camperxl
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I made my first bitcoin purchase today with RedFox. I was/am a complete neophyte knowing nothing about Bitcoin other than it existed, so now being on the other side of being a now novice user I wanted to provide some feedback.
Being completely new I followed RedFox's advice and opened a BitGo (web wallet) account. RedFox said I then needed to fund the account so I opened a BitStamp account (exchange). After I poked around BitGo a while somewhere in there it said "Fund your account with Coinbase". Figuring the process is probably simpler/streamlined if I use Coinbase I opened an account with them. Now with all my 1 week of Bitcoin experience I (think) I can say I only ever needed Coinbase to begin with as it is a wallet and exchange all in one; so after making my RedFox purchase, I closed the BitGo and BitStamp accounts and just kept Coinbase. I think RedFox would be helping its Bitcoin novice customers by removing all the BitStamp/BitGo information and just sending them to Coinbase. Maybe I don't have all the information, but it seems like BitStamp is just an exchange and BitGo is just a wallet. BitStamp was overwhelming - graphs and exchange rates everywhere, charts going up and down. Looked like a Dow Jones terminal. Just seems simpler, less overwhelming and less hassle to go with the all-in-one with the very simple interface.
Other information it would have been good to know ahead of time was that Bitcoin is a commodity, not different than gold or silver; maybe I knew this but just didn't fully grasp it until the funds were transferred. Its price fluctuates up and down. I took the bundle price RedFox stated in the checkout cart and initiated a transfer in Coinbase for that exact amount. I came out ahead this time in that by the time the funds were in my account the value of Bitcoins went up so I actually had leftover, but had it gone the other way I could have come up short and had to initiate another (week long) transfer to cover the difference or hope the value of BitCoins went up. So you might want to consider transferring more than is required just in case the value went down.
Anyway just some insight from a BC novice trying to help others like me.
Being completely new I followed RedFox's advice and opened a BitGo (web wallet) account. RedFox said I then needed to fund the account so I opened a BitStamp account (exchange). After I poked around BitGo a while somewhere in there it said "Fund your account with Coinbase". Figuring the process is probably simpler/streamlined if I use Coinbase I opened an account with them. Now with all my 1 week of Bitcoin experience I (think) I can say I only ever needed Coinbase to begin with as it is a wallet and exchange all in one; so after making my RedFox purchase, I closed the BitGo and BitStamp accounts and just kept Coinbase. I think RedFox would be helping its Bitcoin novice customers by removing all the BitStamp/BitGo information and just sending them to Coinbase. Maybe I don't have all the information, but it seems like BitStamp is just an exchange and BitGo is just a wallet. BitStamp was overwhelming - graphs and exchange rates everywhere, charts going up and down. Looked like a Dow Jones terminal. Just seems simpler, less overwhelming and less hassle to go with the all-in-one with the very simple interface.
Other information it would have been good to know ahead of time was that Bitcoin is a commodity, not different than gold or silver; maybe I knew this but just didn't fully grasp it until the funds were transferred. Its price fluctuates up and down. I took the bundle price RedFox stated in the checkout cart and initiated a transfer in Coinbase for that exact amount. I came out ahead this time in that by the time the funds were in my account the value of Bitcoins went up so I actually had leftover, but had it gone the other way I could have come up short and had to initiate another (week long) transfer to cover the difference or hope the value of BitCoins went up. So you might want to consider transferring more than is required just in case the value went down.
Anyway just some insight from a BC novice trying to help others like me.
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