Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Basic Guide
Author:
O Presidente da Junta de Freguesia
September 4, 2017
Contents
1 Cryptocurrency 1
1.1 Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1.1.2 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1.3 Legality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1.4 Timestamping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.1.5 Economics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.1.6 Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2 Bitcoin 9
2.1 Basic - How to buy bitcoin and be a holder of bitcoin . . . . . . . . 9
2.1.1 Choose your bitcoin wallet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1.2 Buy bitcoin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.1.3 More info . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.2 Create a full Linux installation using external storage like an USB
stick . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.2.1 Choosing your Linux distro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3 Paper wallets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.1 Bitcoin Paper wallets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.2 Paper wallets security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
2.3.3 How to destroy a paper wallet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3 To Do 15
4 Ethereum 18
I
Preface
II
Chapter 1
Cryptocurrency
1.1 Definition
A cryptocurrency (or crypto currency) is a digital asset designed to work as a
medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions and to control
the creation of additional units of the currency. Cryptocurrencies are classified
as a subset of digital currencies and are also classified as a subset of alternative
currencies and virtual currencies.
Bitcoin became the first decentralized cryptocurrency in 2009. Since then, nu-
merous cryptocurrencies have been created. These are frequently called altcoins, as
a blend of bitcoin alternative. Bitcoin and its derivatives use decentralized control
as opposed to centralized electronic money/centralized banking systems.The de-
centralized control is related to the use of bitcoins blockchain transaction database
in the role of a distributed ledger.
1.1.1 Overview
Decentralized cryptocurrency is produced by the entire cryptocurrency system
collectively, at a rate which is defined when the system is created and which is
publicly known. In centralized banking and economic systems such as the Federal
Reserve System, corporate boards or governments control the supply of currency
by printing units of fiat money or demanding additions to digital banking ledgers.
In case of decentralized cryptocurrency, companies or governments cannot produce
new units, and have not so far provided backing for other firms, banks or corporate
entities which hold asset value measured in it. The underlying technical system
upon which decentralized cryptocurrencies are based was created by the group or
individual known as Satoshi Nakamoto.
As of March 2015, hundreds of cryptocurrency specifications exist; most are
similar to and derived from the first fully implemented decentralized cryptocur-
rency, bitcoin.Within cryptocurrency systems the safety, integrity and balance of
ledgers is maintained by a community of mutually distrustful parties referred to as
miners: members of the general public using their computers to help validate and
timestamp transactions adding them to the ledger in accordance with a particular
timestamping scheme.
The security of cryptocurrency ledgers is based on the assumption that the
majority of miners are honestly trying to maintain the ledger, having financial
1
cryptocurrency
incentive to do so.
Most cryptocurrencies are designed to gradually decrease production of cur-
rency, placing an ultimate cap on the total amount of currency that will ever be in
circulation, mimicking precious metals. Compared with ordinary currencies held
by financial institutions or kept as cash on hand, cryptocurrencies can be more
difficult for seizure by law enforcement.This difficulty is derived from leveraging
cryptographic technologies. A primary example of this new challenge for law en-
forcement comes from the Silk Road case, where Ulbrichts bitcoin stash "was held
separately and ... encrypted." Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are pseudonymous,
though additions such as Zerocoin have been suggested, which would allow for true
anonymity.
1.1.2 History
In 1998, Wei Dai published a description of "b-money", an anonymous, dis-
tributed electronic cash system. Shortly thereafter, Nick Szabo created "Bit
Gold".Like bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies that would follow it, Bit Gold was
an electronic currency system which required users to complete a proof of work
function with solutions being cryptographically put together and published. A cur-
rency system based on a reusable proof of work was later created by Hal Finney
who followed the work of Dai and Szabo.
