitcoin).