how do i set up bit coin core wallet

[menoiazei]

just downloaded the bitcoin core wallet,
how do i set it up on a mac??  how does it work?
many thanks!

[alani123]

Are you sure that you'd want to run bitcoin core as your main wallet? I mean, it's great for supporting the network if you want to run a full node but not that easy to use as a hotwallet. Maybe try a lightweight wallet like multibit or hive?

[Herbert2020]

choose the mac version from the https://bitcoin.org/en/download address and after installation of the wallet you will have to leave it open in order to sync with the network (download the whole blockchain which is around 40 GB now i think).
do you have problem installing or you have any other question?

[subSTRATA]

Are you sure that you'd want to run bitcoin core as your main wallet? I mean, it's great for supporting the network if you want to run a full node but not that easy to use as a hotwallet. Maybe try a lightweight wallet like multibit or hive?

you should point out why he might want to use a light wallet; bitcoin core requires that you have the full blockchain downloaded, which i believe is well over 30 GB at this point. in addition, the core client is rather resource intensive, or it was last time i ran it. if youre looking to use bitcoin just for daily spends or keeping a few bucks on there,a light wallet might be better for you as they only require you have the client downloaded, and your wallet will sync with servers that have the whole blockchain downloaded. in addition to the two wallets linked above, electrum is a fantastic light wallet as well, and has cold storage capabilities built in.

[alani123]

Are you sure that you'd want to run bitcoin core as your main wallet? I mean, it's great for supporting the network if you want to run a full node but not that easy to use as a hotwallet. Maybe try a lightweight wallet like multibit or hive?

you should point out why he might want to use a light wallet; bitcoin core requires that you have the full blockchain downloaded, which i believe is well over 30 GB at this point. in addition, the core client is rather resource intensive, or it was last time i ran it. if youre looking to use bitcoin just for daily spends or keeping a few bucks on there,a light wallet might be better for you as they only require you have the client downloaded, and your wallet will sync with servers that have the whole blockchain downloaded. in addition to the two wallets linked above, electrum is a fantastic light wallet as well, and has cold storage capabilities built in.

The size of the blockchain is nearing 40 Gb. And I'll agree that it's resource intensive, even without the port open it leeches a significant amount of bandwidth to establish connections. Syncing the blockchain might take days even in good connections. And it's also not very easy to use. No ideal for newbies for sure. Your transactions might get stuck in limbo if you don't use fee settings right, menus and features are confusing etc.

[Herbert2020]

Are you sure that you'd want to run bitcoin core as your main wallet? I mean, it's great for supporting the network if you want to run a full node but not that easy to use as a hotwallet. Maybe try a lightweight wallet like multibit or hive?

you should point out why he might want to use a light wallet; bitcoin core requires that you have the full blockchain downloaded, which i believe is well over 30 GB at this point. in addition, the core client is rather resource intensive, or it was last time i ran it. if youre looking to use bitcoin just for daily spends or keeping a few bucks on there,a light wallet might be better for you as they only require you have the client downloaded, and your wallet will sync with servers that have the whole blockchain downloaded. in addition to the two wallets linked above, electrum is a fantastic light wallet as well, and has cold storage capabilities built in.

The size of the blockchain is nearing 40 Gb. And I'll agree that it's resource intensive, even without the port open it leeches a significant amount of bandwidth to establish connections. Syncing the blockchain might take days even in good connections. And it's also not very easy to use. No ideal for newbies for sure. Your transactions might get stuck in limbo if you don't use fee settings right, menus and features are confusing etc.

i want to add that Multibit charges extra fees (they are small but still) for every one of your transactions. so in fact it is not a free wallet. i myself am using Electrum. i find it way better.

[menoiazei]

thanks very much for the replies! 

[subSTRATA]

Are you sure that you'd want to run bitcoin core as your main wallet? I mean, it's great for supporting the network if you want to run a full node but not that easy to use as a hotwallet. Maybe try a lightweight wallet like multibit or hive?

you should point out why he might want to use a light wallet; bitcoin core requires that you have the full blockchain downloaded, which i believe is well over 30 GB at this point. in addition, the core client is rather resource intensive, or it was last time i ran it. if youre looking to use bitcoin just for daily spends or keeping a few bucks on there,a light wallet might be better for you as they only require you have the client downloaded, and your wallet will sync with servers that have the whole blockchain downloaded. in addition to the two wallets linked above, electrum is a fantastic light wallet as well, and has cold storage capabilities built in.

