How To Get A Bitcoin Wallet And Address

Getting Bitcoin to consumers all over the world is not as easy, as very few people grasp the concept of this popular digital currency. One of the main hurdles to overcome is not just getting people interested in digital currency, but helping them set up a Bitcoin wallet to send and accept payments. But in the end, even that process is not as daunting as it might look, as Bitcoin wallets can be set up on any device these days.

Also read: What is Blockchain?

Bitcoin Wallet Software for Computer Users

Consumers who prefer to install Bitcoin wallet software on their desktop or laptop have plenty of solutions at their disposal. The most obvious choice would be to download the latest Bitcoin Core client, as it is the main branch of digital currency development. All other Bitcoin wallet solutions are derived from Bitcoin Core in one way or another.

Furthermore, all of the updates coming to the Bitcoin network – regarding new features or more efficient code base – will be applied to Bitcoin Core first. A new update of this Bitcoin wallet is posted on a regular basis, and anyone in the world can verify the source code of the software if they prefer to do so.

Other Bitcoin wallet solutions for computer users will offer similar functionality although most of them will not take as long to download all of the previous transaction data. Wallets which don’t need to synchronize with the whole network are called “light wallets” some such popular wallets are Electrum and Multibit. This is the only downside when installing and opening the Bitcoin Core client for the very first time, as it will need to synchronize with the Bitcoin network.

The synchronization process can take a few hours, and will require at last 50GB of free hard disk space. Most users simply use a different Bitcoin wallet to bypass this step, especially when using an older computer or laptop. However, any of the wallet solutions will let users send and receive Bitcoin without a hitch, even if they do not download the entire transaction history.  

In the end, it doesn’t matter all that much which wallet software is downloaded, as the only difference is how long it takes until the wallet is synchronized with the network. For novice users, it might be worth checking out a Bitcoin wallet solution that is not Bitcoin Core, simply to avoid the painstaking process of loading the entire Bitcoin history. As long as users update their Bitcoin wallet at regular intervals, everything will work out just fine.

Mobile Users Can Enjoy Bitcoin Too!

As a mobile user, there are plenty of opportunities to download and install one of the many Bitcoin wallet solutions for your device. Most of these Bitcoin wallets will work on both tablets and smartphones, which makes for a uniform experience across devices. A lot of users appreciate this versatility offered by the popular digital currency.

That being said, there are several “main” wallets most of the mobile Bitcoin users tend to stick to. Android users will flock to Mycelium, simply because it is a very elegant and convenient Bitcoin wallet for mobile devices. Apple device owners will stick to Breadwallet as it is the main Bitcoin wallet solution for this operating system. Windows mobile user can use CoPay, which is  – so far – the only Bitcoin wallet for this operating system.

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