BITCOIN (BTC) - GUIDE
WHAT IS BITCOIN?
Bitcoin is a digital currency that is not controlled by central authorities or banks. Bitcoin is completely decentralized. Users can regard it as cash on the Internet. Bitcoins, unlike dollars and euros, exist only in electronic form, are created by people and organizations managing computers around the world, using software that solves mathematical problems. Any user who has a computer/smartphone and Internet access is able to use it. In addition, bitcoins represent a cryptocurrency - a new category of money that is gaining popularity. There are many useful articles about Bitcoin that you might want to read before you start with Bitcoin. Here you can relevant details about it: bitcoin.org/en/faq
WHY SHOULD I SELECT A BITCOIN?
Bitcoin has a minimum of 5 significant advantages:
• You remain anonymous! Any wallet can have as many addresses as possible to receive and send bitcoins. Your personal information is in no way connected with them! Account verification may be required for Bitcoin Exchanges (places where you can buy bitcoins for fiat (USD, EURO, etc.), but it is not obligatory for your personal wallet/wallets. Your bitcoin wallet is linked to your account if you buy bitcoin in Coinbase. But information about the place and purpose of sending bitcoin will not be known. In order to improve the security level, you can use temporary intermediate wallets.
• When paying with bitcoin, you have the opportunity to shorten the delivery time of the order for 1-2 days, since Western Union and Money Gram sometimes take up to 48 hours to receive payment confirmation.
• Availability 24/7/365. No more problems or inconveniences for users. Since with bitcoin you do not need to visit banks or official representations, you have the opportunity to send the transfer at any time, regardless of the time of the day, days of the week, calendar holidays, etc. All you need is the Internet connection and computer/smartphone that payment will be made from.
HOW AND WHERE CAN I GET BITCOINS?
A lot of exchanges on the Internet provide you with a possibility to buy bitcoins for USD, EURO or your local currency through the convenient payment methods (Visa \ MasterCard, etc.). Further, you can see the most well-known exchanges that you can trust.Please note! User verification will be required by that majority of the resources below before buying bitcoins according to KYC/AML regulations (Know Your Customer/Anti Money Laundering). This procedure is formal and is carried out just once (when creating an account). As mentioned earlier, exchanges are aware that you are purchasing bitcoins, but do not have available information about where and why you are transferring them. Our store constantly provides customers with various addresses to send bitcoin.
Coinbase is one of the most famous exchanges on the Internet. You have the opportunity to buy bitcoins using a debit card and several online wallets. It is often used by American, Canadian and European users. This exchange attracted more than 4,800,000 users, as well as 45,000 merchants, and 9000 developer apps. You can find more detailed instructions at coinbase.com.
LocalBitcoins is one of the first and most famous exchanges. Users often compare it to eBay because it is a p2p (person to person) platform. Bidding approaches in this case since sellers and buyers agree on all the trading details themselves before the transaction is made. You can buy bitcoins without any ID on LocalBitcoins, purchase it cash using cash deposit or during a personal meeting using just cash. This site is used in 13924 cities and 248 countries. Escrow and dispute resolution are provided on the website.
LibertyX service gives you the opportunity to directly buy a bitcoin in more than 19,000 US local stores. All you need is to go to the link - libertyx.com or download a mobile app for IOS or Android in order to find the nearby store
"Wall of coins" is an exchange widely used by the USA, Canada, Germany, Argentina, Latvia, Poland and the Philippines. The phone number is intended for using the services of the site but not for any verification. This is a peer-to-peer cash exchange that does not require any ID. Simply visit the website wallofcoins.com and click the "Buy Bitcoins" button.
A simple and easy-to-use website that allows bitcoin purchases using debit/credit cards, cash deposits, online transfers or gift cards. You can find a video tutorial on the website.
Bitquick.co is one of the easiest online services available where you can buy bitcoins using your money in cash.
CoinMama is a service where you are able to buy bitcoins using your credit card. No checkup at your first 150$ purchases is required.
BITPANDA is the most popular site in Europe that allows you to purchase and sell out bitcoins using Visa, MasterCard, SofortUeberweisung, etc.
