is it required to download the whole blockchain to normal BC-wallet/user?

[joe1234]

Hello forum!

Even I am a absolute BC-novice, I am asked to teach/demonstrate some lessons(2 hours per week only) about BC in my school
(limited bandwidth and time, computers are turned off after the lessons).

Question:
How long does it take to become functional after starting the bitcoin-wallet software the first time on a PC (Windows or Linux)?



Any feedback is appreciated very much. Thank you!

Joe


PS
As much as I do know, running a normal wallet does not require to download the whole blockchain
of about 80GB)

[Vod]

Hello forum!

Even I am a absolute BC-novice, I am asked to teach/demonstrate some lessons(2 hours per week only) about BC in my school
(limited bandwidth and time, computers are turned off after the lessons).

Question:
How long does it take to become functional after starting the bitcoin-wallet software the first time on a PC (Windows or Linux)?



Any feedback is appreciated very much. Thank you!

Joe


PS
As much as I do know, running a normal wallet does not require to download the whole blockchain
of about 80GB)

Yes, if you want to run the bitcoin core wallet, you will need to download the entire chain.

Best you teach your class about online wallets.

[shorena]

Hello forum!

Even I am a absolute BC-novice, I am asked to teach/demonstrate some lessons(2 hours per week only) about BC in my school
(limited bandwidth and time, computers are turned off after the lessons).

Question:
How long does it take to become functional after starting the bitcoin-wallet software the first time on a PC (Windows or Linux)?

Depends on what you mean with "the bitcoin-wallet". There are many variants as you can see e.g. here -> https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

Among the most commonly used are Electrum and Multibit HD neither takes long to setup. They usually run within a couple of minutes If you want to teach about bitcoin in class I suggest you the testnet. AFAIK neither of the two wallet supports that, but the bitcoin wallet for android does. If you cant expect your pupils to have a smartphone you can use an emulator.

Any feedback is appreciated very much. Thank you!

Joe


PS
As much as I do know, running a normal wallet does not require to download the whole blockchain
of about 80GB)

-snip-
Yes, if you want to run the bitcoin core wallet, you will need to download the entire chain.

Best you teach your class about online wallets.

Cmon Vod, there are wallets between core and web wallets.

[dothebeats]

Nope, if you are just using the wallet for receiving and sending bitcoins then it is not necessary to download the whole chain. Also, if you are not into the heavy technical aspects of bitcoin then you don't need to have a copy of it living in your hard drive. You just need the lite wallets, not really the whole qt wallet if you are an average bitcoin user.

[Kprawn]

You get different wallets... { Hardware / Web wallets / Desktop wallets / Paper wallets. } So depending on what your situation is, you then

decide what wallet you want to use. A fun tutorial would be to show them how easy it is to create a paper wallet. { BitAddress.org } The

pruned version of the Blockchain is also much smaller to download, if you have to chose that option.