Bitcoin Wallet For Receiving Bitcoins and Online Transfers?

[viking02]

I play online poker.  I mainly play on pokerstars and i would many times trade my pokerstars funds for other poker players bank of america online transfer without issues.  I know to not accept paypal or chasequickpay as its reversible.


However, i had read lot about bitcoin and i see quite a bit of online poker players trade their funds whether its poker funds or wire or boa or skrill etc for bitcoins and vice versa. 


I currently dont have anything bitcoin nor bitcoin wallet etc.  I would like to trade my pokerstars funds to other poker players who would trade bitcoins as i like another option along with boa online transfer.  And to those that ask why dont i cashout directly from my poker acct to my bank account... its b/c im an american thats in canada and have a canadian bank account and the poker site i play on... they dont do wires in usd and do it in euros so basically theres a high currency exchange rate where it would probably cost me like 7-8 percent to get say 5000usd from my pokerstars to my canadian bank account to my bank of america.  So i would trade my pokerstar funds for someones boa for like 3 cent vig.


I know many ppl in the poker forum who are reputable that would trade their bitcoins for pokerstars or boa online transfer.  However... i have no clue where to start with opening a bitcoin account.


Can someone tell me how i can do this?  The reason i created a post b/c i recalled ppl mentioned coinbase as the wallet for bitcoins... but then i read coinbase doesnt allow gambling transactions?  And other wallets are not safe.


Can someone recommend me what site to sign up for?  Am i suppose to link my bank account to it?  I have bank of america.  I also would like to use the bitcoins to deposit into other sites that accept bitcoin... note these sites are gambling sites. 


Also can someone tell me how would i turn the bitcoins later on into real cash into my bank of america?


Bitcoin just seems very complicated as when i thought just create a coinbase and i can do this... well i cant because i would be doing gambling transactions.

[no141]

Ask the others if they use coinbase, if they do then you can trade micro-transactions off the blockchain--No idea if such tiny amounts are of use to you. But since it seems you'll be trading with people, not the gaming site directly, I can't see why coinbase would have any issues of whom you send or receive bitcoin payments to/from. And having a Coinbase wallet will allow you to trade BTC to/from fiat any time you want(with a low fee).

So, I would recommend coinbase for you to start out using bitcoin. It makes things really simple, except for the delay joining up a banking account, if you choose to not allow the coinbase logging you in method. And coinbase has a mobile app to help things out further to spend btc in the real world.

If I understood you wrong, and you are sending money to gambling sites, then depending on how the site's btc payment addresses are it could be really difficult for a bank to know you are paying a gambling site. Maybe you need to look into that further, since we don't know the specific sites. You know there's btc gambling sites out there too.

[dougg]

Post in the digital goods section if you're looking to transfer the Pokerstars for BTC... the simplest way is to find a trustworthy user and just trade.

[torusJKL]

Coinbase might be easy to start but I wouldn't recommend to keep your Bitcoins there.
It's a centralized place and if they go bankrupt you will loose all your money.

Bitcoin is a decentralized system and thus I recommend you'll be the owner of your private keys by using a desktop program.
I can recommend Electrum.

[Farmer17]

If you want to buy/sell some bitcoin, Coinbase in a great choice for you since you are in US and don't mind linking your bank account to your Coinbase account. But as a bitcoin wallet, it is better to use blockchain.info for 2 reasons.
1. You are the only person controlling the private keys in bc.i, but Coinbase is the only one controlling the bitcoin you have in your Coinbase account.
2. There have been multiple reports about Coinbase banning accounts that have deposits or withdrawals linked to gambling sites.

[mckim0012]

I suggest you use blockchain.info wallet or multibit.org. They are easy and you don't have to download the huge blockchain.

[Shogen]

I actually prefer Electrum over Multibit because Electrum is a deterministic wallet, which means it is not only easy to use but also easy to make backups.

Blockchain.info wallet is good as well, but you should enable the 2FA function for better safety.

[viking02]

Hey so download blockchain and thats all i need right?  Thus no coinbase or anything else because all i plan to do is receive bitcoin from others in trade then eventually get those bitcoins into cash into my bank of america bank account.




Can someone tell me how easy is it to sign up?  I checked and all i have to do create acct and password and thats all?  Then once i do that, how would someone send me bitcoin?  What information would i need to give them?



I have one other important question.  I'm from the usa but i'm actually in canada at the moment.  Does that matter at all?  Thus i could use blockchain in the usa or canada?  I dont want to open it in canada then find out its country restricted.  Would i be able to access my bitcoin wallet thus blockchain in say mexico?  Thats where im most going to after this so just want to make sure.

[krishatnet]

I suggest you to create a wallet in blockchain.info no need to download any software but you can't link your bank account to it.

