Bitcoin Resources - Consolidate List (India Specific)
IntroductionThe original topic has worn out/outdated and the legality of cryptocurrencies has changed a lot in India comparing to the days when Benson was in power. So I decided to create a topic not diverting from the original vision and to add many more points on how bitcoin and it's counterparts can really be helpful for us, the Indians. When I came to know about BTC in late 2016, initially at first I thought this as a get rich quick scheme/stock market sort of asset as majority of us thought. As when days passed by, I started realizing the true vision of why satoshi created this in 2009.
Keeping the shitty Indian regulations made by the uneducated politicians aside, let me focus on what we as Indians can do to achieve the full potential of bitcoin as well as contribute to the betterment of the community. This topic will go through almost all the relevant information, and will probably help us to compete with global bitcoiners in terms of technology as well as by physical means. We do have a good grasp and are equally knowledgeable but the problem is that we are governed by uneducated shit rulemakers who is always willing us to remain slaves or not to learn anything new.
Either you are a trader, stock broker, investor, developer, jewellery maker/collector, gambler, freelancer, a hardware specialist (Electronic Communication Guy), Goods Trader (it may be physical or digital), Lender (who gives non-collateral loans to the needy for interest) Bitcoin offers a wide range of opportunities for us to cherish in the respective fields. But we, the fellow Indians just look at the trading/stock market scheme of bitcoin and ruin ourselves with our country laws made by the uneducated shitty politicians who need a generation age to understand what bitcoin is and to use them in real time.
For instance just go to a random local board (say Italian -> Guide) there our fellow forum members create topics to educate people on Lightning Network, Schnorr Signatures, Electrum usage etc. Apart from a few handful of us, does any of the spammy shitposter know what does a lightning network really means? No, that's because the majority of us hunt for money but not really willing to learn the technlogy and implement them.So this topic covers the various ways on how effectively we can use bitcoin and stand on top among the fellow forum members.
Table of contents 1.
Traders 2.
Developers 3.
Mining 4.
Wallets - What to use and Why to use? 5.
Collectors - Gold and Silver Traders 6.
Gamblers 7.
Freelancers 8.
Communities1. TradersBuying and Selling for profits has been a old practice in India. We buy goods at a cheaper rate and sell them for higher profits. Cryptocurrency as a whole is subjected to extreme volatility. The prices may rise and fall ~$1,000 within a hour. So, if you are a solid trader and be well aware of the news going around in the digital world you can trade with your cryptocurrencies. I don't really need to give much of a intro for trading as around 95-98% of the Indians (who know about crypto market) trade with their bitcoins.
Some websites where you can trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies :
1.
Binance - A centralized crypto exchange which handles major volumes. Though Binance doesn't come under the Indian market, they are the largest exchanges were cryptocurrencies are being traded be it the traders originate from India. If you are new to Bitcoin, Binance has joined hands with WazirX (another major Indian exchange) and they are trying to ease the INR - BTC conversions for Indian users.
2.
IDEX- A decentralized ERC20 exchange which can be used for buying and selling ERC20 tokens for your ether.
3.
Localbitcoins - INR <-> BTC trading pair anonymously (at least off the radar)
I have bought cumulatively 1+ BTC at various time frames from 2016 - 2019 from various traders here. Until the problems/legal regulations get sorted out, I would stick with this site for my withdrawals
4.
COINDCX - I have personally used this exchange twice for withdrawal and they do seem to be trustworthy for buying and selling through INR.
5.
WazirX- A recent entry into the game of cryptocurrencies, WazirX has been operating flawlessly for BTC - INR pairs. Also they have joined with the major cryptocurrency exchange - Binance and have launched their own token.
6.
Bisq- Bisq is a P2P, non-Custodian and a decentralized exchange.
7.
LocalCryptos - INR <-> BTC trading pair anonymously. LocalCryptos are a perfect alternative to buy Bitcoin using INR, but you need to pay attention for the scam traders and do your own research before buying from them. I can personally suggest to use this exchange as similar to LBC. LocalCryptos can be used as an alternative to Localbitcoins site for buying Bitcoin as well.
8.
Unocoin - Though Unocoin was launched way back in 2013, they were quite active in the developing Indian crypto scene right before the 2018 banking ban of cryptocurrencies in India. Once the ban was lifted in 2020, they had started their INR deposits and withdrawals thereby getting back into Indian crypto market. Unocoin is quite famous in India for trading activities and many Indian traders are using these for larger trades.
9.
Bitrefill - India - Though I haven't used them personally but they have been proven to be legit by many traders and crypto enthusiasts. They have a wide variety of gift cards for purchases ranging from Amazon India, Flipkart, Bookmyshow, Makemytrip, Uber, Myntra, PayTM and apart from that they do have recharges for various networks such as Vodafone, Airtel, Idea, Jio, BSNL and Tata Docomo as well.
Either way it is better to buy USDT for INR, and then trade with USDT in Binance.
