Source: https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/how-use-the-bitcoin-com-wallet

e Bitcoin.com Wallet

August 4, 2017

Read an important announcement about Bitcoin from Bitcoin.com

To send or receive Bitcoin Cash (BCH) or Bitcoin Core (BTC), you will need a Bitcoin wallet app. This guide covers how to install and use the basic features of the Bitcoin.com Wallet which offers support for Bitcoin Cash ($BCH) and Bitcoin Core ($BTC).

Step 1: Download the Bitcoin.com Wallet

You can download the Bitcoin.com Wallet app for your smartphone or computer.

Look for the Bitcoin.com Wallet logo to download the app

For smartphone users, search “Bitcoin.com Wallet” in the Google Play store or the App Store on your iOS device.
Locate “Bitcoin Wallet” from Bitcoin.com or look for the Bitcoin.com logo.
Then tap the “Install” or “Get” button.
Once installed, the Bitcoin Wallet app will be accessible from your home screen.

Step 2: Backing Up Your Bitcoin.com Wallet

By default, the app creates two wallets: one for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and one for Bitcoin Core (BTC). These are seperate wallets for two seperate currencies, BCH and BTC. Be sure to backupeach and every wallet that you add funds to.

The first time you open your Bitcoin.com Wallet you will be guided through a setup process which includes a backup walk-through. This process takes about 5-10 minutes and can seem tedious but rest assured that following these instructions is extremely important towards protecting the safety of your bitcoins. Grab a pen and piece of paper, find a place away from other people, and tap “Get started” to begin.

Non-backed up wallets are at risk of losing all funds contained therein if your phone is lost or damaged.

Download the Bitcoin.com Wallet from your app store

You will be shown a series of screens with some background information about Bitcoin. Read the contents of each page and press the text or button at the bottom the screen to continue to the next.

Follow the instructions and write down the 12 words in order from left to right. This is your “recovery/backup phrase”. Note, that the backup phrase used here is for demonstration purposes only. Your unique backup phrase will be different. bitcoin.com-wallet-backup-phrase

Write down your backup phrase and store it somewhere safe. Note the one above is just used for demonstration.

Once you have written down the 12 words, tap “I’ve written it down”. Next, you will be asked to verify the phrase. This is just another measure to ensure that you are backed-up properly. Complete this step by tapping the words in the order in which they appear on your hand-written backup phrase. Once you do this you should see the the backup confirmation screen.

Backup complete. Nice job!

If you ever lose your phone or get a new one you will use this phrase to verify that you are the owner of the wallet before being granted access. This is why it is important to keep the phrase safe and away from the eyes of others. Store the code as securely as you would cash or other valuables, you may lose your bitcoins forever if your device is lost, stolen or damaged and you chose not to backup. Some users laminate the paper or use some other means of keeping it safe from moisture or grime. Also, feel free to make several backup copies and store these in various safe places, e.g. bank safety deposit box, in a secure drawer, home safe, etc.

Step 3: Using Your Bitcoin.com Wallet

Your list of Wallets will then appear at the top of the screen. Your initial balance will be 0 BCH and 0 BTC.

There are 5 navigation tabs at the bottom of the Bitcoin.com Wallet App:

Home | Displays basic information like wallet balance(s) at a glance.
Receive | Generates a new Bitcoin Cash address to which others can send you BCH.
Scan | Uses your phone’s camera to scan another user’s BCH address (in QR Code form). Makes sending BCH a breeze.
Send | Allows you to send your BCH to others by inputting their Bitcoin address.
Settings | Application settings: setup new wallets, edit wallet names, change currency display, set spending password, etc.

Step 4: Add Some BCH to Your Wallet

You can now add BCH to your wallet balance. Maybe a friend wants to pay you back for dinner. Or maybe you want to purchase BCH directly from an exchange like Coinbase. Whatever the case, you will want to share your wallet address with the sender. To do this, tap the Receive tab along the bottom of the screen.

Tap the Receive navigation tab to add BCH to your wallet.

Make sure the wallet displayed at the bottom of the screen is the one to which you or someone else should send BCH. To change it, simply tap that area and select the appropriate wallet.

To share this address with a sender, tap the share icon in the top right on the window, or tap the screen to copy the address to your clipboard. Once copied, you can paste it into an email or message app to share with the sender.

You can also simply show the QR code to the sender and have them “Scan” the image with their device. This is the most convenient way to give someone your Bitcoin address.

