Bitcoin core or coin base wallet

[swampboogiedoug]

Can someone explain the difference ? Which one would be better for holding coins as investment and to begin using as currency? Thank you

[TryNinja]

Bitcoin Core is a wallet.

• you are in control of your Bitcoins.
• you choose the fee you pay to send transactions.
• your coins are secured by you.
• you have to download the whole blockchain to use. (In this case, you may prefer to use a "light" client like Electrum)

Coinbase is an exchange.

• you are NOT in control of your Bitcoins.
• you can't choose the fee you pay to send transactions.
• the exchange may freeze your account, steal your funds or lose your funds to a hacker.
• it's not supposed to be used as a wallet

Never store your coins in a exchange or third party. Only use Coinbase if you want to buy or sell coins, and afterwards, transfer your remaining funds to an wallet you control, like Bitcoin Core or Electrum.

[swampboogiedoug]

Try ninja,    Thank you very much. Is there a tutorial on using the exchange & transferring coin in & out?  Do I pay a fee on the transfers into the wallet ?

[jackg]

Bitcoin Core is a wallet.

• you are in control of your Bitcoins.
• you choose the fee you pay to send transactions.
• your coins are secured by you.
• you have to download the whole blockchain to use. (In this case, you may prefer to use a "light" client like Electrum)

Coinbase is an exchange.

• you are NOT in control of your Bitcoins.
• you can't choose the fee you pay to send transactions.
• the exchange may freeze your account, steal your funds or lose your funds to a hacker.
• it's not supposed to be used as a wallet

Never store your coins in a exchange or third party. Only use Coinbase if you want to buy or sell coins, and afterwards, transfer your remaining funds to an wallet you control, like Bitcoin Core or Electrum.

To clarify, the blockchain is currently 120+GB so its probably best to use an exchange IMO.
Coinbase is alright as a wallet but there have been reports of stolen accounts/funds that never seem to be recovered.


electrum is a good start for a lightweight wallet, if you need any help setting it up PM me, but it's fairly simple. Be sure to note down the seed it gives you.

[TryNinja]

To clarify, the blockchain is currently 120+GB so its probably best to use an exchange IMO.
Coinbase is alright as a wallet but there have been reports of stolen accounts/funds that never seem to be recovered.


electron is a good start for a lightweight wallet, if you need any help setting it up PM me, but it's fairly simple. Be sure to note down the seed it gives you.

How exactly is better to just use an exchange? Have you read my whole post? I already said that if OP doesn't want to download the blockchain, he can use a light client (Electrum, in this case). An light client is not the same as an exchange.

you have to download the whole blockchain to use. (In this case, you may prefer to use a "light" client like Electrum)

Can you tell me what you contributed to OP by doing this post? Seems like a post full of misinformation and things that I already said before.

Coinbase is alright as a wallet but there have been reports of stolen accounts/funds that never seem to be recovered.

Where exactly are those reports? I have only seen reports of people losing their funds because of their mistakes or other companies fault (e.g: Verizon). Nothing from Coinbase side.

Regardless, Coinbase is not "alright". If you want to experience delays with your withdraws and lack of support, you may say that they are a good option.

[cr1776]

Bitcoin Core is a wallet.

• you are in control of your Bitcoins.
• you choose the fee you pay to send transactions.
• your coins are secured by you.
• you have to download the whole blockchain to use. (In this case, you may prefer to use a "light" client like Electrum)

Coinbase is an exchange.

• you are NOT in control of your Bitcoins.
• you can't choose the fee you pay to send transactions.
• the exchange may freeze your account, steal your funds or lose your funds to a hacker.
• it's not supposed to be used as a wallet

Never store your coins in a exchange or third party. Only use Coinbase if you want to buy or sell coins, and afterwards, transfer your remaining funds to an wallet you control, like Bitcoin Core or Electrum.

To clarify, the blockchain is currently 120+GB so its probably best to use an exchange IMO.
Coinbase is alright as a wallet but there have been reports of stolen accounts/funds that never seem to be recovered.


electron is a good start for a lightweight wallet, if you need any help setting it up PM me, but it's fairly simple. Be sure to note down the seed it gives you.

ElectrUM is the wallet for Bitcoin.  ElectrON is the version for Bitcoin Cash (aka jihan-coin/ver-coin).  The link above is to ElectRUM even though the anchor text says ElectRON.  Just be careful to use the correct one.

The risk for an exchange with a wallet attached is that it is a big target and there have been many hacks.  Not of coinbase itself that anyone is aware of yet.

