Getting Started with Bitcoin

I had a conversation today with someone who was interested in Bitcoin, but didn’t know much about it yet. I started thinking of resources to help get him started and realized that there is a lot of info on the internet and in my past articles. Many times it is good to constrain the amount of options with some opinions. Here is my list from what I know so far in an attempt to not overwhelm you.

There are many rabbit holes and aspects connected to Bitcoin, so it will take some time, but it’s worth the effort.

A Possible Progression

1. Get Started by creating a Strike account and setup a daily purchase that you can handle.

2. Continue to learn about Bitcoin and related issues

3. Decide to HODL (hold) for at least 6 months (better yet 1 to 2 years). This will help you avoid the stress of the gains and dips that can happen suddenly.

4. As you gain confidence and increase your sats, look into self custody

5. Also look into a Roth IRA and divert some 401k retirement funds into Bitcoin in a Roth IRA

6. roll over from an old IRA

7. setup one up for your self and your spouse

8. Up to .1 BTC or a certain $ amount? It’s time to move to self custody with Cold Card (or JadeStream) and a seed plate

9. Use the Sparrow Desktop

10. Advanced - Run a Bitcoin Knots Node with Start9 or on your own

11. Create a Swan or River account and move your DCA there. Setup auto withdraws to your self custody after 1,000,000 sats or more

12. This is your long term storage

13. Up to a higher amount? It’s time for mult-sig

14. This requires another wallet device and Unchained or other similar company (and a yearly fee)

And continue learning. And be generous. Relax and realize that you don’t have to worry about inflation, predicting the next hot alt-coin price action, stocks to buy or tenants in your rental house.

Why Bitcoin Matters?

Get Started with Michael Saylor - Keynote Bitcoin 2024

Many more interviews, courses, resources and info at Bitcoin hope site .

Inflation is bad and the Bible speaks against it

For fun: Exit Fiat, Enter Bitcoin - A Matrix Meme

Michael Saylor just gave a 3 minute presentation to the Microsoft board of directors to use Bitcoin as a reserve instead of bonds.

Learn More

Go through 21 Days of Bitcoin

Watch Bitcoin University videos.

Curated Resources from Swan

Read my articles , especially check out the Bible and Bitcoin connections.

Articles from Bitcoin Magazine

If you’re new to the idea of Bitcoin, this podcast episode has a helpful story called Bitcoin Island

The Bitcoin Money book for kids is really helpful, even for adults.

Tuttle Twins Explains Bitcoin in 3 minutes

What is Layer 2 compared to the Base Layer?

Watch Lightning Network

Watch Liquid and Lightning

Layer 2 Wallets

• Aqua Wallet
• Strike

Books:

The Bitcoin Standard

Broken Money

How?

Buy

Get off 0

Daily Cost Average with Swan . Try out the Scenario calculator . This is the best way to avoid trying to time the market. The price has and will go up and down, sometimes quickly. I read that everyone who has held on to Bitcoin for 4 years or longer has increased the value

and Strike also have options for buying.

Bitcoin IRA . There are many choices, I found this one.

Advanced (get to this later)

Hold your own Keys

“Not Your Keys, Not Your Coins”. Whoever manages the keys of your wallet, they own your coins (essential). I learned this lesson from the Celsius Bankruptcy.

How to do this with ColdCard and Sparrow Tutorial .

Get a steel plate, stamp your keys on it and store it somewhere secure.

As you get more Bitcoin and the value goes up, look into a multi-signature setup for better security. Unchained has a solution

Host your own, more advanced

Run a Bitcoin Knots Node to validate transactions and help secure the network. Connect to that from your wallet with Sparrow. You can run this on a regular laptop/PC that has at least 700GB (the size grows every 10 minutes) or run StartOS on your home network.

Privacy

Everything on the blockchain can be traced. If you buy you’ll have to enter your information with that company (in most cases), which is “Know your Customer” (KYC) laws. No one can stop you from sending and receiving transactions, but it won’t be private.

Watch Bitcoin Privacy & Sovereignty Tools - Pacific Bitcoin 2023 .

If you are really concerned about this people are working on this with CoinJoin and Mixing, the Liquid Network and Cashu (which is connected to fedimint and very new software and ideas as of 2024). Bisq v2 is a way to buy peer to peer and avoid KYC.

Bitcoin’s Privacy Problem from Bitcoin University - November 2024

Running your own Bitcoin Knots Node and Mempool increases your privacy.

Spending and Taxes

We don’t sell our Bitcoin. Right? First think longer term before selling or spending your Bitcoin. Historically, if you held Bitcoin for more than 4 years you are profitable ( https://casebitcoin.com/charts) .

You could buy gift cards on Bitrefill . You could send it to an exchange like Coinbase and sell it there (watch out for fees). Better yet, find someone who will sell you something you need for Bitcoin.

Be very careful putting in your Bitcoin address and verify it matches before signing and sending.

Never put in your private keys online or in a video or tell them to anyone.

Strike has a Bill Pay feature and is an easy way to get started. I’m experimenting with paying off our credit card once a month and recording that for capital gains for next year. There is a fee of less than 1% based on how much you spend.

Is there utility or value to Bitcoin?

Yes, there is a lot according to Alex Gladstein ’s presentation.

UTXOs

Learn about UTXOs , consolidate as needed

What about Price?

If you do look at the price and volatility, zoom out on the charts and use logarthmic scaling. There will only be 21 million Bitcoins (that can be broken down into 100,000,000 sats per Bitcoin (similar to dollars breaking down into cents)) and demand is growing.

https://charts.bitbo.io/long-term-power-law/

Keep it Simple

Swan DCA to your Cold Card Wallet. Keep your key safe with a steel plate and protect your Cold Card device. Let it sit and only check it every couple months or years.

You’ll have a lot less stress trying to find the next 100x coin or stock. It feels like just having a 401k at work and not worrying about it, you just don’t get the company match (unless you are very lucky). Another way to get exposure is through the many Bitcoin ETFs, if you have access, but you don’t have control of the Bitcoin.

I hope this helps you get started.