Bitcoin Forum

I really want to buy Bitcoins, but i don´t feel safe doing it. I´ve been reading a lot in the past months, but still feeling unsafe to buy. I would like to know if you guys could give me a step by step on how to buy it, how it works, how safe it is, what would be a safe way to buy and store it and so on. Thanks in advance for any help!

Go for a big exchange, e.g. one of those listed here -> https://bitcoinwisdom.com/
register, validate, transfer your local currency, buy bitcoin.

http://m.wikihow.com/Buy-Bitcoins

Look here to buy (one of most trusted exchangers):

www.bitstamp.net

..and here to securely store your btc on your phone (remember to backup):

https://mycelium.com/phone/index.html

Welcome :)

I'm not sure what "unsafe to buy" means for you .
You didn't mention a lot of stuff (like payment methods you are willing to use to pay etc ...) but I will list few trusted exchange that you shouldn't be afraid using them : Coinbase , Bitstamp , BTC-E (under ddos lately but legit) , Kraken , Virwox.com etc...

the way it works , it's pretty simple : you will get the BTC into the exchange address then you withdraw and have them into your Bitcoin wallet .
If you are not buying big amounts then I suggest Desktop wallets like (Electrum , Multibit HD , Bitcoin Core) (free), otherwise you should use Hardware wallets because they are much safer  (Trezor , Ledger etc ... ) but they are paid of course .

Remember to never store your coins on an exchanger, no matter how much it is trusted. Bitcoin veterans learnt this at their expenses....

If you want max security you can print a paper wallet for free using this site (download it and execute offline if u are full paranoid): https://www.bitaddress.org/bitaddress.org-v3.1.0-SHA256-c3d4d8da8fc6980435a520dff562b7f831b2f6037ec2d4dd6bf76c5321873303.html

It is the most easy thing to do. And the safest one. Bitcoin always go there when is sent. There are to many ways to realize your wish. I am giving my three year experience to you with only few steps; very simple steps. Then naturally you can do what you think. First you need a wallet to store your bitcoin. I use for almost three years Coinbase. For me a fantastic wallet. You can register spending not more than 2-3 minutes (including 2 step verification which make you 100% sure that only you can enter there). Coinbase has to many advantages which you can read yourself if will go at their site. I can name only one which affect direct your bitcoins. You don't pay any kind of fee when send bitcoins. Then you need bitcoin. May be several ways to have some but the most easy thing to do, is to buy some. If chose this way, I suggest cex.io to buy. Can be bought within 3-4 minutes and send in your wallet within 1-2 minutes. You will need more time only the first bought during which needed to make some verifications. Then from the second one you will have the above mentioned by me times. So you need to open an account in cex.io, deposit money from your credit card and buy bitcoin. Everything is very clear if you enter in your account at cex.io. After the bought you can withdraw those and within seconds they will be at your wallet. End of story.

Probably the safest and trusted way you will find to buy them is through a Bitcoin ATM. If you have on in your vacinities you should try it out. check coinmap.org to find them.

Or you might just try to buy them at Localbitcoin

If you do not feel safe doing something you should not do it. Take your time and learn about bitcoin until you understand how it works. Bitcoin.org (https://bitcoin.org/en/) is a good start read the whole website (no cheating:)

The easy way to buy Bitcoin with 100% security is to buy them from a friend. Or, as mentioned before going to a Bitcoin ATM could be the best solution.

Let us know what country you're in. That has a large bearing on how easy it'll be to obtain coins. Certain countries will be a breeze, others will be harder.

First step would be to download a wallet on a virus free computer.

Next, encrypt the wallet with a strong random password, preferably created by a password manager such as keepass.

Then you can go to a preferred exchange, buy the coins and send them to your wallet.

If it all feels difficult, gather some dust through faucets and practice sending and storing coins with what you get from there.

That's a nice strategy. Although, for starters, I would recommend online wallets (for didactic purposes), so you don't have to go through all the wallet installation pain.

i suggest you buy bitcoin in small amounts, if you are still in doubt with bitcoin transaction security, and I think it should be and buy local bitcoin bitcoin to the seller, instead of buying from the exchange or market.

coinbase.com is the wallet i use and you can buy bitcoins there with your visa card if u want cant get easier than that :D

Depends on how much you want to buy.For a large amount,go to any reliable bitcoin exchange and create a buy order.If you want to buy in small quantity,you can buy it on this forum from some reliable seller as you can get cheaper than market rate but remember to use escrow if you dont want ti run into trouble

I will second this.  Mycelium has been great on my Samsung, though I've never used bitstamp.  Coinbase is a good exchange if you're not a gambler. 

Be very careful around here.  It's best to trust no one until you get to know who's who.  Scammers are everywhere.

It depends on how much you want to buy

By doing just a little research you can look up some of the most used exchanges

Coinbase is where I started, and it is pretty safe and simple to pick up. I believe it is the largest.

I don't keep coin there however and the limit is getting old...

