Step 1 – Download a bitcoin wallet

Go to the app store or Google Play store and download Blue Wallet. There are any number of wallets you can use. This tutorial will use Blue Wallet as the example, so that will be the easiest place to start. You can move your bitcoin to a different wallet later.

Step 2 – Import the wallet

• Add a new wallet using the 12 words. Select Bitcoin as the wallet type.
• Name your wallet and then tap “Import wallet” instead of “Create”.
• In that big box, type each of your 12 words on a new line. Blue Wallet will automatically find the wallet and import it into the app for you.

If you’ve done it correctly, you should see your bitcoin balance in the app now. That’s your bitcoin. Well, not exactly. Since you know the 12 words, you now have access to use/move/spend that bitcoin. BUT, whoever wrote those words down for you also has access to that bitcoin. Let’s move it from this wallet to one that only you have access to.

Step 3 – Create your own wallet

In the Blue Wallet app, you can create multiple wallets. Now, let’s create a new wallet that only you have access to, just in case.

• Tap “Add wallet” (or the + sign).
• Name your wallet. Keep Bitcoin as the type.
• And this time, tap “Create” instead of “Import wallet.”

The app will create a brand new wallet with a new set of 12 words. Write these words down with pencil and paper. Do not take a screenshot! Do not type them into your phone or computer. Storing these words digitally makes them vulnerable to being hacked or stolen. Write them down on paper and store that sheet of paper somewhere safe.

Once you’ve written down the 12 words of your new wallet, you’ll see that this new wallet is empty. There’s no bitcoin in it. Let’s fix that!

Step 4 – Move your bitcoin

The next step is to move your bitcoin from the given wallet to the wallet only you can access. There a few steps to this that involve copy and pasting the Bitcoin address.

1. Open your empty wallet where you want your bitcoin to be, and tap “Receive”
2. It may ask you if you’ve actually written down your 12 words. If you haven’t, you’ll want to do this now.
3. When you see a giant QR code, look for the long string of random letters and numbers under it (ex. bc1q…avp9). That’s one of your wallet addresses. Tap it to copy it.
4. The close out of that wallet by tapping the “X,” and navigate to the wallet with the bitcoin in it.
5. From the wallet with bitcoin in it, tap “Send”
6. Paste the address that you copied into the Address field. You can double check the first and last several characters of the address (ex. bc1q…avp9).
7. Edit the amount of bitcoin you want to send. You probably want to send all of it.
8. Now, tap the row that says “Fee” and a highlighted number like “0.00000384 BTC.” This will let you select the fee amount you want to pay to transfer the bitcoin. You can pay a little higher fee to move it quickly (~10 minutes). Or wait about a day to pay the lowest fee. Or somewhere in between. I recommend using the fast or slow option. If you choose fast, you’ll more quickly understand how bitcoin works on the base layer. However, you’ll lose a bit more of your bitcoin to the transaction fee. If you choose the slow version, you’ll keep more of your bitcoin. But you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for it to show up in your new wallet.
9. Tap “Next” and send the the bitcoin to your own wallet!

Step 5 – Protect your bitcoin

You now have self-custody of your own bitcoin in your own wallet. Store those 12 words for your new wallet somewhere safe. Anybody who finds them, can follow the steps here to access and move that bitcoin to their own wallet. Just like you did with the 12 words you started with!

Q: What if I lose my phone that has Blue Wallet on it?
A: Simply download the Blue Wallet app (or another bitcoin wallet app) on another phone. Import your bitcoin wallet by typing in your 12 words. Your bitcoin is stored on the bitcoin blockchain, not on your phone, and not even in the Blue Wallet app. A bitcoin wallet, like Blue Wallet, just gives you access to the bitcoin. It lets you see and transfer that bitcoin from one blockchain address to another. The 12 words are the secret seed phrase combination to the private keys (to those bitcoin addresses).

