The big moment has arrived, you purchased bitcoin and its waiting for you on the exchange. First, the exchange needs an address from you. You get a bitcoin address from a wallet software. The wallet software can be on your mobile phone, tablet or desktop computer. The wallet software will help you create a private key which is 12 words in a specific order. We recommend using BlueWallet.
In the next few minutes, you will be writing down some words, these words are the key to unlock the spending of your bitcoin; of which there is no locksmith. If you lose access to the device (loss/theft/fire), these words can be entered into your wallet software on a new device, restoring your access.
- You will want to store these words in a safe place. Safe from fire, water and peeping eyes
No need to rush this process. If you need to find a safe place first, do so before continuing. There is no “correct” place because everyone has a different living situation. Try not to let this be a scary activity, think of it more like emergency planning. Take the time to plan now and update as needed when life events occur. Just don’t leave your bitcoin on the exchange for longer than a month while you get your security and safeguards in place. Review how to store your private keys if needed.
Let’s go!
Decide where you want BlueWallet installed. Once opened, you will see an Add a wallet button and presented with 3 choices, select Bitcoin. The default settings are sufficient and press Create.
You will be presented with 12 words, write them down. Press OK, I wrote it down, and you will be taken to the new wallet. Tap on the Blue wallet then Press Receive, you will be asked if you wrote the words down, press No, I have not so that you can confirm you wrote them down in the correct order. If you already pressed yes, exit the address screen then press the 3 dots menu and press Export/Backup. This will display the words again for you. NEVER take a screenshot1. Go back to the wallet and press Receive to see your first bitcoin address.
Your first bitcoin transaction should be a small amount, preferably $100 or less
Give the address to the exchange, if you scan or copy/paste it into the exchange, double check the first and last 7 characters match. Do not manually type, exchanges do not take any responsibility if you make a typo. Within an hour, your wallet should show an incoming transaction. You’ve successfully taken self-custody of your bitcoin.
No need to rush this process part two. Before you add more bitcoin, you want to make sure your words work in an emergency. This is best done on another device. Install BlueWallet on another computer or mobile phone. Open the wallet and Add a new wallet, select Bitcoin then press Import Wallet. Enter the 12 words in order with a single space separating them. Once complete press Import. If there are any issues double check the words carefully. If you cannot successfully restore your wallet then you must stop using that wallet. You need to determine which words are out of order or incorrect. The funds are in danger if the other device is lost.
Now that you have both a lightning and bitcoin wallet, you can find more places to spend. You can also hold on to the balance. The dollar value of bitcoin will increase as people explore, discover and build businesses on bitcoin.
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1 Taking a screenshot of your private key creates a digital copy which can be retrieved easily by authorities or attackers, especially if your pictures are stored on a cloud service.
