Sort:  

I just saw this medium post and thought it was another important reminder to control your private keys!

It looks like a hardfork may be coming on August 1st even though BIP91 is locked in.

Bitcoin Cash: What You Need to Know

(Yes, I'm upvoting my own comment to bring awareness to this issue)

Coinbase just reconfirmed they will not be supporting BitCoin Cash: Update for customers with bitcoin stored on Coinbase.

wonderful video and yes am a coinbase.com and the info provided yo keep doing your thing splendid work

Awesome video, Luke. This is great content. Out of curiosity, do you mind if I use the information you provided on creating a paper wallet for a bitcoin.com article?

Thanks Sterlin! No, I don't mind at all. Go for it! Spread the love, spread the knowledge.

Great, easy to follow video of how to set up a paper wallet. This is extremely useful information for all the new members and those new to crypto. Re-Steemed

Thanks for spreading the word!

Right now, Coinbase is the WORST place to keep your bitcoin because they have even came out and said that they weren't going to honor coins from any other forks - basically stealing them from their customers.

https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@ancap47/prediction-coinbase-will-start-limiting-withdrawals-get-your-coins-out-now

If we do end up with multiple versions of Bitcoin, that's certainly how people will view it.

very great info upvoteed

I use Coinbase to buy the coins and transfer them out. Didn't know they have so much problems.

Well, some people don't mind them so much. Others have horror stories. All centralized exchanges come with risk, some more than others. I've heard too many stories of accounts being frozen or trades being delayed for no reason.

Thanks. Will definitely keep my eyes on it. Thanks for sharing.

This is great information, and now I need to act on it. Thank you!!

That's the key, right there! :)

very useful as i am yet to make my first investment and transaction on bitcoin

Good luck!

Great post.
I could have used this 2 years ago when I had to try and figure it all out by myself.

I will definitely share this with others who are looking into bitcoin. I won't lie, I sometimes talk people out of crypto because I know they dont have the computer know how. You do a great job of simplifying things so people with basic computer / app knowledge would be able to follow.

Darryl

Ps. I love the Steemit shirt but black on black background may not have been optimal!

Thanks Darryl! Yeah, I agree, the black on black didn't come out well. Always more to improve!

I read the behind the scenes afterwards and saw that you struggled with it.
I do admit it turned out very well and had a finished professional look compared to the previous ones.

Darryl

Thanks man! I do think it's a big improvement. I hope it will continue to get better.

I already always paper wallet to hold BTC! It's more safe.

Thanks for sharing this is great information my friend. Now I'm following you.

Upvoted and resteemed :)

Excellent, thank you! Paper wallets are my favorite way to go as well.

I have said this before, but blockchain is the MAJOR reason that bitcoin is able to preform so well and compete as a global currency. Although i still do think that it has the potential to be denied by countries that want to control and manipulate it more. However; if there is a chance to play the system then somebody somewhere will always take that opportunity.

Yes, the potential for abuse always exists. The key, for me, is decentralizing the risk and governance models so the points of failure and corruption are less critical or systemic.

But in reality, a country not embracing BTC at this time is akin to saying we don't want U.S. Dollars as the world currency so were not going to accept dollars. Pure stupid.

It is pure stupid, by that's what governments do: protect monopolies with violent force. They would (will?) become largely irrelevant if they no longer had a monopoly on currency creation. The USD world reserve currency status is largely in place because of history (there have been many before us, Bretton Woods agreement, Nixon Shock, etc, etc) and because the US bombs and overthrows countries which get out of line. It's probably why our military budget is so insane. Team world police and all that. So sad.

Look at Russia, Iran, North Korea. China wants to. The dollar is back off of oil. Oil is backed off the dollar. The dollar is backed off oil.... see where im getting at... it is backed by nothing at all

I really appreciate this advice that you are giving! I'm extremely ignorant on most of this stuff, mostly because I'm so new at it. I have all my crypto in coinbase so it appears that it would behoove me to create a wallet and transfer everything to it. I'm actually nervous about doing this lol. I know that probably sounds silly but I'm just afraid of making a mistake and losing my money. Regardless though, thank you for the advice and I look forward to more of your videos!

Danny

It's good to be a little nervous. Everyone is their first time. :) Just double, triple check things and start with small amounts. Once you get used to it, it's pretty dang cool. Also, be sure to check my previous video. You might benefit form all of them, actually. When we understand something, we have less fear.