Q: What if I lost my 12 words?
A: If you still have your phone with Blue Wallet on it, you can see the 12 words. Write them down on another sheet of paper. To view them, go to the wallet and tap the 3 dots in the top right “…” Then tap “Export/Backup.” You’ll see a big QR code and the 12 words under it. Do not screenshot this screen. Do not type your words on your phone or computer. Write the words down on paper and store them in a safe place.

Q: What if I lose my phone and my 12 words?
A: Sorry, but you lost your bitcoin. They’re gone. There’s nothing you can do. It’s like losing your purse or wallet with physical cash in it. It’s gone.

What you do next is up to you. Here are a few things you may want to do:

1. Learn more about bitcoin
2. Buy more bitcoin

1. Swan Bitcoin – cheapest way to buy your first $10K of Bitcoin (no fees on first $10K)
2. River – cheapest way to regularly buy Bitcoin (zero fees on recurring orders)
3. Cash App – quickest way if you already have Cash App (medium fees)

Cheapest way to buy Bitcoin – Swan

The cheapest way to buy your first Bitcoin is with Swan Bitcoin. There are no fees on your first $10,000 of Bitcoin buys. This is the best place to start your Bitcoin journey whether you want to dip your toes on a $100 buy, smash buy thousands, or start saving in Bitcoin with a recurring order.

How to buy Bitcoin with Swan

1. Sign up for Swan Bitcoin
2. Enter your personal information
3. Link your bank account
4. Make your first purchase
5. (Optionally) Set up a Bitcoin savings plan

Cheapest way to buy Bitcoin regularly – River

If you’re ready to save in Bitcoin, the cheapest way to buy it regularly is with River. When you set up a recurring buy order, there are no fees after the first week. You’ll pay a low 1.20% fee for your first week and no fees after that. The app is well-designed and very easy to use for beginners. Take advantage of the dips when you dollar-cost-average (DCA) into bitcoin.

How to buy Bitcoin on River

1. Sign up for River
2. Tap Buy Bitcoin
3. Link your bank account through Plaid
4. Tap One-Time Purchase to change the order type
5. Select Recurring Buy Order
6. Choose the frequency
7. Enter the amount
8. Preview and place order

Quickest way to buy Bitcoin – Cash App

The quickest way to buy Bitcoin on your phone is to use CashApp if you already have it. CashApp is a peer-to-peer payment service like Venmo, Zelle or PayPal. If you have CashApp installed already, then it will be the fastest way to buy your first Bitcoin because you won’t have to sign up for a new account anywhere else. One downside is the CashApp fees are a bit higher than the others, so it’s not the best long-term solution if you decide to buy more Bitcoin later.

How to buy Bitcoin with Cash App

If you’re already using the Cash App to send money to friends, you can buy Bitcoin directly from your phone using the app. When you open up the app on your phone, you should see a little Bitcoin logo ₿ on the bottom navigation to the far right.

1. Tap the ₿ icon
2. Tap Buy
3. Choose how much you want to buy. Use the “…” button to buy more than $500.
4. On the confirmation screen you’ll see the funding source, amount in “sats” (Satoshis are the smallest unit of Bitcoin), the fees and a few other things. Tap “Confirm” to complete the purchase.

Summary

You’ll want to use Swan Bitcoin for your first Bitcoin buys up to $10,000 since there are no fees. When you’re ready to start buying Bitcoin regularly, River is your best bet as there are zero fees on recurring orders. If you want to buy Bitcoin quickly, and you have Cash App already, you can get some there.

Whether you’re planning to buy Bitcoin once or ready to set up a savings plan to DCA into Bitcoin regularly, these are the best places to buy your first Bitcoin.

Self-sovereignty

One of the main advantages of hyper-bitcoinization is that it could lead to greater financial self-sovereignty for individuals. With Bitcoin, users have complete control over their funds, and can transact without needing to rely on intermediaries such as banks. This is because Bitcoin operates on a decentralized network, meaning that no single entity has the power to control or manipulate the currency. As a result, individuals can transact with one another directly, without needing to go through a third party.

