Here are three steps to help you get started using Bitcoin Cash right now:

Step 1: Download a bitcoin wallet

A Bitcoin wallet is an app or program that allows you send and receive BCH. Wallets also keep track of your BTC balance which is held in one or more bitcoin addresses. Generally, wallets also have a feature that keeps a history of your Bitcoin Cash transactions. There are many different wallets across various platforms. While they all share certain basic functionality, features vary from one wallet to the other so it’s worth learning more about How to Choose a Bitcoin Wallet before downloading the wallet of your choice.

Step 2: Add Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash to your wallet

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Now that you have a wallet, you probably want to add some bitcoin to your balance. Have your Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash wallet address ready and visit the buy Bitcoin page. Here, you will be able to easily purchase bitcoins with a credit card. You can also buy BCH and BTC right from the wallet mobile app.

Another option is to choose a Bitcoin Exchange where you can quickly set up an account and buy bitcoins with funds from a bank account or credit card. Keep your private key(s) private and never share with anyone. It is very important to backup your wallet’s private key and any other credentials for offline storage. Failing to backup could result in the loss of your Bitcoin holdings if you should ever lose the device on which the wallet is installed.

Step 3: Use a bitcoin wallet to send and receive bitcoins

Receiving bitcoins is as easy as giving the sender your public address. Sending bitcoin requires a few more steps and since bitcoin transactions are irreversible, it is important to pay attention when sending. Overall, the process for sending bitcoin is actually quite easy:

1. Copy the receiver’s public Bitcoin address (or scan QR code)
2. Open your wallet and navigate to its “Send” feature, paste the receiver’s address into the appropriate field
3. Specify the amount you want to send
4. Confirm that the address and amount are both correct
5. Send

Bitcoin Cash is accepted by thousands of individuals plus many websites, and brick-and-mortar businesses around the world.

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Best Practices for new bitcoin users

Congratulations! You have bought your first BTC and know the basics of receiving and sending—you are now a full-fledged Bitcoiner! You have the basics but there is always more to learn. Bitcoin is a tool that is only as useful as your ability to hold and spend it properly. Here are some best practices for new BTC users to read and learn:

The above steps are just the basics. Bitcoin and it's blockchain technology on which it relies are robust solutions to payment obstacles all over the world. It's important to have a solid understanding of how to receive, store and spend your bitcoins.

3 ways to learn more about bitcoins:

For a new bitcoin investor, understanding how wallets work is essential. The key storage unit for bitcoin and altcoins, wallets are where digital currencies are spent, received, and banked. Besides the blockchain and the coin hash, the wallet is one of the basic structures in the world of New Finance.

How do you set up a wallet?

Understanding Wallets

In basic terms, a wallet is a database kept either online or offline that stores the private key for coins in your possession. When you make a transaction, you sign for the transaction with your private key, which confers your ownership of the coins and your right to initiate the transaction. The blockchain encodes the transmitted bitcoin with the recipient’s private key, formally transferring ownership. This is roughly equivalent to a physical wallet, where taking money out of your wallet and permitting someone else to place that money in his or her wallet conveys a money transfer.

Wallets can exist as physical devices, on paper (which is just a printout of both your public and private keys; the actual coins exist on the blockchain), as software on a private computer, or a managed web account. Should a wallet ever become inaccessible, the private key would be inaccessible, making the bitcoin “lost” or not spendable. Proper wallet management requires protection of passwords and any physical assets, management of backups, and informing appropriate individuals about how to access the wallet in the case of your incapacitation or death.

Many exchanges, including Coinbase, automatically create wallets for new accounts as a courtesy. All a new subscriber has to do to use such wallets is to load them with bitcoin or altcoins. However, as managed wallet providers tend to charge transaction fees for any outside transaction, it may be cheaper to consider a non-managed option.

There are plenty of free wallet options available. Using a web-based wallet option means, however, sharing your private key with a third party. For the privacy-minded, this may be a no-go, but for the new user, this is the easiest option available.

Setting Up a New Wallet

For this example, we are looking setting up a new wallet at blockchain.info:

Step #1. At the blockchain.info homepage, scroll to “New to Digital Currencies?” Click on “Get a Free Wallet.”

Step #2. Enter your email and password. Confirm the password and toggle the Terms of Service box. Hit “Continue.” Make sure that you pick a password you are unlikely to forget and read the terms of service thoroughly.

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Step #3. Click “Get Started.”

Step #4. Your wallet is now online. You can now create an address with which to receive coins by hitting “Request.” You will need an exchange account to fund your wallet. Once funded, you can send coins by hitting “Send.”

Final Notes

Note that different wallets accommodate different coins. For instance, the blockchain.info wallet can show you your wallet total in USD or in BTC, ETH, or BCH. This means you need to take into account which coins a wallet will accept before you decide on which wallet to use.
It is relatively easy to use a wallet. However, it is important that you understand the risks involved and perform the due diligence needed to maximize and safeguard your investments.

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