How to Spend BCH from Your Bitcoin.com Wallet

Tap the “Send” tab.
Input the recipient’s address into the field at the top. Paste from clipboard or tap the “Scan” icon to open camera and scan their address’s QR code. Double-check the address to make sure it a) is correct and b) corresponds to the correct currency. Do not send BTC to a BCH address and vice-versa.
Once you input the address you need to enter an amount to send. By default, you will get an amount in BCH. To toggle to fiat currency, tap the “BCH” icon in the Amount field.
Input the amount to send
Confirm the address and amount. Then swipe to send.

Once a transaction has been sent. You will see the transaction in your history. If sending BCH, the recipient should get the coins within minutes. 100% confirmation may take a few more minutes depending on the network traffic.

Securing Your Bitcoins and Protecting Yourself Online

That wraps up our guide to using the Bitcoin.com Wallet. In closing, we would like to remind you that the security of your Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Core is entirely up to you. There is no Bitcoin transaction customer service to email if you lose your backup phrase. There is no “forget password” button. This might seem daunting but such is the nature of using a peer-to-peer, decentralized network like Bitcoin Cash. You are your own bank, that comes with responsibility.

Follow these steps to ensure the security of your bitcoin:

Write down, and safely store your backup/recovery phrase that was given when you installed the wallet software/app
Store your backup phrase as you would cash or other valuables
It’s important that nobody untrusted have access or be able to see your backup phrase. They would be able to use it to gain access to your wallet and spend/steal your bitcoins
Do not screenshot or copy and paste your backup phrase onto your PC or other device
Never allow “remote access” to your PC (if running a full node, for example) to receive technical support. They may ask you to run the software and type in commands that may expose your private key and steal your bitcoins.
Do not store all your bitcoins on a mobile device or with an online service if you have a significant amount of funds. Consider “cold storage” like a paper wallet, which may be stored in a safe deposit box or a safe inside your home or once. You can also use a hardware wallet such as a Trezor or Ledger Nano S.
A “hot wallet” is one with software connected to the Internet for transacting. A cold wallet is used for ‘cold storage’ which involves storing a piece of paper in a secure location, safe from hazardous weather or other conditions, which has a private key able to be added to a software wallet for later for access to the bitcoins.
Watch out for scams. There are plenty of online scams unfortunately. They seem to be directed at those who are not entirely familiar with Bitcoin, or those who are fooled by get rich quick scams, or who believe claims that seem too good to be true.
For example, there are legitimate sites for cloud mining where you pay to rent hardware to mine bitcoins for yourself. You can certainly make this profitable. Bitcoin.com has its own cloud mining pool, and is safe for those new to mining. But never send bitcoins to unknown sites that claim to reward you with large amounts of bitcoins at some point in the future, or give you a x number of bitcoins per day, or ask you to install a browser plugin or other software. These are almost certainly scams, and it is surprising that even those who understand Bitcoin very well and are active in the Bitcoin economy have been fooled out of a lot of bitcoins.
Read Bitcoin.com’s Getting Started page with access to guides like, How to Avoid Bitcoin Fraud.

Welcome to the world of Bitcoin! Thanks for downloading the Bitcoin.com Official Wallet

**** wi o Get Started with Bitcoin

May 1, How To Get Started.

Source: https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/how-to-get-started-with-bitcoin

Bitcoin is the world’s leading digital currency and continues to grow as people learn about its breakthrough potential as a peer-to-peer digital payment system. For a refresher on what Bitcoin is and other things you need to know about Bitcoin, check out the Getting Started page—a collection of essential Bitcoin information, guides, and reviews.

Here are three steps to help you get started using Bitcoin right now:

Step 1: Download a Bitcoin Wallet

A Bitcoin wallet is an app or program that allows you send and receive bitcoin. Wallets also keep track of your bitcoin balance which is held in one or more bitcoin addresses. Generally, wallets also have a feature that keeps a history of your bitcoin transactions.

There are many different wallets across various platforms. While they all share certain basic functionality, features vary from one wallet to the other so it’s worth learning more about How to Choose a Bitcoin Wallet before downloading the wallet of your choice.

Step 2: Add Bitcoin to Your Wallet

Now that you have a wallet, you probably want to add some bitcoin to your balance. Have your Bitcoin wallet address ready and visit the buy Bitcoin page. Here, you will be able to easily purchase Bitcoin with a credit card. Another option is to choose a Bitcoin Exchange where you can quickly set up an account and buy bitcoins with funds from a bank account or credit card.

Keep your private key(s) private and never share with anyone. It is very important to backup your wallet’s private key and any other credentials for offline storage. Failing to backup could result in the loss of your Bitcoin holdings if you should ever lose the device on which the wallet is installed.

