How to buy Bitcoin

Powered by blockchain technology, Bitcoin features a decentralized ledger, which is immutable. That means if you upload something, no one can change, delete, or falsify it. Users from all over the world support Bitcoin’s network by mining the cryptocurrency. The coin has neither a central bank nor a central authority behind its back.

When Bitcoin’s creator, the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto, has created the coin, it was worth less than $0.10. In 2010, someone even spent 10,000 BTC to order to pizzas. As Bitcoin’s price surged up to even $20,000, that person would be a millionaire today. And many people have become millionaires for just investing in the coin. That’s why Bitcoin has become a hot asset among traders and investors.

As more people have become interested in the cryptocurrency, an increasing number of brokers and exchanges started offering Bitcoin trading pairs. However, as you can buy Bitcoin from a vast amount of services, it is extremely hard to choose the best platform. You would ask this question to yourself: where to buy Bitcoin? But that’s why we are here: to guide you through your journey of buying your first Bitcoin. We have screened many services on the Bitcoin market and selected you the best of the best to buy BTC from. In addition to comparing the brokers, we will show you step-by-step how to purchase Bitcoin on each platform.

How to create a Bitcoin Wallet

The China-established and now Malta-based Bitcoin exchange Binance has become one of the most popular crypto-to-crypto exchange platforms on the Bitcoin market. It’s a great choice if you have coins you want to convert to Bitcoin. Binance supports plenty of cryptocurrencies with four base currencies (Bitcoin, BNB, Ethereum, USD-pegged stablecoins).

Signing up for an account on Binance is easy. We’ve left out the verification process from our step-by-step guide since the Bitcoin converter has high limits (maximum withdrawal of 10 BTC per day) that are sufficient for most traders and investors.

Step 1: Registration

To register an account on Binance, you only need an email address. Fill in the form with your email, your desired password, and referral ID (if you have one) and proceed to create your account. For your first login, you have to check your inbox to verify your email.

Step 2: 2-Factor Authentication (2FA)

As you need a crypto wallet to trade Bitcoin on Binance, you have to take extra security measures to protect your funds. One of the best options is to set up 2FA. You can use either Google Authenticator or your phone number to set 2-factor authentication on your account. If you choose the first option, you should download Google Authenticator on your smartphone (it’s free on both Android and iOS). In case you use your phone number, Binance will send you a text message every time you want to login to your account.

Step 3: Deposit funds

After you are ready with setting up 2FA, continue with depositing funds to your account. Check the top bar on the page and click “Deposits” under the “Funds” tab. Choose the cryptocurrency you want to deposit. You’ll see an address on the page, which you need to use to send coins to your Binance account. You can also use the QR code if you have a mobile wallet. Be sure to double or triple-check whether the address you are sending coins too is correct.

Step 4: Buying

If you have funds on your account, you can now start trading. Select your trading pair from the list to buy Bitcoin. You’ll see a chart and options to buy BTC under that. You can choose between limit, market, and stop-limit orders. If you want to execute a short trade, choose the stop-limit order as it will automatically execute your trade if a certain Bitcoin price is reached. In case you seek to simply buy Bitcoin, choose between limit and market orders. The market order is the quickest option, but it won’t provide you with the best Bitcoin exchange rate. On the flip side, the limit order will allow you to give your Bitcoin rate, in which you want to execute the trade. When you are done, execute the trade.

Coinbase is a cryptocurrency exchange based in San Francisco, the United States. While the service does not support just only a handful of coins (Bitcoin is included), the company makes the buying process as easy as possible. Being present in 32 countries, Coinbase has one of the lowest fees for credit card payments among all cryptocurrency exchanges (brokers are not included though). The easy-to-use and newbie-friendly platform of the exchange serves the customers with a flawless, user-friendly experience.

