Ready to start learning what this whole “Bitcoin” thing everyone keeps talking about is? If so, join us as we go through 10 of the best Bitcoin tips for beginners in order to help new comers get started quickly and safely.
Combining tried and true investment advice learnt over decades with years of deep, expert Bitcoin knowledge we want to get you off to the best start possible. We know Bitcoin can be confusing which is why we have supporting articles for each step in case you need extra guidance. This one piece alone could save you thousands of dollars and lots of headache, so it’s not something you’ll want to miss!
Contents
Understand What You’re Investing In
Thou shalt not invest in anything thou doesn’t fully understand
The absolutely first tip we can give is to properly educate yourself. All the tools and money in the world won’t do you any good if you don’t understand what you’re investing in and Bitcoin can be quite different to what most assume. Helping people understand Bitcoin in simple terms is what we specialise in here at Athena Alpha, so we have plenty of excellent resources available for free. Two main ones are our Beginners and Bitcoin 101 categories or you can start with our Understanding Bitcoin piece.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help as we’re always happy to answer questions (no matter how basic!) and you’ll be pleasantly surprised with how helpful the general Bitcoin community is too. It’s also important to make sure you find reputable news and information sources. This can be tricky as many major news platforms really don’t understand Bitcoin well and thus, give out out of date or just plain wrong information.
That’s why we created Athena Alpha in the first place, to help create and spread top tier level Bitcoin tutorials for beginners. So simply subscribe and you’ll not only be kept up to date, but get educated on how amazing Bitcoin is with simple and straight forward articles each week. For the latest news, we also recommend either Bitcoin Magazine or The BTC Times as they both specialise in and properly understand Bitcoin.
Choose A Secure Private Wallet
Not your keys, not your coins.
Choosing a self-custody (or private Bitcoin Wallet) and holding your own Private Keys is the next most important thing to do when it comes to Bitcoin. A wallet is what generates, stores and manages your private keys just like a Password Manager does for your passwords.
Private keys are what’s used to spend your bitcoins, so whoever holds your private keys knows and controls everything. If you let someone else hold or “custody” your private keys then they can see your balances, your transactions, the senders and receivers, everything. You have zero privacy. It also allows them to sensor, kick ban you or even spend your funds.
Many who have trusted third parties with their keys such as centralised crypto exchanges have lost all their bitcoin. People have even lost their fiat money (USD, Euro etc) by using Fiat Wallets too. Examples include: MtGox, Cryptsy or FTX. If you have funds on a centralised exchange. Get. Them. Off. Now. You’ve been warned!
To take custody of your own private keys means you’ll need to download and install your own wallet software. You might think it’s too technical or hard to do, but it’s not. It’s just a software program like the 174 other apps you have on your phone right now. Examples of good Bitcoin wallets include:
- Desktop: Sparrow Wallet
- Android: Samourai Wallet
- iOS: BlueWallet
Keep Your Private Keys Safe
Once you have your wallet setup it will generate your private keys for you, these are essential to accessing and spending your Bitcoin, so it’s crucial to keep them safe. The best way to do this is by buying and using a Hardware Wallet. Other important points include:
- Never, ever sharing your private key with anyone
- Never store your private key digitally. Store it offline on laminated paper or a steel plate
- Keep a backup in an offsite, secure location if you have serious investments
- Learn to use both hot and cold wallets
- Keep your computers, apps and hardware wallets software/firmware up to date
- Never send, receive or post info on social media about your wallet setup. Ever!
- Never use a pre-generated seed phrase, these are scams
We have an entire guide on How To Protect Your Bitcoin Private Key if you want more detailed information.
Choose A Non-KYC Exchange
KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) are regulations that all crypto exchanges like Coinbase or Binance have to comply with. It’s why they require you to “verify your identity” before they let you do anything. They want to know your name, address, drivers license, photo and more.
All the big Bitcoin exchanges enforce KYC and once you give them your private information they then link whatever bitcoin you buy to that identity. Forever. From there the exchange, the government, third parties and Chain Analysis firms…
- Track what you spend your money on
- Track what your balance is
- Track what taxes you should be paying
- Sell all this information to other companies without telling you
- You get the picture
KYC Exchanges seriously damage your privacy and security and should never be used. Thankfully we have a fantastic Cryptocurrency Exchange list that you can use to find the best place to buy Bitcoin safely and privately so check it out!
