save your bitcoin
under a mattress?
today, you will learn about ways to save your bitcoin. in order to hold your own bitcoin, you must hold your own keys. yesterday, you learned that the 'seed phrase' is a series of words that can be used to authorize the movement of funds from your bitcoin wallet. to be abundantly clear, these words ensure that your bitcoin cannot be moved without your involvement or prior approval. today, you will download what's known as a 'hot wallet' (a phone application) that will allow you to take custody of the bitcoin you purchased using strike or cash app (the custodian of your bitcoin).
there are many choices of wallet software to use. blockstream green is the chosen wallet for today's learning demonstration. blockstream, founded in 2014, has provided incredible open-source innovations in the bitcoin ecosystem, and this wallet is one of the favorites on the market.
use your phone to download the blockstream green app. you can also download the application to your computer and manage your account from either device.
the application will walk you through creating a wallet, and then it will ask you to record your seed phrase. we know you listened yesterday when we told you to think about it, and that you're ready to record these words securely. please do so!
let's proceed:
- create a new wallet in blockstream green.
- copy the public address.
- open the strike app and go to your bitcoin tab.
- press 'send' and paste your blockstream green address.
- select how much value to transfer, look both ways before you cross the street (make sure you copied the right address!) and press send.
your bitcoin will arrive in your blockstream green wallet within an hour. you're an advanced bitcoiner now! the next time someone asks you if you have bitcoin, you can reply 'yes!' and ask them if they keep their bitcoin on an exchange or if they hold it themselves.
if you would like to fully verify that everything works, you can delete the blockstream green app from your phone, reinstall it, and choose to 'restore' a wallet rather than create a new one. this will demonstrate how you are able to recover all of your bitcoin using your seed phrase should your device be lost.
