Bitcoin Beginner Guide

From zero to your own self-custody — step by step.
No prior knowledge needed. No bullshit. Free.

Who is this for?

What's inside?

• Why Bitcoin — and why custody is everything The foundation: inflation, self-custody, "not your keys, not your coins"
• Buying Bitcoin — with and without KYC Which exchange to start with, where to buy without ID (Bisq, Mostro, P2P) — with a step-by-step example
• Setting up a hardware wallet (BitBox02 & Nova) Step-by-step setup, including BitBox02 Nova for Apple users
• Withdrawing Bitcoin from the exchange Address types, network pitfall, auto wallet transfer, xPub vs. single address, tracking your transaction on mempool.space
• The seed phrase — the most important thing, period How to back it up, where NOT to store it, steel plates vs. paper
• Passphrase (25th word) — when does it make sense? Extra security layer: what it adds, multiple wallets from one seed, how not to lose it
• Next steps: taxes, full node, Lightning & more Tax rules (Germany/EU), BTC tax tool, running your own full node, Lightning intro
• Recognizing and avoiding scams Fake support, phishing, tampered devices: how to spot them
• Final checklist, bonus and glossary Ten points to genuine self-custody, plus "How free you really are" and the key terms

Format

A4 PDF, 54 pages. Read it on screen, print it, check it off.
No account, no sign-up, no email address needed. Just download it.
Sharing is explicitly welcome: pass it on, ideally unchanged, so everyone knows where it comes from.

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Verify authenticity

The guide is only published here. If someone passes it on to you, the checksum shows whether the file is unchanged. Verify: Linux/macOS sha256sum file.pdf · Windows PowerShell Get-FileHash file.pdf. All values also as SHA256SUMS.

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bitcoin-einsteiger-guide.pdf	fc67ff690a0c7bf4a401d1556d3e11f72f413e9b935fc37e1c565c4c5f912ca2
abschluss-checkliste-en.pdf	5fd87cdf4f657c1ec8d6b6ac16fe105ee6dae581f9a780863f290cb195b0e590
abschluss-checkliste.pdf	13b05e0873aec2ac08e71c51047135e5076effb26368fac6048dca278d11f591

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Questions

Feel free to write to kontakt@alien-investor.org, subject "Bitcoin Guide Question". I will answer as soon as I can, but there is no fixed response time for the free guide. If you want a thorough review of your whole setup, the Setup Review is the right place.

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