Maybe I should start by stating my intentions: I just want to invest a small amount (an amount I'm willing to loose completely) into bitcoins, but with the searching I've done it seems like unless I do all these security steps I'm unfamiliar with I'll just be giving up my BTCs to hackers. The forums and guides I've read all include like 14 steps almost all of which I don't understand.
Is it that bad to just send BTCs to my gmail account and then to the bitcoin client? I won't be needing to make many transactions as I'll be using the BTCs as an investment tool......
If the answer is "no don't be stupid you're computer is swarming with keyloggers and malware and you'll just be throwing the money away," then maybe you can help me understand what I need to do?
As I understand it, I need to make a new OS on a fresh USB (will liberte linux work?), download the bitcoin client, disconnect from the internet and go to bitaddress.com, generate a single wallet, save the address to the client and write-down (I don't have a printer) the private key. Then send the coins from my email to that address and I'm set?
What/when do I use the private key and is there a better way to do this? Am I doing it correctly?
Thanks in advance
|