Getting Started in Bitcoin: What it is. How it works. Financial benefits to you. How to buy it. How to use it. How to keep it secure.

by Mike May

Bitcoin is money for tens of millions of people in hundreds of countries. Bitcoin is a currency, a medium-of-exchange and a store-of-wealth. This book explains what bitcoin is, how it works, how to spend it, how to receive it, how to save it, how to keep it in self custody, and how it works internally. Bitcoin is one of mankind’s greatest achievements. Bitcoin is absolutely scarce, un-printable, un-controllable, incorruptible, un-confiscatable, un-freezable, un-seizable, un-blockable, un-censorable, universally available to everyone, exactly the same in every country, easy to electronically transfer anywhere in the world, available at all times 24 / 7 / 365, portable, easy to travel with, divisible for any transaction size, audited every ten minutes, savable without having to be an investor, transportable through decades of time without loss or cost, deflationary over the long term, un-hackable, un-changeable, immutable, private with no connection to your name, running on transparent open source software, running on the world’s most powerful dedicated computer network with no central control point, un-stoppable, and indestructible. What is Bitcoin? Absolute Scarcity • Limited Supply • Bitcoin Cannot Be Printed • Bitcoin Cannot Be Controlled by Any Government • Bitcoin is Not Controlled by People • It Cannot Be Confiscated • Transactions Cannot Be Blocked • The Same in Every Country • Available to Everyone on Earth 24 / 7 / 365 • A Private Bearer Instrument • Easily Portable • 100% Electronic • Divisible in to Small Quantities • An Electronic Payment and Transfer System is Built In • Eliminates the Need for Banks & Central Banks Financial Benefits Preserve Wealth & Savings • Sound Money • Escape Inflation • Enables You to Save Money Without Having to be an Investor • Increases Your Purchasing Power Over Time • Transportable Through Decades of Time Without Cost • Easy to Spend • Easy to Receive How to Self Custody Bitcoin & How to Use It How to Buy Your First Bitcoin • How to Send / Receive Bitcoin • Self Custody and Keeping Your Bitcoin Secure • Bitcoin Wallets • Private Keys • Public Keys • Bitcoin Addresses • Passcodes • Bitcoin Wallet Passphrases • Hardware Wallet Devices • Seed Words • Metal Seed Word Plates • QR Codes • The Most Secure Way to Store Bitcoin • Hiding Bitcoin in the Great Outdoors • Hiding Bitcoin in Your Home • Decoys • Passing Bitcoin to Your Heirs • Do’s and Do Not’s with Bitcoin How Bitcoin Works Internally Core Software • Most Powerful Computer Network on Earth • Decentralized Structure • Ledger • Blocks & Blockchain • Bitcoin Mining • Proof-of-Work Algorithm • Network Difficulty • Hash Rate • How Bitcoin is Issued • Block Rewards • Halving Events GETTING STARTED IN BITCOIN.COM 1st Edition, 409 Pages, ©2023

414 pages, Hardcover

Published July 9, 2023

About the author

Mike May has a passion for understanding how things work. This suited his engineering career well, but was redirected when he came to realize that he had only a superficial understanding of how history and society work. His questions led him on a decades-long literary odyssey spanning tens of thousands of pages written over the last three millennia. The seeds of this book were planted upon discovering in old or ancient texts the surprising frequency of answers to seemingly modern problems. Mike practices engineering in the field of low-carbon energy. He resides in Tennessee with his wife Claire and their children: Hope, Elijah, Zechariah, and Joseph.