This level of self-sovereignty could be particularly valuable in countries with authoritarian governments that restrict freedom of speech and financial transactions. In such regimes, individuals may not be able to trust their government to act in their best interests. Bitcoin would allow these individuals to bypass their government’s financial controls, providing a degree of financial freedom and protection from government censorship.

For example, in Venezuela, the government has imposed strict financial controls in an attempt to control hyperinflation. These controls have included restrictions on the amount of money that citizens can withdraw from banks and a ban on using foreign currencies. However, some Venezuelans have turned to Bitcoin as a way to bypass these controls and access the global financial system. By using Bitcoin, these individuals can transact with anyone in the world, regardless of their location or the restrictions imposed by their government.

Similarly, in Iran, the government has attempted to restrict access to foreign currencies in order to prop up the value of the Iranian rial. However, some Iranians have turned to Bitcoin as a way to transact with the outside world and protect their wealth from inflation. By using Bitcoin, Iranians can transfer funds to individuals and businesses outside of Iran, bypassing their government’s financial controls.

Censorship resistance

In addition to providing greater self-sovereignty, hyper-bitcoinization could also lead to increased censorship resistance. This is because Bitcoin transactions are recorded on a public ledger known as the blockchain, which is resistant to censorship or tampering. Once a transaction has been recorded on the blockchain, it cannot be altered or deleted. This means that individuals can transact with one another without fear of their transactions being censored or blocked.

For example, in China, the government has imposed strict controls on the internet and social media in an attempt to control the flow of information. However, some Chinese citizens have turned to Bitcoin as a way to bypass these controls and access information from outside of China. By using Bitcoin, these individuals can support media outlets or websites that are blocked in China, without fear of their transactions being censored.

Financial inclusion

Hyper-bitcoinization could also provide other benefits for society. For example, by replacing fiat currencies with Bitcoin, governments would no longer be able to manipulate their currency supply, leading to a more stable financial system. Additionally, Bitcoin’s decentralized nature could lead to greater financial inclusion, as individuals without access to traditional banking services could still participate in the global financial system.

Hyper-bitcoinization is a scenario in which Bitcoin becomes the dominant global currency. While this scenario may seem unlikely at present, there are many potential benefits to this outcome, including increased financial self-sovereignty and censorship resistance. These benefits could be particularly valuable for individuals living in countries with authoritarian governments or strict financial controls. Furthermore, hyper-bitcoinization could lead to a more stable financial system and greater financial inclusion, as individuals without access to traditional banking services could still participate in the global financial system. While there are still many challenges and uncertainties associated with hyper-bitcoinization, it is clear that Bitcoin has the potential to revolutionize the way we think about money and finance, and could provide a more equitable and decentralized financial system for all.

Coinbase is one of the most popular and trusted cryptocurrency exchanges, which can give you peace of mind when it comes to the security of your funds. They make it easy to purchase Bitcoin with a variety of payment methods, including bank accounts, credit cards, and debit cards. This means that you can buy Bitcoin quickly and easily, without having to go through a complex or time-consuming process.

For beginners, buying Bitcoin on Coinbase allows you to easily store and manage your Bitcoin with the Coinbase wallet, making it easy to track the value of your investment and make additional purchases or transactions as needed.

Here’s how to buy Bitcoin using Coinbase:

1. Sign up for a Coinbase account

To do this, go to the Coinbase website and click on “Sign up” in the top right corner. You will need to provide your name, email address, and create a password.

2. Verify your email address

After signing up, Coinbase will send you an email with a link to verify your account. Click on the link in the email to complete the verification process.

3. Set up two-factor authentication

This is an important security step that will help protect your account. To do this, log in to your Coinbase account and go to the “Security” section. Follow the instructions to set up two-factor authentication using your mobile phone.

4. Link a payment method

In order to purchase bitcoin, you will need to link a payment method to your Coinbase account. This can be a bank account, credit card, or debit card. Go to the “Payment Methods” section of your Coinbase account and follow the instructions to add a payment method.

5. Place an order

Once you have linked a payment method, you can place an order for bitcoin. Go to the “Buy/Sell” section of your Coinbase account and select “Bitcoin” from the list of available cryptocurrencies. Enter the amount of bitcoin you want to purchase, and confirm the transaction using your two-factor authentication code.

