Bitcoin for beginners: Five tips you should know as a beginner

[Pillsike]

      Before we begin, let's try to understand what bitcoin is. Bitcoin is a decentralised digital currency that can be transferred on the peer_to_peer bitcoin network. First emerging in 2009, bitcoin is currently one of the world's largest digital asset. For potential investors and traders, if you want to succeed in the bitcoin community, here are a few things you should know;

(1) First of as a beginner it's advisable when choosing a wallet that you go for a hot wallet like metamask, coinbase etc over cold wallets. Though overall cold wallets are better than hot wallets as they are not internet based, making them less vulnerable to online hacks. So if later on you decide to diversify your assets, you can use the both hot and cold wallets. But if you're just starting, hot wallets would be advisable I'd recommend coinbase.

(2) Next you have to get yourself a reliable and reputable source for bitcoin and crypto related news. They are and they will always be opposing opinions about bitcoin, alot of negative feedbacks and they'll try to dissuade you telling you that you'll only be disappointed if you venture into Bitcoin. That's why as a beginner you need to stick to a reliable source that'll only give you solid facts. These sources might be crypto blogs, a twitter page, podcast or even a friend.

(3) This I'd say is the most important. Always bear in mind that bitcoin is unpredictable and not as stable compared to other standard currencies. Don't expect it to be all fun and smiles all through. Some times you'll win, some times you'll lose its inevitable.
Just look back at the 2018 crypto crash where the price of bitcoin fell by almost 65%. That's where most people get their negative experience from.
This has nothing to do with being a beginner even crypto gurus are still yet to master the trends of virtual coin.

(4) I know I made this thread specifically for bitcoin but how can you be a good investor if you don't expand your horizon. It's advisable to try out other Altcoins I'd recommend ethereum or ripple. Don't put all your eggs in one basket always research to see which coins are thriving well, check out their past and possible future, ask questions  this is where  those your sources come in.
 In other words just try and choose your assets wisely.

(5) Last but definitely not the least , always be vigilant, always check on your sources from time to time. Make research on any terminologies you do not understand. And always be prepared to take risk at any time .

Like any other skill, you can't learn crypto in a day or two. Sometimes is takes months sometimes year before you can learn crypto to a certain point. As I said earlier, we can never truly master the trends of virtual coins. Even I myself I'm still a learner I learn everyday through research, personal experience and my sources example this forum.

As a beginner research is imperative you always try to ask questions, it's important. I will accommodate questions under this thread. Below are some links if you still which to research more.

https://coingeek.com/bitcoin101/

https://www.fastcompany.com/90285052/beyond-the-bubble-what-happened-to-bitcoin-in-2018

https://cryptopotato.com/bitcoin-for-beginners/

https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-for-beginners/amp

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[Charles-Tim]

(1) First of as a beginner it's advisable when choosing a wallet that you go for a hot wallet like metamask, coinbase etc over cold wallets. Though overall cold wallets are better than hot wallets as they are not internet based, making them less vulnerable to online hacks. So if later on you decide to diversify your assets, you can use the both hot and cold wallets. But if you're just starting, hot wallets would be advisable I'd recommend coinbase.

You recommend Coinbase? But hope not Coinbase custodial wallet or exchange.

Metamask does not support bitcoin.

What you should first recommend are cold wallets that are open source, they are the best, but it is wired that you know the benefit of cold wallets but recommending hot wallets over them, that is absurd and wrong.

(4) I know I made this thread specifically for bitcoin but how can you be a good investor if you don't expand your horizon. It's advisable to try out other Altcoins I'd recommend ethereum or ripple. Don't put all your eggs in one basket always research to see which coins are thriving well, check out their past and possible future, ask questions  this is where  those your sources come in.
 In other words just try and choose your assets wisely.

