Bitcoin Forum

I am looking to purchase my first bitcoin. I have the app BTC Wallet, what is the process for acquiring my first bitcoin. Do I give the seller my e-mail address for my wallet?

Spend two weeks reading as much as you can (in your free time) to educate yourself about Bitcoin, how it works, how to secure your private keys, etc., before you actually acquire any bitcoins.

If you do that well, you won't need to ask for any more advice.

The most important "rule" in my opinion: If you aren't the sole controller of your private keys, you don't have any bitcoins.

When you are confident that you can explain the above "rule", in detail, to someone else, then you might consider buying some bitcoins.

You must take time to read all about bitcoins.Like how can you earn,what benefits and how can you spend it online or even physically.Yet you must be mindful on what youre doing and be mindful of the person you'll be buyinh with,if he is trusted or not.Its better to be safe.All you need in doing bitcoin business is just presence of mind and patience.

Be very careful when buying bitcoin, and at 1st always use a trusted website who can be an escrow between you and the seller.

You should probably link us to the app you're going to be using on your mobile device, so we're able to see what your wallet is really like. I personally have never heard of it so I would recommend using a wallet from either Blockchain.info or BitGo (Little more on the experienced site for BitGo though)

You give the seller your ADDRESS from the bitcoin wallet when you go ahead and attempt to buy bitcoins, address' are used for pretty much everything on here when it comes to receiving bitcoin.


Going to have to fully agree with this though, if you don't really know how any of this works it's kind of waste and getting your coins stolen are probably going to be rather easy.

I would recommend getting  your first bitcoins from the forum were you have the option of engaging an escrow for your trade. Check this thread»» https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=53.0 REMEMBER NOT TO FALL PREY TO SCAMMERS

Sign up on the exchange site, and try to deposit your balance or choosing your payment method to buy bitcoin and put your address from your bitcoin wallet. but you must need more information on this place. it seems like you're the complete newbie.

This is important to remember. Online bitcoin wallets are just like bank savings accounts - when you put your money in a savings account you don't actually own that money, you own an IOU from the bank. You don't actually own the money if it's not cash in your possession, in your home.

With bitcoin, the "possession" part comes from owning the private keys (which is a 26+ long character alphanumeric number). If you have this private key for your wallet, you have full and sole possession of your bitcoin. The alternative is a bank-like set up (companies like Coinbase or Circle). Those companies own the private keys and you own an IOU from those companies. It's not bad, just important to know.

A lot of people make it seem like using an online wallet is crazy risky. It's risky only in the sense that there's no insurance to protect you if the company goes out of business, such insurance exists for savings accounts with banks if your bank goes out of business.

Welcome to the forum and to Bitcoin!

you can buy at trusted market like bittrex, bitfinex, or localbitcoin.
its simple, anyway where you come from?

As others have said I highly reccomend doing as much research as you can before buying as it can be quite technical as you get into it. As for buying you give the seller your bitcoin address (Typically something like this: 1Ifhr85bdhek3dnB for example) if someone asks for your private key you should block them immediately and ignore them as that is all that is needed for them to take control of your address.

You just need opening account on exchangers that supports for your countries
 then doing deposit fiat money on there and buy bitcoin after that you can withdrawal to your bitcoin wallet,
 if you want buy bitcoin from other users not from markets, you just need give them the wallet bitcoin and don't forget always use escrow for the safety.

You can also use http://coinbase.com to buy and sell bitcoins. That is what I use when I convert my bitcoins to cash and vice versa.

You can buy bitcoin at exchange, famous exchanges are: btc-e.com, bitfinex.com, bitstamp.net, okcoin.com, coinbase.com and so forth. Depositing fiat and then you can buy bitcoin.

If you are asking what to give the seller to buy bitcoins, you are not ready to make bitcoin transactions yet. Like what they said above, learn everything first. There are lots of good read inbthe beginners section. You can start there. We do not want another user ranting about stolen bitcoins.

Thanks for the advice fellas, I purchased 0.055 bitcoin so far. I paid via paypal friends and family, thankfully the seller is honest. Small transaction. What is the typical premium percentage?

Personally, I would recommend using some other form of wallet that isn't connected to the app store and relies on some other developer, but whatever, since it doesn't really matter that much, assuming you trust it.

Purchasing your first Bitcoin will likely require for you to distribute your actual wallet address to whoever is selling you the Bitcoin, regardless of the website or medium you use.

Bought some bitcoin, easier than I expected. Always looking to buy more, willing to pay via paypal friends and family. Reputable members preferred.

Congratulations, but buying is just the first step. Securing those bitcoins are a whole other matter. If I may ask, how are you storing those bitcoins? < cold storage / online wallet / exchange / desktop wallet / hardware wallet >?