Bitit is an online exchange service that is well-known for European users. With Bitit you are able to buy bitcoins using your 3D secure credit or debit card. The operation takes about 10 minutes. Moreover, it allows you to purchase with cash money in more than 150K+ local Stores applying Neosurf, Flexepin or Cashlib vouchers. No ID is required for the first 25-euro worth purchases.
Bitcoin ATMs are similar in their principle to conventional ATMs. The only difference is that this type of ATM does not issue currency, but transfers your money on your online wallet as soon as you insert the cash. There are a lot of ATMs created by different companies. For this reason, depending on the ATM you choose, you will have to go through a check-up by providing a picture of your ID, confirmation via phone number and other kinds of confirmations, or use its services without any verifications. Coin ATM Radar has information about bitcoin ATMs all around the world. You can also use it to find out if the nearby ATM requires any kind of verification.
Also, you have the opportunity to pay directly to us by indicating there our bitcoin address (that you get at the checkout). In that case, you are not obliged to create a bitcoin wallet.
HOW CAN I TRANSFER/RECEIVE BITCOINS?
Your bitcoins are collected in your wallet software available for almost all operating systems. However, you should be careful with all the info provided. In case you miss or eliminate your wallet-file and don`t have any backup or recovery info you will lose your money. The full list of official wallets for all platforms can find here: bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet.
There are 2 types of wallets created for Windows: full and lightweight.
Full wallets save the full information about the transactions from the moment of the bitcoin appearance. It is called blockchain, and it inquires over 100 GB of your disk space and some hours for full synchronization but only during the first launch. Bitcoin core is the most used wallet among this type, also official and secure client. So, now it doesn't reveal any info like IP-address after the security development.
The lightweight wallet is the most appropriate choice for the majority of the users because it does not download entire blockchain to your PC as they attach to distant servers, which save the full copy of blockchain.
Electrum (electrum.org) is of the most well-known lightweight bitcoin wallets.
Bitcoin wallets create unique addresses that seem like a line of letters and numbers. For instance: 1KWbS9ttrwK1sEuZLUeL6ifp1MtL5wA1nT. (Do not transfer bitcoins to this address as it is just an example)
You will have the possibility to generate numerous similar addresses after installing the software of the wallet.
NOTE: When you download and launch a lightweight wallet app the first time, so-called seed phase that consists of 12 or more words will be provided to you.
The main interface of Electrum is provided in the following screenshot:
This is done for the reason that in case of damage of your wallet data by a virus or a breakdown of the computer, you were able to restore all your bitcoins on another PC or mobile device. This is a key phrase that should be written somewhere in a safe place and saved for emergency recovery of wallet files.
It is strongly recommended generating a new address for a separate payment as it increases your security.
All online wallets are of the same type and therefore have a similar interface. In order to get your bitcoins (e.g. bitcoin exchange), you need to create a new address and click on the “Receive” button (in some cases there will be “Request payment” button), as shown in the picture.
In order to receive bitcoins to the certain address, you need to copy it to the clipboard and then provide it to your bitcoin exchange.
As soon as you got bitcoins on your online wallet you will have the ability to transfer them to anyone and anywhere by pressing the "Send" button.
Here are only 3 fields that you have to fill in:
Pay to - here you put the address of who you want to send bitcoins to. If you choose bitcoin as a payment method for purchases in our store, you need to insert the address received at the checkout here.
Label - this field is not mandatory. You can leave it blank. It`s just a notice for you what you paid for.
Amount - here is replaced the number of bitcoins you are transferring.
NOTE: Electrum displays your bitcoin balance in mbtc by default, which is 1/1000 of bitcoin. You should enter click on Tools – Preferences – Appearance and choose BTC in the “Base unit” field in order to change the appearance.
You can always check the official bitcoin/USD ratio here: blockchain.info/charts/market-price
Don’t forget about the fact that all the exchanges have their certain Bitcoin-USD ratio.
Also, you can see the actual ratio taken from blockchain.info in the BTC-USD calculator placed on our website.
As you understand, bitcoin has many advantages:
• You are the sole owner of your bitcoins and therefore no one has the right to block your account.
• It is more secure and anonymous than PayPal or credit cards.
• Orders that you paid with bitcoins are delivered much faster than paid with WU / MG.
If you still have some additional questions, we’ll be glad to answer them all. So, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.
Best regards,
OSGEAR