The first decentralized cryptocurrency, bitcoin, was created in 2009 by pseudony-
mous developer Satoshi Nakamoto. It used SHA-256, a cryptographic hash func-
tion, as its proof-of-work scheme.In April 2011, Namecoin was created as an at-
tempt at forming a decentralized DNS, which would make internet censorship
very difficult. Soon after, in October 2011, Litecoin was released. It was the
first successful cryptocurrency to use scrypt as its hash function instead of SHA-
256. Another notable cryptocurrency, Peercoin was the first to use a proof-of-
work/proof-of-stake hybrid. IOTA was the first cryptocurrency not based on a
block chain, and instead uses the Tangle.Many other cryptocurrencies have been
created though few have been successful, as they have brought little in the way
of technical innovation.On 6 August 2014, the UK announced its Treasury had
been commissioned to do a study of cryptocurrencies, and what role, if any, they
can play in the UK economy. The study was also to report on whether regulation
should be considered.
Publicity
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cryptocurrency
Jordan Kelley, founder of Robocoin, launched the first bitcoin ATM in the
United States on February 20, 2014. The kiosk installed in Austin, Texas is
similar to bank ATMs but has scanners to read government-issued identification
such as a drivers license or a passport to confirm users identities.By May 2017
1189 bitcoin ATMs were installed around the world with an average fee of 8.82%.
An average of 3 bitcoin ATMs were being installed per day in May 2017.
The Dogecoin Foundation, a charitable organization centered around Doge-
coin and co-founded by Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer, donated more than
$30,000 worth of Dogecoin to help fund the Jamaican bobsled teams trip to the
2014 Olympic games in Sochi, Russia.The growing community around Dogecoin
is looking to cement its charitable credentials by raising funds to sponsor service
dogs for children with special needs.
1.1.3 Legality
The legal status of cryptocurrencies varies substantially from country to coun-
try and is still undefined or changing in many of them. While some countries have
explicitly allowed their use and trade, others have banned or restricted it. Like-
wise, various government agencies, departments, and courts have classified bitcoins
differently. China Central Bank banned the handling of bitcoins by financial in-
stitutions in China during an extremely fast adoption period in early 2014.[34] In
Russia, though cryptocurrencies are legal, it is illegal to actually purchase goods
with any currency other than the Russian ruble.
On March 25, 2014, the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) ruled
that bitcoin will be treated as property for tax purposes as opposed to currency.
This means bitcoin will be subject to capital gains tax. One benefit of this ruling
is that it clarifies the legality of bitcoin. No longer do investors need to worry that
investments in or profit made from bitcoins are illegal or how to report them to the
IRS. In a paper published by researchers from Oxford and Warwick, it was shown
that bitcoin has some characteristics more like the precious metals market than
traditional currencies, hence in agreement with the IRS decision even if based on
different reasons.
Legal issues not dealing with governments have also arisen for cryptocurrencies.
Coinye, for example, is an altcoin that used rapper Kanye West as its logo without
permission. Upon hearing of the release of Coinye, originally called Coinye West,
attorneys for Kanye West sent a cease and desist letter to the email operator of
Coinye, David P. McEnery Jr. The letter stated that Coinye was willful trademark
infringement, unfair competition, cyberpiracy, and dilution and instructed Coinye
to stop using the likeness and name of Kanye West.
As the popularity of and demand for online currencies increases since the incep-
tion of bitcoin in 2009, so do concerns that such an unregulated person to person
global economy that cryptocurrencies offer may become a threat to society. Con-
cerns abound that altcoins may become tools for anonymous web criminals.
Cryptocurrency networks display a marked lack of regulation that attracts
many users who seek decentralized exchange and use of currency; however the
3
cryptocurrency
very same lack of regulations has been critiqued as potentially enabling criminals
who seek to evade taxes and launder money.
Transactions that occur through the use and exchange of these altcoins are
independent from formal banking systems, and therefore can make tax evasion
simpler for individuals. Since charting taxable income is based upon what a re-
cipient reports to the revenue service, it becomes extremely difficult to account
for transactions made using existing cryptocurrencies, a mode of exchange that is
complex and (in some cases) impossible to track.
Systems of anonymity that most cryptocurrencies offer can also serve as a sim-
pler means to launder money. Rather than laundering money through an intricate
net of financial actors and offshore bank accounts, laundering money through alt-
coins stands outside institutions and can be achieved through anonymous transac-
tions.[Laundering services for cryptocurrency exist to service the bitcoin currency,
in which multiple sourced bitcoins are blended to obscure the relationship between
input and output addresses.
