Quote from: tapunan on June 18, 2016, 12:19:52 AM

From a newbie who got introduced to bitcoin because I wanted to buy 'something' that only accepts bitcoin .. I didn't like the experience at all and I'm a computer programmer by profession so I'm comfortable with technology.

Here's my initial experience - I went about buying bitcoin, researched about wallets then read about warnings people gave - I don't know whether they are common threats / outdated info :
- Use paper or cold storage or else my bitcoins might get stolen - use a LiveCD, offline transaction signing, another PC/Laptop that has never been connected to the Internet
- when you send to someone, better create a new wallet 'offline' wallet since the keys have now been used (I believe Hot Key is the term)
- Oh have a 'Change Address' or else your bitcoins might get lost
- Never store your bitcoins with Exchanges in case they steal it or worst close up like Mt Gox

In the end, what I did was buy the exact bitcoins I needed, send to my phone wallet then paid. Oh and by the way, here in Australia, in order to buy bitcoins I needed to verify my identity to an exchange - as in send driver's license info, a utility address, passport etc (not sure if this is the case with other countries).

Anyway, I saw bitcoin as a good investment so bought some when they were 700 Australian dollars - here are the steps I did based on the recommendations I've read :
- download Tails and create Live USB
- download offline bitaddress from github
- disconnected my printer from Wifi, looked for my USB printer connector to print the paper wallets
- did all transfers from the bitcoin exchange to my paper wallet via Tails Live USB in case my windows PC has some sort of bitcoin stealing malware
- store my paper wallet never to be used until the day I decide to cash out
- all this on top of having to join an exchange in the first place

You can say that there's a similar 'bottleneck' with banks - that they also verify your details - but for banks, most working people already have them set uo to get their salary.
OR I can ignore and just use wallets as normal, but just read the internet and all those warnings are always there.

I also invest in stocks/funds using an online broker, using my home/work PC and my phone. I never had to worry about all these "offline transactions/offline storage/needing LiveUSB" with PayPal or CC.
If I ever have my CC get stolen and used illegally I can revert them with my bank.
My PayPal that I used for eBay buyers that sent me wrong / broken products I've gotten my money back.
My money is safely stored with my bank - yeah there's a small possibility banks can close but some of my money is insured.

So for the near future, I will keep using PayPal / CC and just use bitcoin as an investment (again in a paper wallet generated via Tails LiveUSB while offline - printed with an offline printer and stored several copies around like the days before the Internet was invented).

The way you use bitcoins totally depends on you, you said you're a programmer and totally comfortable with technology and then you said you found this Live cd, Cold storage & Printing Wallet stuffs awful! I mean why on this earth you'll find them boring if you really like technology?

There's a project called bitsquare which is a P2P based decentralized exchanging platform, you could've used that. Even you can contribute to make it better as you've said you're a devop and comfortable with technology. That way you can make sure you will not loose your bitcoins on any centralized exchange.

To start trading with forex/stocks you need to go through tedious ways, you know what I mean those verification stuffs and bla bla. But to start trading on bitcoin you don't need any of that, even you won't need a broker.

Almost in every country if you'll buy bitcoins with CC/Paypal then you need to verify your identity this is to prevent fraud such as charge back or usage of stolen CC. But you can use Localbitcoins to buy bitcoins with cash without the need of identity verification.

I'm sure you've not heard about multisig escrow, otherwise you wouldn't have mentioned of money back policy with the ebay and paypal.

Your bitcoins are even secure with hard wallet such as PI wallet or if you really are a tech savvy then you can build your own secure environment to store your coins securely.

The great thing about bitcoin is it's decentralized but your fiat isn't. Bitcoin is growing just let it grow....