Bitcoin Primer — Intro and getting bitcoins!
What is Bitcoin (What is Money)?
There is a lot of confusion out there about what bitcoin is. So first, I want to clarify what bitcoin is not.
This is NOT bitcoin…
Also NOT bitcoin…
So what is Bitcoin? To understand bitcoin, its important to first understand what money is.
Money is a very old technology. We have never discovered a civilization that did not use some form of money. It’s older than writing. The first writing was about money and ledgers.
Money has been all sorts of things — Goats, Shells, Tobacco, Gold, Dollars, Airline miles.
Money is something used to communicate value.
But how do we determine that value? Why is a dollar worth a dollar? Its worth a dollar because we all agree it is. Simple as that.
The minute we start to think that the dollar is not worth what it used to be, then it simply isn’t worth that anymore. In fact, we value the dollar 96% less than we did 100 years ago.
So what is bitcoin and what makes it different?
Bitcoin is internet money.
It’s not owned or controlled by any government or bank. It’s free for anyone to use. It can be sent anywhere in the world for low fees near instantly. It gives the user complete control over their money.
With bitcoin, trust is shifted from banks and governments of the world to the mathematics, open source code and nodes that run the bitcoin network.
Here are some more accurate pictures of what bitcoin IS…
Characteristics of Good Money vs Bitcoin
Divisible — Can be divided into 8 decimal points.
- 0.000 000 01 bitcoin = 1 satoshi
- 0.000 001 bitcoin = 1 bit
Portable — Its digital, so it can go anywhere. It can even be stored on paper or in your head.
Scarce — Only 21 million bitcoin will ever exist.
Fungible — All unites are the same.
Durable — As long as we don’t lose every copy of the blockchain and the internet, we are good.
Non-consumable — You can’t eat ones and zeros.
Bitcoin is Good Money!
With bitcoin, I don’t have to ask permission to create an account, send, or receive money. I can send any amount of my money to whomever I want, where ever I want, 24/7 365 days a year for a small fee and it arrives there near instantly. In addition, no one knows how much I have, no bank is tracking my transactions, and no one can steal my money without knowing my passwords.
Getting Bitcoin
I like to think that if the internet was a country, bitcoin would be its currency. In order to transact in that country you would need exchange dollars for bitcoin, just like you would dollars for euros if you were traveling to Europe. The current exchange for one bitcoin is ~$3700.
Buying bitcoins
Coinbase.com
Credit Card — $500 weekly limit — verify credit card takes a few business days.
Wells Fargo Bank — Give them login credentials for WF account. Provide phone number. — $2500 weekly limit
Uphold.com
Bank ACH / Wire Transfer — $500/day — requires photo id, phone number, and mailing address.
Exchanges
Bitstamp
Gemni
itBit — Will do large OTC trades over 100 BTC
Buying bitcoins anonymously-ish
I’ve had a few comments recently asking how to buy bitcoins anonymously, so I wanted to address it hear today. None of these options are truly anonymous, although they do improve the privacy of your bitcoin purchase. Expect higher fees when getting bitcoin in the following ways:
Friends, Family, and this meetup!
Find someone you know or at this meetup who has bitcoins. Ask them what they would be willing to sell some to you for.
Localbitcoins.com
Localbitcoins.com is sort of like a Craigslist for bitcoins. There are tons of different options to buy bitcoins, but cash deposit and in-person cash trades are the most common.
Purse.io
Buy orders on Amazon in exchange for Bitcoin. Will cost 15% or more.
Bitcoin ATMs in Charlotte
— Bitexpress at BP Gas Station near UNCC
— MetroBTM on Tuckaseegee Rd
— MetroBTM on Parker Dr.
Work for Bitcoins
Yep, get paid in bitcoin. Consider offering your services or selling your product for bitcoin.
You can do this directly using merchant apps like the Blockchain Merchant App, or you can use merchant gateways like Mycelium Gear and BitPay. There are online eCommerce platforms as well which are are bitcoin accepting like Shopify and Etsy.
Our company UpgradeYa has been offering a 10% discount for bitcoin since 2011. Only a few clients have ever taken the offer, but the decision to accept bitcoin and hodl it, was by far the most profitable decision we ever made as a company.
If you are an employee, ask your employer if they would consider paying some of your paycheck in bitcoin. If not, look into using Bitwage.com to convert any amount of your paycheck into bitcoin.
Storing Bitcoins
Once you get bitcoins you will want to put them somewhere safe!
THANK YOU!
You can reach out to me at jacob@bitcoincharlotte.org with any questions.
Disclaimer — I own some bitcoin. Many of the ideas, phrases and thoughts are from prominent thought leaders, writers, and speakers in the crypto space such as Andreas Antonopoulos.
