Security for Bitcoin users comes in various flavors, the most important ones:(1) Are Bitcoins fraud-resistant? Yes, Bitcoins are based on complex mathematical theorems that prohibit manipulation of coins in any way (i.e. change the value of a coin to an arbitrary amount).(2) Are transactions save? Bitcoin transactions don’t happen instantaneously. The transaction is verified by the peer-to-peer network of Bitcoin users, in a best-effort analysis. If there are multiple positive confirmations (many more than negative ones) from the network, the likelihood of a valid transaction is very high. The down-side is that therefore the transaction can take a few minutes.(3) Erroneous transaction? If you send Bitcoins to someone and want them back, they’re gone. So, Bitcoin transactions are not reversible (obviously if the receiver sends the money back you’re ok). But keep in mind: If you send money you better make sure that the address is correct.(4) Is my wallet save? Ah yes, just as in real live you absolutely have to take care of your wallet. What a wallet is and various implementations (yes, a wallet is a piece of software) is covered below.(5) Do shops scam? There are many trusted shops, some of them will be discussed below. Again as in real life, there are evildoers out there to get your money! Select carefully, check their ratings and you will do just fine.(6) Last but not least, are transactions anonymous? Bitcoin increases the anonymity of traditional payment systems manifold. Whereas traditional payments over
