<commit_before>---
layout: post
title:  "Bitcoin Lotto!"
date:   2017-11-29 19:04:00 -0400
categories: bitcoin
---
So by now you may have seen [the trailer](https://youtu.be/tr3KLCDAlnU) for the [BBT episode](http://www.cbs.com/shows/big_bang_theory/video/) on Bitcoin.  If you haven't seen it, then perhaps you've seen then maybe you've seen one of the endless news stories about it droning on all month long.  If so, I offer some help in figuring out how to play the Bitcoin Lotto.  I'd advise you think of it as a lotto so if you don't end up making 500% back on your money your not disappointed.  It even sounds like there are going to be *Bitcoin Options* so you can insure the posiotion.  Below I'll lay out in simple terms how to play the lotto for friends and family.

## Bitcoins and other CryptoCurrency
*What is a Bitcoin* is a valid question.  It's basically a spot in a ledger.  A deed if you will.  The difference is that the ledger is unlike any other ledger of its kind.  It is encrypted and encoded in a way that makes it completely unforgable.  Even for large government actors.  In this way, holding a Bitcoin is irrefutable proof that you can unlock some portion of that ledger and give your entry to someone else.  All seems rather like [trading tulips](https://youtu.be/CWu7lIpNvCs), and it is, but then again paper money is similar.  It's a hard to forge proof that you hold some amount of stuff.  A Bitcoin is a hard to forge proof that you hold some amount of stuff.  Money is backed by your governments athority, bitcoin is backed by millions of hours of computing cycles.  Both based on some basic level of *trust*.  Trust the government, or trust the cryptogrophy (computing power).

CryptoCurrency is the larger field of all Bitcoin like things.  After Bitcoin a bunch of other projects started making similar products.  After Apple, there was Windows.  After Windows there was Linux.  Same with Bitcoin.  After Bitcoin there was Litecoin.  After that Etherium.  Just like Apple/Windows/Linux, some like one choice better than others.  As far as I'm concerned, Bitcoin is the lotto ticket with the biggest payout, Litecoin is the easist to buy/sell/give.  Etherium will likely be the most useful of them all one day

## How to get them
There are a few ways, good and bad, to get CryptoCurrency.  Some of them are totally above board, some are a bit less above board, and other are just plain sketchy.  Keep in mind, as of right now, sending Bitcoin from point A to point B can cost $5-$10.  So if you are convinced you only want Bitcoin, keep that in mind.  Other CryptoCurrency like Litecoin were made to be cheep to transact in.  I'd advice Litecoin untill you have a few $100 dollars in CryptoCurrency, then exchange it for Bitcoin.  Here are some general options on buying:

1. [Coinbase.com](https://www.coinbase.com/dashboard) - The *Bitcoin Bank*.  This is a US regulated and IRS audited bitcoin shop.  Since its a US shop it falls under US jurisdiction and your a bit less likely for them to just pickup and run off with your money.  Also understand that the IRS can legally ask for all customer records.  You have to keep close notes of what you buy and sell so that you file your taxes correctly.  This isn't a big thing now, but it will be soon.  New accounts can take from 2-4 weeks to be approved by the IRS and other regulators.  You will pay about a 2% fee to buy over $200, much higher fees below that.
2. [GDAX Exchange](https://www.gdax.com/) - This is just another Coinbase site, the difference is that this is the *Exchange*.  That means you can buy on the open market at a lower fee.  Here you can buy with no fees for orders over $100.  This will take another 1-2 weeks above the Coinbase wait in order to tranfer money.  Could be quicker with a wire, but those are expensive.
3. [Changelly.com](https://changelly.com/) - This is a Czech based company that will let you buy Bitcoin with Visa / Mastercard (for now).  Simliar sites have been shutdown by Visa / Mastercard in the past, but this one seems to have had a pretty successfull run.  The advantage is you can create an account and buy fairly quickly.  You can also use Chagelly to turn your Litecoin into Bitcoin when the time is right.  The downside is that they are a foriegn company with your credit card info.
4. Beg / Barter / Trade - You can always sell your XBox for Bitcoin, and your are very likely to find a buyer.  If you know someone who has Bitcoin you could also ask if they would sell you some.  There are Bitcoin meetups and the such that allow people to buy small amounts.
5. [SketchyExchange.com](https://btc-e.com/) - There are no shortage of sketchy Bitcoin exchanges... Beware, these are often scams and generally end poorly.  If you don't know much about them, stay away.

