Getting started with Bitcoin and 9 ways to earn Bitcoins

What is Bitcoin

Bitcoin is a P2P digital crypto-currency, which probably sound like incomprehensible jargon to you. It does to me as well, but in reality, you don't really need to understand it in order to use the system.

It's rather simple to get setup ready to use Bitcoin, but the hardest part of it all is actually finding a reasonable way to earn, buy or sell Bitcoins. I will try and suggest some options in that regard as well.

Getting Started

First things first. You will need a Bitcoin client which allows you to create and use a Bitcoin wallet. There are a few clients available both in software and in hardware. I highly recommend using the downloadable client software that runs on your Windows, Mac or Linux PC.

The one I recommend to get started, which in reality will probably be everything you need going forward unless you get really into Bitcoins in a big way is a client called MultiBit. (Forgive the ad, it will continue momentarily.)

It's available cross platform and is very easy to use. It also includes such things as showing you an estimate of the value of your Bitcoins, handling multiple separate wallets to separate out transactions for specific projects, etc.

After you download, install and run Multibit, you will be setup ready to start sending and receiving Bitcoins.

If you want to see how easily transactions are received, then comment below with your bitcoin address and I will send a very small payment your way. (Your bitcoin address can be found on the receiving tab in the Multibit client)

There are other clients as well and you can checkout the recommended ones on the bitcoin website at : http://bitcoin.org

Getting Bitcoins

You can start receiving bitcoins for free using a number of websites that give away very small amounts for free.

• Earn Free Bitcoins
• Netlookup
• Daily Bitcoins
• BitVisitor
• bitcoiner.net

These places will earn you small amounts and might help get you started but it would take a long time to build up any real value doing it.

Advertising

Another method for earning bitcoins is using advertising such as you will have seen on the sites I recommended above and even here on my site. If you run a blog or website, you can consider doing some or all of your adverts to monetise your site using Bitcoin and services such as Operation Fabulous which I am using here.

Gambling

By far the biggest use of Bitcoins that I have seen is gambling. This is to do with the fact that Bitcoin is not classified as a registered legitament currency and therefore it bypasses some of the laws regarding online gambling in some places.

Keep in mind however that gambling is not a sure fire way to make money and there is still potential to lose money with every bet.

Most of the Bitcoin gambling seems to take the form of dice games where you send an amount to an address, they calculate if you win or lose based on specified and selectable odds, and then return your winnings (or a representative tiny amount as confirmation if you  lose)

If this sounds like your kind of thing (and you have collected at least 0.05BTC) you can get started right away with this simple dice game via Royal Bitcoin. As you can see, the less the odds, the higher the payout.

25% win odds for 3.839x payout (Min bet : 0.05, Max bet : 10)

17ZZPi7DcAEstVxWp4MebTggYPgrVR6rW6

45% win odds for 2.133x payout (Min bet : 0.05, Max bet : 10)

1DkStQSTQUmywPrwGKocBq8LNXyrM9ojwe

50% win odds for 1.92x payout (Min bet : 0.05, Max bet : 10)

1Soc1bn8yv41E7a2e8mVtsYfVvNxYGbF4

55% win odds for 1.746x payout (Min bet : 0.05, Max bet : 10)

15A3ajDSmHmVcGzoQzx4Yyyq47etQ7UfcW

75% win odds for 1.28x payout (Min bet : 0.05, Max bet : 10)

1NdBgijqDYmm38wBGZzL6b95Q8cyW6EtDj

95% win odds for 1.011x payout (Min bet : 0.05, Max bet : 10)

19tEfB3YG76hnASRqRHeoS4ivmQm2o2t84

Otherwise checkout some of the other sites. You can find them using advertising like the one below or by simply doing a search.

Conclusion

I hope this has helped you get started using Bitcoin and I hope you can make it work well for you. Perhaps it will open opportunities that did not exist before to earn some money. It is also worth noting that there is places around that will buy and sell Bitcoins for real currency and using the MultiBit client you will always get an estimate of how much your Bitcoins are worth, so don't dismiss this as being just something for online gambling. It's picking up pace and there are more online shops and marketplaces that accept bitcoins opening all the time.

Enjoy, and good hunting!

Exploring near the Glasshouse Mountains, QLD, Australia

Now and then I enjoy taking the time to get away from the PC and get some fresh air. This often requires going to places away from the everyday comings and goings, and truly finding the fresh air. This past weekend I had the chance to get out in the forests near the iconic QLD Glasshouse Mountains.

We went to the official lookout for the area and whilst it had great views, it was such that you could only look towards one or 2 of the mountains at one time, and I was hoping for a decent panorama image.

 So, looking for something more, and equipped with a rusty old 4x4, we headed off in search of... well.. in truth, anything we could find.

After some other interesting discoveries, we came across a track heading up to the top of a hill. The track was steep and rather rough. Water had washed big ruts in the track and large boulders had been exposed making it tough for our small 4x4 to keep going.

We stopped and walked the rest of the track to the top of the hill. (Which, incidentally, works well with my new fitness goals.)

At the top we found a radio antenna and a small hut. Presumably this was used at one stage by forest rangers looking out for bush fires in the forest.

Or perhaps just a place to stop and have their lunch as they look out over the view of the Glasshouse Mountains. (seen at the top)

A lot of the floorboards were gone and the ones that remained looked in bad shape so I didn't go past the top of the steel staircase.

Needless to sad, there wasn't anything there besides some graffiti and a presumably still functional radio antenna.

The view however was amazing and I did regret not bringing along my DSLR. I will know better next time.

It's amazing the things you can find when you take some time to get out of the house and go looking for some fresh air. Especially when you have a 4x4 vehicle and some great forest area already covered in tracks and trails.

My journeys through these forests so far have netted some amazing views, interesting places to explore and big mud bogs that left us looking like mud monsters of some sort. Not to mention the time it took to get the mud out of the car once we were unstuck and back in civilisation.

Take some time to get out and really find some fresh air. Spend a day hiking up a mountain or 4x4ing your way through some interesting landscape. Your body and your mind will thank you for it, and you might come back with some great memories.You will certainly come back with a fresh mind ready to get back into the daily grind.

You can see more of my photos in my gallery on 500px : http://500px.com/timnwells
If you're interested then please take a look and feel free to leave me any feedback, praise, criticism or critique. I appreciate your feedback, and if you would like me to post more about some of my exploits away from the code then let me know in the comments.
If you like my work and happen to be a BitCoin user, then you can also donate to me at : 1HiQ7JjtUCY1rX3WYfGavb4AENoJK8SNFU