Beginner's Guide to CryptoCurrency: Transferring & Confirmations

In the previous segments, we've covered many different tools and measurements that empower you to identify for yourself which Crypto Currencies you want to purchase, which Exchange you want to purchase them on, and which Wallet you want to safely store them on.

In this segment, we are going to discuss Transferring your chosen Crypto Currency between platforms and the Confirmations that help verify and secure each transfer.

Once you have chosen your desired Crypto Currency, the next big step is learning how to handle it. Though it can seem like a simple process, there are no assurances or back-up plans if an error occurs when initiating a transfer. Because of this, it is very important to learn not only how to correctly Transfer your assets, but to double check everything before each transfer.

Transferring is the process by which you can move your assets from an Exchange to your Wallet for increase security or from Wallet to Wallet in order to send or receive payments, and works much like sending or receiving an E-mail.

To Send a Transfer, first you must obtain the Public Address you would like to transfer to. Afterward, open your Exchange's interface and select the "Withdraw" option or your Wallet's interface and select the "Send" option. You'll know you've selected correctly when the page displays the option to input the "Receiver's" or Public Address that you have previously obtained, and possibly the amount that you desire you Transfer. Once you have input both sets of information, simply hit "Send" and the Crypto Currency is on it's way to it's new destination!

To Receive a Transfer, open your Exchange's interface and select the "Deposit" option or your Wallet's interface and select "Receive". You'll know you've selected correctly when the page displays a Public Address that you can then give to anyone that desires to Transfer you Crypto Currency!

It is IMPORTANT to always double check any transaction before confirming it, as there is no way to correct a mistake or error after the Transfer has been initiated!!

A Confirmation is a process by which any transfer is verified via a Crypto Currency Miner by including it into a new Blockchain. In other words, one Confirmation means the transfer has been Mined to the depth of one block and for each additional block that is found, the depth increases by one. Each time the depth increases, the transfer becomes exponentially more secure. While just 1 Confirmation can be enough security for low value transfers, it is highly recommended to allow for at least 6 Confirmations before the transfer is completed when transferring a large amount of Crypto Currency. The standard of 6 Confirmations was created upon the idea that it is improbable for an attacker to amass higher than a 10% hashrate, and that less than 0.1% of negligible risk is an adequate amount of protection. Many Wallets and Exchanges have a default amount of Confirmations that are required before the transfer is completed, in order to better protect both you from having your transfer reversed as well as the platform itself from the possibility of double spending. It is important to note that these Confirmations take time to complete, on average about 10 minutes per block depth or about 1 hour per recommended 6 Confirmations.

If you are interested in just how much more protected you are with 6 Confirmations instead of just 1, check out the website below!
https://people.xiph.org/~greg/attack_success.html

If you have any questions, please feel free to comment!
If you enjoyed this segment of my Beginner's Guide to CryptoCurrency, please tune in to the next one in which we discuss trading in Bitcoin Value over Fiat Currency Value!