Basic questions after first purchase

[lovethepirk]

New user of bitcoins as of today.  So far I have done this:

I went to blockchain info and got a wallet address, identifier, catchphrase
I went to coinbase and verified my checking account and phone number
I bought a quarter of a bitcoin as a test
Coinbase said it won't be until Friday I have my coin, I'm not thrilled there but I ain't in a hurry.

A few newbie questions....thanks:

1) how does coinbase have my wallet address I never gave it to them?  There is a tab on coinbase titled 'wallet', I just don't understand how they have my address when I never gave it to them.
2) On blockchain I have a catchphrase, identifier, and address.  Do I need to make damn sure I don't lose any of these, which can you lose and be okay?
3) When I buy something online is my transaction public knowledge?  I ask b/c I see transactions being posted all over the place?  It appears it is public knowledge but I thought bitcoin was partly for privacy, but I'm a rookie here so please slap me with a fish across my face.

thx

[PilotofBTC]

New user of bitcoins as of today.  So far I have done this:

I went to blockchain info and got a wallet address, identifier, catchphrase
I went to coinbase and verified my checking account and phone number
I bought a quarter of a bitcoin as a test
Coinbase said it won't be until Friday I have my coin, I'm not thrilled there but I ain't in a hurry.

A few newbie questions....thanks:

1) how does coinbase have my wallet address I never gave it to them?  There is a tab on coinbase titled 'wallet', I just don't understand how they have my address when I never gave it to them.
2) On blockchain I have a catchphrase, identifier, and address.  Do I need to make damn sure I don't lose any of these, which can you lose and be okay?
3) When I buy something online is my transaction public knowledge?  I ask b/c I see transactions being posted all over the place?  It appears it is public knowledge but I thought bitcoin was partly for privacy, but I'm a rookie here so please slap me with a fish across my face.

thx

1. Coinbase uses a "Shared wallet" concept. Your BTC will be in your coinbase wallet. You can use that or spend that BTC to your blockchain wallet if you want, or leave it at coinbase.

2. You need your identifier or your alias to be able to log into your wallet. 100% don't lose your password you'll be fine. I highly suggest you set up 2FA at blockchain and coinbase.

3. Yes, in a way. The blockchain is public. But, there is no simple way to link an address back to you. But, it is possible depending on stuff.

(cue all the people telling you how you shouldn't use an online wallet)

[lovethepirk]

I set up 2FA on both, thanks....

1) You speak of a 'shared wallet'.  I'm simple minded....does that mean it's in their wallet or mine?  It can't be both.  I don't want my bitcoin anywhere but in my wallet....I'm guessing the moment I get verified data that my wallet in coinbase has a bitcoin in it I need to immediately move the bitcoin into my wallet?  If this is true then do I use the 'send money' icon as if I was sending it to someone else although it is just me sending it to me?

Thanks....

[PilotofBTC]

I set up 2FA on both, thanks....

1) You speak of a 'shared wallet'.  I'm simple minded....does that mean it's in their wallet or mine?  It can't be both.  I don't want my bitcoin anywhere but in my wallet....I'm guessing the moment I get verified data that my wallet in coinbase has a bitcoin in it I need to immediately move the bitcoin into my wallet?  If this is true then do I use the 'send money' icon as if I was sending it to someone else although it is just me sending it to me?

Thanks....

You've sort of got it.

It's their wallet. It's your BTC.

Coinbase doesn't generate a public/private key pair for each customer. They have a single public/private key (well that's simplistic, the probably have multiple wallets hot/cold/etc). Your balance is maintained by Coinbase keeping track of which addresses in that wallet belong to you.

There is no need for you to immediately move your money. Coinbase will keep it all straight. You can send/receive bit coin via your coinbase wallet. You can create new addresses and you can sign messages with your coinbase wallet addresses.

So, coinbase is more like a bank. At your bank, there is no drawer were just your money sits. The bank keeps track of how much of the money it has belongs in your account.

This is also the way the exchanges work. When you send money to an exchange, like BTC-e or Bitfinex or whatever, they give you a deposit address and keep track of how much BTC in their wallet belongs to you.

HTH

[lovethepirk]

Thanks...so if Coinbase goes belly up I would lose my coins just like those exchanges.

Why would you want to ever keep a coin in their wallet?