I never store any of my coins in services, where I am not the only person who has access to my private keys. I temporarily hold some coins in services where I do not have sole access to the private keys, but that would only be for trading on regulated exchanges. ^smile^

Do some research and make sure you store some of your coins in secure storage, where you have sole access to your private keys.  

I am storing in an app called BTC wallet. I noticed that every time I did a transaction, my address would change. Is that normal?

Yes , Of course this is normal .
The change in the adress is due to because  no one trace your payment history , In this way you can get more privacy toward your transactions .
Here in my opinion you have very low knowledge about the bitcoin to select wallet here I will suggest you to get more knowledge then start your job in bitcoin .
Here my first suggestion is to use only official wallet of bitcoin which is blockchain .
visit at blockchain.info and create your account . You can try the app of the official bitcoin wallet
You can download from here https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=piuk.blockchain.android

I presume that this wallet is some sort of mobile App linked to a web wallet? If that is the case, you need to get some of that coins into cold storage. Mobile Bitcoin Apps are not one of the most secure ways to store bitcoins. Browse this forum for some help on how to create secure paper wallets and move some coins out to cold storage.

Keep some bitcoin in online wallets to use as needed or buy a hardware wallet like a Treazor for more security.

Good luck, your journey has just started. ^smile^

You need to read all documents about btc first

No and No, you just generate an address [a bitcoin address] and send it to the seller. Then the seller funds the address and you confirm it on your wallet and blockchain, then wait for a confirmation as most of the deals require.
if you aren't familiar with the process, I suggest taking a look at wiki's and know more about the process before buying.. Also using a simpler wallet as well, like blockchain.info [not recommended as it's online] but Electrum should be simple enough for a new user IMO.

You mean https://wallet.btc.com/
If yes than they will create new bitcoin address whenever you want to receive bitcoin and it is normal. You will get all your bitcoins in your wallet which you can send out in future. But i will recommend you to use electrum desktop wallet as they will give you complete control over bitcoin address where you can receive bitcoin.

Web wallets would be somehow noob-friendly specially since hes just a starter and also he might store small amounts of bitcoin and web wallet or online wallet would do just fine i guess and he will surely discovered on using desktop or hardware wallets in the long run for sure.

E-mail sounds fine but do you trust the seller? You can find local sellers on localbitcoins.com and meet the seller and pay cash if you want. Which is much safer for first timers. Also get a wallet on your PC and a good anti-virus and anti-malware on your PC and make sure you dont have any spyware installed on your PC.

Edit: You could also get blockchain app on your mobile or MAC.

There are many ways to purchase your first bitcoin. You can use either localbitcoin website and find a seller in your area with good reputation or you can use the service of coinbase. In both cases, contact the seller to know their rules and regulation before starting the trade and you should not face any issue.

However, strictly don't use paypal to buy bitcoin because they might block your account for trading crypto currency as it is against their policy. I recommend Coinbase as it is a very old company and trusted one. For localbitcoin, always check the seller reputation and you are good to go.

What you said is the perfect reply, because even if anyone gives you full detail you wont be able to understand it properly so better to wait for some time and take time to first get full detail about bitcoin and its process and how to use the wallet, after that when you are fully satisfied go on and buy bitcoin but remember one more thing is just dont go for buying btc in one shot better to split and buy, like buy 20% today and then wait for some days and then buy back 20% if you find the price going down, like this your buying price will also get low as if their is any selling and price is going down then you should be able to buy back and average your buying price.

I trade stocks for a living, I have an idea of this process lol:)
When you factor in the volatility of bitcoin, I'd even go with 10% every month!

I disagree - that's terrible advice.

I respect Holliday implicitly. However, his advice is completely inapplicable to someone "Looking to purchase my first bit coin". If the proposition was 'looking to put huge fraction of my net worth into Bitcoin', then Holliday's would be appropriate advice. But if everyone looking to kick the tires with a moderate amount of money first spend two weeks studying, most will never make that leap.

The answer for 'first Bitcoin' is something akin to 'create an account on Coinbase, and buy'. Once that is done, the person has 'skin in the game', and an actual concrete incentive to start the process of educating themselves.

By all means, one should spend that effort. But that need not precede My First Bitcoin.

More study about the information regarding in bitcoin, keep on reading at the bitcointalk forum and ask if it is necessary to the member in the thread, because with this it will benefits you in the long run. Just know the basic usage of bitcoin, basic en cashing of bitcoin etc.

usa citizens need to use coinbase or in alternative there is localbitcoin, you just need to give your wallet bitcoin adddress to receive your coins

for european i find kraken the bext exchange, no hassles, you do a sepa in 1 business day and buy your amount of coin, after that send them to your local wallet

I feel you should really do some good reading from your first post it shows you just heard of Bitcoin and decided to jump in the wagon, it could be risky for you if you decide to do it without proper knowledge. Secondly your question on your changing address shows you really are not even aware of the basis, but as many users have said and I think you would have gotten by now it's normal. I think you will be really better of doing a transaction here rather any where else, one you will be guided by people, two trust rating can help you, plus you can take help of escrow which is a must, yahoo62278 is one whom I can suggest. If you do a transaction outside this forum and things go wrong, no one would be able to help you. Make your transaction wisely.

