How do I buy Bitcoin?

juicybit (12)in #bitcoin • 8 years ago (edited)

Bitcoin is the latest and hottest online payment system that the internet savvy
community is raving about these days. It is a topic that the general layman is not really
aware about and does not really understand due to its steep learning curve.
It is a digital currency and payment system that is secure, private and very simple to use
once you know how. It is not regulated and is becoming more and more valuable with
each passing day despite the fluctuations.
Some people hoard it as a form of investment. Others use it to purchase items
discreetly since total privacy is a bitcoin benefit. Whatever the case, in order to use
bitcoins, you must first acquire them. That’s what this article is about.
Before even getting any bitcoins, you will first need to get a bitcoin wallet. Just like you
would keep traditional money in a leather wallet, bitcoin can be kept in a digital or paper
wallet.

The wallet is actually a software that keeps your bitcoin securely and safe from hackers.
The wallet can either be on your computer desktop or a portable data drive which can
be kept under lock and key.
The bitcoin wallet is actually part of the bitcoin system and will record all your
transactions. It takes up a sizeable chunk of memory on your computer though.
In the past, people bought and sold bitcoins using credit cards and PayPal. However,
there is a limitation with bitcoin. Bitcoin transactions can only be reversed by the
recipient. So what happened was that many unscrupulous buyers purchased bitcoin
with their credit cards and then requested chargebacks through the credit cards. The
sellers were left helpless with no form of recourse. So, they stopped accepting these
methods of payment.
That makes it extremely difficult to purchase bitcoins these days.
Thankfully, there are more and more exchanges springing up these days to facilitate the
sale of bitcoins for a fee. Many people are turning to bitcoin exchanges to buy bitcoin.
This is one way you can obtain bitcoins.
You may have heard of the term bitcoin mining. This is a process that not only takes up
a ton of time but is very complicated. Verifying and recording payments into the public
ledger is called mining and the payment can be in bitcoins. This is a way of getting
bitcoins but it’s really painstaking.
You may buy bitcoin from people you know who are offering it for sale. This is perhaps
one of the best methods of getting your hands on bitcoins. Since you trust the person
you’re dealing with, there is little chance of them taking your money and disappearing.
You may check Craigslist and see if anyone is offering any bitcoins for sale. You may
also check eBay but usually the value of the bitcoin is marked up pretty high and unless
you’re purchasing for investment purposes, it’s not really worth the gamble.

Another way to obtain bitcoin is to start an online business and accept bitcoin as a form
of payment. If you make it easy for the customer to pay with bitcoin, you will find
yourself getting paid with bitcoin. It helps to set up a store in a popular industry with
many buyers so that your chances of finding a buyer who pays with bitcoin will be
higher.
These are just some of the ways to obtain bitcoins. There are other methods such as
doing trivial tasks on websites that offer payment in bitcoin. However, the amount
offered is so miniscule that it’s really not worth your time. Time is more precious than
bitcoin. Always bear that in mind.