Bitcoin Beginners‘ Guide – How to start your Bitcoin journey

If you are just now discovering the Bitcoin space, all the information available may be kind of overwhelming. Books, podcasts, Youtube videos… where to get started learning about all this stuff? How to start your Bitcoin journey?

And then… how to actually get started in practice? There seem to be so many exchanges, you probably have no idea which to trust. And what are these wallets everyone talks about? How to choose one?

With the goal to help you get started in the best possible way, I have decided to compile this short practical guide. I have tried to ask myself the question: if my little sister was now just beginning, what are the five things I would tell them to do?

I hope this brings you some orientation.

Disclaimer

• This post does NOT contain any financial advice.
• Any recommendation I make in the following pages is just my personal preference out of my own experience.
• 100% of the products listed here are things I have used and been satisfied with.
• Most of the links in this document are affiliate links. If you found any value in this post or this website, using them is the easiest way to support my work (plus in all cases, they also provide some additional benefit to you).
• If you don’t feel comfortable with affiliate links, I do encourage you to just google the resources I mention instead. The advice is still valid!
• This document can be freely distributed and shared with as many people as you want as often as you want. 
• Actually, I highly encourage you to share it! This information is important and people you love and care about need to understand it!

In fact, here you have a handy PDF document you can download yourself and share around.

Step 1: Learn more about Bitcoin and why it is so important

First and foremost, you should educate yourself about why Bitcoin is important and how it achieves its function as the best form of money ever invented. Do this in parallel with the next steps.

The following are my top reading recommendations. There are literally hundreds more, but with these three you are ahead of 99% of the people:

• The little Bitcoin book (ENG – DE): All beginners‘ questions answered in 100 pages
• The Bitcoin Standard (ENG – DE): The go-to resource to understand Bitcoin as money
• The Internet of Money vol. 1 (ENG – DE): A transcription of some of the best speeches that describe the main aspects of the Bitcoin network from an easy-to-understand perspective.

Tip:

• Use the links above and code „bitcoinbridge“ at checkout for an additional 3% discount

Further resources:

Plenty of wonderful tutorials and resources:

• Bitcoiner guide
• Bitcoin Learning Path

Step 2: Buy your first Bitcoin

The first thing you have to do is find a good exchange wherever you are located. Below are my top recommendations.

Kraken

While no exchange is ever perfect, I find Kraken to be the best pick if it‘s available for you. They have:

• Quite low exchange fees (0,25%)
• Free € SEPA transfer deposits
• Low withdrawal fees: low to completely free for BTC and just 0,09€ for Euro withdrawals
• They never issued their own token and they don‘t offer any interest for leaving your money there. This makes them in my opinion the least risky exchange to use!

Tip:

Register using this link below and you will get 10$ of Bitcoin on top of your first purchase.

Binance:

ONLY in case the previous option is not available to you, I find Binance to be an acceptable second option. They have:

• Very low exchange fees (0,1%)
• Free € SEPA transfer deposits
• Unfortunately high withdrawal fees of 0.0005 BTC per withdrawal. Unless you buy very high amounts this won‘t compensate for the savings from lower fees compared to Kraken. But it‘s still ok if you withdraw once every couple of months.
• Fairly good solvency. They are still kind of an altcoin-casino, but they are probably the one exchange with the lowest chances to go bankrupt on any given day.

Tip:

Register using this link and you will have a lifelong discount of 10% on all trading fees.

Step 3: Automate the process

Anyone who does many purchases in regular intervals over a period of time will have a clear statistical advantage and get a better average price. However, dividing the allocation into small portions and buying regularly can be a very time and energy-demanding process. That‘s why I can‘t recommend the following tool enough:

Detalbadger:

I have found this tool to bring incredible value, as it allows you to automate and optimize the regular purchases of BTC, 24/7/365 regardless if you are asleep or awake, on holidays or not.

The math is clear: if you average your purchases over a long period (e.g. a year) it‘s almost impossible not to gain back the costs of the membership.

• Register using this link
• Connect your exchange account (works with both of my recommendations)
• Input any amount and timeframe (ex: 100€ per month)
• Select „use smart intervals“
• Sit back and chill, it will do the rest for you.

Tip:

You don‘t need to purchase a paid membership to start using it, the first 1000€ are free. Start using it and see if you like it. If you do decide to get a membership you will have a 10% discount the first time you pay for one, if you registered using the link above.

Tip:

If you do decide to grab a membership, you can also automate the withdrawals of the Bitcoin you purchase to your own wallet! This is an amazing feature, because only in your wallet can your Bitcoin be really safe, but about this we will speak below.

Step 4: Get your own wallet

“Not your keys, not your coins”

As you should know by now, money deposited in conventional banks doesn‘t really belong to you. It belongs to the bank, and they ought to pay it back to you at your request (usually). The same happens with exchanges: you are technically not in control of your Bitcoin until you withdraw it to your wallet.

Therefore I can‘t recommend enough to get your own wallet and self-custody your BTC by withdrawing it regularly.

