Cryptocurrency All-in-One For Dummies. Peter Kent

Get Started.

      5 Click Create a Wallet when asked if you are new to MetaMask.

      6 Create a password of your choice.

      7 Review the instructional video titled Secure your Wallet.

      8 Click the box labeled CLICK HERE TO REVEAL SECRET WORDS.

      Get another notebook or a separate piece of paper for this next series of steps. (Don’t use the same notebook or piece of paper on which you’ve just written down your username and password.)

      1 At the top of your piece of paper, write “MetaMask,” “Brave browser,” the date, the device you downloaded Brave to, and “Seed phrase.”

      2 Write down and number the 12 secret words that you see onscreen.

      3 Click Next.

      4 Confirm your secret backup phrase by clicking all 12 secret words in proper order, and then click Confirm.

      5 Read through the tips listed on the Congratulations page.

      6 Click All Done.

      

Consider laminating the pieces of paper with your username and password and your backup seed. Also remember not to store these two pieces of paper in the same location.

      Buying your first Bitcoin

      There are several places where you can purchase your first Bitcoin. If you’re within the United States, there will be some friction in setting up an account and linking it to your credit card or bank account. It may take a day or two for you to be authenticated and allowed to purchase your first cryptocurrency. Book 5, Chapter 3 dives deeper into cryptocurrency exchanges and brokers, but we recommend using one of the following websites if you’re within the United States.

       Coinbase: www.coinbase.com

       Cash App: https://cash.app

       Gemini: https://gemini.com/

       Robinhood: https://robinhood.com

Go to one of these sites, or another of your choosing, and set up an account. You’ll want to purchase $20 to $30 worth of cryptocurrency. We suggest purchasing Bitcoin because it’s universally accepted and traded for all other cryptocurrencies. You may also have the option to purchase Ether, the Ethereum cryptocurrency used for running dApps. If so, go ahead and purchase $10 to $20 worth.

      

Cryptocurrency can be in the regulatory gray zone in certain countries, and illegal in other countries. For example, in September 2021, China banned all cryptocurrency mining and transactions. On the flip side, El Salvador installed Bitcoin as an official currency! Buying and withdrawing cryptocurrency may not be available in the future or within your country or region. If that’s the case, you may want to move on to Chapter 5 of this minibook. There, you’ll be able to mine on the test net and receive test Ether.

Building a Private Blockchain with Docker and Ethereum

      Private blockchains hold the promise of having both the benefits of a private database and the security of blockchains. The idea is most appealing for two reasons:

       Private blockchains are great for developers because they allow them to test ideas without using cryptocurrency. The developers’ ideas can remain a secret as well, because the data has not been published publicly.

       Large institutions can capitalize on the security and permanence of blockchain technology without their transactions being public the way they are in traditional blockchains.

      

Most of this minibook assumes you’re just finding out about blockchain for the first time and have little to no programming skills, but this section requires some knowledge of GitHub, Docker, and how to use your computer’s terminal. If you need a quick recap on coding before you dive in, Coding For Dummies by Nikhil Abraham (John Wiley & Sons, Inc.) provides a great overview on coding for nontechnical people. If you don’t plan to ever be hands-on with blockchain technology, you might want to skip the rest of this chapter.

      In this section, you dive into building your first blockchain. You build it in two steps. The first step is to prepare your computer to create your private blockchain. Don’t worry — it’s made easier with tools from Docker and work that has been done by talented developers on GitHub. The second step is building your blockchain inside your Docker terminal.

      Preparing your computer

      You need to download some software on to your computer in order to try this blockchain project. Start by downloading Docker Desktop. Go to https://www.docker.com/get-started to download the correct version for your operating system.

      Next, download GitHub Desktop from http://desktop.github.com. After you’ve installed GitHub Desktop, a pop-up screen asks you if you want to sign in to GitHub.com (if you already have an account). If you’re new to GitHub, click Create Your Free Account.

      Now you need to create a place to store your blockchain data. Create a folder on your computer’s desktop called ethereum. You’ll use this folder to hold your future repository and other files. After you sign in or create a new GitHub account, GitHub Desktop presents you with a Let’s Get Started welcome screen. Click Create a New Repository on your Hard Drive, and then follow these steps to complete the process:

      1 Name your repository ethereum, and give it a description of your choosing.

      2 Point the Local Path to your desktop’s ethereum folder.

      3 Click the Create Repository button.

      4 Return to your web browser and go to www.github.com/Capgemini-AIE/ethereum-docker.You see the page shown in Figure 3-1.

      5 Click the Code button.You’re given three choices: Clone, Open with GitHub Desktop, or Download Zip (see Figure 3-2).

      6 Select the Open with GitHub Desktop option.The GitHub Desktop application reopens.In the GitHub Desktop application pop-up window, make sure the Local Path points to the project folder ethereum that you created on your desktop, and then click Clone.

      FIGURE 3-1: Navigate to this page at GitHub.

      FIGURE 3-2: Open with GitHub Desktop.

Cloning from GitHub copies the information you need to build your new blockchain. Follow the steps in the next section to get started building your private blockchain.