There are several ways to acquire your first bitcoins, sometimes even for free

There are several ways to acquire your first bitcoins, sometimes even for free.The best ways are:

1. Pay with credit cards – you can obtain them as a bonus;
2. Be careful what you play for – sometimes you can collect bitcoins in games;
3. Search for the trading competitions – if you are lucky, cryptocurrency can become yours;
4. Good old mining. But first make sure you’ll obtain more than you’ll spend;
5. Just buy them.

Before you start earning bitcoins, you need to understand what bitcoin is and how it works. The world of cryptocurrency is a complex logical system. You need to know all the pros and cons and what steps to take if you want to make a real profit and not play in a casino.

What Is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is virtual money. It is not controlled by the government, or any particular person or organization. Third parties do not participate in transactions using bitcoins. Cryptocurrency is the most anonymous payment method on the Internet. Using bitcoin, you can bypass the prohibitions on transfers between countries. The cryptocurrency sphere is not yet controlled by the state and many people obtain and use it to evade taxes.Bitcoin was first presented to the public in 2009. It was developed by a person or group of people under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. Bitcoin in the beginning acted as an absurd idea for geeks. The first transaction using bitcoins is the purchase of pizza. Then the pizza cost 10,000 bitcoins. Now, this amount is enough to live comfortably until death.Bitcoin is the pioneer cryptocurrency in the world and the most popular. Because of its fame other cryptocurrencies were created. These rivals are either trying to replace bitcoin as a leading payment system or are used as utilities or security tokens in other blockchains and new financial technologies. In 2022, bitcoin has the largest market capitalization of 371.59 B dollars.

Bitcoin's history as a means of saving has never been stable; it has had his ups and downs for several times despite the fact that it is quite young. Unlike state currency, Bitcoins are produced, distributed, traded, and held using a decentralized accounting system known as a blockchain.

How does blockchain work?

Blockchain is a system of blocks that include all sequentially made transactions. You are not able to change the order of the blocks. You cannot delete or change information in any of the blocks. The blockchain is completely transparent. Whenever, any user can view all previous transactions related to bitcoin. However, this is possible only if you download several hundred terabytes of data to your device. Therefore, the opportunity to view all bitcoin transactions is usually neglected.You can see how blockchain looks on a picture below:Blockchain technology:

1. A transaction is taking place.
2. Information about all previous transactions is copied to the new block.
3. The information is encrypted. Bitcoins have an SHA-256 hashing system installed to encrypt data.
4. The transaction is verified by validators. The function of validators is performed by miners.
5. A new block will open. This block contains data about a transaction that has just been completed.
6. Miner (miners) acquire Bitcoin as a reward. Now, bitcoin belongs to the miner. The owner can collect and sell bitcoins.

How can I collect Bitcoins?

Mining

The first way to acquire bitcoins was mining. Miners give away the power of their device to collect bitcoin as a reward. This method wears out devices and wastes electricity. If spending exceeds income, mining may not be profitable.Here you can see a small bitcoin mining farm:

Choosing a Bitcoin Mining Device

When Bitcoin was just born, even ordinary computers could be used for mining — which is now at our house. At that time, the CPU (central processing unit) had sufficient power to solve mathematical problems.However, since its creation, the competition for bitcoin mining has grown greatly. Miners started using more and more powerful computers that could solve tasks faster, and consequently earn more BTC.Bitcoins became more popular and technology improved, miners bought even faster equipment to get it. Instead of using CPU and GPU, they use specialized devices for Bitcoin mining called ASIC (Special Purpose Integrated Circuit). At the moment, this is the fastest way to obtain bitcoins. Therefore, if you want to compete in modern mining, you need an ASIC.An example of an ASIC-miner is on a picture below:If you want to acquire it, then you should pay attention to several factors:

• Price
• Hashrate (hash rate — this number tells you about the power of the device — the higher it is, the more powerful the ASIC)
• Electricity consumption (the lower the value, the less electricity it consumes)

Download a program for bitcoin mining

You have a powerful device. What to do with it next? Download a special program and start to obtain bitcoins.These programs are necessary to gain access to the Bitcoin network and the “database of old transactions". By connecting to this program, you begin to check the data. You ensure the decentralization of cryptocurrency data. Prevents data from being overwritten. It is the blockchain system that does not allow copying any number of bitcoins. Miners get bitcoins for ensuring that the algorithms work correctly.You can find some of the mining programs on the next picture:

Trading

How do I get Bitcoins? I get them by trading. I know when to acquire and sell. I spent years studying charts and tables and learned how to determine the dynamics of price growth and decline. The difference between the cost of buying and selling is my net profit.How can I get Bitcoin? I don't know if my way will suit you. Successful trading requires knowledge, skills, and start-up capital. Trading takes a lot of time and effort. Trading is an easy way to get bitcoins, but it's just as easy to lose them. The article presents reliable and easy ways of acquiring BTC. They are more suitable for beginners in cryptocurrency and investments.For cryptocurrency trading, it is important to follow world events. Think about how this event can affect the crypto asset. The pandemic has contributed to the popularization and price increase of many cryptocurrencies. People start to use the Internet more actively and worry about their anonymization. High demand plus limited supply equals a price increase.On this picture you can see a graph showing that bitcoin is rising:

Retention

One of the most popular ways to earn money now is to collect new cryptocurrencies at a low cost. This method is passive. This does not require regular monitoring or economic knowledge. Investors take all assets that hypothetically can bring profit in the future. Then they wait 5-10 years and get a profit of up to 1000%. In truth, the maximum profit is not limited, if you are lucky, you can raise more. Invest money in different assets. If one of them becomes popular in the future, it will fully recoup the costs of unsuccessful investments.Now, with the rise of interest in the digitalization of the economy and the boom of cryptocurrencies, investing in new crypto assets is relevant. Many of them quickly become more expensive and there is an opportunity to recoup your investments after a year. Ethereum is an example of the effectiveness of this method. If you bought this currency in 2020 for 271 USD, and sold it in 2021 for 4680 USD you would obtain a 1760% profit for the year.The disadvantages of this method include a relatively long wait. The opportunity to lose money is always present, as in any other investment.

Freelancing, tasks, and blogging

Cryptocurrency can be obtained by investing initial funds, but also freelancers can collect bitcoins as payment for their work. The opportunity to obtain bitcoins as payment is not present on all exchanges. Basically, this payment method is common in international cooperation. Most often, programmers obtain cryptocurrency as payment.

Adoption of digital currencies for goods and services

If you get a physical store and you cannot sell things due to restrictions, you can sell products and services online for cryptocurrencies. Setting up e-commerce trading services on the internet is easy, the resources offer many useful guides to help you get started. For example, if someone wants to accept cash bitcoins for payments, they can use a payment gateway and add it to any website. The adoption of digital currencies opens up more payment methods for businesses and a loyal customer base. Thus, with a little initiative, everyone can obtain digital currency on the Internet today. This may require some research, but with a little effort, you can really start earning a good income today.So, you are thinking about receiving a bitcoin or two, but you still have unanswered questions? Let’s summer up.

• Q: How to get bitcoins?

A: You can get them as a bonus in some games or apps, by buying staff and paying with your credit card, by mining or trading.

• Q: What is the easiest way to get crypto without any investment?

A: Find a game where bitcoin is used as a prize. If you are good in it, you can have fun by playing your favorite game and obtain some cryptocurrency.

• Q: What can I do if I want to get bitcoins but don’t want to do anything?

A: You can buy it with your credit card. All you have to do is to go on a website which conduct these transactions (there are many like Bitcoin.com and others) and choose your bitcoin address. No unnecessary steps.

• Q: What is bitcoin wallet?

A: Bitcoin wallet is where your crypto is. You cannot store bitcoins without having a wallet to put them in. And since cryptocurrency is virtual, its wallet is not made from leather, it is a program.

• Q: Cryptocurrency is not as popular as it was a few years ago, is it rational getting it now?

A: It still has high liquidity and is a good investment in our constantly changing world. But before starting to mine or trade bitcoins, you should consider all the risks and really understand what you are getting yourself into. It is every bit as risky as every other investment.