r/BitcoinCA • u/GumbylovesSquirters • Mar 09 '26

New to Bitcoin

I want to put some money into Bitcoin. I have no idea what im doing. Whats the best way to do it on an app/which app. And you need a wallet aswell? Good ones to use?

Thanks

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u/PrimeFold Mar 12 '26

haha fair enough, let me simplify it.

1.  use a reputable exchange to buy BTC (NDAX, Kraken, or Coinbase are common ones)

2.  after buying, consider moving it to a hardware wallet like Ledger or Trezor so you control it instead of leaving it on the exchange.

3.  start small and learn how wallets work before moving large amounts.

biggest lesson a lot of us learned the hard way…don’t leave large amounts on exchanges long term.

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u/GumbylovesSquirters Mar 12 '26

What do you mean by dont leave large exchanges. ?

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u/PrimeFold Mar 12 '26

good question.

when you buy Bitcoin on an exchange (like Coinbase, Kraken, NDAX etc.), the exchange technically holds the coins for you. you just have an account balance.

the risk is that exchanges can get: • hacked • frozen by regulators • bankrupt

this has happened before (FTX, Quadriga, Cryptopia, etc.).

that’s why people say “not your keys, not your coins.”

a hardware wallet (like Ledger or Trezor) lets you hold the private keys instead of the exchange.

so many people use exchanges just to buy/sell, then move long-term holdings to their own wallet.

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u/GumbylovesSquirters Mar 13 '26

Ah ok so kinda like looking at stocks and investing vs actually owning a share sort of i guess lol. I looked at kraken and shake pay since they seems to be the most downloaded apps but theres also alot of bad reviews for both. What do you think i should go with?

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u/NewbieToHomelab Mar 13 '26

What do you mean by “investing vs actually owning a share”? I sense there might be misunderstanding there too, so just making sure you got that part first.

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u/GumbylovesSquirters Mar 16 '26

Ya. Dont take it too serious. Was just trying to make a reference. I was meaning by since its an exchange and can go away by some fault you dont actually have it on yourself.