Gab Help Guides

How do I get started with Bitcoin

Last updated: Jan 4, 2021 4:43 PM

One of the best ways is to learn by doing. 

Start with a small amount of Bitcoin (btc) and make only a few transactions.
There is no need to keep (store) your bitcoin.  You can close your account (wallet) after completing your transaction, or continue with more.   That's up to you. 
Consider: short term vs. long term 'investing'

After your wallet is created, it's only a few steps.   Bingo !  You could be a Gab Pro Subscriber!

1) “But I can’t afford a bitcoin, it is thousands of dollars.

For getting started with bitcoin, consider only the amount needed for your transaction(s) plus any associated fees of buying and selling.   For example:  I wish to become a Gab Pro Subscriber for 2 years.  Calculate the current price of the Gab Pro Subscription + fees to purchase + fees to sell any residual, fractional amounts.   The fees will be charged by the wallet companies and may be  ~2%.

One of the biggest misconceptions about bitcoin is that you need to purchase an entire coin in order to use it. You can purchase any amount of bitcoin which is denominated in a fractional unit of bitcoin called a Satoshi, or “sats” for short. Think of sats like you think of cents. Cents are a fractional denomination of the dollar. Sats are a fractional denomination of a bitcoin.

2) “So how do I buy and store bitcoin?”

The first thing you’ll need is a wallet. There are several different types of wallets, each of them has pros and cons. Mobile wallets can be used on your smartphone. Desktop wallets can be used on your desktop computers. Web wallets can be accessed from any device and tend to be included with exchanges, which is how you’ll be purchasing bitcoin. Hardware wallets are the most secure physical wallets to store your bitcoin on a device.

To start, the easiest thing to do would be using a mobile or web wallet offered by an exchange. That way you can purchase bitcoin and have it appear in a web wallet to get started right away. We recommend River.com for ease of use and to begin your journey.
https://river.com/signup?r=7V55SMW6
other alternatives:
https://www.coinmama.com/bitcoin?cxd=57777_510445&affid=57777
https://www.coinmama.com/faq


3) “What is a bitcoin exchange?”

A bitcoin exchange is a digital marketplace where people can buy and sell bitcoin in exchange for fiat currency. Similar to how you exchange your currency while traveling abroad, digital exchanges allow you to exchange fiat currency for bitcoin. Signing up for an exchange often requires identity verification to help prevent fraud.

4) “I purchased some bitcoin, now what?

Now you are ready to send some bitcoin to others or make a purchase. You’ll need the wallet address of the person or business you want to send your bitcoin to. You can support us at Gab by purchasing GabPro with bitcoin here. https://pro.gab.com/

5) “What is a bitcoin address?”

Think of a bitcoin wallet address like your bank account number for bitcoin. It’s a long series of unique characters that identifies an individual’s wallet account. These can also be used as invoice id’s for merchants. Wallet addresses also often appear as QR codes which can quickly and easily be scanned by your mobile device if you’re using a mobile bitcoin wallet. Here’s an example.

Our Bitcoin address: 3MUryyNEYsHngAURKHexarojUxpVLpQpM6

6) “Is my bitcoin safe? I’ve heard a few stories about people losing theirs.”

This is why education is important. You want to be informed and understand how to securely store your bitcoin to make sure it is safe. This is something we are going to help you with on this site. Once you get up and running on an exchange we highly recommend your purchase a bitcoin hardware wallet, which is one of the most secure ways to store your bitcoin.  This is handy if you plan to continue using bitcoin. 

There’s an upfront investment to purchase the hardware wallet, but if you plan on purchasing and storing bitcoin it will be worth the cost to buy a hardware wallet, similar to a thumbdrive that you control.
We recommend Ledger for it’s ease of use.  For more advanced users Coldcard is suggested for its open source product.
https://www.ledger.com/buy-bitcoin

* Gab is not affiliated with any of the above companies.
Source:
https://news.gab.com/what-is-bitcoin/



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