The security of exchanges and wallets has improved over the years and nothing ventured nothing gained.  Fear is not something to operate on, good decisions usually don't come from it.  Start with a small amount and go to a big trusted wallet like Coinbase or others suggested on this forum.

There are trade-offs on all the methods mentioned. Here are a few that I have used:

Bitstamp.net: I first used this to buy US$300 worth.
Issue: Since I'm not in Europe, I had to send the money by wire transfer, which was trouble filling out the paperwork at the bank, and involved a significant wire transfer fee.

LocalBitcoins.com, for cash: Not bad, but sometimes it's hard finding a meeting place.
Pro: You get to meet new people who are also interested in Bitcoin.
Con: If you're not located near another LocalBitcoin user, you can't use this.

LocalBitcoins.com, cash deposit: In this case, you deposit cash to a certain bank account, or send cash through a service such as Western Union.
Issue: Again, the money transfer fee.

Coinbase: I thought I found the perfect way to buy bitcoin, and I did purchase some, but then they started asking for my government-issued ID, which I refused because I am worried about identity theft. Because of that, they refused to allow me to deposit any more US$ to my coinbase account, making it useless.

Circle: This will be my next attempt to buy bitcoin. I registered last November, but there is a problem linking my Circle account to my credit union. I was too busy during the Christmas holiday to resolve this issue with my credit union, but I'll try again this month.

Summary: At the moment, I'd like to buy more bitcoin, but it's not as easy as walking into a Forex office.

Thanks for all your help guys! Let´s see if i got it...
Basically, you use a link as yout bitcoin "account", wich is called wallet. Than someone or some company send bitcoins to your wallet after you pay them. Thank the amount of bitcoins you bought will be there. The wallet can be online, software and can be stored offline in a hd or pen drive.
I would like to buy $25k. What would be the best way to buy it? In my country its forbiden to buy bitcoins via credit card, so the only way is buying from someone. All the seller that i checked on localbitcoins only sells small amounts. It seems the best option of wallet for me would be a hardware wallet that i could put in a safe lock, is that correct? What guarantees i have that the money will be in my wallet/link in the future? I won´t ask about nodes and mining because i know it would make another topic...
I basically want to buy $25k in the safest way possible and store it for the future.

Honestly dude, you gotta do some research before you buy an amount like that. Learn about Bitcoin, how it works, etc.

It takes time and effort. I was a newbie too once...and it can be hard to wrap your head around Bitcoin at first, but I've been there done that.

I would advise you to go on a website like Bitstamp or Bitfinex to buy. They are reputable and safe. Bitfinex has the lowest fees FYI.

The advice given here is great and I don't want to detract from that. But, if you're looking for a step by step way to get started, check out the tutorials on my website (https://incorporatingbitcoin.com). They're designed to get you up and running as quickly and efficiently as possible.

25k is a pretty big amount of money! What is your country?
Storage shouldn't be a big problem, but you need to find some reliable source to buy btc, and if you can't use exchangers  (they need a wire transfer, not credit card) it would be hard...

I use Bitstamp quite often. No issues whatsoever, great service, recommended. However, since u re a newbie, I suggest to try with a small amount first, $100 for example. Once you figure out the system, you can continue.

So the money would be tied to the link, right? One thing i don´t get is, why can´t i transfer the information from one computer/hard disk to another? I mean, if i have a software wallet, and put some bitcoins there, can i copy this wallet to another computer? How is the money/bitcoins tied to a wallet?

Resgister at coinbase, then verify your ID and make a transfer (SEPA) to coinbase account (follow the instructions in the site, it is quite simple). Then, inside your account you can exchange your $$ for Bitcoin.

Once you have your Bitcoins in your coinbase account, you can install a local wallet and send the Bitcoins to it for more security. For example you can try multibit hd (just google it, download and install it). Encrypt your wallet (I think you can do it in your installation proccess) and send your bitcoins from coinbase to multibit HD.

Setup the backups in multibit hd and store your passphrase in a safe place.

I think that is quite safe, but you can also make paper wallets and all (which I have no idea how to do)

Try Xapo and you can open an e-wallet account at the same time.

www.xapo.com (http://www.xapo.com)

Having the secured feeling are somewhat we are trying to cope when using such new technology.
But try to find more resource of about the technology and the wallet
try to search about "multisig bitcoin" on youtube that will give you the finer perspective about the security
and after that knowledge, choose the best way you feel more comfortable about buying the bitcoin
through exchanger? local meetup?

You should give us some more information... What is your fears? ...the process of buying it or the safekeeping of these coins? I was lucky when I started out.. I got introduced

to a honest person and he guided me in the right direction. You should see if you could attend a local Bitcoin meetup in your area and meet some people. You should start with

small amounts, until you feel comfortable with the technology and then go bigger...  ;)

The best advice I can give you is not to invest money you can't afford to lose. Bitcoin is extremely volatile and has wiped out investors.