Those that went for luna and ftt did not want to put their money in one basket and they lost huge amount of money and regret what they did, just know that bitcoin is reliable and not disappointing like altcoins. But if anyone decides to just gamble with altcoins, it is not bad in bear time like this, but they should know that they are gambling and should be done with small amount of money which they can afford to lose.

[lovesmayfamilis]

(2) Next you have to get yourself a reliable and reputable source for bitcoin and crypto related news. They are and they will always be opposing opinions about bitcoin, alot of negative feedbacks and they'll try to dissuade you telling you that you'll only be disappointed if you venture into Bitcoin. That's why as a beginner you need to stick to a reliable source that'll only give you solid facts. These sources might be crypto blogs, a twitter page, podcast or even a friend.

I really hope that newbies in a reliable source, as you write, do not choose you.
I can say that your advice in choosing a hot wallet has completely discouraged the desire to continue reading further, and also discredited you as an adviser.
And, as always, the number of thousands of links does not mean that you are a master of Internet search. The information from 2018, which you illiterately paraphrased, proves that you are also a loser in the search.

[Pillsike]

(1) First of as a beginner it's advisable when choosing a wallet that you go for a hot wallet like metamask, coinbase etc over cold wallets. Though overall cold wallets are better than hot wallets as they are not internet based, making them less vulnerable to online hacks. So if later on you decide to diversify your assets, you can use the both hot and cold wallets. But if you're just starting, hot wallets would be advisable I'd recommend coinbase.

You recommend Coinbase? But hope not Coinbase custodial wallet or exchange.

Metamask does not support bitcoin.

What you should first recommend are cold wallets that are open source, they are the best, but it is wired that you know the benefit of cold wallets but recommending hot wallets over them, that is absurd and wrong.

(4) I know I made this thread specifically for bitcoin but how can you be a good investor if you don't expand your horizon. It's advisable to try out other Altcoins I'd recommend ethereum or ripple. Don't put all your eggs in one basket always research to see which coins are thriving well, check out their past and possible future, ask questions  this is where  those your sources come in.
 In other words just try and choose your assets wisely.

Those that went for luna and ftt did not want to put their money in one basket and they lost huge amount of money and regret what they did, just know that bitcoin is reliable and not disappointing like altcoins. But if anyone decides to just gamble with altcoins, it is not bad in bear time like this, but they should know that they are gambling and should be done with small amount of money which they can afford to lose.

I recommended online wallets for those just starting crypto currency. Cold wallets are  really expensive. An external storage source costs almost 300-350 dollars as of now.
I also mentioned that's if you actually read the post that overall cold wallets are better but " for a beginner it's advisable you start with online wallets, later on if you wish to diversify your assets you could purchase a cold wallet"

Now from your second reply I can see you're against the Altcoin idea. Yes it's a risk but isn't that all crypto is all about "sometimes you win, sometimes you lose".
You are right though, anyone venturing into Altcoins should start up with a small amount just incase.

[BlackBoss_]

First of all, newbies must read two sticky threads

[General] Bitcoin Wallets - Which, what, why?
Verifying Bitcoin Core
Because verifying a wallet is important, [GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum [Guide] is a useful topic too.

Cryptosec's Cryptocurrency Security Checklist
Recommended wallets and Bitcoin Information & Resources from Jameson Lopp, one of Cypherpunks

Don't store your coins on exchanges.

[AbuBhakar]

I recommended online wallets for those just starting crypto currency. Cold wallets are  really expensive. An external storage source costs almost 300-350 dollars as of now.
I also mentioned that's if you actually read the post that overall cold wallets are better but " for a beginner it's advisable you start with online wallets, later on if you wish to diversify your assets you could purchase a cold wallet"

There’s other wallet that will make newbie money safe without the use of cold storage for starter. Electrum is the most popular non custodial wallet that is perfect for newbie. The hot wallet example that you choose is just not good since they are all custodial wallet which doesn’t have privacy or full control to the wallet. I agree that cold storage is too expensive for beginners but it is good to invest first on the safety of there storage before they start buying there first Bitcoin.

