How do I use Auroracoin?

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This is how you start
Here you will find the basic information you need to get started with Auroracoin.
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Acquire Auroracoin
Here you’ll find information about the most common ways to acquire Auroracoin.
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Get yourself a wallet
The next thing you need to get started is getting yourself a wallet. You can find most of the Auroracoin wallets here.
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Good to know
Here you’ll find useful information that you should read before you start using Auroracoin.
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Accept Auroracoin payments
General information that are useful for merchants and anyone else that want to accept Auroracoin payments.

The team

We are a international group of volunteers that are behind the current development of Auroracoin and its progress in Iceland

Craig Dellandrea

Hermann I. Finnbjörnsson

Hlynur Þór Björnsson

Jess Foddrill

Martin Jansen

Myckel Habets

Pétur Árnason

Tom Hendriks

Yan Crevier

Useful information

Here are a few links to useful information for those who are interested in knowing more about the technical aspect of Auroracoin or its community

The wallets

Here you can find wallets for most operating systems

Contact us

This is how you start

What do I need to do to use Auroracoin?

To begin with you need to get a wallet to store your Auroracoins. There are computer wallets for Windows, Mac and Linux. There are also wallets available for iPhone, iPad and Android-based smartphones and tablets. For your daily use we recommend the Hive web wallet for Apple and Android smart devices or the Coinomi mobile wallet currently available for Android devices. To store larger amounts it is recommended to use computer wallets or paper wallets. Once you have a wallet it is important that you study the security measures of that wallet. Be sure to store your passwords securely and back up your wallet.

Accept Auroracoin payments

To accept Auroracoin payments send your Auroracoin address to the buyer. In the “Receive” screen of your wallet there will typically be an address displayed or a clear method of taking a payment request which will display the address. The address is a string of letters and numbers which can be copied and sent to the buyer by various methods. For instance if you have a smart device you can can get the account number and amount to the buyer with a QR code. After the buyer has received the address it’s up to them to finish the transaction. After they have sent payment you should receive a confirmation almost instantly that the funds have been transferred.

Transfer Auroracoin

To transfer Auroracoin you need to have the recipient’s Auroracoin address. In your wallet open the “Send” tab where you will see an input field for the recipient’s address and the amount you want to transfer. If you are using a smart device you usually have the option to scan a QR code which will fill in the address for you automatically, and in some cases the amount too. After these fields have been filled you just confirm the transaction and the funds will be sent.

Acquire Auroracoin

There are four main ways to acquire Auroracoins.

You can buy Auroracoin on ISX with Icelandic Króna.
You can buy Auroracoin on Bittrex with bitcoin.
You can trade in person by connecting with someone on Skiptum
You can sell items or get paid for work in Auroracoin.
You can lend the processing power of your computer to help run the Auroracoin network by mining.

Good to know

No central command

Auroracoin isn’t owned by anyone. Think of it like email. Anyone can use it, but there isn’t a single company that controls it. Auroracoin transactions are irreversible. This means that no one, including banks or governments, can block you from sending or receiving Auroracoins with anyone else, anywhere in the world. With this freedom comes the great responsibility of not having any central authority to complain to if something goes wrong. Just like physical cash, don’t let strangers hold your Auroracoins for you, and don’t send them to untrustworthy people on the internet.

Secure your wallet

There are several different types of Auroracoin wallets, but the most important distinction is about who is in control of the private keys required to spend the Auroracoins. Some Auroracoin “wallets” actually act more like banks because they are holding the user’s private keys on his or her behalf. If you chose to use one of these services, be aware that you are completely at their mercy regarding your Auroracoin. Most wallets however allow the user to be in charge of their own private keys. This means that no one in the world can access your coins without your permission. It also means that no one can help you if you forget your password or otherwise lose access to your private keys. If you decide you want to own a lot of Auroracoin, it would be a good idea to divide them among several different wallets. As they saying goes, don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Auroracoin price

Like everything else in a free market, the price of an Auroracoin is determined by the law of supply and demand. Because the supply is limited to 21 million coins, as more people use Auroracoin the increased demand will put upward pressure on the price. Because the number of people using Auroracoin is still relatively small, the price of Auroracoin in terms of traditional currency can fluctuate significantly on a daily basis. In the future if Auroracoin becomes truly popular each single Auroracoin will have to be worth many multiples of what it is now in order to accommodate this additional demand.

Auroracoin exchanges

There are several ways to buy Auroracoin, but trusted exchanges are a great way to acquire Auroracoin. Because there are inefficiencies in the traditional banking system, exchanges will sometimes have slightly different prices. If the difference is too great, traders will buy low on one an exchange and sell high on another until the gap is closed. If an exchange constantly has substantially different prices than others, it could be a sign of trouble and that exchange should probably be avoided. As with everything else, do your research and find an exchange you can trust. It’s also a good idea not to use an exchange as a wallet. Move your Auroracoin to your personal wallet so that you have control over your funds at all times.

Auroracoin isn't completely annonymous

Because all Auroracoin transactions are stored on a public ledger known as the blockchain, people might be able to link your identity to a transaction over time. Some companies offer various tools such as Auroracoin mixers to help achieve greater privacy, but it takes a huge amount of effort to use Auroracoin completely anonymously. To improve privacy most newer Auroracoin wallets will use a new Auroracoin address each time someone sends Auroracoin to you.

Unconfirmed transactions

Auroracoin transactions are seen by the entire network within a few seconds and are usually recorded into Auroracoin’s worldwide ledger called the blockchain in the next block. While it’s possible that a transaction won’t be confirmed in the next block, in the vast majority of cases it is fine to accept a transaction as soon as it has been seen by the network. Unlike traditional payment systems, Auroracoin transactions are lightning fast and can be sent globally. Auroracoin is still relatively new, but with each passing day the technology becomes more reliable. It is more and more unlikely that a major bug will emerge in the system as time goes by, and people can trust the technology more as time goes by.

Accept Auroracoin payments

Just like other users, merchants can download an Auroracoin wallet and use it to accept payments for products and services. The Hive and Coinomi wallets can be very useful for merchants as they both can calculate the Auroracoin value of a price set in Icelandic Króna and receive payments in a simple way.

The web tool on auroracoin.tools can be useful for merchants as they can generate a QR code with both their account number and the amount they should get paid for their product or service converted from Icelandic Króna to Auroracoin.

English

Text for English speakers