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This is a question many people ask when they're introduced to Bitcoin.

Bitcoin sounds interesting, but if I want to use this system I will need to get some coins, otherwise there's no way I can spend them! How can I start?

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This question is too localized (the answers will change over time), a magnet for noise in the form of affiliate link spam, and nowhere near expert level (which is what this site is supposed to be about). – HedgeMage Sep 19 '11 at 17:33
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I don't agree that answers will change over time: exchange, selling good/services, mining. As for the level, I didn't know that this website shouldn't address basic questions. Is this an elite resource? – davux Sep 19 '11 at 21:18
Simply put, beta is a time when your site is still young and fragile. Including things like this will only hurt the site by driving away experts who will see the site as "not for me", and won't help anyone because the information is already easy to find via a search engine. It's bad enough when established sites see these kinds of questions -- there they can be lost in the din of lots of content -- but they are simply poison to a young SE site still in beta. – HedgeMage Sep 20 '11 at 2:34
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It's not even dynamic: you can obtain bitcoins by charging, changing (just like any currency) or mining. This may sound obvious but everybody I've presented Bitcoin to has asked about it. – davux Nov 15 '11 at 17:46
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Reopened after this meta discussion. – D.H.♦ Jan 4 at 22:41
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4 Answers

up vote 8 down vote accepted

You can use an online exchange such as the following for US dollars

(See the wiki for a full list of ways to buy bitcoins)

As well as many others for dollars, and other currencies.

You can also use tools such as bitcoinlocator.com to find people near you who will trade cash for bitcoins, or advertise that you are buying bitcoins.

However, I believe by far the best way to get bitcoins is to provide goods and services for bitcoin. This stimulates the bitcoin economy and makes the bitcoins you receive more valuable.

Mining bitcoins is very technical, and not for many people. Unless you already have the hardware and technical skill to set it up I would not recommend mining as a way to get bitcoins.

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"By far the best way ... to provide goods and service" - best for whom? For the newcomer to bitcoin, IMO the best way for himself is to buy some. Can you edit your answer to reflect this? – ripper234 Aug 30 '11 at 22:45
I think by mentioning the exchanges first that is clear. I still believe that providing goods and services is the "best way." Thanks for the edits. – MrJoshua Aug 30 '11 at 22:58
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I still think that "best" is not well defined in your answer. You can use the term, but I think it deserves a little refinement, that's all. – ripper234 Aug 30 '11 at 23:04
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You could say I recommend you to..., in order to reflect the fact that it's a personal opinion. – davux Aug 30 '11 at 23:06
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up vote 2 down vote

This is from my answer on Money.SE:

You can set up your computer to mine for Bitcoins, you can exchange goods and services for Bitcoins, or you can purchase Bitcoins on an exchange. Some people will trade their programming or web design services for Bitcoins; others sell goods like alpaca socks in exchange for Bitcoins. The exchanges operate similarly to forex in that someone can trade say USD for Bitcoins (instead of trading USD for Euros or British pounds). According to Bitcoin Charts, the Mt. Gox exchange has by far the highest volume, but in recent months Trade Hill has gained some ground.

As for mining, computer performance matters as well as the "difficulty." The difficulty in mining fluctuates so that it becomes harder as the collective mining power increases. Mining is set up so that someone earns a block of 50 Bitcoins on average several times an hour (but this reward will decrease with time such that only 21 million are ever created). You can't ever make progress towards mining a block of 50; mining is an inherently random process. It's possible to successfully mine two blocks in short succession only to have a huge gap before successfully mining another block.

I should note that CPU mining is essentially pointless right now. On average it would take several years even for top-end CPUs to successfully mine a block. GPU mining (where the processor built into graphics cards is used) is what is popular now. Even so, it would take on average a long time to generate a block even with several GPUs. As such, many miners join mining pools where everyone shares credit when anyone successfully mines a block. This serves to decrease the variance and is will lead to a more regular flow of Bitcoins instead of long gaps followed by blocks of 50.

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Would the downvoter care to explain what was wrong with this answer? – Michael McGowan Sep 14 '11 at 16:03
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up vote 2 down vote

In the UK I used Britcoin.co.uk

It's run by an established member of the Bitcoin forums (genjix). Trading is very light in comparison to the other exchanges, but it does accept GBP via direct bank transfer.

Of course the best way to obtain Bitcoins is to earn them in exchange for goods and services. Perhaps by offering your skills on forbitcoin.com

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up vote -1 down vote

You can earn Bitcoins by

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This leaves out perhaps the most important mechanism: trading goods or services for Bitcoins! – Michael McGowan Aug 30 '11 at 22:27
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