Step 3: Use a Bitcoin Wallet to Send and Receive Bitcoin

Receiving bitcoin is as easy as giving the sender your public address. Sending bitcoin requires a few more steps and since bitcoin
transactions are irreversible, it is important to pay attention when sending. Overall, the process for sending bitcoin is actually quite easy:

Copy the receiver’s public Bitcoin address (or scan QR code)
Open your wallet and navigate to its “Send” feature, paste the receiver’s address into the appropriate field
Specify the amount you want to send (for help converting fiat currency into bitcoin visit our Bitcoin Tools page.)
Confirm that the address and amount are both correct
Send

Bitcoin is accepted by thousands of individuals, websites, and brick-and-mortar businesses around the world, here are just a few:

Purse.io can save you money and let you shop on Amazon with Bitcoin
The Bitcoin.com Store. Bitcoin products and more
Play games with Bitcoin

Best Practices for New Bitcoin Users

Congratulations! You have bought your first bitcoin and know the basics of receiving and sending—you are now a full-fledged Bitcoiner!

You have the basics but there is always more to learn. Bitcoin is a tool that is only as useful as your ability to hold and spend it properly. Here are some best practices for new Bitcoin users to read and learn:

The above steps are just the basics. Bitcoin and it’s blockchain technology on which it relies are robust solutions to payment obstacles all over the world. Since bitcoin is real money it is important to have a solid understanding of certain aspects related to receiving, storing, and spending.

3 ways to learn more about Bitcoin:

****

HOW TO AVOID BITCOIN FRAUDS

Source: https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/your-guide-to-avoiding-bitcoin-fraud

Bitcoin is a remarkable cryptographic achievement. The ability to create something which is not duplicable in the digital world has enormous value. The Bitcoin architecture, literally the ability to having these ledgers that can’t be replicated is an amazing advancement.” – Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google, March 2014.

With Bitcoin price increasing over the years and reaching billions of dollars in market capitalization, all kinds of people see its value and appeal. This brings out both the good and bad in human nature. Unfortunately, with the bad comes scammers. The bottom line is scammers also want to profit somehow from Bitcoin, but through nefarious means. This typically involves targeting unprepared victims, who end up losing their Bitcoin as a result.

In this guide we will walk you through the most common Bitcoin scams. We’ll show you how to spot them, and make sure you don’t become the next victim.

Fake Bitcoin Exchanges

Often on social media you’ll see a link saying something like “Buy bitcoin for 5% under market value. Save big!” This is a marketing trick to get you to visit and use their fake exchange.

If you visit any exchange site the very first thing you want to do is make sure it’s HTTPS secured and not HTTP. This means that the web traffic is encrypted and secured; if it’s just HTTP without the “S” that is a big red flag and means stay away.

Another red flag to look out for are fake exchanges that offer selling Bitcoin for PayPal. On these sites you’ll see a web form to enter your PayPal email and amount to sell. After submitting, you will be presented with a QR code to send your bitcoin to. But the money never arrives.

Most of these fake exchanges are here one day and gone the next. You will see them pop up but will quickly disappear, and then re-emerge with a different domain name later.

To be sure you are going to a real Bitcoin exchange, visit our exchange portal on Bitcoin.comto ensure you aren’t being scammed.

Fake Bitcoin Wallets

Spotting fake Bitcoin wallets is a bit tougher, because wallets primarily are about storing bitcoin and not buying or selling it. It has less to do with money than it does with the software you may use. Typically, fake Bitcoin wallets are just scams for malware to infect your machine in order to steal your passwords or private keys. To ensure security, Bitcoin.com recommends our official Bitcoin Wallet for desktop and mobile users. To browse all of the wallets offered through Bitcoin.com, check out our wallets page.

Just like with fake Bitcoin exchange sites, you should trust your instincts and look for red flags. Does the wallet site use HTTPS? Is the name of the wallet site trying to resemble another reputable Bitcoin wallet by impersonating it? Outside of the obvious, it may be hard to tell if a wallet is fake. A good practice is to ask your peers if someone has used the wallet before. You can do this on the Bitcoin Forum or Bitcoin Reddit.

If the wallet is a downloadable client, another good practice is to check the site for malware. Sites like VirusTotal are a great resource for checking executables to see if they contain viruses.

To avoid scams and to be sure you are getting a real Bitcoin wallet, visit our wallet portal on Bitcoin.com or directly download Bitcoin.com’s official wallet.

Phishing Scams

This is a very common scam. Phishing is when someone tries to trick you into thinking they are a trusted company or website by having you visit a fake site.

