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A way to get started with Bitcoin: or How I Learned to Stop over-complicating things and Love simplicity
- Introduction
- The Punch Line
- The Car Metaphor
- What is Bitcoin
- How to Receive Bitcoin
- How to Send Bitcoin
- How to Keep Your Bitcoin Safe
- What is the Lightning Network
note: This is an overview of what we are going to talk about. I don’t believe you can give spoilers away when talking about nonfiction. Note that I will make mistakes and if I do I’ll happy send you 1000 sats per mistake. The subtitle of this talk speaks to all complex things and how boil down complexity and learn to talk about things simple. Plus, who doesn’t love Dr. StrangeLove?
- The Treachery of Images (French: La Trahison des Images) is a 1929 painting by Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. The direct translation of is “Image Betrayal”.
- Who am I?
- Why am I doing this?
- What we won't talk about this presentation
- What are you looking to get out of this?
- Who here has send & received bitcoin?
- ...on the Lightning Network
- Who here has send & received bitcoin?
note: My name is Jason. Online I go by Not Jason. I am here to try to provide a simple way to look at Bitcoin for everyday people.
We are not talking about: other cryptocurrency, technical jargon, monetary theory, humanitarian / moral implication of monetary control, or the environment.
If you wanted to talk about P2TR, Ludwig Von Mises, the CFA franc, the difference between LND and clightning, or how ASICS may be leading us to sustainable energy, you are in the wrong place.
By learning how to send, receive, and keep your bitcoin secure, you can safely join the future of money with little risk.
By dollar cost averaging you remove psychological risk from investing into your long term investments.
note: If you don't have any questions after this presentation, then I have failed. This is a simple presentation that purposes removes complexity and assumes that you are here to learn how to use Bitcoin.
If I haven't made a mistake, then something is also wrong. I’m here to learn how to be become a better teacher, more entertaining and well spoken presenter
- Bitcoin dollar cost averaging consists in investing a fixed amount of USD, into BTC, on regular time intervals.
- DCA = Dollar Cost Average
- Bitcoin = the network
- bitcoin = the money
- Cryptocurrency = cryptography + currency
- Open source
- Code that is open to the public, verifiable, and under an open source license
- https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin
- It's an experiment testing a new paradigm
note: Bitcoin went online in 2009 and created by a person named Satoshi Nakamoto, but really we don't care about that anymore. It is consider a permissionless network, where anyone can participant without consulting a centralized authority.
But, we here today also don't care about that, we care about how to use it, as Bitcoin will become ubiquitous and boring.
Crypto != cryptography
- $1 USD = 100 cents
- ₿1 BTC = 100,000,000 satoshis
- Sats = satoshis
- “Stacking sats” = DCA
notes: There are also finneys, bits, nano-bitcoin, and millibitcoin, but are rarely used. Satoshis can even be broken down further through some clever computer science, but only satsoshis exist on the Bitcoin network
- Too difficult to use
- "Old"
- Just a trend
note: It's 15 years old. You are not late. Saying you're late today is like saying it's too late to learn how to use the Internet.
- First ask question about the how to drive
- Then, ask about the engine so that you can maintain your vehicle
notes:
Cars are everywhere and very normal (ubiquitous and boring)
Who here knows who invented a car? The idea of cars go back to ancient and medieval times. In 1649, Hans Hautch of Nurmen built a clockwork-driven carriage.
Why don’t we care about the year or the person? Because it doesn’t change how a modern care is used today
Most people who talk about Bitcoin, talk about the engine. That’s because they think the engine is the coolest thing ever.
As children, we didn’t care about how the engined worked, we care about getting to cool places.
When we get a car, we didn’t even learn upfront how to maintain it, how to save on gas, or what happens if something goes wrong.
What you need:
- Wallet = where your bitcoins are secured
- Allows you to store, receive, and send bitcoin
- Another wallet to send you bitcoin
- Yourself
- Someone else
Recommendations for on-chain Bitcoin walets:
- Mobile -> https://bluewallet.io/
- Desktop -> https://electrum.org/
note: A Bitcoin Wallet is a software program that stores Bitcoin, allowing users to send, receive, and manage their Bitcoin transactions. You can send yourself bitcoin from an exchange so you can be your own bank, or receive bitcoin through someone else.
