HOW TO BUY BITCOIN
There are many different ways to buy bitcoins, available in almost every country in the world. From gift cards, ATMs, local merchants, brokers, exchanges: In our guide we explain how to buy bitcoins anywhere in the world.
You may have heard about the new fad that is sweeping: bitcoin. The future of money, the payment revolution, digital gold, the killer of capital controls, the holy grail of Fintech. I'm sure he wants to learn more about it now. The best way to learn is to try it. Buy a bitcoin, pay with it, store it in your digital wallet, watch your price rise or fall. But where can you buy it? And how?
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For many people, the first purchase of a bitcoin is a scary process. It seems very complicated. But it really is not. There are a lot of options to buy your first bitcoin in an easy, fast and convenient way.
Which one is best depends on your country and your preferences? In order to find the perfect method to buy your first bitcoin, you must first consider several factors:
How much private information are you willing to disclose? How would you like to pay? Where do you live? With these factors in mind, you can easily decide which platform best suits your needs. This guide begins by explaining what options you have for revealing private information (or not disclosing it) and what payment channels you can use.
Here we present the most common methods to buy bitcoin as well as an overview of several platforms in several countries. Private information Bitcoin is a financial tool, and therefore subject to financial regulation in most jurisdictions.
Almost everywhere, anti-money laundering regulations apply to platforms that sell bitcoins or allow their users to buy and sell the cryptocurrency. Most of these platforms have to adopt Know Your Customer (KYC) regulations in order to verify the identity of their users.
Since bitcoin transactions are publicly visible in the blockchain and can be tracked, the amount of private information you provide when buying bitcoins can have important implications for your privacy. There are different types of identification rules, and each of them requires you to provide a different amount of information. The following list begins with the one that requires less information:
Without identification: This means that the platform or the bitcoin vendor does not know who you are. You do not have to show an identity document and you pay with a private means of payment such as cash, Moneygram, Paysafecard or Western Union.
Buying bitcoin through this type of identification is possible in some jurisdictions - for example, in P2P markets such as LocalBitcoins, ATMs or gift cards - but it is generally more expensive than other options. Simplified identification: with this type of identification your identity is verified through your payment channel and / or your telephone number. If you pay with your bank account, PayPal, credit card or other common means of payment, payment providers will have access to your identity.
On most platforms, whether they are direct exchanges, exchange platforms or markets, this type of identification allows you to buy a limited amount of bitcoins. Complete identification: In addition to verifying your identity with your telephone number and your bank account, this type of identification means that you provide documents that prove your identity.
These can be a passport, an identity card, a driver's license, a utility bill or a combination of all this. Some platforms require you to provide an approval of your identity documents by a notary or a trusted third party such as your bank; Some people find it enough to send a photo in which their identity card appears or simply participate in an identification process through video. If you want to invest large amounts of money or operate in exchanges, the only possible way is usually through full identification.
Payment Bitcoin is money, but to buy bitcoins you need to send money to someone else. The more advanced your country's financial system is, the easier it will be for you to exchange your money for bitcoins.
The change for traditional money is the biggest obstacle in the flow of bitcoin trade. If you use a slow and expensive payment channel, your bitcoin acquisition will be slow and expensive. If you use a fast channel, you can buy bitcoins fluently. This is an incomplete list of the most common ways to buy bitcoins: Bank transfer: Basically you will have to send the money to the seller and get your bitcoins when the payment has been processed. In most countries, the process takes between one and three days. Almost all major exchange platforms only accept bank transfers. Credit card: This is one of the most common payment methods. Unfortunately, only a few direct providers of bitcoins accept credit cards. This is because the transaction in the blockchain system can not be undone, while the transactions of the credit cards can. This translates into a possible loss for the seller.
In addition, there is a risk that someone will buy bitcoins with a stolen card. PayPal: Some platforms accept PayPal, but most reject it for the same problems as credit cards: transactions with PayPal can be easily undone, which means that the seller could lose his money once he has transferred the bitcoins to the portfolio of the buyer.
This is the reason why eBay is not the best place to buy bitcoins. But, as with credit cards, some platforms accept PayPal. Other payment channels (Sofort, iDeal, Skrill ...): There is a large number of payment operators. There are dozens of them in the EU alone. Many direct exchanges accept a large number of them. If you use a common provider, in Germany Sofort, in the Netherlands iDeal and so on, it is quite possible that your country's platform accepts this means of payment. Private payment channels (cash, Western Union, Paysafecard, etc.): Most commercial platforms do not accept these means of payment.
However, you probably have more luck in the P2P markets. Another good option is the bitcoins ATMs, which allow you to buy the cryptocurrency with cash. Different ways to buy bitcoin Now we are about to buy our first bitcoins. In this part of our guide we present several common models that allow you to exchange cash for bitcoins.
Each model has its advantages and disadvantages: ATM: Perhaps it is the easiest and most private method of acquiring bitcoins. Some companies such as Lamassu manufacture ATMs for bitcoins, where you can buy the cryptocurrency with cash. If the operators of these machines wish, they can apply some identification rules, from verification by mobile phone to biometric methods. In Coin-ATM-Radar.com you will find an international map of these ATMs.
In addition, in some countries you can buy bitcoins in conventional bank tellers - such as in Switzerland, Ukraine or Spain. ATMs charge a fairly high commission of 3-6% or even more. Gift Cards / Vouchers: This is another easy method to buy bitcoins. You just have to go to a kiosk or store, buy a gift card or a voucher, visit a website and use the card code to buy bitcoins.
This method is used, for example, in Austria, Mexico and South Korea. As with ATMs, gift cards usually charge quite high commissions. Interchanges / direct commercial intermediaries: These sellers are like the airports exchange offices, but digital. They buy bitcoins in an exchange and sell them to customers. You visit a website, choose your means of payment, pay and get bitcoins paying the prices established by the platform. For most of these platforms you need your own portfolio, while some, for example, Coinbase and Circle, give you the option to save and spend the bitcoins with a portfolio that they provide.
Since you can use a wide variety of payment channels, including credit cards and PayPal, these platforms could be the fastest and easiest way for new users to buy their first bitcoins. The rates of direct commercial exchanges vary between 1 and 5%. Some of them get their benefits through the spread between buying and selling. Most of them charge additional fees for some means of payment such as credit cards. P2P Markets: In the P2P markets the buyers and sellers of bitcoin meet and trade with each other.