Now from your second reply I can see you're against the Altcoin idea. Yes it's a risk but isn't that all crypto is all about "sometimes you win, sometimes you lose".
You are right though, anyone venturing into Altcoins should start up with a small amount just incase.

You should focus on Bitcoin alone since your thread title states Bitcoin for Beginner. Adding altcoin will just add risk to newbie due to its worst volatility that might cause heavy loss to them. You should consider the safety as top priority when your aim is to give an advice for newbie like you.

[mocacinno]

--snip--
I recommended online wallets for those just starting crypto currency. Cold wallets are  really expensive. An external storage source costs almost 300-350 dollars as of now.
I also mentioned that's if you actually read the post that overall cold wallets are better but " for a beginner it's advisable you start with online wallets, later on if you wish to diversify your assets you could purchase a cold wallet"

Now from your second reply I can see you're against the Altcoin idea. Yes it's a risk but isn't that all crypto is all about "sometimes you win, sometimes you lose".
You are right though, anyone venturing into Altcoins should start up with a small amount just incase.

If you're giving advice to newbies who hold a limited amount of BTC (i'm not going into ALT's right now), i'd advice an open source, peer reviewed, SPV HD desktop wallet over an online wallet any day of the week. We're still recovering from the previous "not your keys, not your coins" disaster (FTX?) so i wonder why anybody would still think it's a good idear to promote online wallets while there are perfectly fine free open source desktop wallets available.

Oh, and 300-350 dollars seems a bit steep... A trezor model one costs $70... Not 100% "cold storage", but in terms of safety it comes pretty close to real cold storage (and it's much easyer to setup and use, i tought my daughter how to use one when she was only 10 years old)...

[hosseinimr93]

The hot wallet example that you choose is just not good since they are all custodial wallet which doesn’t have privacy or full control to the wallet.

Note that there are two coinbase wallets. One of them is custodial and the other one is non-custodial.
Of course, even the non-custodial coinbase wallet should be avoided. Because it's close source and we don't know how the keys are generated and whether they have the access to the keys or not.

To OP:
I recommend you to avoid any close-source wallet.
As already suggested above, for your bitcoin, you can use electrum. It's open-source and gives you full access to your fund.

[Pmalek]

Five tips you should know as a beginner posted by a beginner who first needs to learn a few things about bitcoin himself.

(1) First of as a beginner it's advisable when choosing a wallet that you go for a hot wallet like metamask, coinbase etc over cold wallets.

No, it's not. Why would anyone orient towards Coinbase if they can use a thoroughly checked client such as Electrum or Bitcoin Core? 

Though overall cold wallets are better than hot wallets as they are not internet based, making them less vulnerable to online hacks. So if later on you decide to diversify your assets, you can use the both hot and cold wallets. But if you're just starting, hot wallets would be advisable.

It's better to learn things properly from the start to minimize situations that could lead to the loss of coins.

(2) Next you have to get yourself a reliable and reputable source for bitcoin and crypto related news.

That depends if you are talking about educational content that teaches you about bitcoin and the crypto ecosystem or regular news sites pumping out articles for clicks. I appreciate any quality educational content, but I don't read any hyped crypto news sites.

It's advisable to try out other Altcoins I'd recommend ethereum or ripple.

I never understood what people see in this centralized pre-mined banking coin. People also mistaken Ripple for XRP. You aren't investing in Ripple, you are investing in XRP, a coin that was issued by the Ripple company. Ripple is both a company and also a protocol and intermediary used in traditional finance. XRP is a coin owned almost entirely by the development team that created it and the Ripple company. Like I mentioned earlier, all of it was pre-mined at the start and transferred to the controlling parties. It doesn't follow any of the standards that Bitcoin established and takes different route altogether.

[Coyster]

Now from your second reply I can see you're against the Altcoin idea. Yes it's a risk but isn't that all crypto is all about "sometimes you win, sometimes you lose".