2. DevelopersIndian Bitcoin community lacks a major role in contributing to the code or in the creation of new blockchain developers. We have a strong development team which can compete with the first world developers. But the determination to learn new tech is what we lack all over the country. Whenever I get into the Bitcoin github, I search for at least one Indian guy who can speak with code but I don't find one. Though
skang is not active in forum, he has a strong technical knowledge on blockchain and is very much active in Telegram.
If you are a normal Indian engineer or at least a guy with a basic CS background, why not read Cryptography (apart from the sylabbus) and educate yourself more to create your own blockchain or help the fellow bitcoin developers? Sadly our universities have only one subject on Cryptography and that too doesn't get deep with tech. Use a compiler, download Eclipse CDT/ any text editors and start testing the code or review the pull requests in the github. That will help you in getting a grasp on how the Bitcoin development works. If you are good with concepts, change the code and build the headless bitcoin from scratch. If you find a issue, post them in git - we need more Indians to get in with the Bitcoin/atleast blockchain development.
You can always download core and start playing with the application in Regtest/Testnet mode. If you feel any difficulties, you can PM me anytime and I can assist you with what to learn.
Some useful resources for taking you forward in the game
1.
Bitcoin - Github - The official source code which is worth billions of dollars.
2.
Mastering Bitcoin: Programming the Open Blockchain - A very good programming book on bitcoin which will help you in understanding development from scratch. If you are bad at understanding English and would be to read the book in our official language (Hindi), Bitlover10 has done a wonderful translation on the book and posted in the forum.
Here is the Hindi translation for the initial chapters of the book :
Mastering Bitcoin :- पहला अध्याय ( बिटक्वाइन का परिचय)3.
Bitcoin - Developer Documentation - The official developer documentation which helps us in understanding each and every concept on bitcoin.
If you are a native Hindi speaker, the developer documentation is also available in Hindi.
4.
Bitcoin - Developer Mailing List - The official mailing list for bitcoin developers. You can subscribe to it and can learn how developers work.
5.
Contributing to Core Development- Learn how to contribute to core.
6.
Bitcoin Technical Resources by Jameson Lopp - Jameson Lopp is one of the respected Bitcoin Engineers and has gathered Development articles written by various Bitcoin Developers to help the newbie developers to get into the game of Core Development.
7.
Bitcoin Optech Newsletter - Trusted Bitcoin Dev related newsletter run by Bitcoin Developers
8
Programming Bitcoin by Jimmy Song - With mastering Bitcoin, we will be able to learn a lot more on the theoretical tech behind bitcoin and Programming Bitcoin book helps in making us understand more about the code. The book also contains practice problems written in python code.
Side Note : Use any Linux environment or at least WSL provided by Windows. Though I have personally tested various PRs, I am involving myself slowly into understanding cryptography and in future I would get involved myself with the Core Development.
3. MiningMining is one of the important aspects for the proper functioning of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Miners spend a lot of computer energy to verify the transactions and add them in the blockchain.
Along with that, the miners get rewarded with 12.5 BTC as per the current reward rate which is included in that particular block and goes to the miner's address.
Today, mining difficulty has risen to higher standards where you can't mine bitcoin or other popular cryptocurrencies using your home CPU.
Some helpful resources to get started with mining bitcoins :
1.
Mining Section - Mining is one among the heavily moderated section in the whole forum. If you have beginners question on mining, try directing them to Beginners & Help as your topic might get trashed easily.
2.
Getting Started with Mining - This topic provides you a good intro to Mining and the Hardware you need to buy.
3.
Current List of Competitive Hardware - This topic provides you a general idea on what hardwares are compatible for us to mine bitcoin.
4.
AntPool - Antpool is the most famous pool for combined mining activities. Nowadays it is not really advisable to mine bitcoin individually. So miners join various pools, provide their hashpower and receive bitcoin in return.
4. Wallets - What to use and Why to use?There is a common misconception among everyone that bitcoins are stored in the wallet like our physical cash and coins. That's completely wrong, the Bitcoins are stored in the blockchain and you need private keys to spend them. So the wallets only store private keys and not the Bitcoins. Here is a topic written by Lauda which can educate you on what wallets we can use :
[General] Bitcoin Wallets - Which, what, why?Guides and theories are often presented well in this forum, and I suggest the new beginners and the oldies to read this topic and start using the wallets suggested there. For Newbies, please don't fall for any web wallet scams or electrum phishing links. Every trusted wallet has been mentioned in the Beginners Sticky topic and it gives a deep insight on best wallets to secure your private keys.
5. Collectors - Gold and Silver TradersHave you ever heard of Physical Bitcoins? Physical Bitcoins are the physical embodiment of the native digital currency bitcoin. Initially when I heard of them, I thought these are scammy in nature. But after learning through them a separate market apart from the digital world is being run by collectors and precious metal coin makers. Here, the coins are loaded and the private key required to spend them are printed on back of the hologram. This hologram is printed on back of a physical coin made of bronze/silver/gold.
