Because a lot of people where having the same questions in the Slack #support channel, I decided to collect them in this document.
The best place to get PIVX is BITTREX.
PIVX is the name of the currency, and PIV is the amount. Most Exchanges use PIVX for both though.
PIVX is a "code fork" of dash. There was no "hard fork" where the chain has split. If you want to know the differences between PIVX and DASH, please visit pivx.org.
In contrary to bitcoin, which is Proof Of Work (POW), PIVX is Proof Of Stake (POS). Instead of using a lot of CPU power to create new coins, new PIV is created by having it and staking it. It can be compared to receiving interest on your savings account.
Crypto Lanka has made a great youtube series about that. Have a look at part 1, part 2 and part 3.
Encrypting your wallet is a great idea to prevent other people using your computer to steal your money or your
wallet.dat file. Please don't forget the encryption password. If you lose it,
you can't access your funds.
The most important thing in cryptocurrencies is backing up your wallet data! Always keep backups in multiple places so your money is safe when somebody steals your computer or your house burns down.
That being said, There are two ways to backup your wallet. And you probably should do both.
Method 1 - Backup wallet.dat.
wallet.dat file and save it on a usb stick in a secure location. Remember: if your
wallet is unencrypted and it gets stolen, your PIV is not safe! You can backup the
pivx.conf file as well.
Method 2 - Backup your private keys.
You can find how to backup your private keys here. If you have
used the masternode genkey command, remember to backup that private key as well. It is good
practice
to print the private key and put it in a secure and external location. NEVER GIVE ANYONE YOUR PRIVATE KEYS.
You can find your wallet in the following directory:
- Windows: %APPDATA%\PIVX\
- Linux: ~/.pivx/
- Mac: ~/Library/Application\ Support/PIVX/
You can speed up syncing by downloading a backup of the blockchain:
wallet.dat AND pivx.conf FILES ON AN EXTERNAL DRIVE AND KEEP IT IN
A SAFE LOCATION
Any problems with crashing wallets, or corrupted blockchains: Follow the steps in 'Syncing is taking forever' to resync your blockchain.
Follow the steps here. It's for setting up two masternodes, but you can also use it to setup one. There is also a great video here.
A masternode costs 10.000 PIV. You can see how much you earn here.
PIVX uses port 51470. Be sure to let your firewall only accept that port. If you use SSH, make sure only your IP address can connect to the server.
You can compare staking with bitcoin mining, but instead of using cpu power, you use your PIV to gain interest. The more PIV you have, the more often you will earn a 'stake'.
It depends. At the time of writing you get about 1 stake per 14 days if you have 1000 PIV in your wallet, and 1 stake per 1-2 days if you have 10.000 PIV in your wallet. The stake earnings are shown on this site.
If you have a substantial amount of PIV, you should stake. It's safe and you get free PIV! You only have to run your computer/server for 24/7 (it can be offline about 50 minutes per day for updates/reboots). Staking is enabled by default.
No, that's not necessary, after 101 confirmations it will be added to your staking amount.
It could be a couple of things. Make sure your added funds have 101 confirmations. Make sure your wallet is unlocked for staking, and make sure your wallet has more than 1 active peers (see the icons in the bottem right). If staking works, the arrow in the bottem right will turn green.
If this FAQ didn't answer your question. Please find us at pivx.slack.com.
There is a special #support channel where we will answer all your questions!
This is an unofficial PIVX Frequently Asked Questions page made by me @zanydu. If you want to
contribute
to this page, please contact me in the PIVX Slack or create a pull request at Github.