Arrests
Fraud
4
cryptocurrency
cryptocurrency. Zenportal had over 10,000 users that had purchased hashlets for
a total of over 19 million U.S. dollars.
On August 24, 2016, a federal judge in Florida certified a class action lawsuit
against defunct cryptocurrency exchange Cryptsy and Cryptsys owner. He is ac-
cused of misappropriating millions of dollars of user deposits, destroying evidence,
and is believed to have fled to China.
Darknet markets
1.1.4 Timestamping
Cryptocurrencies use various timestamping schemes to avoid the need for a
trusted third party to timestamp transactions added to the blockchain ledger.
Proof-of-work schemes
The first timestamping scheme invented was the proof-of-work scheme. The
most widely used proof-of-work schemes are based on SHA-256, which was intro-
duced by bitcoin, and scrypt, which is used by currencies such as Litecoin.[The
latter now dominates over the world of cryptocurrencies, with at least 480 con-
firmed implementations.
Some other hashing algorithms that are used for proof-of-work include Cryp-
toNight, Blake, SHA-3, and X11. Proof-of-stake and combined schemes Some
cryptocurrencies use a combined proof-of-work/proof-of-stake scheme. The proof-
of-stake is a method of securing a cryptocurrency network and achieving dis-
tributed consensus through requesting users to show ownership of a certain amount
5
cryptocurrency
1.1.5 Economics
Cryptocurrencies are used primarily outside existing banking and governmental
institutions, and exchanged over the Internet. While these alternative, decentral-
ized modes of exchange are in the early stages of development, they have the
unique potential to challenge existing systems of currency and payments. As of
June 2017 total market capitalization of cryptocurrencies is bigger than 100 billion
USD and record high daily volume is larger than 6 billion USD.
Indices
1.1.6 Criticism
Cryptocurrencies have been compared to Pyramid Schemes or to Economic
bubbles, such as housing market bubbles.Howard Marks of Oaktree Capital
Management stated in 2017 that digital currencies were "nothing but an
unfounded fad (or perhaps even a pyramid scheme), based on a willingness
to ascribe value to something that has little or none beyond what people
will pay for it", and compared them to the Tulip Mania (1637), South Sea
Bubble (1720), and Dot.com bubble (1999).
6
cryptocurrency
There are ways to permanently lose cryptocurrency from local storage due
to malware or data loss. This can also happen through the destruction of
the physical media, effectively removing lost cryptocurrencies forever from
their markets.
There are many perceived criteria that cryptocurrencies must reach before
they can become mainstream. For example, the number of merchants ac-
cepting cryptocurrencies is increasing, but still only a few merchants accept
them.
While cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that are managed through ad-
vanced encryption techniques, many governments have taken a cautious ap-
proach toward them, fearing their lack of central control and the effects they
could have on financial security.
7
cryptocurrency
Regulators in several countries have warned against their use and some have
taken concrete regulatory measures to dissuade users.
8
Chapter 2
Bitcoin
TREZOR is a cold storage solution. Private keys are stored inside the TRE-
ZOR device and not exposed to the internet.
TREZOR is so safe that can be used in computers with windows and virus and
malware on it.
TREZOR never exposes the private key. And that is the concept of cold
storage. The private key is never exposed to the internet.
https://twitter.com/trezor
https://trezor.io/
https://blog.trezor.io/
https://doc.satoshilabs.com/trezor-user/
Credit Card
9
cryptocurrency
https://www.coinmama.com/
https://blockchain.info/wallet/
https://www.coinbase.com/
https://www.bitstamp.net/
SEPA
https://www.kraken.com/
https://www.bitstamp.net/
Links
https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Cold_storage
https://www.bitcoinarmory.com/
https://www.bitcoinarmory.com/faq/
https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-core/
https://twitter.com/TREZOR
https://www.reddit.com/r/TREZOR/
http://stockcharts.com/school/doku.php?id=chart_school
https://coinmarketcap.com/
https://www.tradingview.com/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxyD6SQNbe8sh-jqo8eTfEg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCR9gdpWisRwnk_k23GsHfcA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbiWJYRg8luWHnmNkJRZEnw
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJWCJCWOxBYSi5DhCieLOLQ
http://www.libertylifetrail.com/
https://blockchain.info/home
https://blockchain.info/pools
https://blockchain.info/charts/hash-rate
https://bitcoin.org/en/full-node
https://coin.dance/nodes
https://www.btcforkmonitor.info/
https://coin.dance/blocks#blockDetails
https://www.xbt.eu/
1
Inconvertible paper money made legal tender by a government decree.