[Pkofet]

Hey so download blockchain and thats all i need right?  Thus no coinbase or anything else because all i plan to do is receive bitcoin from others in trade then eventually get those bitcoins into cash into my bank of america bank account.




Can someone tell me how easy is it to sign up?  I checked and all i have to do create acct and password and thats all?  Then once i do that, how would someone send me bitcoin?  What information would i need to give them?



I have one other important question.  I'm from the usa but i'm actually in canada at the moment.  Does that matter at all?  Thus i could use blockchain in the usa or canada?  I dont want to open it in canada then find out its country restricted.  Would i be able to access my bitcoin wallet thus blockchain in say mexico?  Thats where im most going to after this so just want to make sure.

By "blockchain", I am assuming you are talking about the site blockchain.info rather than blockchain the public ledger, right?

It is extremely easy to use the blockchain.info wallet. Just go there and register your account.
When you want someone else to send you bitcoin, you just need to go to the Receive Money tab and give your address to that someone else. You may want to create a new address every time, so to keep track of the payments more easily and for better privacy.

As long as you have your blockchain.info wallet identifier (ie. Account ID) and password, you can access your account at any location.

[maurya78]

I like blockchain.info, easy to use, intuitive, lots of good features and integrations
and most importantly, free. That said, be clear that by putting coins in an online wallet you are sacrificing security for convenience

[Lady_Cake]

Blockchain hands down! Lot of features, great for import/export and safe (only watch out for phishing) 

[viking02]

Can you explain what you mean if someone sending bitcoin to me then i have to give them the address?  Is it some code with letter and numbers or you mean an actual one?

[Coef]

Can you explain what you mean if someone sending bitcoin to me then i have to give them the address?  Is it some code with letter and numbers or you mean an actual one?

A bitcoin address is a 34 characters (there are some shorter ones though) starting with a 1 (3 is used for P2SH). You can read more on https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Address

For example, my address is 1NEb4W5EsayNnbqgKZUJuvjQV1FUrYCTG7. So, if I want someone to send bitcoin to me, I can give them the address and they can send the bitcoin there.

[viking02]

thank you.

So i just want to receive bitcoins.  So right now just create a blockchain acct and thats all then i tell the person my 34 digit address then they send me the bitcoins?

But in the end, i need coinbase or an exchange to get the funds to my bank of america right?

[Coef]

thank you.

So i just want to receive bitcoins.  So right now just create a blockchain acct and thats all then i tell the person my 34 digit address then they send me the bitcoins?

But in the end, i need coinbase or an exchange to get the funds to my bank of america right?

True and true.
Apart from selling your bitcoin for USD through exchanges, you could also spend your bitcoin for goods and services, or buy gift cards on Gyft.

[viking02]

okay so selling the bitcoins for a bank of america ach deposit will cost me 1 percent plus a 15 cent fee correct?


How much does it cost if i sell it at an exchange?  I mean... is the fee lesser on an exchange then coinbase?  I have tough time believing it cost less than 1 percent...



Also i have no plans on using bitcoin for good/services or gift cards.

[viking02]

hey all.  So im going to create a blockchain account as i read that is what i need since coinbase would close my acct if i use it directly for gambling transactions as ppl here mentioned. 


I heard stories about hacks getting hacked and bitcoins are no longer there.  How do i make sure this doesn't happen?  I heard about hot/cold storage etc.   I had thought if I just have a good password, that i should be fine.  But that isn't enough?  I hear so many complicated things like you need to do these excessive password etc... can someone explain this?


Last thing i want is to log into my coinbase or blockchain wallet, then find out my acct get hacked.  I do know that for blockchain or coinbase u have to remember your password... is that right?  But even if you do, how does the acct get hacked then?

[Frank.SD]

Don't use centralised wallets.

[Sonny]

hey all.  So im going to create a blockchain account as i read that is what i need since coinbase would close my acct if i use it directly for gambling transactions as ppl here mentioned. 


I heard stories about hacks getting hacked and bitcoins are no longer there.  How do i make sure this doesn't happen?  I heard about hot/cold storage etc.   I had thought if I just have a good password, that i should be fine.  But that isn't enough?  I hear so many complicated things like you need to do these excessive password etc... can someone explain this?


Last thing i want is to log into my coinbase or blockchain wallet, then find out my acct get hacked.  I do know that for blockchain or coinbase u have to remember your password... is that right?  But even if you do, how does the acct get hacked then?

Yes setting up a cold storage (paper wallet, offline wallet, hardware wallet, etc) will provide you the highest security against hacking.

Using blockchain.info wallet (or any other wallets that you are the only one having your private keys) is okay, but you should:
- Never download any suspicious files
- Never click any suspicious links or phishing links
- Never store your password as plaintext on dropbox, gmail etc
- Enable 2FA whenever possible
- Use a long and complicated password that has never been used on any other sites