6. Wait for the transaction to complete

The time it takes for the transaction to complete will depend on the payment method you used and the amount of bitcoin you are purchasing. Once the transaction is complete, the bitcoin will be added to your Coinbase wallet.

Bitcoin is the best investment because it has the highest potential gains with the lowest downside risk. Since its inception in 2009, Bitcoin has seen incredible growth in adoption and network hashrate. These trends are only expected to continue as time goes on.

Bitcoin is solving problems around the world by providing an easy way for people to send money across borders without having to worry about exchange rates or payment processing fees. It’s also a safe way for individuals to store their wealth outside of government control, where they can’t be taxed or confiscated by central banks.

Compare Bitcoin to any other investment options like stocks or bonds—it’s outperformed them over the past 5-10 years! And as more people realize this fact, interest in Bitcoin will only grow.

More people learning about these growth trends are starting to set aside 10-50% of their savings in Bitcoin. If you’re looking for an investment with high growth potential and low risk, look no further than Bitcoin at a price around $20,000/BTC.

Then, there are a number of ways to divvy up the rest of the altcoins. There are stable coins (like USDT, USDC, GUSD) which attempt to peg the value of the coin to a fiat currency. There are smartchain platform coins, of which the largest currently is Ethereum (ETH). It has many viable competitors that you may hear about (ADA, SOL, etc.). Another popular type of altcoin are meme coins like Doge, and Shiba Inu. These are fun, community-based projects that attract many retail investors unaware of unit bias, who think owning millions of a coin worth fractions of a penny, is a legitimate way to become a millionaire. Every other altcoin can be thought of as an early-stage, blockchain-based technology company. About 98% of early-stage, VC-funded tech companies fail. But the 2% (or less) that find a market fit and scale their user base (and revenues) can become billion $ companies providing a 10,000X return for the early venture capital investors.

If you begin to separate Bitcoin from the pack, and recognize these broad groups of cryptocurrencies as independent of one another, you’ll have a better chance at understanding where the value lies. Any article or media outlet that groups Bitcoin and Doge together is uninformed or maliciously trying to deceive you.

Your Retirement on BTC

Let’s say your Roth IRA had $100k in it 5 years ago. You’re a savvy investor and have it mostly in VTI (Vanguard Total Market Index ETF). The market has done really well over the last 5 years. Even if you added nothing to it, your IRA would be about $235k now. That’s awesome! Had you not invested in VTI, you’d still have…. $100k.

Now, let’s measure that in BTC. That $100k in October of 2016 would’ve been about 153 BTC, because Bitcoin was about $650/BTC. In October of 2021, with the price of BTC around $60k, that $235k would be only 3.9 BTC. By measuring your IRA in dollars (invested in VTI) you more than doubled your money. When you measure it in BTC, your retirement went down from 153 BTC down to 3.8 BTC in only 5 years.

Let’s flip it. If you’re pricing things in Bitcoin, then in Oct of 2016, you’d invest all of that $100k into BTC. In your IRA, you’d then own 153 BTC. Five years later, you still only have 153 BTC in your retirement account. The number of BTC didn’t go up (just like the number of shares of VTI doesn’t go up). But your purchasing power as measured in USD went from $100k to $9.5 million by owning BTC.

Houses in BTC

Once you start measuring everything in Bitcoin, you find that all your assets are losing value (purchasing power) over time. And the good news is that everything is losing value in BTC, including the price of homes. Real estate is cheaper, cars are more affordable, and food doesn’t cost more, but less overtime when you’re pricing in Bitcoin.

In 2016, the average sales price of a home in the United States was $360k. Let’s say that you put a 10% down payment on the house to buy it. That’s $36k of your savings to buy a house. There are other costs (taxes, insurance, closing costs, etc.) but we’ll ignore those for now. Real estate prices went up quite a bit during the pandemic of 2020 and 2021. So, that $360k house is now worth about $440k. Congratulations, your equity jumped up $80k in 5 short years of owning a home. And if you didn’t buy that home, it would now take a 10% down payment of $44k to buy it which is $8k more than you had to pay in 2016.

