Hello everyone!  I mentioned yesterday how I was going to build a guide to show you how to start mining and saving up Dogecoin, and I apologize for not posting it yesterday.  It was a longgggg day at work and after my workout at home I was thoroughly wiped.  So after sitting and thinking on the idea, I decided to split it up into multiple posts across multiple days.  Today I will bring you step 1: Getting A Wallet!  To the moon!

Without further delay, here’s what you need to do:

1. Navigate to Dogecoin‘s website in a web browser.
2. Click on the brand of OS you are using in the “Start Using Dogecoin Today:” section.  This will download the wallet installer application which will generate the necessary private and public keys (more on this later).
3. Wait for the download to finish, then launch the installer.  During the installation you can select all the defaults, it’s fine.
4. Run the Dogecoin application.  It will look like this, or similar (the number may be different as it’s the version number): 
5. Now wait, the wallet application has to catch up in the block chain.  The way crypto/digital currency works is that all machines have records of all transactions that have occurred.  In this picture you can see we are MANY weeks behind.  Just let it sit there until you have a green check mark in the bottom right.
6. Once the wallet is all caught up, there are two mandatory steps (not really mandatory, but HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!):
   1. Click Settings, then click Encrypt Wallet.  Enter a pass phrase at least 20 characters long.  DO NOT LOSE THIS PASS PHRASE.  IF YOU LOSE IT, YOU LOSE CONTROL OF YOUR WALLET AND WON’T BE ABLE TO SEND COINS ANYWHERE!
   2. Click File, then click Backup Wallet.  Save the wallet data .dat file somewhere secure.  If you ever have to rebuild your machine you MUST HAVE the wallet data .dat file or you will lose all your coins to the great bit graveyard.  Many sad.
7. Now you need to make an address so that people can send coins to you.  Click the “Much Receive” tab and then click “New Address”. Enter a name for the address in the Label field, and click OK.  You should have to enter your pass phrase to continue. Hint: If you post your wallet address here, I will send you a few coins to get you started and verify that you’re all setup. 🙂
8. Congratulations, you now have a wallet, albeit an empty wallet.

Stay tuned, sometime over the next few days I will make a post about how to start mining the simple way: CPU mining in a pool.  Follow up will be accelerated GPU mining in a pool.

I heavily recommend you mine in a pool.  Solo mining is not really worth it, unless you have a LOT of hardware on hand.  The pool I use is Coinium, and it’s a great little place with fairly regular block discoveries and good pay.

Good luck, newbie Shibe!

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