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How to send Bitcoins

25 March 2018 21:00, UTC
Bogdan Vinogradov

One of the main features of any currency is its mobility. This is especially true for cryptocurrencies, which are characterized by high volatility: the deal delays may cause serious financial losses. That is why it is important to know how to send Bitcoins to the address of the exchange, to another user or to pay for services.

First of all, it is necessary to get a Bitcoin wallet with some virtual coins on the account. How to make a Bitcoin wallet?

Technically, a wallet can be any storage media, even a piece of paper — it does not matter how exactly one writes down the address and private key. But most often people use electronic Bitcoin import wallets — by way of an application on a computer or a smartphone, or on a separate device that resembles a flash-card or an audio-player. You can also use online services provided by third-party companies.

What is the best Bitcoin wallet? Each option has got its advantages and disadvantages. Applications are most comfortable to use — but there is a higher risk of hacking or corrupting the data. The novice user can efficiently use the Electrum or Multibit wallets. These applications are easy to use and do not require loading a significant amount of data. Experienced cryptocurrency holders can tap into more advanced Armory or Bitcoin-QT. In the case of using the best Bitcoin wallet, the risk of hacker attacks is somewhat lower; however, service holders can also be scammers. A paper wallet is protected from such emergencies — but you will have to connect to the Internet to use its funds.

After you have created an electronic wallet, you should transfer Bitcoins. They can be purchased at the exchange by cryptocurrency or received via mining. However, this method requires enormous capacities today.

Details of the instructions may differ depending on the choice of the particular application, but in most cases, the answer to the question "how to send Bitcoins" will look like this:

  1. Open the electronic wallet and click the "send BTC" button or select:
    «Sell/Send money to Bitcoin wallet» — usually it is below the wallet menu;
  2. Type or copy and paste into the pop-up box the number of the wallet you are going to make Bitcoin transfers to. You can also drag the QR code of the receiving wallet into the pop-up box;
  3. Select the name of the transaction so that it will be easier for you to track it;
  4. Enter the number of Bitcoins you want to send to the "BTC" field;
  5. Сheck all entered data. Do it thoroughly, as it is impossible to return the Bitcoins sent to scammers;
  6. Click "Send" to complete a transfer.

The transaction will take a particular time — from thirty minutes to an hour, so don’t be in such haste to ask "I sent my Bitcoins but why didn’t they come yet?" You will have to pay a little for the transaction as it is almost impossible to send Bitcoins without fee.

Theoretically, this is possible, but the speed of transfer without commission will decrease so much that most wallets just will not allow making such an operation. To date, the average commission is about a dollar and forty cents.

Transactions via an online service should not significantly differ from the one described above. In the case of a physical wallet, you will need to enter its address into the application manually or via QR code. After that, you need to import your private key. You can do this in two ways — to leave the cryptocurrency in the paper wallet and manage it via the application, or transfer it to a new account in the electronic application. You can choose an appropriate method in the interface of the electronic wallet. Next, you should act as described above.