Getting Started With Bitcoins
So you understand how Bitcoins work, how they’re secured, and how acquiring BTC sooner rather than later can bring you exponential profits. Now we’ll discuss how you can get started and what you can do to maximize your Bitcoin experience.
Before you get started buying Bitcoins, you need to set up a Bitcoin wallet. This is essentially your Bitcoin bank account and will house all your Bitcoins while also being your method of sending and receiving payments. There are several types of wallets available, each with their own benefits and drawbacks. Pay close attention to the following and decide which method is best for you.
One critical consideration you need to ponder is that your Bitcoin wallet needs to be backed up on a regular basis. This can be done manually or you can allow an external organization take care of this for you - depending on your own confidence using and understanding computing technologies. When a bitcoin wallet is lost or corrupted, the bitcoins it contains are lost forever. If you’re okay with letting somebody else handle this for you, then perhaps a cloud wallet is the way to go. If you want to handle this responsibility yourself, you can but you need to be vigilant in backing up your wallet in case anything goes wrong. There are also hardware wallets available, using a specialized USB drive to store your bitcoins. This is the safest method as accessing your wallet requires access to the USB drive. Using this guide you will discover which option will suit your needs best.
Cloud Wallets
Cloud wallets are recommended for users who have little experience or knowledge of modern computer technologies, or for those who want an easier method of storing Bitcoins. When you use a cloud wallet, you trust an external organization to maintain and secure your Bitcoins. This means you are not handling the primary responsibility of securing and backing up your Bitcoin wallet.
When using a cloud wallet, you need to make sure that you are using a 2 factor authentication by email. This means that, in order to access your wallet stored on the cloud, you will need to also be able to access your email. Using a different password on both your email and wallet will help maximize the security of your wallet. You also need to make sure that you are still creating your own backups, in case something happens on the cloud’s side of things. While we have personally recovered our own wallets using the backups provided to us by our cloud wallet provider, it’s definitely best practice to make sure you have a backup of your own wallet just in case.
Software Wallets
The primary benefits of using software wallets are both security and control. Since you are responsible for your own wallet and aren’t handing over the responsibility of wallet security to an external source, this gives you a lot of options to not only maximize and utilize every additional security method available but also back up your own wallet manually to a USB drive. Be careful when choosing this option - if you lose your wallet, it’s gone for good (along with all of your bitcoins). However, if you’re tech savvy and thrive under the idea that your wallet couldn’t possibly be more secure and that you know how to properly backup, store and maintain your wallet, this is the option for you.
Hardware Wallets
Hardware wallets operate as intermediaries between you and your wallet, offering a greater protection scheme than standard software and cloud based wallets. The only downside to hardware wallets is that they cost money, but hey, you spend money on a good wallet to store your credit cards, so why not spend some money on a wallet to handle your digital currency as well? Hardware wallets are physical devices which store your Bitcoins offline in USB devices and work in tandem with your wallet. In order to send payments from your wallet, the physical hardware is required along with a password, incorporating an additional level of security for your Bitcoins. These devices can’t be infected with viruses and other malware, and implement cryptography to privatize all data on the device. The operating systems of some of these devices are completely open source, meaning anybody can look at the code and verify that it does exactly what it’s designed to do with no tricky exploits hidden within. Be warned, however, that losing your hardware wallet will likely result in the loss of your bitcoins so take extra care if you decide to purchase one.
Some recommended hardware wallets are:
Choosing Your Wallet
Now that you understand the differences between a cloud-based, hardware-based and software-based wallet, you can make an informed decision about which option best suits your needs. While we’re not here to promote any specific wallet method as individual needs may vary, we do encourage you to research each wallet method or provider thoroughly. For a comprehensive list of wallets, please visit https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet
Please note that the materials here serve an informative purpose only, and are meant to help you make an informed decision in regards to purchasing, using and storing Bitcoins. mBitcasino is not affiliated with any of the websites or products mentioned within the content, so we are not to be held responsible for any losses or issues you may encounter while using the mentioned websites or products.