• Bitcoin is a digital asset and a payment system. It is commonly called a decentralized digital currency.
  • It was invented by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009.
  • It is an open source software. This means, that no person, company or country owns this network just like no one owns the Internet.

1. Trading Bitcoins (Buying Bitcoins)
You can buy or sell bitcoins in the country, however, it will through an International Exchange. These exchanges allow Bitcoin transactions after proper verification of identity. You can use your Credit or Debit Card to buy them and can sell them whenever you want it. The amount can be withdrawn to your registered Bank Account. Generally, this is called a Bitcoin Wallet.

Some of them include

EX.IO
Coinbase
Zebpay (Indian Website)
Coinmama
Kraken
Unocoin (Indian Website)
Bitstamp
Bitit

2. Mining Bitcoins (Creating Your Own Bitcoins)
Yes, you can make your own money, and that too as much as you want. All you need is a proper setup, and you can start mining your own bitcoins.

Step 1. Setup (Hardware / Cloud)
You can have a setup either by yourself or get a cloud service to mine coins.

Hardware – You can use your own computer to mine coins, but you will soon run into a loss because of low producing capacity and high electricity costs. You can mine alternative cryptocurrencies like Monero, Bytecoin, DASH and others, and later convert them to Bitcoins using Cryptonator or get your own ASIC Miner like BITMAIN (which would cost you around Rs. 85,000) and start mining.

Cloud – There are mining companies around the world who offer cloud services. They are way cheaper compared to having an own physical setup. You just need to sign up and buy hashrates. They charge a one-time fee and will charge for daily maintenance and offer you a lifetime or one or two-year contract.

Genesis Mining
Hashflare.io
Hashing 24
NiceHash
GEOVIA Minex™
These websites are trustworthy, with no scam history.

Step 2. Download a Free Bitcoin Mining Software
Once you are done with the setup, get a free program used for Bitcoin Mining. There are many softwares out there, but two of the most famous are CGminer and BFGminer.

Step 3. Join a Bitcoin Mining Pool
The Bitcoin mining pools are large groups of the Bitcoin miners working together to solve a block and then you can share up the rewards. It’s a better option to share the work and split up the reward, as there are chances of earning more bitcoins.

BitMinter
CK Pool
Eligius
Slush Pool
These mining pools have fully validating blocks with Bitcoin Core 0.9.5

Step 4. Storing Bitcoins
After you mine, you need to store the bitcoins electronically. Here comes the question of security, as several exchanges worth millions have been hacked in the past. There have been bitcoin thefts due to the insecure handling of the private encryption key, so storing the mined coins is of utmost importance.

Step 5. Set Up A Wallet
You can store your Bitcoins in a Bitcoin wallet. Bitcoins are sent to you with a unique address that only belongs to the user and a Bitcoin wallet will provide security from all potential threats. You can set up your own Wallet by downloading a software client on your computer.

SpectroCoin
Kraken
Localbitcoins
Coinbase
These wallets offer premium security at nominal rates.

Step 6. Keep Yourself Updated With Bitcoin News
Only mining bitcoins won’t give profits. Keep yourself updated with daily Bitcoin news. WeUseCoins is a good source, as they have regular updates on Bitcoins.

Scope and Legality of Bitcoins in India

In India, Bitcoin is in the grey area. Currently the country has no law which says that investing or mining or earning Bitcoins is a criminal offence, however, it also does not have a legal status. Several developed nations around the world are pushing towards legalising Bitcoins, and hopefully, in future, India will too.