Lite.IM Is the Easiest Way to Buy and Use Bitcoin. Here’s How It Works.

Zulu Republic Team
Zulu Republic
Published in
5 min readJan 26, 2019

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are putting people back in control of their money, all over the globe. But buying and using them isn’t always as easy as it could be, discouraging many people from getting on board.

That’s where Lite.IM comes in. Wouldn’t it be great to have a secure Bitcoin wallet that’s dead simple to use and gives you access to your funds wherever you go?

Here’s the easiest way to get just that.

Note: This walkthrough highlights how to use Lite.IM on a mobile device, but you can also access the service on your computer via Facebook (by clicking “send message” on the Lite.im page) and Telegram (Mac/PC/Web Browser Version). The process described below is the same for Bitcoin as it is for Litecoin(LTC), Ether (ETH, aka Ethereum) and ZTX*

Step 1: Choose an app

Lite.IM works on multiple different messaging apps, and you can choose which one (or more than one) you prefer to use. Currently, you can use Lite.IM with Facebook Messenger, Telegram, or with regular SMS text messages if you have a U.S. or Canadian mobile phone number.

Step 2: Message the Lite.IM bot on your chosen app

Now it’s time to set up your account by sending any message to our automated bot on your app of choice:

Facebook Messenger: To get started on Facebook Messenger, you can click here or search for “Lite.im” in your Messenger app:

Finding Lite.IM on Messenger and starting the conversation

Telegram: To get started on Telegram, click here and send a message (username @LiteIM_bot).

SMS Text Message: To use Lite.IM with standard SMS text messages, just send any text to 760-LITEIM-0 [760–548–3460].

Step 3: Follow the automated instructions to set up your account

Once you’ve started the conversation with the Lite.IM bot on your app of choice, using Lite.IM is as easy as following the instructions presented by bot.

If you’re using Lite.IM with Facebook Messenger or Telegram, you’ll be presented with menu options that you can tap on. With SMS, on the other hand, each menu option has a corresponding numerical shortcut that you can text to the bot:

Tappable menu options on Messenger (top left) and Telegram (top right). Numerical shortcuts via SMS for registering (bottom left) and choosing your language (bottom right).

From here, simply follow the automated instructions to begin registration, select your language, enter your email address, and enter your phone number.

When entering your phone number, be sure to use the international format, which includes the plus sign “+” followed by your country code and phone number (example: +17185555555).

After entering your phone number, you’ll receive a text message with a confirmation code that you’ll need to submit to the bot on the app you’re using to register.

Next, you’ll choose a secure password. This will open up a secure password window, which protects your password from being seen by third parties (i.e. Facebook). Once you enter your password, return to the chat.

At this point, your wallet has been successfully created, and the bot provides you with your wallet addresses for each supported currency. This long string of random-looking letters is the address where you receive cryptocurrency (ZTX uses the same address as ETH). You can access your wallet addresses at any time from Lite.IM in both character form and as a QR code, but you may want to save them somewhere now for you to reference later.

To start using your Lite.IM wallet, tap “Let’s Begin” and you’ll see a list of available commands. By tapping on these commands you can, send, receive, and buy cryptocurrency, as well as check your balance. By tapping “More” on Telegram or swiping left on Messenger, you get an additional list of commands for functions like checking your list of transactions, exporting your wallet, and a settings button, where you can change your password, email address, or language.

Buying

Tap “Buy” and choose the currency you want to purchase. The bot will ask you if you prefer to write your purchase amount in USD ($) or cryptocurrency. Currently, the minimum purchase amount is $50 USD equivalent. Select an option and text the amount you want to buy. Next, click “Checkout” to begin the payment process. This will open a new secure window, where you’ll see the cryptocurrency/Dollar equivalent conversion rate.

Purchasing process on Facebook Messenger, starting at the top left.

Click purchase. You’ll then be taken to our payments processing partner, Simplex, where you can finish the checkout process.

And you’ve just purchased cryptocurrency via chat! Upon successful completion of your payment and settlement on the blockchain, your BTC will be deposited in your Lite.IM wallet.

Receiving

To send funds to your Lite.IM wallet from another wallet you own or receive a payment from someone else, select “Receive” from the main menu, choose which currency you want to receive, and whether you’d like to reveal your wallet address, a QR code, or your registered email address.

Receiving process on Facebook Messenger.

With your wallet address or QR code, you can receive cryptocurrency from any wallet, while your email address can only be used to receive from other Lite.IM accounts.

Sending

Once you’ve funded your wallet by purchasing cryptocurrency or by sending some from another wallet, you can send it using the “Send” function from the main menu. You’ll have the option of sending it to a wallet address or to an email address or phone number in the case that the recipient has a Lite.IM account.

That’s it! These are the main functions of Lite.IM, easily carried out by following the simple automated instructions in your favorite messaging app.

But stay tuned for future updates! We’ve got tons of new features planned for Lite.IM, including support for the world’s most popular messaging app, WhatsApp. That means an additional 1.5 billion users will have access to quickly and easily purchase and manage cryptocurrency.

Keep following us here and on Twitter for all the latest updates.

*ZTX is the native cryptocurrency of Zulu Republic. Currently, it is not available for purchase within Lite.IM but can be transacted just like every other cryptocurrency. When sending and receiving ZTX, use your ETH wallet address.

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