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New to Bitcoin?
A Bitcoin Guide for New Users
Bitcoin is truly the currency of the future: it is not controlled by any government or interest group and is fully controlled by the community of users. Bitcoin has become a worldwide phenomenon and hundreds of businesses start accepting the currency every day. Now is the right time to start using the currency yourself. In this short guide we will explain what you need to know to start using bitcoin today!
Your Bitcoin Wallet
The first thing you need to do is open a wallet. Wallet are used to store bitcoin that you have bought or mined. There are many wallet providers, some that will require that you install a software on your computer (your bitcoin are then physically stored in your hard drive) and some that based entirely on the web. The web wallets are very convenient and it only take a few minutes to open your account. Conversely, downloading wallet software, using “cold storage” addresses and/or printed copies of the wallet are all options for storage of Bitcoin. Web-based wallets and downloadable wallets each have pros and cons. It is always recommended to store large amounts of Bitcoin in cold storage.
In any case, these wallet providers are trusted in the community and offer a high level of security:
Blockchain.info (web based)
Multibit (software)
Electrum (software)
Coinbase (web based)
Armory (software)
Using Bitcoin
Using bitcoin is incredibly easy and works almost like cash, only in an electronic form. If you want to transfer bitcoin to a person or business you need to go to your wallet and "send" bitcoin to the wallet address of the recipient. The person or business will give you the address to send the bitcoin to and you can add a message along with your bitcoin so that the recipient know exactly why he has received the bitcoin.
Businesses may require that you also send an email with the transaction ID or your own wallet address so that they can identify you as the buyer and send you your goods or services. Bitcoin transaction are nearly instant and cannot be reversed, so make sure that you are sending your bitcoin to the right address.
After a few bitcoin operations, the process will become second nature and it will feel as easy as paying in cash and easier than paying with your credit card!
What is Bitcoin
Bitcoin is a digital currency that can be used on the web or in the real world to complete financial transactions such as purchasing goods and services or transferring money to someone.
The digital money can be sent instantly over the web and is a secure and trustworthy way to transfer value from one person to another or company. the transaction fees are minimal and the transaction nearly instant. Transactions cannot be reversed.
The digital money is transferred to the recipient and the proof of the transaction is kept in a public ledger (named the “block chain”) which records all transactions made with bitcoin.
The ledger cannot be altered as it is stored on every network participants' computers so the digital money can only be transferred to one person. Double spending is impossible, because the ledger proves what account sent bitcoin to which account and this bitcoin can now only be spent or sent from the account that received it.
Bitcoin transactions are almost instantaneous and are completed when the network of user (automatically) validates the transfer and acknowledges that the bitcoin have been transferred and were transferable (not already spent).
Bitcoin wallets that can be web based or downloaded on ones computer are used for sending and receiving bitcoin.
To obtain bitcoin, the original method is to mine them which is done by dedicating computational power to the validation and tracking of bitcoin transactions in the ledger.
To validate and record the transactions, the network needs to resolve problems generated by an algorithm and the first miner to resolve the problem gets rewarded with new bitcoin that he can then spend or sell. The problems to solve are increasingly difficult so more and more computational power will be needed to resolve them.
A simpler way to obtain bitcoin is to exchange fiat currency for them which can be done in bitcoin exchanges. The value of the bitcoin has varied immensely in its history as it was mostly a medium for speculation at first but the crypto-currency is now used by many people around the world to purchase goods and services. Therefore the value of the currency has stabilized somewhat and should stabilize further as more and more businesses and people start accepting it for payment.
