Bitcoin was created to be a better form of money. A money not controlled and regularly debased by governments. A money that does not require users to trust third parties or surrender their financial sovereignty to banks and other financial institutions. A money with which people would be able to reclaim that part of their freedom and would be able to permissionless transact directly with others no matter where they are in the world or beyond.
Trusting third parties with your coins
Most people start their journey into the world of crypto currency by holding and trading coins on an exchange or other custodial service. Although this is a first step towards that future envisioned for many year, it does still makes them depending on the good will and competency of those services. History has proven that this is risky and it does not bring that freedom and self sovereignty that we all should strive for. Over the years many exchanges have closed down or simply disappeared taking their customers holdings with them. Or they lost all coins to the modern day bank robbers: hackers.
Be your own bank
Although it does require some time to learn, it is very possible for everybody to take control over their own (crypto) money and start owning the keys that control the coins. Software applications like wallets are there to help you manage those keys and keep track of your holdings. Crypto communities have created many tutorials and how to documents to help newer crypto users master the art of being your own bank but the internet is big and it is difficult to easily find these tutorials.
Become your own bank
If there is no more bank than you are in full control and that can be very scary. to not have a company that you can complain to and who then can fix things or reimburse you. But it also is very liberating when you have mastered the art of crypto wallets and private key management. This
Tutorial.Cash
Tutorial.Cash website brings together some the best tutorials from across the internet and presents them in an easy way for new users. And trust me, by following good guides closely, being your own bank can be as easy as baking a cake from recipe or putting together an Ikea flat pack. We also will add tutorials for new developers and for experienced users and developers that are looking into something new.
Be brave and give it a go
It is scary to do things that could result in losing money. But it does not need to be that way. There is a way you can learn at low risk and low cost. If all goes well it would be almost free. The trick is to pick a currency that has very cheap transaction cost and a frictionless network like e.cash (XEC). Then you download 2 wallets on different devices or two different types of wallets on the same device. You then send a little bit of money to one of the wallets. Try something like 2 dollars worth. Or maybe even less.
Now you can send from one wallet to the other and experience what happens. Make sure you properly (and securely ) write down your 12 or 24 word seed phrases and any password that you may add. You now can practice sending and receiving and poking around in the wallet. And all you lose is the transaction fees that would be low and all you risk is that 2 dollars. 2 dollar for an education is really cheap so even if you end up losing that you will have learned something and at a very low price. If that happens, do not despair, try it again and risk a new 1 or two dollars to see if you can do better.
You will find that you will get more and more confidence. You can ask a friend to also download a wallet and send back and forth to them. You will soon be an expert in being your own bank and you will feel confident to send larger amounts to your own wallet. And before long you will hold all the keys to your coins and you will not have it any other way. Have faith in yourself and the technology. The future is ready and waiting for you.
Help us help you
We are working hard to find more tutorials and will be adding more in the weeks and months. If you know of a high quality tutorial that we have not yet included on this site, please let us know using the contact form and we will look into adding it.