First of all watch this explanation of the different types of wallets

Hot/Software wallet:

For most people, a software wallet installed either in your laptop or your phone will be sufficient, and most are free There are plenty of good options here, two I would recommend are Muun Wallet (to carry some Bitcoin with you) and Blue Wallet (as a desktop wallet to store more than what you want to carry).

Notes:

• Using a wallet does require some learning. Please do not proceed unless you have a feeling you understand what you are doing, as any mistake can lead to the permanent loss of your Bitcoin.
• Pay close attention to backing up your secret key.
• If you go for Muun Wallet, at a minimum watch this excellent tutorial before transferring anything. For Blue Wallet you can watch this one.

Cold/Hardware wallet:

As soon as you begin to have a significant amount of your capital in Bitcoin it is highly encouraged that you upgrade your wallet security by using a hardware wallet. This is a wallet that is also run with software (in essence the same as a hot wallet) but where your secret key is stored in a physical device (instead of in your phone/laptop).

This reduces considerably the risk of hack/theft, as no one can move your BTC unless they both have your phone/laptop and your hardware wallet (which you can store somewhere safe).

My recommendations are:

• The BitBox02 is a very good option for a beginner’s hardware wallet.
• The Ledger Nano S is a bit less reliable but more budget-friendly.

Notes:

• Again, using a wallet does require some learning. Please do not proceed unless you have a feeling you understand what you are doing, as any mistake can lead to the permanent loss of your Bitcoin
• Pay close attention to backing up your secret key (more on this later)

Tip:

Use the links above and code „bitcoinbridge“ at checkout for an additional 3% discount

Step 4b: Alternative to the wallet

Let me say it once again: You really should withdraw and take 100% control of your BTC!

However, I understand for some people this option will be too complex at the beginning. If you are the kind of person who loses the car keys every 3 months then perhaps you aren‘t confident you will be able to store securely your private key for life. If that‘s your case, and you would prefer to have a third party custody your BTC for you, then at least don‘t leave them in any exchange:

Ledn:

A fully regulated Bitcoin financial services company that offers among others a Bitcoin savings account.

• As of today, you can get a 6% yearly interest paid in BTC of whatever amount you deposit. Interest is paid monthly.
• Withdrawals at reasonable fees depending on the network.
• They don’t work with any other altcoins, which makes them way less risky.

Tip:

If you register using this link you will get 10$ after you deposit at least 75$ or 0,0015 BTC in the savings account

But I want to stress it again: funds which are not in your wallet are never 100% safe, regardless of which exchange you use! Get a wallet as soon as possible!!!

Step 5: Secure your secret key

If you follow the previous recommendations you will at some point in the near future most likely come to hold a significant amount of capital in BTC, and this will be secured in your own wallet.

It is crucial that you make sure that, whatever happens, this wealth won‘t be lost by any accident (flood, fire, robbery) or inaccessible by your heirs/loved ones in case of something should happen to you. A few things to take into consideration for this are:

• You should consider storing your secret key in a solid medium such as steel or titanium. Some options are:
  • Seedmint for a full solution with all accessories
  • Cryptosteel capsule or Billfold for a flexible and simple system
  • Steelwallet for a do-it-yourself low budget option
• Concerning the actual storage and backup of these keys, this is the most comprehensive guide I know. You don‘t need to follow every single step, but each little thing you do is one step more to higher security.

Tip:

• Use the links above and code „bitcoinbridge“ at checkout for an additional 3% discount

Step 6: Get free Bitcoin with things you already do

Yes, there are ways to accumulate some free tiny portions of a bitcoin without any additional cost. Here are some of my favorite ones:

• Satsback extension: We all love to get a little cash back when we do any kind of shopping, right? What is amazing about this extension is that it not only provides very generous rates, but it pays them out in Bitcoin! It works with sites of all kinds, from Booking.com, to AirBnB and many others!
• Fountain: Get paid some bitcoin for listening to your favorite podcasts! I‘m definitely not recommending that you start listening to podcasts with the purpose to earn Bitcoin, that wouldn‘t be worth the time, but if you are a regular podcast listener you can earn sats also.
• Carrot: Get paid some bitcoin for reading Bitcoin-related articles and news. Again, I‘m not saying that you should read articles with the purpose to earn Bitcoin. But, if you are going to read Bitcoin news anyway, then get paid for it too!

There are dozens more resources you can make use of, from solving micro-tasks to playing video games. Check out HowToStackSats for an updated list with explanations.

Step 7: Start earning Bitcoin with your business

Buying Bitcoin or converting part of your income into it is a great, and a sure way to saveguard your savings for the future. But at this stage you still depend on having a platform to convert your hard earnt €/$ into Bitcoin.

Much better than that is to earn Bitcoin, to receive it as payment for the goods and services that you provide to society. It’s basically like buying Bitcoin with your time and energy and in this way transporting this time and energy you spent directly into the future!

In addition to that, connecting your business to the Bitcoin network brings a whole lot of advantages we described here in detail.

If you want to get started, just contact us and we will set it all up for you!