Best way to start on Bitcoin ?

[Visesrion]

So, what you think is the best way of starting in the bitcoin world right now ?

- Buy some bitcoins ?
- Order some mining equipment of BTF labs, avalon...and wait ?
- Buy some avalon chips and try to make a cheap mining rig in the future ?

What you think 

[DataTraveler]

If you order from BFL you won't receive anything in many months if ever.
Right now the best option would be waiting the price to drop some more and get in.

[KellyKirk]

Do you have any bitcoins yet? If not then probably just buying some to dip your toe in the water and go from there. And plus, I'd imagine it's a lot harder to get set up on mining.

[orymh]

Whichever way you go, you're spending money to get in. I'd buy Bitcoins directly rather than messing around with mining at this point, particularly because prices are relatively low right now, and (I think) likely to go up again soon. We may see a dip to around $50, but we may just as easily go back to $100 or higher from here.

[cp1]

How much do you want to spend?  Do you want to mine?

[truelitecoin]

Get some satoshis from a Bitcoin faucet or from a site that gives away Bitcoins. Play around with the satoshis and make sure you understand how to send and receive transactions. Learn the proper methods to secure your wallet.

[Visesrion]

In the end I have already bought 4,5 BTC and I am going for some avalon chips as I wanted to get introduced into mining.

I hope we got the miners sooner than the BTF labs ones 

[KnCMiningOp]

In the end I have already bought 4,5 BTC and I am going for some avalon chips as I wanted to get introduced into mining.

I hope we got the miners sooner than the BTF labs ones  

You can track BFL shipments here: https://forums.butterflylabs.com/members/bfl_jody.html

Shameless plug: You can also take a look at group buys, like mine: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=249820.0

You buy shares and each share pays a dividend based on that weeks mined BTC.

[gambit1]

Yes, mining shares might not be a bad starting point. Mining could be good but it is very tricky and may not be very profitable.

Good luck.

[ChaseThatCoin]

buy in when the price drops to 50. resell at 100

[2400baud]

As someone who has watched BTC from when it was $3.50 until now, but not done anything until now... Don't get into mining. I've dropped a bunch of BTC on these preorders and I have two of those little USB miners going, but I feel the safest thing is to buy a BTC or two and just sit on them. But maybe wait a few weeks and see where this dropping value trend levels out for the time being.

[scriptsave]

wait for a time when mtgox doesn't get ddosed

[danzigod]

Buy low and sell high.

[Bigcheezit210]

Too late for mining it's barely profitable at this point, unless you mine alt-coins. Your best bet is to buy when prices dip a little further and then use that to either invest into BTC stocks or hold on to it until prices climb again.

[wayoverthehill]

Yes I agree

With all the mainstream media starting to take notice of Bitcoins the demand will  increase and push the price back up - especially as the mining difficulty is increasing and starting to throttle the supply.

[wlwesq]

Too late for mining it's barely profitable at this point, unless you mine alt-coins. (snip)

Just a couple random thoughts. If it's too late for mining, there are an awful lot of people out there scrambling after the Butterfly Labs and ASIC Miner USB devices. Many people seem to have a different opinion on that point.

Not sure what you mean by alt-coins...you mean Litecoin for example? (Yeah, I'm definitely a newbie.) Would be glad to hear which of the alt-coins people suggest.

[Xiphias]

Too late for mining it's barely profitable at this point, unless you mine alt-coins. (snip)

Just a couple random thoughts. If it's too late for mining, there are an awful lot of people out there scrambling after the Butterfly Labs and ASIC Miner USB devices. Many people seem to have a different opinion on that point.

Not sure what you mean by alt-coins...you mean Litecoin for example? (Yeah, I'm definitely a newbie.) Would be glad to hear which of the alt-coins people suggest.

Alt-coins are exactly that, alternatives crytocurrencies. So yes, litecoins would be an example. You can see all of the others here. As for mining, in a few short months (maybe more), when ASIC's are more common it will be even more difficult than it is right now to mine with a GPU. If you can get an ASIC early you could do quite well but of course, when a bunch of people have them it'll be just as hard to mine with an ASIC as it is to with a GPU currently. While mining could be profitable for you, it would take quite some time to pay of the equipment you bought as the difficulty rate will just keep rising making your returns less and less. Not to mention electricity, if you're electricity costs a lot that just means that your going to have an even more difficult time paying off that equipment.

[de_ixie]

Some hints:

- Register on 2-3 different Exchanges depending on your region and get used to their trading engine
- Observe the price movement a few days
- Find a price which you feel comfortable with (imho right now price is quite low taking into consideration latest months developments)
- Start some test buys (maybe 1-2 BC)
- Wait how you feel. Can you personally cope with volatility? Can you afford waiting some time after steep drop etc...
- Get used how to pay with BC
- Do some test transfers between you BC accounts to avoid mistakes in later stages with bigger amounts
- Read/ Write/ Comment on puplic articles surrounding Bitcoin
- Tell other people about BC and its fascination
- Start a business/ infrastructure supporting BC

[rifter390]

Start as a hobby

[wlwesq]

Alt-coins are exactly that, alternatives crytocurrencies. So yes, litecoins would be an example. You can see all of the others here. As for mining, in a few short months (maybe more), when ASIC's are more common it will be even more difficult than it is right now to mine with a GPU. If you can get an ASIC early you could do quite well but of course, when a bunch of people have them it'll be just as hard to mine with an ASIC as it is to with a GPU currently. While mining could be profitable for you, it would take quite some time to pay of the equipment you bought as the difficulty rate will just keep rising making your returns less and less. Not to mention electricity, if you're electricity costs a lot that just means that your going to have an even more difficult time paying off that equipment.

Thanks for the insights and info. The question that comes to mind is whether the decreasing rate of returns is going to make BTC and other crypto-currencies fall in value. The reason I wonder about this is that if the returns on mining efforts decline, more people might decide to abandon the whole thing, leaving the fixed number of BTC in people's hands. But, then again (I'm thinking out loud here), as people fall away from the mining then the returns might improve. Perhaps this really is a market in action.

Maybe the best way to get started in BTC is to develop a faster mining rig, take advance cash-on-the-barrelhead orders, and enjoy the money coming in while you ship the products out. Too bad I'm not a computer engineer.