If you are gambling/trading with scam coins (altcoins), then yes; you win somedays when the coins you selected are pumped, and you lose somedays when you can't sell quick enough and they dump right on you; when a coin doesn't have any actual utility or real life usage, it becomes only useful for gambling or pump and dump, that's why altcoins are generally referred to as short term products.

Having said that, Bitcoin doesn't follow the idea of winning or losing somedays, except you the investor are impatient or moved by FUD, Bitcoin is a currency/asset that has an actual utility, if you want to hodl it as an asset then you must do so for the long term, it also has its own real life usage as a currency for buying goods and services; Bitcoin is no longer an 'experiment', it is now a proven entity that serves quite a lot of purposes, and thus it gives investors confidence to buy it anytime, with most of the risks inherent in how to keep it away from scammers/hackers.

[Lucius]

I recommended online wallets for those just starting crypto currency. Cold wallets are  really expensive. An external storage source costs almost 300-350 dollars as of now.

I know that there are hardware wallets that cost even $2000, but their price does not come from the fact that they are superior in providing security or some extra features, but rather that they are made of special materials such as titanium. In addition, today anyone can buy a fully functional hardware wallet for less than $100, or turn an old computer into cold storage practically for free.

To some extent, I understand the logic that goes in the direction that online wallets are a very easy way of storage, and they are also free - and maybe in some way they provide greater security in the sense that the user does not download a fake desktop/mobile wallet - even though phishing is not something that should be completely ignored.

Simply put, if you don't know what you're doing, it's not a question of whether you'll run into a fake wallet, phishing link or clipboard malware first, it's just a matter of time when it will happen.

[aysg76]

I really hope that newbies in a reliable source, as you write, do not choose you.
I can say that your advice in choosing a hot wallet has completely discouraged the desire to continue reading further, and also discredited you as an adviser.
And, as always, the number of thousands of links does not mean that you are a master of Internet search. The information from 2018, which you illiterately paraphrased, proves that you are also a loser in the search.

The newbie account giving advice to beginners in the first space gives indication that what the advice could be.The same happened with me also that once he said hot wallets are best choice for them I have the whole idea of the post and rest the post of other members have directed him that his advice is not worth it.

And as you have already pointed out that he is paraphrasing the so called advice to the members and they think these types of post will help them to gain merits and show they have knowledge about these matters but in reality it's entirely different scenario.

[witcher_sense]

 
(3) This I'd say is the most important. Always bear in mind that bitcoin is unpredictable and not as stable compared to other standard currencies.

I understand that when you say "unpredictable" and "not as stable," you mean bitcoin is highly volatile, especially when compared with national "stable" currencies that are being managed by the country's central banks. But the price of money is not the only metric to assess their stability. If you think about it, bitcoin is the most stable and most predictable currency humanity has ever witnessed. Bitcoin is a programmable money in which it is algorithmically determined how money should behave both in times of stability and economic prosperity and in times of depression and crisis. Bitcoin has a predictable monetary policy - far more predictable than gold or national currencies. Bitcoin issuance halves every 210000 blocks and you know precisely when miners will stop producing fresh bitcoins. You know that blocks are being produced every 10 minutes on average. You know on which principles these mechanisms are based because you can always inspect the source code. Bitcoin is the most predictable money out there.

[Darker45]

I recommended online wallets for those just starting crypto currency. Cold wallets are  really expensive. An external storage source costs almost 300-350 dollars as of now.
I also mentioned that's if you actually read the post that overall cold wallets are better but " for a beginner it's advisable you start with online wallets, later on if you wish to diversify your assets you could purchase a cold wallet"

A hardware wallet doesn't even cost you a hundred dollars. Ledger would provide you a better storage at around $60 only.

