Getting your hands on even a single Bitcoin can take a bit of work, but you have a few options. Purchasing Bitcoin takes less effort than mining it, but obviously comes at the cost of your hard-earned cash. Mining, on the other hand, takes computer processing power and often bears very little fruit. First, let's talk about how you can buy a Bitcoin and then look at the mining process.
How to Buy a Bitcoin
As previously mentioned, storing and using Bitcoins requires wallet software or an online service.
The wallet software requires quite a bit of disk space and you have to
find a Bitcoin seller in order to acquire any of the actual currency. An
online wallet, on the other hand, makes the entire process much easier.
As a result, we're going to focus on that process. To set up an online
wallet and purchase your first Bitcoin, just follow these steps:
- To create a wallet, sign up for an online service like My Wallet (UK) or Coinbase (US). For these instructions, we'll use Coinbase because they provide a simple, integrated purchase process with two-factor authentication for added security.
- From the lefthand menu, click "Linked Accounts" and add a bank account. It can take several days for Coinbase to successfully link a bank account, so if you intend to purchase any Bitcoins you should plan ahead.
- Once your account is all linked up, click the Buy/Sell Bitcoins link. The page will default to the Buy Bitcoins section so just enter the number you want to purchase, choose your bank account (if you linked more than one), and click the Buy Bitcoins button. The transaction may take a few days to complete, but you'll receive a notification when the Bitcoins have been safely transferred to your wallet.
The
purchase process doesn't take much effort, but rather just involves a
lot of waiting. The Bitcoin exchange rate changes over time, so while at
the time of this writing you have to spend $75.93 USD for just one you
may find them cheaper next month. Of course, you can come across Bitcoin
for the cost of your CPU cycles by engaging in the mining process
instead.