[Guide] Beginner’s Mistakes and how to avoid them

[Cashi]

Everyone of us has started in crypto and if you made a mistake that could have been avoided, I’m sure you wish to had this knowledge before. That's why I listed the best-known beginner’s mistakes here, if you have more, you can write them in the comments.



Don’t confuse public keys and private keys

The public key is your normal wallet address. It is necessary to know it, if you want to send coins to other people. Or you have to give the public key to other people if they want to send coins to you.

In opposite, the private key is like a password that gives you access to your funds on the address. If a stranger has your private keys he can access your wallet and steal your coins.
So please never confuse the two, the public key is always much shorter than the private key.

This could be a public key: 1b5fGK8uhK287FfZN8dk2s41x8nnu8H
This could be a private key: 4sKH4d12d5TfF45BNgf64LgdUTdES5d4HgDJdfHCr55NfKgGDkfH9D6d2hs





Never share your private keys with anyone

As a result of the point above, this is also important. The private keys are the only access to your coins. If you give away your private key that works like a password, the person who knows your public key and private key has access to your coins and can transfer them to another wallet. So, share never your private key! Also not to friends and other people if they turn out as untrusted.


Don't fall for scams.

There are lots of platforms offering 1% profit per day or more. However, these platforms are all scams, as such high profits cannot be earned. In most cases it’s a so-called Ponzi, collecting money from new investors to pay old ones but finally there is no real product and the website will be shut down quickly and the owners take your money. The most famous Ponzi was Bitconnect, crashed in January 2018.

Therefore, if someone promises you high profits, it is very likely that it is a scam, so be careful and only invest money if you are definitely sure that it is not a scam and you know how profits are made. Don’t trust empty promises without proof.


Don't get phished

If you log in into a website (exchange, wallet or Bitcointalk) make sure that you are not on a phishing site. A phishing site is a very close copy of the original website, but from scammers and if you enter your username and password, the scammers have them and will steal your coins or accounts, because they have now access. So, make sure you are not on a phishing Website by checking the URL on the top before your login.


The only one you can trust is yourself

This is maybe the most important point in crypto space. If you follow this and are always skeptical, if you spent your money, you can avoid losses due to scammers. There are lots of scammers offering shady deals to scam Newbies.
And if someone offers you to do a great deal, be carefully. Never send first. A serious partner will send you first or doing this deal via escrow.


Do your own research

If you want to invest your money in coins, especially unknown Altcoins or ICOs it’s important to do your own research. Don’t trust YouTube videos or article / blog posts from third parties. In most cases this content is paid or from bounty participants. Never base your investment only on this content, it’s required to check the original information about the company by doing a detailed analysis about the project.
Use first hand information, read website and whitepaper and ask yourself if the solution offered by this ICO would be necessary or is it another copy of existing projects. The market for ICOs and existing Altcoins is very hard now and you need a good idea to exist. In addition, you can ask questions in the Telegram or via mail if you have concerns. An honest team will answer you.

Only use content posted by third parties as additional information but not for an investment recommendation.

And please be carefully by looking at ICO-rating-platforms. It's no secret some are involved in a shady business getting better ratings for projects if they pay rating platforms.


Don't invest more you can afford to lose

If you have done your own research and decided to invest in something, it could be wise to have your own risk management. Think about the worst case, it’s every time possible a project fails or cryptocurrency market enters a bear market.
There are stories about people who took a loan and invested in cryptocurrency when Bitcoin was around $15.000. They have now a big loss and problems to pay back the loan. Sad to see his loss: https://www.newsbtc.com/2018/08/15/cryptohomie-who-spent-almost-150000-on-altcoins-sees-85-loss/

So, don’t invest money you need for everyday life if you speculate in crypto and don't take loans.  


Don't click suspicious links

Many scammers will try to get your coins or personal informations, so keep this in mind if you click a suspicious link. There are many ways where they will try to scam you. Be very careful when you receive unasked PMs on Bitcointalk, in most cases there are suspicious links, don't click them if you are not 100% sure that they are legit. Better report these messages to moderators, the sender will receive an ban if it was a phishing PM.


Useful comments added from the discussion below:



Use escrow if you trade on this forum https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4907130.msg44205656#msg44205656

If you trade on this forum make sure to use an escrow to avoid being scammed. By doing an escrow the buyer and the seller send their coins to a trustworthy third person of the forum and this person starts sending, when both parties have sent to him.
Here ist a list of trusted members offering escrow services:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2439910.0
or
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=276897.0


Don't fall for fake Bitcoin wallets https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4907130.msg44211169#msg44211169


Dont't do these mistakes in Bounties https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4907130.msg44220426#msg44220426


Another great list of Beginner's Mistakes https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4907130.msg44250774#msg44250774


Don't buy wallets and avoid exchange wallets as much as possible https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4907130.msg44334086#msg44334086


Make sure to teach someone trustworthy how to access your funds in the case you die https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4907130.msg48652085#msg48652085

If you have something to add you can leave a comment. Best luck to your coins!

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[Kunzaii]

This rule is the most important:
The only one you can trust is yourself

Thanks for sharing!

[yogg]

Remember to use escrow when trading on this forum, and you will probably be safe from scammers.

