GETTING STARTED WITH BITCOIN



Bitcoin is the world’s leading digital currency and continues to grow as people learn about its breakthrough potential as a peer-to-peer digital payment system. For a refresher, you need to know what Bitcoin is, check out the Beginner's Guide Post —a collection of essential Bitcoin information and guides.
Here are three steps to help you get started using Bitcoin right now:

Step 1: Download a Bitcoin Wallet


A Bitcoin wallet is an app or program that allows you send and receive bitcoin. Wallets also keep track of your bitcoin balance which is held in one or more bitcoin addresses. Generally, wallets also have a feature that keeps a history of your bitcoin transactions.
There are many different wallets across various platforms. One of the most common is BLOCKCHAIN wallet. Read how to create your BLOCKCHAIN wallet here.

Step 2: Add Bitcoin to Your Wallet


Now that you have a wallet, you probably want to add some bitcoin to your balance. There are quite a number of platforms where you can purchase Bitcoin, such as luno.com, localbitcoins.com and paxful.com.
Keep your private key(s) private and never share with anyone. It is very important to backup your wallet’s private key and any other credentials for offline storage. Failing to backup could result in the loss of your Bitcoin holdings if you should ever lose the device on which the wallet is installed.

Step 3: Using a Bitcoin Wallet to Send and Receive Bitcoin


Receiving bitcoin is as easy as giving the sender your public address. Sending bitcoin requires a few more steps and since bitcoin transactions are irreversible, it is important to pay attention when sending. Overall, the process for sending bitcoin is actually quite easy:

  1. Copy the receiver’s public Bitcoin address (or scan QR code)
  2. Open your wallet and navigate to its “Send” feature,  paste the receiver’s address into the appropriate field
  3. Specify the amount you want to send 
  4. Confirm that the address and amount are both correct
  5. Send
Bitcoin is accepted by thousands of individuals, websites, and brick-and-mortar businesses around the world.
Now you have the basics but there is always more to learn. Bitcoin is a tool that is only as useful as your ability to hold and spend it properly. 

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