Typically, phishers contact you via email or through a fake web advertisement. The end result is you go to their website by mistake and either get malware, or lose your bitcoin through a fake sale.

With emails you have to be careful to not take the bait. You may receive an email from a wallet or exchange you already use, either by coincidence or through past database hacks. Maybe hackers obtained your email address on the black market; for example from a Yahoo! or other service hack.

Best practice is to not click on any hyperlinks in an email or open attachments. Go directly to the website if you have to do business there. A common tactic is to make a hyperlink look real, but if you hover over it you will see the fake website URL. Always check the sender email to see where it’s coming from (although this is not 100% reliable as emails can be spoofed).

With fake web advertisements, you have to be careful on the site you are visiting. This usually happens when searching on the web for things like “blockchain.” The top result could actually be an advert via Google for example, but may end up being a fake Bitcoin wallet. Best practice is to not visit sponsored ad content in search results, and just manually type the real website address directly into your browser.

To be sure you are going to a real Bitcoin wallet, visit our wallet portal on Bitcoin.com to ensure you aren’t being scammed.

Ponzi Scams

Ponzi scams are promises from websites that you will “double your bitcoin” overnight, or some similar outlandish claim. Ponzi sites may be harder to spot, but they’re easy to figure out once you understand this: the only way to double your money is to first send it to them.

Ponzi sites also typically have referral programs, so if you get others to sign up for the site by visiting your affiliate link, you may make a few cents. This is another red flag, as many times you will see on social media shared links with referrals within the URL. Usually it will look something like this (referral link is in bold): domain.com/ponzi/?ref=12345

If you’re unsure whether this Bitcoin site is a scam, visit our Scam thread on the Bitcoin Forumto see if others have used it before.

Cloud Mining

This can be a bit tricky because not all cloud mining operations are scams. Some are completely legitimate, however many are scams, so it’s best to warn people (especially newcomers) to be careful when looking into cloud mining.

For the uninformed, cloud mining is shared mining hashpower, where people pool their funds together to rent Bitcoin mining machines. For legitimate operations, this works and can be profitable. For scams, returns may be low or non-existent. As we’ve previously established, it’s best to trust your instincts and look for red flags.

Does the site use HTTPS? Did you find the site from a referral link on social media? Does the cloud mining operation not give any insight into what pool they use to mine, or let you select the pool you want to direct your hashrate to? These are just a few things to look for; you can read some other tips here.

We recommend the Bitcoin.com Mining Pool, which is a legitimate cloud mining pool that offers the highest block rewards in the space with 0% fees. The pool also has very competitive hashrate plans that you can buy. The pool is completely transparent on how it’s run, by whom, and how much return on your investment you will gain. Additionally on your account dashboard you will see charts and information with exact details on any mining contract you purchase.

If you’re unsure about cloud mining, visit our Bitcoin Mining Forum and ask someone for help.

*****

How To Choose the Best Bitcoin Wallet: January 27, 2017:

https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/how-to-choose-the-right-bitcoin-wallet

****
HOW TO STEUP A BITCOIN ASIC MINER : https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/how-to-setup-a-bitcoin-asic-miner-and-what-they-are

****
HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST BITCOIN EXCHANGE:
https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/how-to-choose-the-right-bitcoin-exchange
***
CALCULATINGBITCOIN MINING PROFITABILITY:
https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/calculating-bitcoin-mining-profitability
****
WHAT IS BITCOIN MINING:
https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/what-is-bitcoin-mining-and-how-does-it-work
****
HOW TO SETUP BITCOIN COLD STORAGE:
https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/setting-up-your-own-cold-storage-bitcoin-wallet
***
BITCOIN CLOUD MINING, IS IT WORTH IT AND IS IT SAFE?
https://www.bitcoin.com/guides/bitcoin-cloud-mining-is-it-worth-it-and-is-it-safe
***
ING SERVICE:
https://news.bitcoin.com/spokesperson-confirms-bitfinex-is-client-of-ing/

***
MARKETS UPDATES: BTC PRICES DIP BELOW 10K:
https://news.bitcoin.com/markets-update-btc-prices-dip-below-10k/
****
FBI Arrests Exchange Operator for Lying About 6000 Bitcoin Hack:
https://news.bitcoin.com/fbi-arrests-exchange-operator-for-lying-about-6000-bitcoin-hack/
**** co
*in

May 1, 2017Get Started with Bitcoin

May 1, 2017

B4GEN

Thursday 22 February 2018

BITCOIN.COM WALLET STEPS