Thanks

[PilotofBTC]

Thanks...so if Coinbase goes belly up I would lose my coins just like those exchanges.

Why would you want to ever keep a coin in their wallet?

Thanks

Coinbase makes Bitcoin easy for the common man. No need to set up a wallet, no need to manage keys etc. Coinbase also pays mining fees for you when you spend. You can send money from Coinbase wallet to Coinbase wallet instantly without needing to wait an hour for 6 confirms, etc. They also provide a merchant service for stores to accept bitcoin, they convert it to USD and depost it to the merchants bank.

So, there are advantages.

Yes, you have to trust them to not go away. I don't think they are going anywhere.

It's totally up to you, I'm just answering your questions.

[odolvlobo]

...
2) On blockchain I have a catchphrase, identifier, and address.  Do I need to make damn sure I don't lose any of these, which can you lose and be okay?

It is important to back up your Blockchain.info wallet. If Blockchain.info goes away and you haven't backed up your wallet, you will lose your bitcoins. They give you several ways to do it. Choose one.

You also need to save your identifier and password. You need those to access your wallet.

Blockchain also gives you other information that you can use to recover your wallet in case they go away. It is important to save that information.

Unlike other sites, Blockchain.info does not have access to your wallet. They only store it for you in encrypted form.

Other sites talk about "your wallet", but it isn't really your wallet -- it is their wallet. They hold your bitcoins for you (along with everyone else's bitcoins) in their wallet.

[lovethepirk]

Thanks, makes sense....

what website or application do I need to run to have my bitcoins in 'my' wallet free from any 3rd party.

[PilotofBTC]

Thanks, makes sense....

what website or application do I need to run to have my bitcoins in 'my' wallet free from any 3rd party.

There's several wallets you can run locally.

Electrum
Armory
Multibit
BitCoin QT (core wallet)
etc.

Check out https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page, Lots of info there.

[ncsupanda]

Thanks, makes sense....

what website or application do I need to run to have my bitcoins in 'my' wallet free from any 3rd party.

There's several wallets you can run locally.

Electrum
Armory
Multibit
BitCoin QT (core wallet)
etc.

Check out https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Main_Page, Lots of info there.

Be sure to do this! Please! Too many people get scammed too often. :/

Unless you have the private key / public key pair, the coins are NOT yours.

[polunna]

The most reliable wallet is paper wallet or web wallet? Is it better to use both?

[ncsupanda]

The most reliable wallet is paper wallet or web wallet? Is it better to use both?

A paper wallet or a wallet program (such as bitcoin QT) or even a offline wallet are the safest - Make sure to give your wallet a password, and also get the private key of it.

[Divinespark]

Great advice, I benefit too. Thanks.

[polunna]

The most reliable wallet is paper wallet or web wallet? Is it better to use both?

A paper wallet or a wallet program (such as bitcoin QT) or even a offline wallet are the safest - Make sure to give your wallet a password, and also get the private key of it.

Thank you very much!

[PilotofBTC]

The most reliable wallet is paper wallet or web wallet? Is it better to use both?

Just remember a paper wallet is not meant to be used. It is more like a savings account. It is a wallet that has a private key that isn't sitting on your PC somewhere to be found/stolen.

I feel perfectly safe using the blockchain.info. However, I'm not going to store a large amount of BTC in it. That's what paper wallets are for.

My problem with a wallet that I run on my desktop is I can't access it anywhere. Although, I think Electrum might get around this problem from what I've read about it.

[Vitsila]

Which program you recomend for paper wallet?

[Shogen]

Which program you recomend for paper wallet?

I believe Bitaddress should be the most used one and the easiest one.
https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org

[Light]

Which program you recomend for paper wallet?

I believe Bitaddress should be the most used one and the easiest one.
https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org

I would advise when running it make sure you do so offline (and make sure get the latest version - older ones had RNG issues). That way if there is anything malicious to steal your keys you should be fine (unless it designed to give you pregenerated keys - but that shouldn't happen with the source being available).

[PilotofBTC]

Which program you recomend for paper wallet?

Bitaddress or Blockchain.info as well. If you create one at blockchain.info it will automatically add the address of the wallet as a watch address so you don't need to do it manually. Not that doing that is a big deal.

[Vitsila]

Thanks both of you ... i "ll try them.