Joining The Darkside: How I Got Into Bitcoins

I finally took the plunge and jumped onto the Bitcoin bandwagon. I have been interested in them for a while now and kept putting off getting into them. Part of e kicks myself for now buying some last year when they were going for about $13 a BC. Right now they are trading for over $800. If I got into them purely based on an investment strategy right now would be the completely wrong time. I’m sure that they are going to drop in price soon. No I wanted in them for a myriad of reasons ranging from getting some portion of my money out of Federal Reserve Notes to wanting participate in a growing alternative currency. What I like about BC is that they are being used and used a lot. I have silver but I have never bartered with it. Nor do I know anyone that has. I do know people that use BC regularly. So today’s article will be about the trails and tribulations of setting up a wallet and getting Bitcoins in it.

 

 

Getting a Wallet

To store Bitcoins you need a wallet. There are about a million options out there. You can keep it on your local computer, paper or on a wallet site. I wanted the simplest easiest and fastest way to get into them. I chose to use a company called Blockchain. Sign up is quick and easy and they site has lot’s of good newbie info. Blockchain has apps for both Android and IPhone which is very useful and highly recommended that you get.

 

Getting BitCoins

I thought that getting them would be easy. I figured I would head over to a website and click buy then enjoy my shinny new virtual currency. This is not the case and I became seriously frustrated. I searched and tried so many options. Some were so riddled with hoops to jump I gave up. I settled on three methods and will cover them in the order of least easy and successful to Best and easiest.

 

Ebay

I figured everything was on ebay so I looked there. Sure enough I found plenty of Bitcoins on there. I found one that was in the fraction of money I wanted to spend and had a Buy it Now. I grabbed it and waited. And Waited. I thought it would be an instant transfer and I would get my coins quickly. Not so much the seller was to send a paper wallet. Well okay that is more secure, I guess.  First though he sent a message asking stupid questions Like was I the Ebay user that made the order. After I answered that I was that user he responded, very snippity, that there were 3 questions (really the same 3 questions) that I had to answer. Fine. I was never sent notification it was sent. When It finally came in it came with cryptic instructions with the wallet. Somewhere in those instructions was supposed to be half of a passphrase to get the coins loaded. I don’t see that anywhere nor has the seller responded back with the other half of the passphrase. So I have a pretty but worthless wallet right now. I can not recommend Ebay at this moment. Maybe others have had great success but this seller is an idiot.

 

 

Coinbase

Next up is the site Coinbase. I thought Coinbase was going to be exactly what I was looking for. A site to buy coins instantly. Only if by instantly you mean about two weeks. Sign up is pretty much a pain in the ass. All sorts of security hoops to jump through. To buy you much first verify a bank account info. They deposit two tiny amounts then later take them back. You have to verify the amounts deposited. Then you can buy but it’s not instant unless you ass a credit card and pay instant transfer fee’s. I made my buy order on January 30th and the expected delivery date is by the end of the day February 5th.  As I have not actually got them yet I’m only saying this is better than eBay because I didn’t have to deal with a snarky asshat.

LocalBitCoins

This is my preferred method from now on. For one it supports your local economy, Lets you meet people and is the quickest method. Localbitcoins lets you find users in your local community willing to met you and sale you bitcoins for cash. I met a really nice lady at my work after I got off. I handed her $40, she scanned my bitcoin QR code address on my phone with hers and about 2 seconds later I had a notification I had received my coins. That quick and easy. No crazy stress or frustration just a handshake, scan and me handing over some twenties. Done that is my method for Bitcoins.

 

Now that you have some start spending them. I have started tipping other bloggers when I like them or their content. With the tiny transaction fees this is one way to support an alternative currency and people who you like what their doing. I have a BC tip jar on the site now if you like what I’m doing toss me a few pennies. Also check your area for bitcoin communities. I am part of a very helpful Nashville area one on Facebook. They have get together’s where you can buy coins in person and talk about Bitcoin.

 

Do you use Bitcoin? Are you still on the fence about getting in? Let me know in the comments!

 

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Looking for the best prices and best customer service in buying Silver and Gold online? Look no further than JM Bullion for all your precious metal needs!