How to use Bitcoin

esuhl · 7 February 2018 at 12:22AM

I'm fascinated with cryptocurrencies (and computing in general), and (just for fun) I want to try to buy a token amount of Bitcoin.

So... how do you buy Bitcoin? How safe is this process? Do exchanges/vendors differ much in what they charge? Are some more/less regulated or reputable than others?

Then... how do wallets work? How do you keep your Bitcoin in safe offline storage, and then how do take them out of your offline wallet to spend them? How do you trust the wallet software to not contain malware (or to be vulnerable to malware)?

And what's the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash? And what's Bitcoin core?!

Sorry if these are silly questions -- I've seen so much about the technicalities of the Blockchain, and investment advice, which I'm not really interested in, yet very little on how people actually use this thing.

debitcardmayhem · 7 February 2018 at 12:40AM

Buy dollars , hang on to them for 3 months , then sell them. Then buy 3000 copies of windows 11 and 3000 iPhoneXIXs then go lie down in a quiet dark room. Come on esuhl it doesn't exist, sell your gold fillings and the scrapings from you gold plated hi-fi leads you don't need. Sell Apple shares(at $163) and buy shares in undertakers (or Bank of America at $31) and for good advice put 500 quid on the favourite in the second race at Fakenham tomorow

esuhl · 7 February 2018 at 12:45AM

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

Buy dollars , hang on to them for 3 months , then sell them. Then buy 3000 copies of windows 11 and 3000 iPhoneXIXs then go lie down in a quiet dark room. Come on esuhl it doesn't exist, sell your gold fillings and the scrapings from you gold plated hi-fi leads you don't need. Sell Apple shares and buy shares in undertakers and for good advice put 500 quid on the favourite in the second race at Fakenham tomorow

Crikey! Sounds like you need a lie down!

forgotmyname · 7 February 2018 at 1:17AM

esuhl wrote: »

I'm fascinated with cryptocurrencies (and computing in general), and (just for fun) I want to try to buy a token amount of Bitcoin.

So... how do you buy Bitcoin? How safe is this process? Do exchanges/vendors differ much in what they charge? Are some more/less regulated or reputable than others?

Then... how do wallets work? How do you keep your Bitcoin in safe offline storage, and then how do take them out of your offline wallet to spend them? How do you trust the wallet software to not contain malware (or to be vulnerable to malware)?

And what's the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash? And what's Bitcoin core?!

Sorry if these are silly questions -- I've seen so much about the technicalities of the Blockchain, and investment advice, which I'm not really interested in, yet very little on how people actually use this thing.

Best way to use it is scam someone and insist they pay by bitcoin. You wont care if the price goes up or down its free money anyway.

Unlike trading in real currencies the price fluctuates wildly. Spend £500 tomorrow morning and before you goto bed it maybe worth £300.

Yes charges vary, and yes exchanges do get hacked and have them stolen. You only really get to hear about the large hacks worth millions though. Lots of smaller ones happen where just a few individuals lose their money and your far less likely to hear about those.

How to get a hardware wallet, buy one.

Bitcoin, cash etc etc just alternative coins, think of them as being different currencies. The price of those may vary wildly also and may or may not match the bitcoin price.

Want to get into bitcoin start your own. Plenty of stuff out there you just pick a name and start your own coin.

I wonder if scam coin exists?

esuhl · 7 February 2018 at 1:34AM

To clarify, I'm NOT interested in investment or spending money. I just want to understand more about Bitcoin.

Also, I'm curious about how something like Ethereum apps might be used in future by national banks to create a nationally-backed cryptocurrency... and for what other purposes blockchains could be used.

And I'm interested in politics, and how governments should approach tax evasion, tax avoidance, and the implications of cryptocurrencies on the future of society. If cryptocurrencies allow the rich to avoid taxes, for North Korean hackers to somehow extract hard currency, and for criminals and warlords to engage in illegal trade, then... I just feel like I should educate myself on this potentially disruptive threat.

But you've got to start somewhere, and I have a "hands on" learning style. So, if I can buy £10-worth of Bitcoin and have a play (without instantly losing it and learning nothing, or having my bank details or PC compromised) then I'll feel like I've learnt something.

If it's not even necessary to buy any Bitcoin and I can just install the software on my PC, and have a look at online exchanges or whatever, even better. I have Linux and Windows 7 on my PC and Android on my phone.

Any tips?

esuhl · 7 February 2018 at 2:03AM

forgotmyname wrote: »

Yes charges vary, and yes exchanges do get hacked and have them stolen. You only really get to hear about the large hacks worth millions though. Lots of smaller ones happen where just a few individuals lose their money and your far less likely to hear about those.

Sorry again for the silly question, but... how does that affect people using the exchange? Are the only people affected those who had "live wallets"

Is there any way to assess an exchange's credentials -- whether they are legally registered and licensed businesses, whether they have "adequate" security measures in place... or is it literally the "Wild West"? If so... what makes it attractive to anyone other than criminals who want to launder money?!

forgotmyname wrote: »

How to get a hardware wallet, buy one.

So... these are dedicated Bitcoin USB devices...? How do they differ from, say, a normal USB stick with a text file containing your private key? Could you simply avoid using a hardware wallet by writing your keys down on paper?

forgotmyname wrote: »

Bitcoin, cash etc etc just alternative coins...

But... What are the merits of Bitcoin vs. Bitcoin Cash? Why does Bitcoin get all the media attention, rather than Bitcoin Cash?

forgotmyname wrote: »

Want to get into bitcoin start your own. Plenty of stuff out there you just pick a name and start your own coin.

I wonder if scam coin exists?

Is it that easy?! Could I create my own ScamCoin and mine it myself to learn about cryptocurrencies? Could I create multiple accounts and sell it to myself?! That actually sounds like a fun project!

forgotmyname · 7 February 2018 at 3:11AM

Bitcoin gets the media because it was one of the early ones that grew and even though values plummeted they still kept it going where plenty have died and long gone with no payouts.

How does the hack affect the end user, your moneys gone if they decide not to compensate you. Not regulated so tough luck if they decide to do that. If they are reputable then the bad publicity may entice them, but if they dont its gone.

The code is freely available to start your own coin.

Hardware wallet the data is stored in a protected area. Not 100% but safer than online.

Merits of Bitcoin vs cash. Depends on the price you buy and whether it goes up or down in value.

Scamcoins... http://altcoins.com/scamcoins

forgotmyname · 7 February 2018 at 3:15AM

Its like the people on dragons den, spend £100 starting up a company and want £100,000 for a 10% share. So a £100 company is worth £1 million?

Same with a scamcoin, you can say 1 scamcoin = 1 million $ or 1 million bitcoins. But its getting someone to actually buy one or a part of one, then the process starts.

VoucherMan · 7 February 2018 at 7:44AM

esuhl wrote: »

To clarify, I'm NOT interested in investment or spending money. I just want to understand more about Bitcoin.

If it's not even necessary to buy any Bitcoin and I can just install the software on my PC, and have a look at online exchanges or whatever, even better. I have Linux and Windows 7 on my PC and Android on my phone.

Any tips?

https://bitcointalk.org/ if you've a lot of free time.
https://www.blockchain.com/ has plenty of stats
https://electrum.org/#home is a popular software wallet.

How to use Bitcoin

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