The size of the blockchain is nearing 40 Gb. And I'll agree that it's resource intensive, even without the port open it leeches a significant amount of bandwidth to establish connections. Syncing the blockchain might take days even in good connections. And it's also not very easy to use. No ideal for newbies for sure. Your transactions might get stuck in limbo if you don't use fee settings right, menus and features are confusing etc.

i want to add that Multibit charges extra fees (they are small but still) for every one of your transactions. so in fact it is not a free wallet. i myself am using Electrum. i find it way better.

that is only multibitHD, the earlier versions of multibit do not have this fee, which if you ask me, is pretty negligible. iirc its an additional 1000 satoshi to every transaction that goes directly to the developers, which is more than deserved considering the work they do and put into maintaining the wallet. if you download the earlier versions of multibit (0.5.18 or before), those versions do not have the fee included. no need to be stingy over a fraction of a penny.

[tspacepilot]

I was incorrect in this.  See MZ's post below.

This is disengenuous and a bit misleading, in my opinion.  The bolded part makes it sound like the developers of Multibit are on the receiving end of that fee.  They're not.  Those are fees for the miners.  The developer of Multibit has said that he wants to support less sophisticated users who don't have time to figure out the details of what went wrong if a transaction takes a long time to confirm.  For that reason, he wants Multibit to always include a good fee in for fast confirmation times.  You're right that Multibit doesn't give you as complete a control as other wallets, but that doesn't make the wallet non-free in any of the usual senses of this word regarding software.

I'm not trying to discredit your preference for electrum---I just realized that electrum is in the debian repos these days, so that's very cool to me.  I just it's unfair to call Multibit nonfree.

[Muhammed Zakir]

i want to add that Multibit charges extra fees (they are small but still) for every one of your transactions. so in fact it is not a free wallet. i myself am using Electrum. i find it way better.

This is disengenuous and a bit misleading, in my opinion.  The bolded part makes it sound like the developers of Multibit are on the receiving end of that fee.  They're not.  Those are fees for the miners.  The developer of Multibit has said that he wants to support less sophisticated users who don't have time to figure out the details of what went wrong if a transaction takes a long time to confirm.  For that reason, he wants Multibit to always include a good fee in for fast confirmation times.  You're right that Multibit doesn't give you as complete a control as other wallets, but that doesn't make the wallet non-free in any of the usual senses of this word regarding software.

I'm not trying to discredit your preference for electrum---I just realized that electrum is in the debian repos these days, so that's very cool to me.  I just it's unfair to call Multibit nonfree.

He was telling about the dust(fees) charged per transaction in Multibit HD which goes to Multibit developers. Multibit Classic is not affected.

https://multibit.org/blog/2014/04/11/multibit-hd-brit.html

[alani123]

i want to add that Multibit charges extra fees (they are small but still) for every one of your transactions. so in fact it is not a free wallet. i myself am using Electrum. i find it way better.

This is disengenuous and a bit misleading, in my opinion.  The bolded part makes it sound like the developers of Multibit are on the receiving end of that fee.  They're not.  Those are fees for the miners.  The developer of Multibit has said that he wants to support less sophisticated users who don't have time to figure out the details of what went wrong if a transaction takes a long time to confirm.  For that reason, he wants Multibit to always include a good fee in for fast confirmation times.  You're right that Multibit doesn't give you as complete a control as other wallets, but that doesn't make the wallet non-free in any of the usual senses of this word regarding software.

I'm not trying to discredit your preference for electrum---I just realized that electrum is in the debian repos these days, so that's very cool to me.  I just it's unfair to call Multibit nonfree.

He was telling about the dust(fees) charged per transaction in Multibit HD which goes to Multibit developers. Multibit Classic is not affected.

https://multibit.org/blog/2014/04/11/multibit-hd-brit.html

And besides that, the fee is 1k satoshis per transaction which is nothing.

[tspacepilot]

He was telling about the dust(fees) charged per transaction in Multibit HD which goes to Multibit developers. Multibit Classic is not affected.

https://multibit.org/blog/2014/04/11/multibit-hd-brit.html

Wow, I was unaware of this.  I stand completely corrected here.  I find this pretty sneaky.  I'll be uninstalling Multibit and Multibit HD just to register my discontent.  If you ask me, if they wanted to do this they should have added a button to opt-in to such fees.

Thanks for the correction, MZ.

[Mickeyb]

Electrum is a way to go anyways. It does look a bit unattractive, but there are no hidden fees like in Multibit. It is also very easy to setup and to backup and it supports hardware wallet like Trezor, if you will ever need to use one.

I have started with Multibit, but then I had to switch to the Electrum, just because of this Trezor support.

[Pursuer]

Electrum is a way to go anyways. It does look a bit unattractive, but there are no hidden fees like in Multibit. It is also very easy to setup and to backup and it supports hardware wallet like Trezor, if you will ever need to use one.

I have started with Multibit, but then I had to switch to the Electrum, just because of this Trezor support.

multibit's additional fees are not something hidden, it is obvious and they tell users about it in their website. but I like Electrum too, it is just a matter of preference.