Are you really that new? never read or know how bitcoin works before? you can buy bitcoin at your country's local exchange using fiat.


yes it's normal, it's feature so that one cannot track your transaction history. You can still use the old one though.

I am using a site to buy bitcoins on my own capacity. I know they are trusted because they are partnered with the banks, and remittance centers. I know that I do not need to worry. You should make sure that the site or person you will be getting ypur bitcoin is trusted. Be careful pf the scammers!

Bitstamp is a good place to buy the first Bitcoin. Very trustful place and very low prices.

first think first, what kind of bitcoin wallet you use? to buy bitcoin, you only send your btc wallet address into the seller, you pay the money that equal with the btc amount that you want, wait the process until its completed and you have your first bitcoin in your wallet. you don't have to use or give your email address and that is not necessary unless you want to register in market exchanges and you want to buy bitcoin from that exchanges.

my suggestion is better you find your friend and buy btc from your friends because this is your first time to buy bitcoin. but before you buy bitcoin, just make sure that the price is not too high so you can get much of bitcoin so you sold it when the price is increase soon.

First you have to find someone who is trustworthy enough that is selling bitcoin, then ask him if what is the type of transaction that he wants, for you to be able to buy bitcoin to him. But like what the others said already in your post, it would be better if you will have enough knowledge before you buy bitcoin, it is necessary for you to avoid those scammers out there and can't be easily fooled by someone.

no with bitcoin you get an highly secure encryption system where you have to just give your bitcoin address to any other person and they can deposit bitcoins on your bitcoin address its same as your bank account numbers just more secured and publicly viewable

If you are the same using coinbase email can detect to send in your wallet according to coinbase and also here in my country we can send bitcoin using email.. but the best to use is to send your wallet bitcoin address which is all people are using it even dealing here in our forum.. and out side of this forum..

You don't need to share any personal data, if you want to be anonymous which is the best feature Bitcoin offers. If you want to purchase Bitcoins, you can either go to a local ATM near you that sells Bitcoin or you can do it through credit cards or face to face cash transaction which I don't recommend. What you need to know his that the ATMs offer a pretty high price though, usually $30 over the normal price.

If you want to actually invest in Bitcoin instead of getting some from faucets or working for some to start with, here's what to do:

1.  Get a better wallet.  It's best to make an informed decision about your wallet because a lot of Bitcoin services will try to scam you.  If you're keeping a small amount, I would suggest Blockchain, or maybe Coinbase, as they are online wallets which are fairly secure.  If you're keeping more, I would suggest a cold (offline) wallet like Armoury.

2. Research Bitcoin a bit more.  Bitcoin addresses should change.  After you make an address you still have the old ones so you could put it in your signature for example and if someone sent BTC to it that would still go into your wallet.  But there are new addresses because if you kept the same address everyone you transacted with would be able to see your transactions - this is the sort of thing you should know before buying.

3. Consider an exchange like Bitstamp for exchanging Bitcoin with fiat currency.  Don't store all your money in the exchange though - something could go wrong, like what happened to Mt. Gox in 2013.

Make sure you buy the Bitcoin when the price is a bit lower.  Right now the Bitcoin price is pretty damn high.

Buying bitcoin is simple these days, our forum has given access to contact persons and make trading to receive the bitcoin. Other than this trading websites are there which helps to buy bitcoin even without revealing identity. Buying is not a big deal. To store the bitcoin one need to have their own e-mail to create a bitcoin address to save.

It's not complicate to buy bitcoin, really.
I advise you to do some research on this forum,  and you will find all info you need, in order to start.
You have a several ways to get bitcoin.
Purchase is one, but you can collect bitcoin in other ways, for some work offered, with writing on this fiorum (signature campaigns), collecting faucets etc.
Please do also good research about bitcoin wallets, in order to find good one.

Yeah, it is necessary to give the bitcoin wallet and you should start to sign up on the exchange site, than the procedure will start and step by step do your payment method for buy the bitcoin and i think you are confused to use you bitcoin wallet address because you are newbie but don't worry.

I would go with coinbase they are a legitimate source of Bitcoin. Also I wouldn't recommend using apps such as that also coinbase allows you to have your own wallet and just straight up use their site as well to keep track of your wallets and all.