## How to hold them
In order to hold Bitcoin you need what is called a *wallet*.  This is the term for a software program that keeps track of your coins *keys*.  The keys are very long account numbers where they coins will eventually be deposited.  There are public parts of a key called the *address* and private parts called the *privte key*.  The main point here is that you have to keep the *private key* hidden and safe.  Anyone that gains access to the private key has all your coins.  If you loose your private key, you have lost all your coins.  So ensure you know how to save and secure your keys, because this is litterally where your coins are.  Here are some of my suggestions.

1. [Coinomi (Android)](https://coinomi.com/) - This is a fairly safe Android wallet that has fiarly good security.  The private key is encoded in set of 15 random words.  Its a sentance that makes no sense, but there is a mathmatical rule to it that will generate the keys for your wallet.  This nonsense sentance **IS** your private key... keep it safe.
2. [Jaxx (PC/Mac/IOS/ChromeOS)](https://jaxx.io/) - Similar to Coinomi this is a multi-coin wallet that uses a 12 word nonsenese sentance.  Be aware that JAXX got a bad wrap a while back for leaving the private keys on the hard drive of some systems, so do be careful.  Use system encryption if possible, and dont get a virus, they will look for these keys.

Once you have installed one of the wallets you can add coins to it.  Bitcoin / Litecoin / Etherium.  When you do, you will get an *address* that coins can be sent to.  This is how Changelly will be able to send you your coins.  Exchanges like Coinbase/GDAX will often offer to hold your coins on thier site, and that is fine, but if the site ever goes down, or they [get shutdown](https://btc-e.com/) you could loose your coins.

## Reward

If you made it this far and know me.... drop me a line and I can send some coin your way.<commit_msg>Update 2017-11-29-bitcoin-tulips.md<commit_after>---
layout: post
title:  "Bitcoin Lotto!"
date:   2017-11-29 19:04:00 -0400
categories: bitcoin
---
So by now you may have seen [the trailer](https://youtu.be/tr3KLCDAlnU) for the [BBT episode](http://www.cbs.com/shows/big_bang_theory/video/) on Bitcoin.  If you haven't seen it, then perhaps you've seen one of the endless news stories about it droning on all month long.  If so, I offer some help in figuring out how to play the Bitcoin Lotto.  I'd advise you think of it as a lotto so if you don't end up making 500% back on your money your not disappointed.  It even sounds like there are going to be *Bitcoin Options* so you can insure the posiotion if your interested in that kind of thing.  Below I'll lay out in simple terms how to play the lotto for friends and family.

## Bitcoins and other CryptoCurrency
*What is a Bitcoin* is a valid question.  It's basically a spot in a ledger.  A deed if you will.  The difference is that the ledger is unlike any other ledger of its kind.  It is encrypted and encoded in a way that makes it completely unforgable.  Even for large government actors.  In this way, holding a Bitcoin is irrefutable proof that you can unlock some portion of that ledger and give your entry to someone else.  All seems rather like [trading tulips](https://youtu.be/CWu7lIpNvCs), and it is, but then again paper money is similar.  It's a hard to forge proof that you hold some amount of stuff.  A Bitcoin is a hard to forge proof that you hold some amount of stuff.  Money is backed by your governments athority, bitcoin is backed by millions of hours of computing cycles.  Both based on some basic level of *trust*.  Trust the government, or trust the cryptogrophy (computing power).

