Help:Installing Bitcoin Core

You can start exchanging bitcoins within a few minutes.

For Windows computers

Installation

Download and install Bitcoin.

Download the "Windows (exe)" version

Complete installation wizard

Initialisation

The first time you run Bitcoin, it needs to download all the blocks to setup. You already have your bitcoin address at this point, but you won't see any transactions before the initialisation is complete (it can take from an hour to a few hours).

Bitcoin is initialising by establishing a connection to other clients and downloading the blocks.

Completed download of block-chain.

Getting my first coins

The Bitcoin Faucet website currently hands out 0.05 BTC to new bitcoin users. Fill in the form with your bitcoin address.

Getting free coins from the Faucet

A new entry should appear in Bitcoin. The network hasn't yet confirmed it, but you know it's being processed. After about one hour it should get 6 confirmations. You are able to spend the coins when there is only one confirmation.

The confirmation counter will, just like the block counter, increase by one every 10 minutes approximately. Six confirmations are considered as 100% sure a transfer has been processed.

Points to remember

• You don't need to be online for receiving BTC.
• You can create as many new addresses as you like. Using a different address each time helps keep you anonymous.
• You can be anonymous with adequate precautions.
• You cannot send BTC to an invalid address. Typos are not a worry as the payment will refuse to send.
• The wallet file holds the keys that allow spending and thus the computer should be protected from the risk of loss and from the risk of theft.

Online wallet

eWallet services provide are easy to use. An account can be created and funded. These services keep your wallet on their website instead of on your computer, saving you the effort of installing Bitcoin.