10
cryptocurrency
https://bitnodes.21.co/
https://bitcoinfees.21.co/
http://preev.com/btc/usd
http://www.xe.com/currencyconverter/convert/?From=USD&To=EUR
http://document-conversion.online-convert.com/
https://bitcoinaverage.com/
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/
https://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/(altcoin)
https://www.reddit.com/r/NEO/(altcoin)
https://www.reddit.com/r/.../(...->altcoin)
https://www.buybitcoinworldwide.com/
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/
@stateofdm
@bitstein
@pierre_rochard
@RichardHeartWin
@Leila_Najim
@jfnewbery
@shaolinfry
@eric_lombrozo
@cnLedger
@bitcoincoreorg
@myetherwallet
@JihanWu
@SamouraiWallet
@slush_pool
@WhalePanda
@LarryBitcoin
@LedgerHQ
@BitcoinBlake
@ToneVays
@tabtraderbtc
@Ciphrex
@WorldCryptoNet
@satoshilabs
@sharkybit
@Airbitz
@TheScottRob
@ElectrumWallet
@myBylls
@armory
@francispouliot_
@MyceliumCom
@petertoddbtc
11
cryptocurrency
@TREZOR
@krakenfx
@MadBitcoins
@btcdrak
@ChandlerGuo
@LukeDashjr
@ercwl
@GabrielDVine
@AlyseKilleen
@VitalikButerin
@adam3us
@jgarzik
@Anderskargaard
@SimonDixonTwitt
@ErikVoorhees
@TraceMayer
@TuurDemeester
For sure that if you have enough space in your hard drives you can install
Linux and make a dual boot or multi boot system.
Personally, I have in my home machine a multiboot machine with six different
OS. Five of them are Linux distros and one is Windows.
And why there is still need of using Linux in a USB stick or other external
storage?
You can install Linux in an multi boot environment and disconnect the internet
every time you boot that Linux. Right?
Wrong! Because, thats not safe. You can accidentally boot Linux without
disconnecting the internet. And if you have others Linux distros on your computer,
you still can see and mount the partitions of that Linux that is meant to be offline.
So this is not a good solution!
12
cryptocurrency
To create any kind of paper wallets or even electrum wallets, this wallets must
be created in a Linux machine that after install and setup the machine was
disconnected from the internet and never is connected to the internet
after that.
After install and setup of Linux that machine never and never can
touch the web again.
https://www.bitaddress.org/bitaddress.org-v3.3.0-SHA256dec17c07685e1870960903d8f
html
https://github.com/pointbiz/bitaddress.org
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cryptocurrency
14
Chapter 3
To Do
15
cryptocurrency
16
cryptocurrency
https://github.com/goatpig/BitcoinArmory/releases/ https://github.
com/goatpig/BitcoinArmory (source) https://github.com/goatpig/BitcoinArmory/
blob/master/linuxbuild/Linux_build_notes.md (build from source) https://
bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1899626.0 (build from source - more info)
https://www.bitcoinarmory.com/(site) https://www.bitcoinarmory.com/faq/
(faq) https://www.bitcoinarmory.com/troubleshooting/ (troubleshooting) https:
//bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=144849.0 (Importing Armory paper wal-
let backup without Armory) https://github.com/etotheipi/BitcoinArmory/
blob/master/cppForSwig/EncryptionUtils.cpp#L665
Upgrading Armory on offline machine without connect it to the internet
https://pastebin.com/zVrSJHDS
17
Chapter 4
Ethereum
18