- In your wallet, you need to provide the sender a bitcoin address
- Typically done with a QR code, you can also provide the text address below it if you're not in the same room
- Example:
bc1q9a9n3nyh7fnp2xyzw6favfegqt0tyy3y3q74rg
notes:
-
A Bitcoin address vs Bitcoin Invoice.
-
Typically done with a QR code, you can also provide the text address bellow if you’re not in the same room as the sender.
-
Would anyone like to donate to AZ Bitcoin Network; you address above is an invoice for about $20?
- Have a wallet with bitcoin in it
- Scan the QR code or put in the address
- Confirm the transaction
- Hit Send
- Optionally you can set the fee rate
Transaction Fees at 2024-05-29 17:50 MST:
note:
Transaction fees are done relative to how "in demand" the network" is. Unless you have a high transaction volume, don't worry too much about fees. If you would like to avoid fees, look into the "off chain" or "layer 2 solutions", such as the lightning network.
Also, note that Bitcoin layer 1 has a specific use case. Just like how you don’t drive a Prius off road or expect a Suburban to be fuel efficient
- It takes on average 10 minutes
- A transaction is pending when it isn't confirmed.
- A transaction is completed when there it is confirmed.
note: 1 confirmation is good, though if it's a large/important transaction, 6 confirmation is the quick permanent solution.
- The first question is how much are you willing to lose?
- Would you spend $100 to protect $100?
- Your level of security depends on how much you are protecting.
note: Bitcoin is more powerful when it is in your control. The more you learn the more you can become your own bank. If it stays on exchange or someone else's computer, it has less value to you. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. If you understand this difference, you can reduce your risk. Or at the very least, know the risk that you are taking on when purchasing on centralized exchange, or forgetting to write down a password or backup a mobile wallet.
- If someone wanted to pretend they are you, what would they need to access your bank account?
- A lot of your information
- Your bitcoin is protected by cryptography
![[seed-phrase-example.png]]
note: A seed phrase, also known as a recovery phrase or mnemonic seed, is a list of words which store all the information needed to recover a Bitcoin wallet. These words are formally randomly generated. Do not chose them as it would be easy to hack as human minds are not good sources of randomness.
- Keep it safe
- Keep it offline
- Have backups in it
- If it's a lot of money, increase security
- Multisig
- Other professional services
An additional layer built on top of the Bitcoin network that allows for faster and cheaper transactions.
note: Now we can save on layer one fees, have quicker settlement of transaction, and have money that's easier to program than layer one Bitcoin. There are other "off-chain" or "layer 2 solutions" though lightning network is the one that is most popular
note: Just like with combustion engines, we don't really need to know how they work to use it. Your situation may be different were custody is important; which then you would learn more about your new monetary vehicle.
note: Apply the same approach to on-chain Bitcoin. Learn how to send, receive, keep it safe, but just on an additional layer
-
What you need:
- A Lightning Wallet
- Allows you to recceive, send, store, and secure your sats
- Another wallet to send you sats
- Yourself
- Someone else
- A Lightning Wallet
-
Recommendations wallets for LN?
- Strike
- Blue wallet
-
LN invoice = all you need to pay for sats
- Includes amount, destination, and authorizatoin
-
LN username = not_jason@strike.me
- Like a email, insetad of an IP) address
-
lnbc72210n1pn9ugclpp5ccywn3wc3amf6aklpyfwx25nay8dvl02ney3nda4x9gt3x2lhh6sdrz2pskjepqw3hjqs26yppxjarrda5kugzwv468wmmjdvszsnmjv3jhygzfgsazq3m9vehrwctwxevkz4phtym5ga2t2ahkva269ycqzpgxqzursp5cn5a6e4udafrcrjnhqpqu5e6uq9y7m34kud6vsj4scw9g8g2supq9qyyssqdpckkm6yggdummsm9yj6lwg2zcnwejq6wglcutwx2wvc9n9g78an6tm6m680sp6tr7ymr2x0hsj785cyqhgf437t4rzmxfm6xp7v7hqqud2z3w
- Have a wallet with sats in it
- Scan the QR code, or insert the invoice or LN username
- VERY cheap fees (or none at all*)
- Depends on the wallet
- If it’s a custodial wallet, don’t keep more than you’re willing to loss
- Some wallets come with secrets or URLs that - MUST be backed up to be recovered.
- Rule of thumb: pay attention
Learn how to drive, then learn how to maintain your new monetary vehicle.
note: I missed a lot. Do you think there's anything I should add?
You can see this presentation here: