Bitcoin is hard to understand. Maybe that’s why there hasn’t been mass adoption. So how does Bitcoin work? I’m a big believer in the adage ‘if you can’t explain something in a simple way, then you don’t really understand it yourself’. So here’s my simple understanding of how Bitcoin works. (Disclosure: I bought some Bitcoin before I actually understood it. I don’t think that not understanding it means that you can’t invest a bit into Bitcoin but that’s the speculator in me!) Before we get into how Bitcoin works, first think about how traditional currency works Take the UK Pound Sterling. Physically: If I want to give you £10, then I go to my ATM and take out £10 and give it to you. Digitally: If I want to give you £10, then I log on to my account and transfer £10 from my account to your bank account. In …[Read More]
Bitcoin
Bitcoin at USD 5,500. Is it too late to get in?
I’m a buy and holder (a HODL) of cryptocurrencies. I don’t use leverage. I buy the underlying asset and I hold it. I don’t trade in and out of crypto. This means that I don’t look at the price on a daily basis. I hadn’t looked at Bitcoin’s price since early October when it was in the early USD 4,000s. I looked two day ago and it had breached USD 5,500. This really is a wonderful journey. What other financial instrument do you know that is this volatile?! I’m happy that it’s gone up but I wish that it had held at the lower level for a while longer. I haven’t finished buying enough of what I want yet. It looks like the price is going to keep getting away from me so all I can do is follow my own advice and dollar cost average my Bitcoin buys. Three …[Read More]
The easiest way for you to get into Bitcoin right now
I’ve been in the cryptocurrency rabbit hole for a few months now, and people ask me how I’d recommend they buy Bitcoin. It’s just two steps: First, you need a wallet to receive your Bitcoins into The easiest one I’d recommend you use is Exodus. The safest one I’d recommend is a hardware wallet like Trezor. But for your first Bitcoins, I’d recommend using Exodus. Check out my previous post on how to set up Exodus on your machine Second, you need to buy Bitcoins and send them to your wallet In the UK, I’d recommend Bittylicious. It’s a bit more expensive than other exchanges, but it has the benefit of requiring less ID verification. You just need to enter your Bitcoin address (from your Exodus wallet) into Bittylicious, confirm the amount of Bitcoin you want to buy, and transfer GBP from your bank account to the Bitcoin seller’s bank …[Read More]
Setting up my new Trezor hardware Bitcoin wallet
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]
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]