The risk for a wallet on your computer is malware.  So if you are handling any large sums of bitcoin, be sure to follow good practices.

[hasmukh_rawal]

Can someone explain the difference ? Which one would be better for holding coins as investment and to begin using as currency? Thank you

First i will tell you onething which is more important to know that you dont need to keep your coins in a exchange or any other application or software.Why i am telling you first is that many people confuse between exchange and wallet.

I am using Coinbase,Coinsecure and Blockchain info which i feel are the most secured one to buy & sell your coins.And for Transfering your funds to an wallet i recommend you to go for Bitcoin core,Electrum,Trezor,and Multibit. These Four option are good and safe to use.

Now Coming to the point...i will try to explain in detail if you see Bitcoin Core is a wallet and Coinbase is an exchange.In bitcoin core the coins are safe and secured by yourself and by this way are in control of you Bitcoins.But you need to download the whole Blockchain. But i am using Trezor hardware wallet and its really working great for me.Whereas Coinbase is an exchange where you are not in control of your own Bitcoins.The exchange Have no assurance of returning your coins. They may Deactivate you account.They can shutdown  for any reason and steal your funds. If their Exchange got hacked then your Information is at risk and hacker can steal your funds through that information. Coinbase cannot be use as Bitcoin core that is for sure.

 I hope this helps you a ton.

[HCP]

And for Transfering your funds to an wallet i recommend you to go for Bitcoin core,Electrum,Trezor,and Multibit. These Four option are good and safe to use.

DO NOT USE MULTIBIT!! (Classic or HD)... both are old, outdated and no longer supported by the developers... HD also has some really bad bugs that will potentially lock you out of your wallet and make it really difficult to recover your coins.

Bitcoin Core if you want a full wallet
Electrum if you want a lightweight wallet
Trezor and/or Ledger if you want a hardware wallet

[swampboogiedoug]

Thank you, everyone. So If I want to buy a BC & put it in my BC Core wallet, exactly how do I do that ?  Where does someone advertise they have one for sale ?  If I send them the dollars, how do I know I'll get BC in return?     

[HCP]

You can buy it from an exchange or a person or a Bitcoin ATM...

To buy from an exchange, you would need to create an account on an exchange (Go and search Google for Poloniex, Bittrex, Kraken, "bitcoin exchange" etc). They'll probably want you to fill in a load of personal information due to KYC/AML regulations. If they support it, you can then wire them money which they will deposit into your exchange account and you can then buy some bitcoin. You then withdraw that bitcoin to an address in your Bitcoin Core wallet


To buy from a person, you can use a service like localbitcoins, or goto a local bitcoin users meeting, or just ask random people on the street if they have bitcoins! You would then meet up, you give them your Bitcoin Core wallet address, they send bitcoins to your address, you give them cash.

You can also trade with people online using services like Paypal or bank transfers etc, but that can be quite risky and there are a LOT of scammers and thieves... using a trusted escrow service is HIGHLY recommended.


Bitcoin ATMs are pretty nifty. You basically insert cash and it will print out a paper wallet with the necessary information (private key) to transfer the coins to your Bitcoin Core wallet. You then import that private key or sweep it into your wallet.

[jackg]

Try ninja,    Thank you very much. Is there a tutorial on using the exchange & transferring coin in & out?  Do I pay a fee on the transfers into the wallet ?

Aha. Just noticed this went unanswered.

You generally have to pay anywhere between 0.2% and 5% at an exchange.
Coinbase, for example, charges a 1% fee on buy orders and then a 1% fee once you have sold more than a total of $1000000.

[michellee]

And for Transfering your funds to an wallet i recommend you to go for Bitcoin core,Electrum,Trezor,and Multibit. These Four option are good and safe to use.

DO NOT USE MULTIBIT!! (Classic or HD)... both are old, outdated and no longer supported by the developers... HD also has some really bad bugs that will potentially lock you out of your wallet and make it really difficult to recover your coins.

Bitcoin Core if you want a full wallet
Electrum if you want a lightweight wallet
Trezor and/or Ledger if you want a hardware wallet

thank you for reminding us for not using multibit because so far I am using multibit but fortunately, last time I save my bitcoin is 1 month ago and now I don't have any balance in multibit. if its the case, then I am agree with you to use electrum or bitcoin core because its better if we use offline wallet like you said and not saving our most bitcoin in the exchange because its too dangerous and no one can guarantee that saving in the exchange its a safe place.

[Ulamor]

you dont have keys with coinbase wallet. you dont have bitcoins, when yoy dont have keys.
so i would recommend bitcoin core