My Bitcoin Setup - A guide

[bitcoinbot]

I started with Bitcoin back in late 2013, just before the price exploded. I had actually read about it a year before this but after 10 minutes decided it was too complicated.

I decided to write this post because I have had a lot of trials and tribulations trying to get bitcoin to work like I want it too. I hope that this post will aid new users and perhaps more experienced users can help me out with some of my current problems.

Buying Bitcoin:
In my opinion buying bitcoin is still quite difficult. In the early days I spent ages registering at exchanges and then jumping through hoops trying to get my ID verified. After trying a whole bunch the only one I ended up with an account on is cryptsy.com. Cryptsy is a decent exchange and you can also buy 100's of alt currencies (litecoin, peercoin, ripple etc).

I don't however recommend buying from an exchange. For new users the simplest way to buy bitcoin is using localbitcoins.com. I also have an account at circle.com which is probably the simplest way to buy if you get it setup. I actually found it pretty easy although I have heard that some people find it quite difficult.
With circle you link your bank account and once verified you can buy any amount of btc in USD/GBP (other currencies may be available I don't know). You can then send your bitcoins to the wallet on your PC.

Bitcoin Wallet
When I first started with bitcoin the advice was to get bitcoin core. In my opinion Core sucks. It takes up like 60gb space, slows down your PC and takes ages before you can use it.
After using Core for several months I switched to Bitcoin Armory which I found equally sucks. If you are a new user don't bother with either of these two, they are designed for power users or corporations that need to store the whole blockchain.
I now use multibit.org. Multibit is a lightweight bitcoin wallet which means you don't need to download the whole blockchain. It starts like any other program in seconds and works like a dream.

Buying Stuff With Bitcoin
Once you have purchased your bitcoin and you have transferred them to your wallet you can then spend them (or HODL).

If you want to purchase things using your mobile phone with BTC I recommend you download Mycelium from the ios store or playstore. Mycelium is a great app that enables you to buy things using your phone via a QR code or BTC address. Obviously you need to transfer btc from your PC to your phone. To do this I used Mycelium to email me the bitcoin receive address. I then copied and pasted the address into multibit and added a note saying "funds for Mycelium". I can then use this same address everytime I want to send bitcoin to my phone.

Warnings
Please make sure you create really secure passwords and backup your wallet regularly. It's also worthwhile create a paper backup.
I wouldn't keep large amounts of bitcoin in your mycelium wallet either. Perhaps limit to $50-$100 or something.


MOD NOTE:
Referral part of links removed

[1715063826]

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[1715063826]

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[newIndia]

Short sweet advice

I'd just add 2 points...

1. Blockchain.info is nice for sum < 1 BTC

2. Paper wallet is best for sum > 1 BTC

[seriouscoin]

A bitcoin setup guide without a cold wallet setup is not even worth the bandwidth of its post.

Go away noobs, this isnt a guide, but a blog of a noob at best.

[Possum577]

This should go in the beginner section and you should include a link to a list of retailers that accept BTC.

[Hippie Tech]

A bitcoin setup guide without a cold wallet setup is not even worth the bandwidth of its post.

Go away noobs, this isnt a guide, but a blog of a noob at best.

This a noob's blog pushing referrral links. eg. Craptsy wasn't into ID verification during "the early days".

[ujka]

Buying Bitcoin:
In my opinion buying bitcoin is still quite difficult. In the early days I spent ages registering at exchanges and then jumping through hoops trying to get my ID verified.

I have a different experience buying bitcoins in 2013 - registering at exchanes I tried (bitstamp, bitcoin.de) was fast and easy, no verification required.

Now I'm using kraken. Still no ID verification required for <$2000, and SEPA bank transfers in EU are fast (clearings are several times a day).

[bitcoinbot]

A bitcoin setup guide without a cold wallet setup is not even worth the bandwidth of its post.

Go away noobs, this isnt a guide, but a blog of a noob at best.

This isn't a blog post. This is intended for noobs.

This should go in the beginner section and you should include a link to a list of retailers that accept BTC.

No objection to that but why should there be a list of retailers?

This a noob's blog pushing referrral links. eg. Craptsy wasn't into ID verification during "the early days".

So I threw in a few ref links. This is my setup and it's a basic guide to try and help out new users that seem to be told all these complicated ways.
Again, it's nothing to do with a blog and it's not great to call someone a noob when all thry are trying to do is help. I buy bitcoin, I sell bitcoin and I spend bitcoin.

[CryptKeeper]

Buying Bitcoin:
In my opinion buying bitcoin is still quite difficult. In the early days I spent ages registering at exchanges and then jumping through hoops trying to get my ID verified.

I have a different experience buying bitcoins in 2013 - registering at exchanes I tried (bitstamp, bitcoin.de) was fast and easy, no verification required.

Now I'm using kraken. Still no ID verification required for <$2000, and SEPA bank transfers in EU are fast (clearings are several times a day).

I also use kraken and I'm very satisfied!

[Hippie Tech]

Help us and yourself by moving this to "Service Discussion".

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?board=85.0

[bitcoinbot]

Don't know how to, don't really want to.

[jaberwock]

Short sweet advice

I'd just add 2 points...

1. Blockchain.info is nice for sum < 1 BTC

2. Paper wallet is best for sum > 1 BTC

there are other options between blockchain and paper wallet.

And I think that 1 BTC is too much for blockchain and too few for paper