That was really cool of you to take the time to reply, thanks! After watching your video, I created a wallet and did everything I was supposed to. I even went old school and wrote down my key phrase with a pen and paper twice and put them in two different locations. Although, after I created my wallet, I can't send any crypto from coinbase to it. After I paste the address in and hit confirm, nothing happens. No error or pending messages or anything. It may be a time issue where the wallet is so new maybe? I can still transfer stuff over to steemit so I'm not sure what the deal is. Nevertheless, I greatly appreciate the reply and I will definitely check out your other material!

That is odd. Nothing happens at all? No error messages or anything? Did you put in an amount you want to transfer?

No messages or anything. I put in the address and the amount and confirm it, then the "loading circle" as I call it, starts to turn but disappears too soon. I have no clue but I'm sure it's probably an operator error lol.

That is quite odd. In situations like that, I'll check the developer console log in the browser to see if there are any JavaScript errors there.

Again, I really appreciate you spending your time with a rookie. I have just a couple of more questions just whenever you get a free moment.

Please dont laugh too hard, but is Bread Wallet for Bitcoins only? The reason why I ask is because when I copy the recieve money address, it specifically says "receive bitcoins at this address". I was thinking that the wallet would accept all crypto like Litecoin and Ether and thats what I've been trying to send.

Second question, there is a button that says "import private key". Now, I'm avoiding that button like it's going to launch a nuclear warhead or something. Can you elaborate some on what that means? Again, thank so much for your valuable time!

@lukestokes - Comments about the video content - This was very helpful because, as a newcomer to the crypto scene, I had no idea that I could create a secure offline paper wallet on my own. I was dependent on Bittrex etc. for my bitcoin addresses. I will certainly implement the secure way your recommend, using the bitaddress.org method.
Comments about the video itself(since you had shared the process of creating it in another blog) - Overall, it is a great video. Two things I would recommend - Perhaps you can try using different background than black if you are wearing a dark colored T-Shirt. Also - I would recommend smoothing out the folds in the background fabric. They reflect light differently, creating shaded bands in the background. A large board with paper pasted on it may be better than fabric. In future, if you want to try transparent background techniques through image processing, it will be easier to select the background color and make it transparent (like the green background technique) if there are no significant shade variations. Another suggestion, please see if you can diffuse the light sources or move them a bit to sides. The current arrangement has two bright glints visible in irises in the video.

Thanks!

I'm not too interested (yet) in the green screen stuff, so a rippled background doesn't bother me too much. I do agree about the black on black not being a good set up though.

I was using two different diffused light sources, so I'm surprised that didn't come through well. I'll have to take another look at it. I hadn't thought to look at the irises. :)

I really appreciate helpful posts like this and I look forward to seeing more of your content in the future. Hoping we can connect and continue to evolve and learn from each other! Remember, be yourself, because nobody else does it better -- Full #Steem ahead @lukestokes :)

Much ❤
@Tayken

Thank you. That's quite a big animation you got there. Maybe a bit much?

I felt as though the scale of my appreciation should match the scale of my GIFs...perhaps not :/

I am using bitcoin core and mist and believe me, after the second coinbase crash, I only use coinbase/gdax for quick Fiat transactions and move to software wallet quick!

That's the right way to do it! Better yet, start using a decentralized exchange like BitShares! If more of us did that, the world would be a better place indeed (we just need more liquidity there).

What is your take on Bitrex?

All centralized exchanges come with risk, but Bittrex is one I've been using for a while without any issues (so far). I actually had my phone die yesterday, and I didn't have the 2FA backup code for that account so I was locked out. I was really impressed with their response time. I had to jump through quite a few hoops, but I got back in today. I heard a story recently of someone who's been trying to get back into their Coinbase account for over a year after losing 2FA access. Ugh!

Thanks for that. I'm also using Coinbase for rapid fiat transactions but move my coins elsewhere soonest. Just started using Bitrex for lesser known CC's.

Yeah, it seems like a nifty idea..that liquidity issue bothers me too much..the interface is aesthetically pleasing though

F*** Coinbase.. had such little experience with them but all quite unpleasant. Hardware wallet in a safe is the thing for me when it comes to saving crypto.

That's also a great option which I mention in the last video on safety and security.

It is a bit more expensive but it is totally worth it especially with bitcoins going up to the moon last months.

screw coinbase! i see them just as gatekeepers to access bitcoin easily. other than that, they have become a bad service. thanks for your wonderful thoughts, as always.

