Bought some btc ... now what?

[imsoulrebel]

Hey all, I just purchased some btc and was curious when it clears whats my next step? Where do I keep it? I tried to download the btc qt but it errors out. I was hoping to send some to btc-e to trade for other alt coins and send some to a wallet... not sure how to setup a wallet, digital or physical.  Any help would be great thx

[gracesfall]

Depends on if you want to just hang on to your BTC or make it work for you. I just got started myself and here is what I did:

a. get myself a wallet - I used CoinBase.

b. if you want to have your BTC work for you to earn *more* BTC get on an exchange where you can purchase gHz in a mining pool that will generate BTC as well as other types of cryptocurrency (e.g. Namecoin, Litecoin, etc...). I'm using CEX.io and so far have been very happy. I didn't have enough extra cash to purchase whole gHz, so I currently have 0.480 gHz (about 0.03744 BTC) and in about 8 hours I've earned 0.00042986 BTC - on less than half a gHz. I've also accrued some other cryptocurrency that gets mined alongside BTC.

That's just my experience, but so far I'm stoked!

Good luck

Cynthia

[mjc]

I cover all of this in my book Bitcoin step by Step.

[CoinGeneral]

First you should have downloaded a wallet first before buying any BTC. They need to know the address to send it to.

Don't listen to the first two, they're advertising themselves, look at their links they offer, only profits them while barely helping you.

Here's what you do

!) Download a wallet, because QT doesn't work for you download a different one
2) Run it and wait for it to sync with the network, should take 8+ hours maybe
3) Go to the address tab
4) There you click on 'create new address'
5) Give that address you created to the person
6) They will send BTC to that address
7) Then you will see it appear in your wallet

[InwardContour]

re one of the responses above -- coinbase is not a wallet. if we're going to call it that, it's a 3rd party wallet that does not give you control over your bitcoins. if anything happens to coinbase, your coins are in jeopardy. get your own wallet. qt, electrum, multibit -- all are great. encrypt it well and make backups.

don't trust any 3rd party to hold your coins. if there is one lesson for newbies to learn, that is it.

p.s. coinbase sucks anyway

[gracesfall]

re one of the responses above -- coinbase is not a wallet. if we're going to call it that, it's a 3rd party wallet that does not give you control over your bitcoins. if anything happens to coinbase, your coins are in jeopardy. get your own wallet. qt, electrum, multibit -- all are great. encrypt it well and make backups.

don't trust any 3rd party to hold your coins. if there is one lesson for newbies to learn, that is it.

p.s. coinbase sucks anyway

What is the transfer time on those wallets you're recommending?

[marcotheminer]

Get a wallet and keep it! Dont lose it!!

[tekke]

re one of the responses above -- coinbase is not a wallet. if we're going to call it that, it's a 3rd party wallet that does not give you control over your bitcoins. if anything happens to coinbase, your coins are in jeopardy. get your own wallet. qt, electrum, multibit -- all are great. encrypt it well and make backups.

don't trust any 3rd party to hold your coins. if there is one lesson for newbies to learn, that is it.

p.s. coinbase sucks anyway

+1. Right now your next step is download your wallet. I recommend qt, and transfer your bitcoins to this wallet. Then make some backups and store them. Keep your coins and enjoy the ride  

[gracesfall]

re one of the responses above -- coinbase is not a wallet. if we're going to call it that, it's a 3rd party wallet that does not give you control over your bitcoins. if anything happens to coinbase, your coins are in jeopardy. get your own wallet. qt, electrum, multibit -- all are great. encrypt it well and make backups.

don't trust any 3rd party to hold your coins. if there is one lesson for newbies to learn, that is it.

p.s. coinbase sucks anyway

+1. Right now your next step is download your wallet. I recommend qt, and transfer your bitcoins to this wallet. Then make some backups and store them. Keep your coins and enjoy the ride  

What's the link for QT? I'll give them a look. How quickly do they transfer $$ to / from your bank account, payment recipients, etc...

[Authentic]

re one of the responses above -- coinbase is not a wallet. if we're going to call it that, it's a 3rd party wallet that does not give you control over your bitcoins. if anything happens to coinbase, your coins are in jeopardy. get your own wallet. qt, electrum, multibit -- all are great. encrypt it well and make backups.

don't trust any 3rd party to hold your coins. if there is one lesson for newbies to learn, that is it.

p.s. coinbase sucks anyway

+1. Right now your next step is download your wallet. I recommend qt, and transfer your bitcoins to this wallet. Then make some backups and store them. Keep your coins and enjoy the ride  

What's the link for QT? I'll give them a look. How quickly do they transfer $$ to / from your bank account, payment recipients, etc...

It's a software program. A Real Bitcoin Wallet always is. If you store your bitcoins on a website, you don't own them - you're trusting them to the website owner.

http://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet

Choose from the first category: "Software wallets".

"Bitcoin-Qt" is the one they were talking about. I recommend you MultiBit.

[lucaspm98]

1. Put the bitcoins in a secure, offline wallet.
2. Hold them until the price rises to a certain point.
3. Decide if you want to sell or keep on holding them.
4.
5. Profit.

[imsoulrebel]

thx for all replies....Been trying to run bitcoin qt and I get "failed to read block" is it compatible with  64 bit win? I was playing around and through this website found ppcoin and got that wallet to run, maybe running 2 isn't compatible? Looks like multibit will load easy enough.... also I purchased through coinbase is there a better alternative in the usa?

[gracesfall]

I've downloaded Bitcoin-QT, now just waiting for it to sync up and I'll be transferring everything off of CoinBase.

Thank you for the tip about using a software wallet, btw. I appreciate it.

[Johanna]

Hey all, I just purchased some btc and was curious when it clears whats my next step? Where do I keep it? I tried to download the btc qt but it errors out. I was hoping to send some to btc-e to trade for other alt coins and send some to a wallet... not sure how to setup a wallet, digital or physical.  Any help would be great thx

Secure your wallet and put a really long password so no body can get it.....

[lucaspm98]

Hey all, I just purchased some btc and was curious when it clears whats my next step? Where do I keep it? I tried to download the btc qt but it errors out. I was hoping to send some to btc-e to trade for other alt coins and send some to a wallet... not sure how to setup a wallet, digital or physical.  Any help would be great thx

Secure your wallet and put a really long password so no body can get it.....

Yes, make sure you use a secure password that you don't use anywhere else.

[Authentic]

thx for all replies....Been trying to run bitcoin qt and I get "failed to read block" is it compatible with  64 bit win? I was playing around and through this website found ppcoin and got that wallet to run, maybe running 2 isn't compatible? Looks like multibit will load easy enough.... also I purchased through coinbase is there a better alternative in the usa?

Running 2 different wallets at once should not be a problem.

The solution to your Bitcoin-QT problem might be to start the program with the -reindex flag.

That means you must run (for example - this depends upon where you installed Bitcoin):
C:\Program Files\Bitcoin\bitcoin-qt.exe -reindex


And yes, I think CoinBase is the best way to buy Bitcoins in the USA right now.

[MilesJohan]

bitcoin-qt should the best, did you try redownload and reinstall it? Online wallet are dangerous....

[raspcoin]

MultiBit is a good choice for new users. It is both lightweight and secure.

[Authentic]

MultiBit is a good choice for new users. It is both lightweight and secure.

That is why I recommended that client.

[gracesfall]

Bitcoin-QT is almost done sync-ing...lol. I started last night around 11pm and it is now 8:30am.