Now, let’s price that house in Bitcoin. We said Bitcoin was about $650/BTC in October 2016, so a down payment of $36k would’ve cost you about 55 BTC. In October of 2021, Bitcoin is about $60k/BTC, but, since you waited, you now have to pay $44k to buy this house. It went up in USD price, remember? Well, that $44k down payment would cost 0.74 BTC. The exact same house, which went up in USD price by $80k in 5 years, went from costing 55 BTC down to less than 1 BTC to buy.

The world looks quite different when you start to price everything in BTC. Yes, in the U.S., we spend U.S. dollars (USD) to buy everything. You can easily convert Bitcoin into USD to buy whatever you want. Let everybody else continue to price things in USD. If you start pricing everything in Bitcoin, you’ll see that everything gets cheaper over time. The logical conclusion is to move as much of your net worth (savings, retirement accounts, investment accounts) into Bitcoin and wait. In 5 years, you just may be able to afford a lot more than you would otherwise.

Have you ever complained about how much energy is used to power Christmas decorations and lights every year? Because Christmas lights use more energy than some small countries. Do you complain about the negative environmental impacts of running a clothes dryer to dry your clothes when you could just hang them up outside to dry in the sun? Of course you don’t, because if you dry your clothes with a clothes dryer it’s because you find that use of energy valuable to you. The problem with complaining about Bitcoin using so much energy is that you fundamentally don’t understand the value of Bitcoin.

So, let’s think about it. Is it easy to consume as much energy as a small country? How much money do you think it costs to pay for that much energy? Hundreds of millions of dollars.

Wait. So, that means that there are companies (Bitcoin miners) around the world from America to Uzbekistan and many places in between that are willing to pay for energy to mine bitcoin and secure the bitcoin network. These are not nonprofit companies! Why would people pay millions of dollars worth of electric bills for some strange, digital “coin” that you can barely use to buy anything? There must be some value to it to be worth it to spend all that money on the energy required to keep the network going.

The other cool thing is that the NYT reports that Bitcoin’s energy usage is 40-75% renewable! That’s amazing. America’s renewable energy percent is closer to 12-20% renewable. So, Bitcoin is doing better than the US in that regard. How so?

Bitcoin is decentralized which means there is no CEO. There’s no President or board of directors. Why such a high renewable energy percent with no leader mandating it? Well, it’s pure free market competition. The Bitcoin miners (who are consuming all this energy) are incentivized to get energy for as cheaply as possible. That way they can increase their profits of course. And they can mine almost anywhere in the world (except China which banned Bitcoin miners this year). What’s the cheapest energy? Well, wasted flared natural gas actually. It’s free! Natural gas producers have to flare (burn up) excess gas. Some miners are capturing this wasted energy and turning into pure digital money.

How about hydro power? Waterfalls and rivers are constantly running, but the energy demand for a nearby town isn’t constant. Bitcoin miners hook up to hydroelectric stations and use that wasted, renewable energy to mine Bitcoin and protect the network. When the local town needs more energy, you can temporarily shut off the Bitcoin mining rigs. One Bitcoin mining company spent $23 million to buy a hydropower farm in Washington state. It’s fascinating stuff.

The Bitcoin network will speed up the adoption of renewable energy. And all that energy is proof-of-work that will secure the next global digital monetary system.

Let’s take a real life example. The average household income in the US is about $60,000/year. In 2021, Americans are typically saving about 10% of their income. This means that the average American should be able to save about $500/month. Each year, that’s $6,000. Over 5 years, you’d have $30,000 in your savings account.

Now, let’s imagine you had invested that $500/month into a savings account and earned a 1% interest. After 5 years, you’d have $30,749. Had you invested in the S&P 500 over the same time period, you would’ve ended up with $43,097 since the stock market returned around 14%/yr during those 5 years. So, the next question is: how much would your $500/month savings be worth if you had bought Bitcoin (BTC) each month for 5 years?