I also don't understand why beginners are taught the wrong way of keeping coins. Isn't it better to recommend them what's secure and safe? Whether you're a beginner or not, it is advisable to keep funds out of online wallets. Whether you wish to diversify or not, it is always encouraged to choose cold wallets instead of hot wallets.

[Pmalek]

In addition, today anyone can buy a fully functional hardware wallet for less than $100, or turn an old computer into cold storage practically for free.

We have just had Black Friday week where it was possible to purchase a Trezor One for under €50 if you live in non-EU countries, Asia, and North American or for €55 to €57 in the EU. Even if it's the oldest hardware wallet with certain disadvantages, it's still a good and useful product even today. Set it up with one or multiple hidden wallets with secure passphrases, adhere to good security standards, and use common sense and you will be all set to be your own bank.

[Memorabilia]

These are some good tips! To add to it, traders need to plan ahead and think long term. Surviving these tense market conditions is not an easy job so patience is necessary. Knowledge will be a stepping block towards profit.

[Plaguedeath]

It's all just generic advice, everyone already know that.

Although beginners might don't know about it, your explanation is still not enough to make them understand and choose the right decision. This is why every beginners must visit the pinned thread where it's really important for newbies, sooner or later your thread will be not in top page and it become useless since beginners wouldn't see your thread.

[pooya87]

I recommended online wallets for those just starting crypto currency. Cold wallets are  really expensive. An external storage source costs almost 300-350 dollars as of now.

If that's the main reason why you are making this suggestion then it is terrible an you are misleading beginners.

There is a lot of choices between a custodial account that you have no control over and a hardware wallet that you have to purchase! Like a simple SPV desktop or phone wallet like Electrum.
The only way this particular advice (using custodial wallets such as Coinbase) is valid is if you explicitly explain the risks and all the problems that this type of "accounts" have and also you must follow it up with explaining other wallet types.

P.S. Cold storage is not just hardware wallets.

[2stout]

#1 basically shot your credibility in the foot.  Recommending hot/online wallet is not recommended, and is the opposite of what is considered to be best practice as it leaves you open and more likely to being hacked.

[Peanutswar]

 
(1) First of as a beginner it's advisable when choosing a wallet that you go for a hot wallet like metamask, coinbase etc over cold wallets. Though overall cold wallets are better than hot wallets as they are not internet based, making them less vulnerable to online hacks. So if later on you decide to diversify your assets, you can use the both hot and cold wallets. But if you're just starting, hot wallets would be advisable I'd recommend coinbase.

In this part, I guess you are referring to the coinbase wallet, instead of the coinbase exchange and still ideal to use a cold wallet because you can store your assets in the hardware wallet without getting doubts about what if you get hacked with your hot wallets. Below is the recommended wallet for the hot and cold wallets. 

Additionally with these you can buy trusted cold wallets with the Trezor and Ledger

Code:

https://www.ledger.com/
https://trezor.io/

And also check the supported coin because in different storage only limited support with the coin you want to, also for their trusted resellers world wide you can check here

Code:

[1]https://trezor.io/resellers
[2]https://www.ledger.com/reseller

I'm not partnered or a reseller just shares this information for the benefit of the newbies. Also if you don't have a budget yet ideal to use a hot wallet such as the following.

Code:

https://electrum.org/#home
https://www.exodus.com/

(2) Next you have to get yourself a reliable and reputable source for bitcoin and crypto related news. They are and they will always be opposing opinions about bitcoin, alot of negative feedbacks and they'll try to dissuade you telling you that you'll only be disappointed if you venture into Bitcoin. That's why as a beginner you need to stick to a reliable source that'll only give you solid facts. These sources might be crypto blogs, a twitter page, podcast or even a friend.

The internet now is free so you can search immediately what is the current update of the cryptocurrency world but again don't rely in just resources only there's some incomplete information given in the different blogs and article so make yourself knowledgeable more in different source of information, once you gather an information filter out it and called as Data to build a concrete understanding if the information is true or just a fake news.