Before I start on the hows, let me briefly summarize the benefits of Bitcoins over other digital currencies.
-Anonymous- meaning that you do not need to share any personal information to trade or receive money
-Low transaction fees- the most cost effective/ cheapest way to send money anywhere in the world
-Payments are unable to be charged back, reversed, or cancelled once they have been confirmed. You are able to search and verify your transactions at www.blockchain.info
-Bitcoins as to this point are deflationary- given their track record its value tends to increase with time.
Any additional information can be found at www.bitcoin.org/en/you-need-to-know
STEP 1:
Before you start to use Bitcoins your first step is to choose a online wallet found at www.bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet. Different wallets will offer you different types of options with each giving their personal advantage. www.coinbase.com is a popular one for people who reside in the USA and www.blockchain.info/wallet/ is probably the more user friendly one.
For larger storages of bitcoins your best bet and also most secure option is to download a bitcoin wallet client https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet. These will be a little more difficult to set up but also provides the user with additional securities.
STEP 2:
Once you have created your wallet account, it is now time to actually purchase the Bitcoins themselves. One thing to keep in mind is that bitcoins can not be purchased with your credit cards, Paypal, or any methods that risk a charge back. You will need to also keep in mind that all vendors will require identity verification prior to selling any Bitcoins. Given the web site you use, this may take up to a few days so plan in advance if you want to use Bitcoins! The sites that you choose to buy your Bitcoins from will usually have user friendly steps into what and how you are suppose to go about doing so. I will list a few of the more popular sites below.
www.Bitfinex.com- Ideal for people with market knowledge and provides a platform for margin tradeing and lending
www.Bitstamp.com- good site for trading
www.Coinbase.com- Once you are verified here, you can purchase your Bitcoins instantly
www.Kraken.com- provides you with the best european exchange rates.
STEP 3
Once you have your wallet set up, you are now capable of transferring and purchasing bitcoin in all bitcoin friendly stores. You will need to obtain the Bitcoin Address of the store you are trying to purchase from and use that as their account information to send over your Bitcoins. The Bitcoin address should be seen as a random mix of numbers and letters. As the seller or buyer of Bitcoins, you can always check up your transaction on the site listed earlier wwww.blockchain.info. It will be safer to use a middleman service as well if you are hesitant on doing large transactions. Allowing a escrow in the mix such as www.btcrow.com will ensure a safe and secure transaction between the two exchanging parties.
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