Starting in the Summer of 2016, if you had started buying just $500 worth of Bitcoin (BTC) each month, you’d end up with more than $354,000 by the Summer of 2021, just 5 years later. Bitcoin started a Bull run (when the market goes up in value) in 2017 that culminated in an all-time-high price of close to $19,000/BTC in Jan of 2018. That would’ve been just 18 months after you started buying Bitcoin, and your $9,000 of savings would’ve been worth more than $88,000 at that time!

Then, Bitcoin went into a bear market (when the market doesn’t go up) for about 2.5 years until the Summer of 2020. By DCA’ing each month, you would’ve been buying Bitcoin at these low prices all throughout. So, when Bitcoin started it’s next Bull run, you’d have 4 years of buying it ready to ride the increase. Even though you had only saved a total of $30,000 ($500/mo times 5 years), the value of your savings invested in Bitcoin would be worth more than $350,000! This is when the price of Bitcoin is around $47,000/BTC. Check the current price and multiply that times the approximately 7.5 BTC you’d own!

Dollar cost averaging (DCA) is a great way to reduce the impact of volatility. Volatility means the price goes up and down a lot in a short period of time. But if you expect an investment to go up over the long term, then DCA will average out the cost each time you buy a little more. Bitcoin is famously volatile, and some investors are afraid of buying it at too high of a price. Bitcoin is also famous for going up in value a lot over at least a few years. So, the smart way to buy Bitcoin as an investment is to DCA, or dollar cost average into it just like people DCA into mutual funds in their retirement accounts.

Where to DCA savings into BTC

The best place I’ve found to consistently DCA into Bitcoin is to use SwanBitcoin. They’ve stripped away all of the noise and made it super simple to buy Bitcoin in regular intervals of your choosing. If you want to start saving $250 each month in Bitcoin, SwanBitcoin is the easiest place to do it.

1. Sign up for an account
2. Add a bank account
3. Set up a regular savings plan

Once you set up a Bitcoin savings plan to DCA into Bitcoin regularly, you can relax and wait for your investment to grow over time. This is not a get-rich-quick scheme. This is one of the smartest ways to grow your wealth over time. And there’s no better investment to grow wealth than Bitcoin.

If you want to see how much your money would’ve been worth if you’d started DCA’ing into Bitcoin, play with the calculator over at www.DCABTC.com.

The farther in the future you are, the more compelling this will be. I’m writing this in the Summer of 2021 and Bitcoin’s price has ranged between $30k and $40k. So, in just 11 years (from 2010 to 2021) those 600 bitcoins would’ve gone from being worth $48 to $24,000,000 (yes, $24 million).

The current price of Bitcoin: Please enter CoinGecko Free Api Key to get this plugin works.

The Price of Bitcoin Goes Up

Over time, the price of Bitcoin has historically gone up. While that’s no guarantee that it will in the future, it’s still worth looking at Bitcoin’s price history. If you had bought only $50 worth of Bitcoin just 1 year ago, it would be worth $152 today. If you had bought $50 worth of Bitcoin 5 years ago, that small amount would be worth $3,246 today!

Over only 3 years, you could’ve turned $500 (the cost of a flat screen TV, or PS5) into $5,940. And $1,000 of Bitcoin from 2016 would be worth $64,924 in 2021! See the table of how much Bitcoin would be worth between 2016 and 2021.

There’s no guarantee that Bitcoin’s value will continue to increase the same way that it has for the past decade. But, seeing that just $50 became worth $3,246 in 5 years, do you want to take the chance of NOT owning Bitcoin?

An Easy Way to Buy Bitcoin

One easy way to buy Bitcoin is through Swan Bitcoin. It’s a secure, online exchange that only offers Bitcoin. There’s no way to get distracted by the millions of other cryptocurrencies. You don’t want to “miss the bus” like the forum user who “only had 600 bitcoins.” If you buy Bitcoin, make sure you wait at least 4 years before selling. If history tells us anything, it’s that patience pays with Bitcoin.