Welcome to the /r/Bitcoin Sticky FAQ

Maybe you're here because you've received a tip on social media, or maybe you've just been hearing a lot recently about Bitcoin and are wondering what the big deal is? The following videos are a good starting point for understanding how bitcoin works and a little bit about its long term potential:

• Video 1: What is Bitcoin?
• Video 2: What Is Bitcoin & Why Should You Care?
• Video 3: The real value of bitcoin and crypto currency technology

For lots of additional video resources check out the videos wiki page or /r/BitcoinTV . Peer-reviewed, research papers can be found here.

Where can I buy bitcoins?

You can buy or sell any amount of bitcoin (from as little as $1 worth) and there are several easy methods to purchase bitcoin with cash, credit card or bank account. A good list of exchanges sorted by region can be found on the exchanges wiki here.

Note: Bitcoins are valued at whatever market price people are willing to pay for them in balancing act of supply vs demand. Unlike traditional markets, bitcoin markets operate 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Here are a couple useful sites [bitkoin.io, preev.com] that shows how much various denominations of bitcoin are worth in different currencies. Alternatively you can just Google "1 bitcoin in (your local currency)".

Where can I spend bitcoins?

Coinmap and AirBitz are helpful to find local businesses accepting bitcoins. UK residents can find a comprehensive directory of shops, pubs, websites and other places in the UK that accept bitcoins at wheretospendbitcoins.co.uk.

There are also lots of charities which accept bitcoin donations, such as Wikipedia, Red Cross, Amnesty International, United Way, ACLU and the EFF. You can find a longer list here.

Additional resources can also be found at TheBitcoinPage.com

Merchant Resources

There are several benefits to accepting bitcoin as a payment option if you are a merchant;

• 1-3{01de1f41f0433b1b992b12aafb3b1fe281a5c9ee7cd5232385403e933e277ce6} savings over credit cards or PayPal.
• No chargebacks (final settlement in 10 minutes as opposed to 3+ months with credit cards / PayPal).
• Accept business from a global customer base.
• Increased privacy for your customers.
• The payment processor can convert 100{01de1f41f0433b1b992b12aafb3b1fe281a5c9ee7cd5232385403e933e277ce6} of the sale to the currency of your choice for deposit to your account which means there is no need to hold bitcoins and no exposure to price volatility. Alternatively, you can choose to keep a certain percentage of the sale in bitcoin if you wish to begin accumulating it.

If you are interested in accepting bitcoin as a payment method, there are several options available;

• BitPay
• Coinbase
• Coinify
• Coinkite
• Snapcard
• GoCoin
• BitMerchant

Can I mine bitcoin?

Mining bitcoins can be a fun learning experience, but be aware that you will most likely operate at a loss. Newcomers are often advised to stay away from mining unless they are only interested in it as a hobby similar to folding at home. If you want to learn more about mining you can read more here. Still have mining questions? The friendly folks at /r/BitcoinMining would be happy to help you out.

If you want to contribute to the bitcoin network by hosting the blockchain and propagating transactions you can run a full node using this setup guide. You can view the global node distribution here.

Securing your bitcoins

With bitcoin you can "be your own bank" and personally secure your bitcoins or you can use established companies such as Coinbase and Circle which have secured wallets where they hold the bitcoins for you and provide insurance.

If you prefer to "be your own bank" and have direct control over your coins without having to use a trusted third party, there are many options in the wallets wiki. If you would prefer easy and secure storage without having to learn computer security best practices then a hardware wallet such as the Trezor, Ledger or HW-1 is recommended.

For increased security, use Two Factor Authentication (2FA) everywhere it is offered, including email!

2FA requires a second confirmation code to access your account, usually from a text message or app, making it much harder for thieves to gain access.

Earning bitcoins

Just like any other form of money, you can earn bitcoins by working for them. Here are a few resources for bitcoin jobs.

• /r/Jobs4Bitcoins
• Coinality job board
• Bitgigs job board
• Find Bitcoin Jobs

Tipping

• Use ChangeTip.com (/r/changetip) for tipping people on Facebook, Reddit, Twitter, YouTube, Tumblr, Google+, GitHub, Slack and more! (you can even use custom monikers to tailor your tip to the discussion or add a bit of humor). Read more about ChangeTip at their reddit wiki.
• Go to /r/FreeBits to get a few bits to practice with and then tip them forward. Go to /r/BitTippers to play games and solve riddles to earn your bits. Don't forget your flair!

Fundraising

You can use Lighthouse to crowdsource fundraising initiatives with bitcoin. It's similar to Kickstarter, but without intermediaries or exorbitant fees. You can participate in project discussions at /r/LighthouseProjects, and watch the progress of fundraisers at lightlist.io.

Bitcoin Projects

The following is a short list of ongoing projects that might be worth taking a look at if you are interested in current development in the bitcoin space.

Bitcoin Units

One Bitcoin is quite large (hundreds of £/$/€) so people often deal in smaller units. The most common subunits are listed below:

For example, assuming an arbitrary exchange rate of $500 for one Bitcoin, a $10 meal would equal:

• 0.02 BTC
• 20 mBTC
• 20,000 bits

If you want to use 'bits' exclusively, just remember that there are 100 satoshis in 1 bit, and 1 million bits in one bitcoin. For more information check out the Bitcoin units wiki.

Still have questions? The friendly folks at /r/BitcoinBeginners would be happy to help you out, or stick around for our weekly Mentor Monday thread. If you decide to post a question in /r/Bitcoin, please use the search bar to see if it has been answered before, and remember to follow the community rules outlined on the sidebar to receive a better response. The mods are busy helping manage our community so please do not message them unless you notice problems with the functionality of the subreddit.

Note: This is a community created FAQ. If you notice anything missing from the FAQ or that requires clarification you can edit it here and it will be included in the next revision pending mod approval.

Welcome to the Bitcoin community and the new decentralized economy!