Bitcoin Forum

I am completely new to Bitcoins and know nothing about them! Should I invest, and where do I start?

No.

You should not invest until you know and understand enough about Bitcoin that you can answer your own question.

Welcome to the forum!

It depends on what your situation is.

If you can't buy them, you can use faucets (Websites that give out free Bitcoins) like Freebitco.in (http://freebitco.in/?r=317854) Which give out Bitcoins, or if you already have some BTC, you can use them at Cex.io (https://cex.io/r/0/KaosChimera/0/) and buy giga-hashes that can be used to mine Bitcoins.

It really all depends. I'd say to buy now, but watch the markets. I can't guarantee it's going to work.

Can you help me understand Bitcoins in general?

Look around the forum? That could help...

Bitcoin is a form of digital currency, created and held electronically. No one controls it. Bitcoins aren’t printed, like dollars or euros – they’re produced by lots of people running computers all around the world, using software that solves mathematical problems. It’s the first example of a growing category of money known as cryptocurrency.

However, bitcoin’s most important characteristic, and the thing that makes it different to conventional money, is that it is decentralized.


Who prints it?

No one. This currency isn’t physically printed in the shadows by a central bank, unaccountable to the population, and making its own rules. Those banks can simply produce more money to cover the national debt, thus devaluing their currency.

Instead, bitcoin is created digitally, by a community of people that anyone can join. Bitcoins are ‘mined’, using computing power in a distributed network. This network also processes transactions made with the virtual currency, effectively making bitcoin its own payment network.

where to buy it if you are newbie?

localbitcoins or coinbase

So I've been doing a little research on these and found out that they are considered property by the IRS and therefore you have to report them. How do you file Bitcoins to the IRS?

Please don't invest your hard-earned money into something you have absolutely no idea about it.
If you are seriously considering an investment in bitcoin, please take some time to get a brief understanding first.

Otherwise, you could easily get scammed, or get in some bad investment (eg. mining).

These are some good places to get started.
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page
https://multibit.org/faq.html

And of course bitcointalk as well. :)

http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/n-14-21.pdf
Please check page 2 of that pdf for the 16 FAQs. :)

You should start by reading Satoshi Nakamotos white paper
https://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf

Then deciding what wallet you wish to use
Remember to make a backup then read around the forums and start learning about Bitcoin

If Canadian you can also get your first bitcoins from several exchanges the oldest one is Cavirtex so you can try them out although there are several other choices a link if you want to sign up an account with them https://www.cavirtex.com/Z/10454

That said you will learn more the longer you stay on the forums and after acquiring more knowledge should be able to come to that decision on your own. That said welcome to Bitcointalk and I hope you enjoy your stay and learn something and Buy Bitcoin :P

To be honest, the white paper is a bit too difficult and too technical for newbies.
The first time I read it when I first heard of bitcoin, I can only understand the section 1 "Introduction" lol. :P

After getting some basic understanding about bitcoin, I was finally able understand it much better. :)

Fair enough in that case I will link to the bitcoin wikipedia and a few youtube links
I guess I read it enough times to have it understood through and through

This should be a bit simpler a link to the wiki
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page

A link to the Khan Academy series on Bitcoin
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EA0LkCkvUeU

And a more entertainment based video that should help understand the basic system and a few jokes
If bitcoins were around in the '90s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZW-oUXqomT0

Oh and this when I first started to investigate what Bitcoin was
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/05/20125309437931677.html

As others have said do lots or research as you should be before putting your money into any investment.

If you haven't enough knowledge about Bitcoin, i suggest you not to invest on Bitcoin. First learn more basic about Bitcoin. This forum will be a great place for you to learn about Bitcoin. So i suggest you to spend at least one month on this forum.

The golden rule is to only invest what you can afford. Bitcoin isnt a guaranteed investment.

You should definetely invest in bitcoin, its life is still at the beginning and the value can only go higher and higher in the near future.

But the opposite can also happen. Telling people they should definitely invest is a bad idea.

This.

If someone really put all his life saving into bitcoin, it could be a disaster when bitcoin price is going down.
At least, you should warn them not to put more than they can afford.

Most of us here expect bitcoin price to go up, so you may be given some biased opinions here.
You should make your own decision after doing some research, and be responsible to your decision.

I cannot advise without knowing your full situation, but in all likelihood: YES.

To make sure, sum up your situation for yourself and investigate Bitcoin (and crypto in general) until you understand. I would also advice you to ban yourself from making any altcoin investment for 6 months.

Why not? I only recently started on this crypto currency thing, and you should give it a try. Not only is there bitcoin, but litecoin and other 'alternative' currencies as well. Each and every one of them are interesting in their own right.

Sorry, can't agree with that line.
Only a small portion of altcoins are interesting and quite different, the others are clones, scams, and made for pumps and dumps.

You could treat it like any other investment. Only invest what you can afford to lose. It's very volatile. But there is some good upside potential.

But before anyone gets too excited, it's worth saying that any bet on bitcoin is still more of a wager on its potential and the growing sophistication of its trading technologies than its practical use.

You could buy a small amount to get yourself personally invested.
As the markets change and affect your investment, you will pay more attention to what's happening.
Bit by bit (nerdpun) you will learn about how it works and become more comfortable investing.
Even then though, don't bet the farm. Only spend what you can afford to.

If you have any doubts or questions, try to learn more about Bitcoin and catch it's idea. Once you have fully understood it, you will have no more doubts and personally, answer to your question is: yes!

Yes, invest! Invest all you can afford. And buy as many Bitcoin as you can, and never sell.

If you want to earn you do, there is no other easy way to do it.

This. Lots of people rush into something like this thinking it's a way to get rich quick. It's not. You wouldn't invest in something you knew nothing about, why would bitcoin be an exception?

if you want to earn you need to invest in BTC . you can see how markets of BTC increases daily . if you see https://markets.blockchain.info/ here daily increment in the price of BTC. I think it is a safe investment after gold. .

I am sure that many of those buying bitcoin in Dec 2013 have no idea what bitcoin is, but just read an article or a show mentioning the term "bitcoin". :)

And how many of them do you think panic sold theirs the first crash because they got scared? :)

Probably most of them IMO.
When they have no idea what bitcoin is, and heard the FUD "bitcoin is dead" when mtgox went down, they probably lost all their confidence. :)

Yup. It's a good thing to get rid of short term investors though I think. No need for people who doubt bitcoins here.

I did so many errors in the last two bubbles that I've decided to hold all my btc and forget about exchanges for some years...

I also put aside 2 BTC for future. I really dont care what will be the future price either I will be super rich with that 2 coins or it wont affect my life. So buy some coins and hold it for 2-3 years.

That's nice, always good to have something to hold in case price explodes to high heavens.