So, whether if you are a gold/silver investor or would like to collect rare coins like Bitbills, Casascius then Physical Currencies are the best way to cherish in your career. Coin Makers from all over the world make coins and sell them for bitcoins in EBay and Collectibles section of our forum. If you are the other way around like you can mint your own coin, you can do that and auction in the collectibles section of the community.
Collectibles vary in prices with the rarer ones reaching as high as even $50,000. 2 months back a first day funded 1 BTC Casascius coin (very first physical coin representation of loaded bitcoin) reached a record breaking price of 6 BTC.
Some useful resources for mastering the physical coin market
1.
Collectibles Child Board : The official section where Auctions and Announcements would be made for the Physical Bitcoins.
2.
Encyclopedia of Physical Bitcoins and Crypto-Currencies by Elias Ahonen - Regarded by Physical Crypto Enthusiast as the Bible of Physical Coins, this particular book covers the Physical Bitcoin Market with utmost details with numerous information on the various rare physical crypto coins available in the market. You can buy this book from Amazon India.
3.
Coin.community - A website dedicated to know more about Physical Cryptocurrencies.
6. GamblersGambling has been always seen as a negative way for losing your hard earned money. In India, people do gamble but not on a larger extent as other Western people does. Along with that, Indian laws never allow us to gamble for a longer time period AFAIK that's because we are living in a centralized nation where slavery and bribery is being followed in a nation-wide level. So if you are a gambler and willing to lose your money on Gambling, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies help you in a global scale. Bitcoin, Ethereum along with other Alts are helpful to gamble at a global level throwing away the legal restrictions which our country has implied on us. You could read the topic made by DarkStar_ which provides a better insight on house edges and good crypto gambling websites available for us.
Some useful resources for Gambling with your cryptocurrencies :
1.
Overview of Bitcoin Accepting Sportsbooks (with margin/house edge comparisons)2.
FortuneJack - FortuneJack is one among the most trusted crypto gambling websites. There are players and bitcoin whales all over the world who trust FortuneJack and their fair play in the Crypto Gambling Market.
3.
Primedice - Primedice is one among the few older bitcoin casinos which can be trusted upon with your money and bets. They have paid out for signature campaigns for years and has gained lots of reputation among the bitcoin gamblers.
4.
Test Cricket Prediction and Discussion Thread - One among the most active topics in Gambling subsection which helps gamblers a lot in placing bets and having a deep insight on the Test Cricket.
Note that, I have gambled rarely and have little knowledge on gambling. So kindly do your own research before gambling. I will try to update more links soon.
7. FreelancersFreelancing opportunities provide a major relief to the unemployed youths in our country. If you are a content writer, Designer, Translator, Developer you can post your services in the Services board of bitcointalk and can provide services for bitcoins or other alternate cryptocurrencies.
1.
Services - This is one among the popular boards of bitcointalk where people from various countries all over the world work for bitcoin and host their services. So if you are well versed with something like programming, video creation, image designing, painting, BBCode designing Services board could serve you well.
8. CommunitiesMany of the Indian bitcoiners are facing difficulty to connect with the Indians of similar interest in bitcoin and crypto on the whole. The communities will help us to get more connected, will help us in clearing doubts on the legality, usage and adoption as well. So, newbies and newbies at heart if you are willing to find fellow Indians of similar interest to help you these are some of the important communities to connect with Indian bitcoin enthusiasts.
1.
IndiaBits - So most of the Indian bitcoiners should be well aware of IndiaBits and their contribution to the Indian crypto community. The TG group has some of the prominent members ranging from developers and traders who could guide us with really helpful thoughts. They have recently created a forum to discuss about the Indian crypto goings as well.
2.
Coincrunch - Though I am not really aware of this community, they have been suggested by many to be one among the active Indian communities which have been promoting bitcoin to Indians. They have a website as well which provides up-to date news on Indian crypto goings.
3.
Cryptokanoon - If you are not a shitcoin maximalist, you should have well known about cryptokanoon channel in YouTube. The primary goal is to educate the fellow Indian bitcoiners on the legal issues and taxation sort of news etc. They have recently created a TG group as well for discussions.
4.
r/BitcoinIndia - Unofficial Reddit Page dedicated for Indian Bitcoin Community. The community page was created 6 years back and they are being managed not really well and with the Indian regulations and bans, there hasn't been any good topics being posted there.
Credits and Revision History
This is just an initial draft which puts together all the ideas I have analysed so far which can be much helpful to the Indian people as a whole. Taxation, Legal Laws and other's would be periodically updated by discussing with other members of the community.
v0.1 21-08-2019 Initial Draft Heisenberg
v0.1.1 11-09-2019 Minor Changes and addition of Mining Section amishmanish, pawanjain, newIndia
v0.1.2 04-01-2020 Minor Changes and addition of Newer Links newIndia, Heisenberg
v0.1.3 12-04-2020 Minor Changes and addition of Newer Links
v0.1.4 04-11-2020 Addition of New Book and Btc newsletter pawanjain
v0.1.4.1 12-04-2020 Minor Changes and addition of Newer Links
Topic is self-moderated to prevent spammers and trolls from ruining this thread.