What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word, Bitcoin?
Drug dealers? Hackers? Computer nerds? Complex money transactions?
You’re probably not even sure how you would use or get your first Bitcoin, right? Maybe you are not even sure why you would want to have Bitcoins. Or if you have heard of Bitcoin, you may think you have to get a fancy, high-end computer to mine Bitcoins. Am I right?
Well, you don’t need to mine to get Bitcoins now. There’s an easier way. It’s something you already do: social media.
Remember in the 1990’s when the internet was just getting started? Remember when people were scared to order things online? Now think about online shopping. Almost everyone does it on their smartphone without even thinking twice.
According to a leading Bitcoin expert, Andreas Antonopoulos, Bitcoin is now in the same stage as the internet was in the 1990’s. The Bitcoin network has been running since 2009, without interruption, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week for 7 years straight. It has no central authority, no geopolitical influence, no borders and according to Andreas A., it is the internet of money. He wrote a book with that title. He believes we are entering a time of tremendous innovation in the global monetary system, very much like the birth of the internet itself.
There are many videos and a lot of information about Bitcoin that I could talk about. Instead, I’m going to show you step-by-step how you can get some Bitcoin without mining, just like I did. I didn’t earn Bitcoin by mining, but by blogging. You don’t even need to have any money to get started. There are many different ways to get started and services to use. However, this guide was written for the absolute beginner, so the services I suggest are the easiest to use.
Before we get started, I need to mention that Bitcoin has inspired many other digital currencies.
This explosion of new digital currency is quite new, with most of these new digital coins starting around 2013. This trend will only continue into the future. Just wait until Kim Kardashian comes out with her own digital coin. Then, the world will know all about this new money system. Andreas A. predicts that in the future, say within 20 years, the world will have hundreds of thousands of different digital coins, each reflecting a different human community. Most of the digital coins out there now are considered to be shitcoins but some are not.
There have been many attempts to combine social media with monetization strategies. So far, there is only one that is fully functioning right now. It’s called Steemit.com. On this site, the digital currency is called Steem. Steem is like Bitcoin. Steem is a lot newer than Bitcoin, but it’s secured in the same way as Bitcoin. On the horizon, though, there will be many other monetized sites including a network called Yours, which merges the world of social media with the world of Bitcoin. This network will be released in 2017. There are also others like Synereo and Akasha that have not set a release date yet.
But right now, today, I will show you how you can get a little Steem from blogging on Steemit. Then I will show you how to trade some Steem for Bitcoin. All of this is done without using any of your own money to get started. This is also not intended as a get rich quick type of thing. The amount you could get for blogging will probably be very small, especially in the beginning. This newbie guide is only intended for absolute beginners, as a way to get involved in Bitcoin without investing any of your own money and without mining.
Here are the steps to get your first Bitcoin without mining:
Sign up for an account at https://steemit.com/ You will need an email address and a phone number.
Create an account at https://bittrex.com/
Create an account at https://www.coinbase.com/signin
Note: When you create your account on Steemit, you will most likely be a bit overwhelmed by the way it works. If you’re brand new, you can visit https://www.steemithelp.net/ to learn the beginning steps of using Steemit. This site will tell you how to use your different keys, how to create your first post and give you other newbie tips. If you just want to watch a video that gives you a basic overview of how everything works in Steemit, go here:
Write your first post on Steemit and publish it.
Check your wallet in Steemit. Hopefully, you will see some Steem in there.
When you’re ready to trade Steem for Bitcoin, follow the guide in here: https://steemit.com/steemit/@the-bitcoin-dood/my-first-cashout-using-bittrex-to-withdraw-and-convert-steem
Don’t worry about all the steps now. The important thing is for you to earn some Steem in your Steemit wallet. Once you do that, you’ll be more motivated to figure out how to convert it to Bitcoin.
After your first trade of Steem into Bitcoin, you’re ready to transfer your Bitcoin from Bittrex to your Coinbase wallet and you’ll need to first get your Bitcoin wallet address from Coinbase. The wallet address will be a long string of numbers and letters, so you’ll need to copy and paste this into Bittrex. So, open your Bittrex interface and next to BTC in your wallet, you’ll see a minus sign. Click on that to transfer your Bitcoin to your Coinbase Bitcoin wallet. Once this minus sign is clicked on, paste your Coinbase wallet address into that tab and select how much Bitcoin you want to send. You’re all done. In a short time, you will see your Bitcoin in your Coinbase wallet. Times vary. Sometimes it can take more than 30 minutes for the Bitcoin to appear in your wallet.
The steps are definitely a lot for most people, so I recommend splitting up these steps into several days. When I first tackled this stuff, I spent a few days getting all three accounts created. Then I spent several more days just understanding the basics of converting Steem to Bitcoin. Then a few more days figuring out how to transfer Bitcoin from Bittrex into my Coinbase account.
One more thing, when you create your Bittrex and Coinbase accounts, make sure and use Google Authenticator as your two-step authentication. It’s the most secure option right now.
There you have it.
Good luck!
If you want to get some Bitcoin without mining, you can. If you’re ready to learn more and want a glimpse into the future, let your mind be blown by this video by Andreas Antonopoulos: