While something may technically achievable with Bitcoin, it’s not necessarily true that it’s actually happening in practice.In this article, I help you separate Bitcoin theory vs.If you missed the other articles in the Bitcoin 101 for Small Business series, they are: While you can technically send Bitcoin without paying transaction fees, it’s usually not best practice to do so.Fees are paid to the miners, the people processing your transactions.Most wallets and services include a 0.0001BTC (~$0.03USD as of Feb.1, 2014) fee for sending Bitcoin.If you send really small amounts (less than 0.01BTC which is roughly $3 USD), you may need to pay a miners fee.There’s usually a small fee to send bitcoin.However, there is no fee for receiving bitcoin to your Bitcoin address.If the bitcoin is going through a third-party merchant provider, such as BitPay or Coinbase, there could be fees involved with converting the funds to fiat currency (like the US dollar).You can research each service (BitPay Merchant pricing, Coinbase Merchant Pricing), but as it currently stands, there are no fees with BitPay.

Coinbase does have a 1% currency conversion fee to exchange BTC to your local currency, but that fee is waived for the first $1,000,000 USD worth of bitcoin received via its merchant services.Receiving bitcoin is free when it’s sent to a Bitcoin address you control.You may pay fees to receive bitcoin if using a third-party to help you receive bitcoin.Where users usually encounter fees with Bitcoin is in the exchange between Bitcoin and their local currency (by the way, I’ll be using local and fiat currency interchangeably). which charge no fees for the exchange, but the vast majority charge anywhere from .1% up to 10%.I’d say expect a .5% to 1% fee to either buy or sell bitcoin.In most cases you will pay an exchange fee to change local currency into bitcoin and vice versa.A user may also encounter fees to simply deposit or withdrawal funds from an exchange.When sending local currency to your Bitcoin exchange, it’s likely you’ll have to pay your bank or credit card some fee for transferring the money, even if it’s only a small $0.15USD fee for sending money via ACH.

When taking local currency out of the exchange, you may also be charged a fee.For example, in Canada I’m charged $6CAD (~$5.25USD as of Dec 1, 2014) to get funds deposited into my bank account by CAVirtex.I also pay anywhere from $5 to $25 to deposit local currency into my exchange account.Moving your money in and out of exchanges usually incurs fees.To summarize, if you deal purely in Bitcoin, it costs very little to send bitcoin (0.0001 BTC or ~$0.03USD per transaction) and nothing to receive it.safest bitcoin bankWhen I’ve sent Bitcoin, it’s as fast as email.okpay bitcoinSo if you sent someone Bitcoin, and you ask them if they got it, they’d probably be able to say “yes!”.bitcoin mining pc testHowever, how Bitcoin works, is that computers confirm transactions in what’s called the block chain, which is the public ledger where all bitcoin transactions are stored.bitcoin melhor preco

So, there’s a theoretical chance that bitcoin sent to you can be spent again (double spent) before the transaction is confirmed in the block chain.Confirmations occur around every 10 minutes.In practice, double spending of bitcoin doesn’t occur, so you probably don’t need to wait for confirmations, unless it’s a huge amount of money to you or it’s from a party you don’t entirely trust.bitcoin indonesia pdfSome Bitcoin clients wait for six confirmations (60 minutes) before they consider a transaction complete.ethereum mondayEach confirmation makes it more unlikely that the bitcoin you received will be double spent.ethereum databaseSending and receiving bitcoin is roughly as instant as email, but confirmation of transactions is not instant.ethereum slots

It is and it isn’t.For a very computer savvy user, it can be a lot more secure than currency controlled by bank and governments, since they can be the only party that has access to the funds.To expand on this, when you have a regular bank account, the money in there is guaranteed by the bank and insured by the government, but it’s also possible for the government to take funds out of your bank account, without your permission.ethereum windows miningWith Bitcoin, if you’re the only one who has your private keys, you are the only person who can use your bitcoin.ethereum trustSo in this sense, Bitcoin is extremely secure.bitcoin price history gbpOn the other hand, the majority of people probably don’t know how or can’t be bothered to secure their bitcoins in a way that is super secure.bitcoin to the moon guy

One reason Bitcoin can be unsafe, is because once bitcoin is sent somewhere, the transaction cannot be reversed.This is unlike a credit card, where funds can be reversed if there’s a fraudulent charge.So, if you send bitcoin to the wrong place, it’s impossible to get it back (unless the address you sent it to willingly gives it back, which is unlikely).Probably one of the biggest dangers is that you simply lose your private keys to your Bitcoin address.bitcoin money laundering lawIf you’ve ever forgotten a password or lost your house keys, you know that it can happen.bitcoin crash january 2015There are strategies you can take to protect your private keys (such as making backups), but creating more copies also makes it easier for someone to steal them.bitcoin banco de portugal

An additional danger with Bitcoin, is that since private keys are a long string of characters and numbers, it’s very easy to copy and steal them if they’re not safely stored.A lot of services have you store your private keys on their servers, which can be hacked.Overall, Bitcoin can be very secure, but you should definitely do research and testing to avoid big mistakes that could cause you to lose your Bitcoins.bitcoin farm islandThere are services that are insured against theft (like Coinbase and Circle).rich bitcoin walletBitcoin is very can be very secure, but for the average person, their money is safer in a regular bank account that is insured by the government.bitcoin bubble in april 2013It’s anonymous in that all you see on the block chain are addresses used in transactions.bitcoin roundup

If you don’t know who owns the addresses, then the transactions are anonymous.However, it is possible that a person watching the network can track the IP addresses involved with bitcoin transactions.If you do know who owns a Bitcoin address, then it’s the most transparent financial system.Every single transaction is recorded in the block chain, which is always publicly available to see.bitcoin authority in indiaAdditionally, if you use an exchange to purchase or sell your bitcoins, you need to provide the exchange with identity documents to fulfill KYC (know your customer) / AML (anti-money laundering) requirements.bayern 2 bitcoinBitcoin is both anonymous and extremely transparent, depending on how you use it.bitcoin for joomlaBitcoin is no more for criminals than cash is.bitcoin joomla extension

Like cash, it can be somewhat anonymous.And like cash, just because it can be used for criminal activity, it doesn’t mean the currency is a criminal one.Yes, criminals, like anyone else, can use Bitcoin.The promise of Bitcoin (and virtual currencies in general), is that if all parties used Bitcoin, sending money would be as easy as sending an email.It would also be very inexpensive to use.bitcoin mining calculator and profit calculatorRight now, having to deal with exchanges makes using Bitcoin not so easy or inexpensive.comprar bitcoin com paypalI have no clue whether or not Bitcoin is the future, but some people think it’ll be as transformative as the Internet!ethereum price jan 2017You may now be wondering what are the practical use cases for Bitcoin today.bitcoin circulation

Here’s some payment related uses for Bitcoin (I say payment related, since Bitcoin can be used for more than payments, but I won’t get into that in this article)./ (Note: it’s funded by Rebit, a Philipines based Bitcion remittance service).Remittances have a lot of potential, since theoretically it’s free to send Bitcoin to anyone, anywhere in the world.In reality, most people will need to convert local currency to bitcoin, send the bitcoin, and then have that bitcoin exchanged to local currency on the receivers end.bitcoin usb stickSo while the sending and receiving bitcoin part of the process is near instant and free, dealing with exchanges can take anywhere from hours to days and cost anywhere from 0% to 3% of the transaction value.bitcoin wat zijnHow useful remittances are really depends on the country the funds are being sent from and to, as well as the individuals involved.raspberry pi bitcoin hardware

A good example of Bitcoin working great for remittances is between the United States and the Philippines.By using a service like Circle and Rebit.ph, funds can be sent from the U.S.to the Philipines for absolutely free.If both parties use Bitcoin, than yes, Bitcoin is great.It’s as easy to send bitcoins to friends and family as it is to send an email.I find it’s much more useful when used internationally, since where I’m from (Canada), it’s pretty easy and cheap to send money between bank accounts.watch dog bitcoin minerI know that in the U.S., there lots of services that allow you to send money for free between friends and family.bitcoin value gbp historyIf you’re buying things in person, it’s difficult to say that there’s a big advantage for the consumer over other payment methods, such as credit cards.bitcoin wert zu euro

For making purchases online, Bitcoin has more potential, since a business can accept funds from any country near instantly, without fear of a chargeback.For a consumer, it’s very easy to pay online using bitcoin and you don’t have to give your personal information, including your bank and credit card details, in order to make a purchase.Since the receipt of money is near instant and there are no chargebacks, this means the retailer can provide your goods quicker than if they had to wait for funds to clear a bank account.why does bitcoin want math problems solvedHere’s a quick list of the reasons for businesses to accept Bitcoin.litecoin miner android appAll right, that’s the last in this Bitcoin 101 for Small Business series.bitcoin bingo software