While Bitcoin is often hyped as one of the most revolutionary inventions of our time, there are still some issues when it comes to figuring out how it all works. Sending and receiving payments is not as straightforward as it will probably be in the future, and there is still a bit of a learning curve to go through when you’re using Bitcoin for the first time. Let’s take a look at what steps you need to take when you’re ready to start accepting Bitcoin payments for business or personal reasons.
Get a Wallet
The first thing you will need to do if you want to receive Bitcoin payments is setup a Bitcoin wallet. There are many different types of wallets out there today, so you should make sure to stick with the one that fits your needs. An online wallet that is secured with two-factor authentication is probably the best option for a newcomer. It will give you flexibility when it comes to accessing your funds from any device, and you may even be able to buy and sell bitcoins on the same platform.
Share Your Bitcoin Address
Once you have activated your Bitcoin wallet, you should be setup with a default Bitcoin address. Your Bitcoin address is basically the public username that you want to share with others. Anyone who has this public address will be able to send you bitcoins from anywhere else in the world. In addition to the long string of letters and numbers known as your Bitcoin address, you may also be able to share a QR code that is connected to your Bitcoin wallet. With this QR code, another user will simply just need to scan the image with their smartphone to send you a payment.
Use an Exchange to Cash Out
Once you have received a payment, you may want to convert your bitcoins to dollars. While there are some people who are willing to speculate on the long term value of bitcoins, there are others who need to pay bills on a regular basis. If you’ll be looking to turn your bitcoins into cash as soon as possible, then you may want to look into setting up an account on coinbase. With your account, you will be able to receive Bitcoin payments and then instantly turn those bitcoins into cash. Whether or not you sell your bitcoins is up to you. At this point in time, it seems that a majority of the people who are accepting Bitcoin payments are only keeping a small portion of those bitcoins and converting the rest of them to fiat.
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