How to Get Bitcoin

This article is part Bitcoin educational series by Luno (formerly BitX) Indonesia.

In the first article, we have explained about three main characteristics of Bitcoin so you can understand it better. Then in the second article, we review how the price of Bitcoin is determined. In this article, we will explain the various ways to earn Bitcoin.

There are several ways to earn Bitcoins:

Accept Bitcoin

If you own a store or run an online business, you can accept Bitcoin as a payment method for transactions selling your products or services. You can create your personal Bitcoin wallet on the Bitcoin service provider platform and use your Bitcoin Wallet Address to start accepting Bitcoins. Usually, accepting Bitcoin is cheaper and easier than other payment methods, and it's one of the easiest ways to earn a little bit of Bitcoin.

Various Bitcoin service provider platforms offer APIs that you can use to start accepting Bitcoin, such as Luno. You can contact their Customer Support for assistance in using the API for your merchant.

Buy Bitcoin from Bitcoin trading platform

Another way is the way that most people use to get Bitcoin: buying from a trusted Bitcoin broker or Exchange service provider, such as Luno. This method is similar to when you buy foreign currency or shares at a bank or money changer. The difference is, you buy Bitcoin digital currency online. This is the easiest way to get Bitcoins because you are sure to find someone who will sell their Bitcoins to you on the platform.

Note that you need to make sure the Bitcoin trading service provider platform you choose is a trusted global platform. Also, make sure the platform allows you to buy in your local currency, and withdraw funds to your local bank account at a friendly fee.

Mining Bitcoins/Bitcoin Mining

You can also own Bitcoin by mining, but this method is very difficult for individuals to do.

Bitcoin mining (Bitcoin Mining) is one way to earn Bitcoin. As mentioned earlier, we can view Bitcoin as a large global cash system that keeps the history of transactions (or 'money movements') from one person to another. When Bitcoin transactions are processed on the Bitcoin network, meaning that Bitcoins are being transferred from one person to another, there is a role for third parties to play. These third parties will play a role in ensuring that all transactions are properly recorded and the cash system is synchronized worldwide.

In the case of Bitcoin, this process is not carried out by individuals or companies, but by thousands of computers around the world that are connected to the internet. These computers are known as miners or 'miners'. In simple terms, they are 'a computer that processes transactions'.

To perform this processing in a secure way, computers need to perform complex calculations that take up a lot of computing effort, so a lot of energy and sophisticated special tools are also required. Someone -- the owner of these computers -- needs to pay for the tools and electricity, so they need to be compensated for all the effort and money they put into supporting this network.

They get compensated through the Bitcoins they manage to mine. New Bitcoins that are mined act as rewards and incentives for those who contribute to the Bitcoin network, as they have supported the transaction process.

Another way to understand this is to imagine what would happen if the big banks built the world's largest global transaction processing system: they would spend billions of dollars to build the system. With that, they then charge users a small transaction fee to cover the fees they have already spent.

With Bitcoin mining, the costs for this global system are shared across thousands of computers, and they cover their operational costs with newly mined Bitcoins. This way they get a little bit of Bitcoin. This Bitcoin mining process is a true democratization of financial infrastructure.

Most mining is done by large companies with sophisticated tools and very expensive, making it difficult for ordinary people or computers to compete with these companies. So, if you don't have any special skills and a lot of money to spend on those specialized computers, the better option is to buy Bitcoins or accept Bitcoins.

- Previously known as BitX, Luno is a Bitcoin buying, selling, sending, receiving and storing platform in Indonesia. Luno is available at website, iOSand Android.