[Velkro]

Remember to use escrow when trading on this forum, and you will probably be safe from scammers.

Agree escrow is a must here and not only here. In general.
Keep private key as secure as you can. Its not simple, you need to learn a lot about computer security.

[Cashi]

Remember to use escrow when trading on this forum, and you will probably be safe from scammers.

Thanks for making a good point, added!

[socks435]

I think you must add also the fake bitcoin wallet because there are many fake bitcoin wallets promoting via google ads and bing ads so if you add this other member here are aware of fake bitcoin apps so that no one will mistake on depositing a bitcoin in fake website or fake bitcoin wallet.

[odolvlobo]

People also frequently conflate "Bitcoin address" and "public key". A Bitcoin address is not a public key. It is the hash of a public key (along with other information). On the other hand, confusing the two is not really a problem because most people never deal with public keys.

[nngella]

If I may add (from my previous post : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=4468266.msg40069856#msg40069856)

Bitcointalk Profile

When you want to see your profile by clicking the “profile” in the home tab, you will see this URL : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile. 
This is NOT your bitcointalk profile link!

There are two (2) ways to get your bitcointalk profile link:

a. First, you need to go to your profile. 
On the left corner you will see “summary” then click it.  You will get a URL like this : https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2171254;sa=summary. 
Remove the “;sa=summary” and the new URL (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2171254) is your bitcointalk profile URL;

or

b. Go to your profile then on the left corner click “show posts”, it will display your previous posts. 
Click one (1) to show your previous post with your bitcointalk username on the left side of the post. 
Click on your bitcointalk username and it will direct you to your profile.  The URL is your bitcointalk profile link.

ERC20 ETH Wallet

Bounty campaigns and airdrops mostly use ERC20 ETH wallet to distribute their tokens. 
Note that ERC20 ETH wallet is different from the ETH address that you can get from an exchange.
https://www.myetherwallet.com/ (MEW) is an example of an ERC20 ETH wallet.
You can also use hardware wallets which are more secure than MEW

Forgetting to post your result (regarding bounty campaign)

You need to take note the day of the week that you need to submit the result of your campaign! 
Failure to do so will make your effort be in vain,  the bounty manager will not credit what you did for the previous week.

In my case, I always document my bounty campaigns using google docs. 
This helps me to manage and sort out one campaign to another (to avoid mixing them up).

[_bitbook]

I would also add that possession of crypto keys is the only way to prove ownership of a cryptocurrency! Losing the keys means losing access to the coins that one owns. There is no way of recovering your key if you loose it, it's not like forgetting your password or your ping, here there is no customer care for the blockchain!

[CryptoIyke]

Sometimes people confuse public key for private key, have someone mistakenly entered his private key in a phising site and all his token where stolen, thanks for this comprehensive info, have shared with my team

[r1s2g3]

I guess, I already captured most of the points and even more in my old article

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2970157.msg30515162#msg30515162

Any way OP, this is also a nice read.

[RodeoX]

Don't "invest" in bitcoin use it as money.
Don't buy alt-coins, ICOs or join any kind of group.
Only deal with legal licensed businesses.
Disabuse yourself of the bullshit that is "technical analysis".
Stay the course and don't let anyone get you off it.

[Xianrenbanban]

The perfect teaching article, if I can see such an article just after entering the bitcointalk forum, then I may take a lot of detours, I have been deceived by phishing websites!

[Angel Di]

I noticed that people are using MEW, often confuse its Private key with the wallet number. This is probably the most common error among users now. Which in turn leads to the loss of their funds.

[hugeblack]

I do not know if these recommendations are relevant, but you have the freedom to add it:

 - Do not buy any hardware wallets except its official website.
There are a lot of scams that have occurred because of buying those wallets through Amazon and other intermediaries.
Scammers can modify or add some software to those wallets and steal your money/coins.

 - Do not buy gift cards through intermediaries "even if you use a trusted escrow."
That is the most famous ways to get bitcoin anonymously as some of these cards sold for cash.
The risk is not limited to being scammed, but using stolen or stolen cards.

 - Avoid web wallets as much as possible.

[Gkenneth2]

Trust no mails or anyone is the best way not to be phished, best way is to be observant any any url link you are visiting, and lastly never share your private key don't confused your public key address to private. Don't make such mistake

[Cashi]

Thanks to all your helpful comments, I've added some to my article!

[Dimosha777]

I noticed that people are using MEW, often confuse its Private key with the wallet number. This is probably the most common error among users now. Which in turn leads to the loss of their funds.

Never enter your mew key on third-party sites, so you will lose all tokens

[adding715]

Thank you for your informative post , personally i dont join to airdrops given by ICO because most of them are scam or even they gave you tokens it only compensates for withdrawal fee

[Cashi]

OP updated:

Don't klick suspicious links

Many scammers will try to get your coins or personal informations, so keep this in mind if you click a suspicious link. There are many ways where they will try to scam you. Be very careful when you receive unasked PMs on Bitcointalk, in most cases there are suspicious links, don't click them if you are not 100% sure that they are legit. Better report these messages to moderators, the sender will receive an ban if it was a phishing PM.


I'll add more if I notice some new points.