I’d heard from quite a few sources that hardware wallets are the way forward in terms of proper security for your coins. These are a form of cold storage, as opposed to hot storage. Hot storage is anything where your private keys are connected to the internet or your computer. Cold storage is what you want for any large holdings of Bitcoin and other supported coins. Large is whatever amount you would feel sick losing. In my previous post, we saw how a guy lost USD 12,000 of Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on his Exodus wallet. This is a lovely looking wallet but it is a hot wallet. You shouldn’t really have that much on there, or any other hot wallet for that matter. So in the world of hardware wallets, there are three main options: Ledger Nano S Trezor Keepkey Keepkey looks great but less durable in …[Read More]
Bitcoin
Why is Bitcoin trending now?
Following on from the last post, we’re looking at questions that my friends have asked? Last time we looked at ‘What is Bitcoin?’ Today, we look at ‘Why is Bitcoin trending now?’ The main reason that Bitcoin is trending now is because it’s making the news. It’s making the news because it’s smashing through historic highs from deep lows. Most people knew Bitcoin as a ‘digital currency’, but maybe thought it was a fad or a scam, or something to use to buy drugs on the Silk Road. They may have known that it was pretty cheap a few years ago. Those same people now know Bitcoin as going through USD 3,000, then USD 4,000. Now people see that tech giants like Bill Gates and Jack Dorsey talking about how the Blockchain is here to stay and talking up Bitcoin. This new phase of acceptance and then adoption is driving …[Read More]
What is Bitcoin? (the beginners’ guide)
Since starting this blog and dabbling in Bitcoin and Ethereum, friends of mine have asked me to hold off with the dollar cost averaging stuff, and go back to the very beginning. Questions they’ve asked: What is Bitcoin? Why is it trending now? Why should I buy one now? How do I get one? How should it be viewed in your portfolio i.e. is it an asset? How is it different from normal currency? In this post, I’m going to answer the first question: What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin was created by a Satoshi Nakamoto. Nobody knows who he or she is. The idea was to create a new currency, one that was fully online and digital and that was fully decentralised. Problems with normal currency The problems with normal currencies stem from their dependence on third parties. Normal currencies are controlled by that country’s government and central bank. So Pound …[Read More]
Two unplanned new trades (BTC and ETH)….and I need a new Ethereum Wallet
In my previous post, I ended saying I was going to buy some Monero (XMR). This it turns out isn’t as easy as I thought it might be. I couldn’t find one exchange that traded a fiat currency (normal currency), in this case Sterling (GBP) for XMR. The closest fiat currency I could trade for XMR was USD to XMR on Kraken, which I didn’t fancy because I don’t have a USD account (I live in the UK). Even though Kraken looks to have a very good reputation (more on that in a future post). A Google search for ‘Buy Monero’ gave me this result https://www.monero.how/how-to-buy-monero Reading the above page on https://www.monero.how/how-to-buy-monero and the recommended MoneroEric’s guide (which is SUPERB by the way), told me that I needed to buy Monero with Bitcoin and then either swap the Bitcoin for Monero (like Shapeshift) or buy Monero with Bitcoin using an exchange (like Poloniex …[Read More]
How I bought my very first Ethereum cryptocurrency (for complete beginners)
In my last post, I wrote about how to buy bitcoins for a complete beginner. Since then, I’ve wanted to buy other cryptocurrencies to diversify my exposure to cryptocurrencies. I want a basket of cryptocurrencies. Next on the list is Ethereum. How to buy Ethereum Now this wasn’t as straightforward as buying Bitcoins, possibly because it’s a much younger coin. First up, like with Bitcoin, you need a wallet. Googling ‘best ethereum wallet’ doesn’t yield good results. Instead, go to the source again (as we did with Bitcoin). Go to Ethereum.org. Here, download the Wallet: Next, install it. This isn’t that straightforward, so here are two great videos showing you how to do so for Mac: Once you’ve installed and backed-up your wallet, it’s time to load it with Ethereum. Where to get Ethereum? Google will take you to Coinbase. Unfortunately, I had the same problems with Coinbase as I did …[Read More]
How I bought my very first bitcoins (for complete beginners)
The recent cyberhacks got me thinking about bitcoin. I also saw an old article on the brilliant Sprezzaturian website by Mikael Syding where he outlines becoming expert in a hot topic and consulting on that newfound knowledge (in this example, Bitcoin and Blockchain). I watched a few videos on what Bitcoin and Blockchain are: I looked at the price and historic prices were for Bitcoin: My usual self would have ploughed into this kind of hockey stick action. Luckily for me, it’s not that easy to buy the underlying assets. Let’s look at how to buy bitcoins. Bitcoin Wallet You need a Bitcoin wallet in which to store your Bitcoins. I looked on Google for best Bitcoin wallet and came to articles by 99 Bitcoin. This is a good website which recommended Coinbase. I checked out Coinbase and Xapo and leant towards Coinbase because it was an exchange (where I …[Read More]
How I bought my very first bitcoins (for complete beginners)
The recent cyberhacks got me thinking about bitcoin. I also saw an old article on the brilliant Sprezzaturian website by Mikael Syding where he outlines becoming expert in a hot topic and consulting on that newfound knowledge (in this example, Bitcoin and Blockchain). I watched a few videos on what Bitcoin and Blockchain are: I looked at the price and historic prices were for Bitcoin: My usual self would have ploughed into this kind of hockey stick action. Luckily for me, it’s not that easy to buy the underlying assets. Let’s look at how to buy bitcoins. Bitcoin Wallet You need a Bitcoin wallet in which to store your Bitcoins. I looked on Google for best Bitcoin wallet and came to articles by 99 Bitcoin. This is a good website which recommended Coinbase. I checked out Coinbase and Xapo and leant towards Coinbase because it was an exchange (where I …[Read More]