You can use google to find some useful tutorials. First, start by installing Bitcoin Core:
you can find the source here: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin
Then, to test your application you have to use the Testne (test network)
Here you can find some useful information: https://bitcoin.org/en/developer-examples
Being a programmer is a plus and will help make understanding who the Bitcoin works easier.

Many coins have a great future, I can't tell you which one to buy you have to chose it by your self.
try to contact team members to know more about their future plans.
Also, read the white paper and see if the project is genuine and not only a copy paste or a replica of another one.
Personally, I am interested in Herocoin and Bankex, Devs are doing a great job and they are very active.
If you still don't know which to chose just invest in known ones like ETH, LTC, XMR...

The first time I heard people talking about Bitcoin was when its price was something like 250$ but I wasn't really interested and just ignored it.
After that, I noticed that more people are talking about it and I was chocked when I discovered that its price reached 2k,
then I decided to invest some money in it. I regret that I didn't invest more, it could change my entire life.

Now Bitcoin price is more than 17K$
I wish I could go back in time when OP posted this thread so I can buy as much as I can: Bitcoin raised more than 10k$ in less than 2 months.
Unlike what was expected, Bitcoin kept rising after the fork while we expected it to go down.

Simply because Bitcoin is not like any other currency :p
Besides bitcoin is still in its first stages so it is normal to be unstable.
Bitcoin price is directly affected by users using it (it is all about trust).

Why not!! in January the 1st Bitcoin price was 960$ now it is about to reach 18k$ that is 18x in less than 12 months.
Bitcoin is ascending exponentially and hitting 100;000$ by 2018 is not far-fetched.
The more the price rises the more people demand on bitcoin rises.
However, we should not forget that there where times where bitcoin lost more than 50% of its value so we should be cautious also many threads here
talk about an expected huge dump.

Statistics in that table have no meaning and we can't predict Bitcoin value according to it because you have to go back to the first year when bitcoin was released
then you will realize that it is too volatile.
During last years Bitcoin knew many upwards and downwards in its price which makes it really unpredictable thus your analysis have to be deeper.

What will happen by 2018?? it is just another year.
Bitcoin exists since 2009 and every year its price increases.
Many people expected Bitcoin to crash by 2017 but here we are and nothing happened, on the contrary, Bitcoin is stronger and more people are joining the community.
What is for sure is that the number of digital currency users is growing which implies the growth of cryptocurrency market and its continuance.
Don't be so pessimistic.

Winter will come, that is evident, but you can't deny that summer will come again :p
What James A. Donald said is 100% true and no one can deny the fact that Bitcoin these days have nothing to do with what Satoshi Nakamoto was expecting.
All people here just want to make as much profit as possible and no one thinks about supporting the network.
Mining is becoming more centralized and big companies are becoming more dominating which have nothing to do with the concept of Bitcoin: decentralization.
Will that ruin the Bitcoin !! I don't think so.

The price of Bitcoin is defined by demand and suplly.
If we deeply analyze Bitcoin value since its appearance we will notice that the value rises when more people buy bitcoin and as we all know the number of available bitcoins is not enough sufficient which make its price so high.
Another affective factor is rumors and what known people proclaim about bitcoin. If someone well known says that Bitcoin is a fraud, the value will be  significantly affected.   

Well, I will keep holding, furthermore, if I have the chance, I will buy more Bitcoins because I believe in it and I am certain that it will keep rising.


Don't be mad, maybe it was for your own good. Few of us were expecting that Bitcoin could reach this point.
If you are not obliged to cashout due to lack of liquidity, then you should hold? Believe me, you will not regret it.
Maybe one day you will tell us that your life changed because:

During the month of September the lowest price of Bitcoin was around 3K $



meaning that you were about to invest at least 15k$
which is a huge amount, then, you should be very careful and employ a good strategy.
I suggest that you invest your money in different coins that you believe they will have a good future (Ethereum, LTC...).
Also, invest some of that money in Bitcoin, it still a good choice according to many trading experts.

With the rapid ascend of Bitcoin banks became more interested in it.
Some banks already adopted the blockchain technology because they realized how secure it is and it can improve their services.
But the majority of banks are still afraid of Bitcoin that is why they attack it by calling it a fraud in order to stop its ascendancy.
The blockchain technology may be accepted by banks but not Bitcoin as a currency, at least not now.

I hope there will be no possibility to make bitcoin disappear.
I saw people talking about Internet and electricity interruptions which will never happen so no reason to worry about that.
What will make bitcoin disappear is the emergence of a new technology that will replace bitcoin by offering more features and improving the current services.
Hard forks can make bitcoin network more efficient and thus avoid its extinction.

This question has been answered hundreds of times. I have been seeing people asking this question for long time. Sorry to say that but it become somehow annoying.
If you believe in Bitcoin then invest otherwise try to find something else.
You bought 3 BTC and wasted it in gambling then you should know how valuable bitcoin is and you should not ask if you have to invest or not, it is obvious

Thank you for the advice and I am really sorry for what happened to you.

I may add some measures you can take to keep your wallet safe:
-It is better to use a hardware wallet and keep it  in a safe place.
-When using an online wallet use a strong password and activate the 2FA.
-Only access your wallet from a device you trust.
-Backup your wallet and encrypt it.
-Always update your softwares.

It is obvious that new technologies will emerge and maybe one day they will replace the blockchain technology.
I am not an expert thus I can't tell if Hashgraph technology is better than blockchain but what I can confirm that it will not be possible to replace it in the near future because users hardly accept changes. Adopting hashgraph will take some time.


Maybe it can be used for online collaboration or identity but unlikely for cryptocurrency.

It is really confusing. I tried to analyze what is going on but i was not able to come out with a conclusion.
In one hand, too many people are trying to buy (huge demand) meaning that the price will rise more.
In the other hand, many holders started panicking because they expect a near price correction (huge supply).

Most likely the price will keep rising but it will be wise to be careful when investing during next days.

Are you serious!! Bitcoin network is just 8 years old and it is considered as a new technology.
The network faces these problems because it is still new and users are not familiar with it.

The network congestion is somehow understandable. Bitcoin is insanely rising that is why many people want to buy it which results in a huge number of transactions.
It is hard to treat all these transactions in the same time.


0.36$ fee is too low thus you have to wait before seeing your transaction getting confirmed especially with the current network status.

Do you want to learn more about Bitcoin and how it works or you want to invest in it?
If you want to learn just start reading articles published on the Net or read through this forum you will find a lot of valuable posts.
Learning how to use Bitcoin (creating a wallet, sending and receiving funds) is so easy.
But if you want to invest then my advice to you is to start right now but invest only what you can afford to lose.