CryptoCurrency is the larger field of all Bitcoin like things.  After Bitcoin a bunch of other projects started making similar products.  After Apple, there was Windows.  After Windows there was Linux.  Same with Bitcoin.  After Bitcoin there was Litecoin.  After that Etherium.  Just like Apple/Windows/Linux, some like one choice better than others.  As far as I'm concerned, Bitcoin is the lotto ticket with the biggest payout, Litecoin is the easist to buy/sell/give.  Etherium will likely be the most useful of them all one day

## How to get them
There are a few ways, good and bad, to get CryptoCurrency.  Some of them are totally above board, some are a bit less above board, and other are just plain sketchy.  Keep in mind, as of right now, sending Bitcoin from point A to point B can cost $5-$10.  So if you are convinced you only want Bitcoin, keep that in mind.  Other CryptoCurrency like Litecoin were made to be cheep to transact in.  I'd advice Litecoin untill you have a few $100 dollars in CryptoCurrency, then exchange it for Bitcoin.  Here are some general options on buying:

1. [Coinbase.com](https://www.coinbase.com/dashboard) - The *Bitcoin Bank*.  This is a US regulated and IRS audited bitcoin shop.  Since its a US shop it falls under US jurisdiction and your a bit less likely for them to just pickup and run off with your money.  Also understand that the IRS can legally ask for all customer records.  You have to keep close notes of what you buy and sell so that you file your taxes correctly.  This isn't a big thing now, but it will be soon.  New accounts can take from 2-4 weeks to be approved by the IRS and other regulators.  You will pay about a 2% fee to buy over $200, much higher fees below that.
2. [GDAX Exchange](https://www.gdax.com/) - This is just another Coinbase site, the difference is that this is the *Exchange*.  That means you can buy on the open market at a lower fee.  Here you can buy with no fees for orders over $100.  This will take another 1-2 weeks above the Coinbase wait in order to tranfer money.  Could be quicker with a wire, but those are expensive.
3. [Changelly.com](https://changelly.com/) - This is a Czech based company that will let you buy Bitcoin with Visa / Mastercard (for now).  Simliar sites have been shutdown by Visa / Mastercard in the past, but this one seems to have had a pretty successfull run.  The advantage is you can create an account and buy fairly quickly.  You can also use Chagelly to turn your Litecoin into Bitcoin when the time is right.  The downside is that they are a foriegn company with your credit card info.
4. Beg / Barter / Trade - You can always sell your XBox for Bitcoin, and your are very likely to find a buyer.  If you know someone who has Bitcoin you could also ask if they would sell you some.  There are Bitcoin meetups and the such that allow people to buy small amounts.
5. [SketchyExchange.com](https://btc-e.com/) - There are no shortage of sketchy Bitcoin exchanges... Beware, these are often scams and generally end poorly.  If you don't know much about them, stay away.

## How to hold them
In order to hold Bitcoin you need what is called a *wallet*.  This is the term for a software program that keeps track of your coins *keys*.  The keys are very long account numbers where they coins will eventually be deposited.  There are public parts of a key called the *address* and private parts called the *privte key*.  The main point here is that you have to keep the *private key* hidden and safe.  Anyone that gains access to the private key has all your coins.  If you loose your private key, you have lost all your coins.  So ensure you know how to save and secure your keys, because this is litterally where your coins are.  Here are some of my suggestions.

1. [Coinomi (Android)](https://coinomi.com/) - This is a fairly safe Android wallet that has fiarly good security.  The private key is encoded in set of 15 random words.  Its a sentance that makes no sense, but there is a mathmatical rule to it that will generate the keys for your wallet.  This nonsense sentance **IS** your private key... keep it safe.
2. [Jaxx (PC/Mac/IOS/ChromeOS)](https://jaxx.io/) - Similar to Coinomi this is a multi-coin wallet that uses a 12 word nonsenese sentance.  Be aware that JAXX got a bad wrap a while back for leaving the private keys on the hard drive of some systems, so do be careful.  Use system encryption if possible, and dont get a virus, they will look for these keys.

Once you have installed one of the wallets you can add coins to it.  Bitcoin / Litecoin / Etherium.  When you do, you will get an *address* that coins can be sent to.  This is how Changelly will be able to send you your coins.  Exchanges like Coinbase/GDAX will often offer to hold your coins on thier site, and that is fine, but if the site ever goes down, or they [get shutdown](https://btc-e.com/) you could loose your coins.

## Reward

If you made it this far and know me.... drop me a line and I can send some coin your way.
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