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Crypto is something that you hear a lot about lately, but I've never gotten a grasp on what it is or how buy it and use it. Is there a good non-jewed video I could watch or something I could read that explains it and shows you how to get into it? I've tried to watch a few videos but they're all over the place. There's a ton of foreign concepts to me like wallets, block chain, etc.

Crypto is something that you hear a lot about lately, but I've never gotten a grasp on what it is or how buy it and use it. Is there a good non-jewed video I could watch or something I could read that explains it and shows you how to get into it? I've tried to watch a few videos but they're all over the place. There's a ton of foreign concepts to me like wallets, block chain, etc.

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[–] • 6 pts (edited )

Here's a basic summary:

Bitcoin is a digital currency similar to money in a bank account, rather than physical money like paper bills or metal coins.

Computers maintain an ongoing ledger (history) of how much Bitcoin is in each address. The ledger is public so anyone can see how much is in a particular address, though there is no record of who owns which addresses. Only the owner of an address can transfer their Bitcoin to someone else, by supplying its secret key (like a password). A person can have as many addresses as they want, and it costs nothing to create new ones.

Many copies of the ledger are kept on computers around the world. Updates to the ledger are done in a way that prevents one of these computers from tampering with it. Tampering and fraud are prevented via cryptography and consensus, rather than trust or authority as is done with banks. Transactions cannot be reversed other than by the recipient voluntarily transferring the funds back.

There is a limit of how many Bitcoins will ever be created. This avoids inflation, which slowly reduces the value of everyone's holdings, what happens with fiat currencies like the US dollar. Nothing backs each Bitcoin, so the market value isn't dependent on anything in some vault somewhere, or some third party promising to redeem Bitcoin for something physical of value. Bitcoin's market value is based on the integrity of the mathematics of the system and the network of computers continuing to exist and operate smoothly.

People who maintain the computers that run Bitcoin get paid by the Bitcoin system, which includes a transaction fee that is determined by the market. So as long as Bitcoin is useful and efficient, it funds the computer network that keeps it running.

[–] • 5 pts

One key point, 99% of usd is also only digital.

[–] • 2 pts

99% of usd is also only digital.

Hand-rubbing intensifies.

[–] • 2 pts

Thank you for the reply.

Who generates the key for you to get and use the coin? Who gives the authority?

[–] • 1 pt

Different tokens may require different wallets. There are many types but whatever you're using the seed phrase is randomly generated by the wallet you're using unless you have your crypto sitting on a centralized exchange. Then they have the keys so it is very unwise to keep it there.

The mantra is: Not your keys, not your crypto.

[–] • 1 pt (edited )

If you download the very original Bitcoin-qt client you can download the entire copy of the ledger ( aka blockchain) and it is like 400gb or so in total storage space required. Bitcoin qt client is the original wallet application and in that application there is a “receiving address” section that supplies your receiving addresses associated with your newly created wallet.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=bitcoinqt+receiving+addresses&iax=images&ia=images

Or you can use popular applications like ones in the App Store like trust wallet or MetaMask.

But you basically have to get you a receiving address somehow and then you can think of it like your home address. And the Bitcoin is the package. So next step is to get some Bitcoin somewhere I.e an exchange like Coinbase, uphold, KuCoin. I personally like to store my long term investments in what people call a cold wallet and then if the exchange gets hacked your coins are safe. And that is because an exchange just has multiple different wallets they use to operate and as we know from history they are a huge target for hackers and I think even some of the exchanges are insured for certain amounts from loss if they get hacked.

[–] • 1 pt

How do I go about getting a cold wallet?

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

The key is generated randomly, and the key is long enough that there's a very low (but not zero) probability you won't happen to choose a key already used. You can generate a key with any method you like, though something truly random is best as you don't want any of it to be predictable. From a given key there is only one address that it controls, mathematically derived. When you submit a request to transfer Bitcoin, you sign the transaction with your key (the wallet software does this). The miners can verify that you had the proper key to sign it.

There's no authority, just whether you have the key to initiate transactions. On the flip-side, anyone can transfer Bitcoin to any address, even the 99.99999999% that nobody has a key to, in which case the Bitcoin is lost forever. This should show how it's just a mathematical space with no central directory of what addresses are used, or who they are owned by. If you have the key for an address, whatever is in that address is under your control.

Best practice is to randomly choose a multi-word recovery phrase made up of many words, that you write down (wallets tend to do this and show the phrase to write down). From this phrase several keys/addresses are generated to use (it's good practice to not keep everything at the same address for a long time). So you keep a safe copy of the recovery phrase so that your computer can be destroyed yet you can still get your Bitcoin with the phrase.