Yeah, having to wait 72 hours to transfer my own bitcoin... that's just absurd. Much of what they do tries to be behind the lens of "keeping the customer safe" but at some point it's just ridiculous. In a future video I hope to walk people through how to use Kraken for buying crypto. I haven't used it myself yet, but I plan to as I've heard good things about it.

Luke, I've been upvoting on current articles. How does payout on Steemit work for "Evergreen" articles like this? (A reference post would be fine too.)

There is no second payout anymore (though there used to be). I'm fine with that as it encourages me to keep writing great content. Like with reddit, evergreen content doesn't get much attention. If you really want to reward an old post, you can use something like this: https://steemit.com/steemit/@lukestokes/having-fun-with-tipu

What I did with my paper wallet is print three of them, then I went to the craft store and bought laminating sheets to give them extra protection.

@lukestokes thank you. But which of the offline/paper wallet can you recommend for us?

It's mentioned in the video and linked to directly twice in the post. Is there something I could have done to make it more clear?

Maybe A billboard? lol

This is very helpful information for everyone.. and hopefully people will keep their passwords safe...and that background setup looks nice...

Totally agree, never keep your BTC on exchanges if you dont daily trade.
Also, careful, probably rough times ahead:
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@cardboard/bitcoin-segwit2x-update-war-incoming

Good post and definitely something all bitcoin holders should keep an eye on. Thankfully, STEEM transactions are free. :) DPOS for the win.

If you do not own the keys, you do not own the coins!

Hopefully everything goes well. I follow you

Everybody in cryptos needs to see your video series. Upvoted and Resteemed. Thank you for sharing all of your knowledge with us.

Good n juicy efforts

Thank for informationt..this is great informationt..

To be honest, I went to look in to installing the bread wallet app and got pretty discouraged over the amount of recent negative reviews. Looks like I will be checking out the other alternatives. Thanks again!

The negative reviews I saw were exclusively about trying to get verified so they could purchase bitcoin. There is no need to be verified to use the wallet, as far as I know. Those complaints I saw would complain about any other exchange as well since they all have fairly similar hoops you have to jump through.

I'm going to give it a try nevertheless. Thanks for your reply!

All my tokens are stored on stock exchanges. You are right, probably this is dangerous. I will deal with wallets.

good info and well presented

People seem so trusting of the online wallets and for the life of me i don't know why

absolutely nice tutorial info on how to create and secure wallet. thanks

Thanks for the advice. Absolutely necessary knowledge.

I just moved my bitcoins onto my trezor wallet yesterday.

Still keeping my other cryptocurrencies on the exchanges though, is that a bad move?

thanks your post is very helpful
follow me @hattaarshavin

Coinbase keeps stealing my bitcoin

I used to keep bitcoin in exchanges , since i joined steemit paper wallet is where i keep it

what are other options to purchase bitcoins? especially during the segwig!

That's a good question. Many exchanges may not allow withdraws or deposits, but they still allow trading. You can buy something else like ETH and then transfer that in and make your purchase of BTC if needed.

Thank you for the information ! I'm gonna have a look at Breadwallet...

Hi @lukestokes I'm not sure if you remember me, but I wanted to say this is a very helpful tutorial, thanks for sharing.

I find it challenging to determine who to vote for in the witness program, every post helps.
End The Fed 👍

You're welcome and thanks for considering me.

I got only 15 cents in coinbase can't withdraw them.

Thank you for the newbie-friendly guide!

You're welcome!

Breadwallet has a lot of negative comments on Google Play. :/

The negative comments I saw on Apple had to do with trying to get registered in order to deal with USD and purchase crypto through the app. Not sure about Google Play, but the ones I saw on the Apple Store were silly in that people were complaining about standard processes they'd have to go through on any exchange because of KYC laws. You don't need to do any of that just to use it as a crypto wallet.

Thank you for the response. I did the paper wallet and it's a mint. Thank you. :)

Wonderful thing thanks for all the information

Is it safe to keep my Bitcoin in ezbtc.ca?

I have no idea. I don't know anything about it. If it's a centralized exchange, the answer is probably no.

This was very practical and helpful. I'll start with the app. Any suggestions on a good password protection manager. I've been trying Keeper but not sure if I want to start paying for it now.

Thanks Jason. I've used 1Password for years and love it. Would definitely recommend it.

Cool. Thanks for the recommendation.

Do you think that's how it works around here? "Upvote me because I upvoted you?"

I vote for quality when I find it, not plagiarism and certainly not because someone upvoted me.

Flagging your comment because it links to plagiarism.