Step 1: Registration

To use Coinbase to buy Bitcoin, you first have to create an account at the service. Do that by heading to the homepage of the cryptocurrency exchange. While there, you’ll find the “Get started” button in the top right corner of the page. Click it and fill out the form with your name, email, and password. Don’t forget to specify that you are a using the account for individual or business purposes (you can choose between the two options on the top of the form). When you are ready, tick that you are not a robot and that you are over 18 years, as well as you, agree with the service’s User Agreement and Privacy Policy.

Step 2: Verification

Now, as your account is created, it’s time to verify it in order to raise your limits. You can do that by heading to “Account Levels” inside “Settings.” If you are on the aforementioned page, you’ll see your current limits and two levels. While the first level requires only a phone number and photo ID verification from you, you’ll have to provide additional personal information for the second level – that allows you unlimited trading on the cryptocurrency exchange’s platform.

Now, let’s get your account to level one first. Provide your phone number, then verify it via typing in the code Coinbase sends you via text message. Then take a clear photo of a document that the exchange accepts for verifying your identity. When you are ready, complete the form by sending the document to the cryptocurrency exchange. Wait until they verify your document and proceed by either setting up 2FA or by completing level 2 verification (and proceeding to 2FA thereafter).

Step 3: 2-Factor Authentication (2FA)

As a reminder; since you are using a cryptocurrency exchange to buy Bitcoin, you need to set up 2-factor authentication (2FA) to protect your funds from potential attackers and other malicious parties. To set up 2FA, head to the “Security” tab inside “Settings” where you’ll find a section with 2-factor authentication settings. Click “Enable Authenticator” and type in the code that you’ve just received from the cryptocurrency exchange via text message. You also have additional settings, which you can set to get a text message if a certain activity – like moving any amounts of digital currency or over 1.2 BTC – occurs on your account. We recommend you to choose the first option – to require a 2FA verification every time there’s digital currency movement on your account.

Step 4: Buying

Now, to buy Bitcoin on Coinbase, you need to head to the “Buy/Sell” tab. Choose Bitcoin from the list of cryptocurrencies and select your payment method. In this tutorial, we are guiding you through credit card payments. However, if you wish to buy BTC via bank transfer, you need to initiate a transaction from your bank account first to deposit funds into your Coinbase account.

If you have not yet added your credit or debit card to your Coinbase account, you can do that by clicking “Add a new account,” selecting credit card, then filling out the form with your payment information. When you are ready, choose the amount of BTC you want to buy, then execute the trade.

Plus500 is a CFD broker registered in Israel. The company’s platform is considered for traders and investors as it is authorized to operate in most countries all over the world, registered with top-tier regulators, such as the UK’s FCA. Moreover, Plus500 is listed on a stock exchange and discloses its financials transparently.

Similarly to eToro, Plus500 is also offering Bitcoin CFDs without the need to hold your BTC on a cryptocurrency wallet. Let’s look into this with our step-by-step guide on how to buy BTC on Plus500.

Step 1: Registration

Registering an account on Plus500 is as easy as it is at eToro. Select whether you want to trade with a demo account or real funds (in this case, select the latter) and continue with typing your details in the required fields. Google+ and Facebook are also accepted here for faster account creation. After you are ready, click “Create Account.”

Step 2: Verification

Before you can buy or sell anything on the platform, you have to verify both your identity and address. Upload the documents and don’t forget to verify your email address and phone number too. You also need to fill in a questionnaire (it is required by law for some brokers).

Step 3: Deposit Funds

The next step is to deposit funds to your account. Plus500 accepts credit and debit cards, PayPal, Skrill, and bank transfers as payment methods. The good news is that the company does not charge any fee for account deposits. Use the menu and head to the deposit tab. Select how you want to pay and the amount, then proceed to the next step.

Step 4: Buying

It’s time to trade Bitcoin! Use the search bar on the top of the page to find the BTC to USD trading pair. Select whether you want to buy or sell (buy in this case) as well as the amount of BTC you want to trade, and execute the trade.

Changelly is a near-instant cryptocurrency exchange that features reasonable prices (compared to its competitors). The BTC exchange supports a huge amount of cryptocurrencies and features an easy-to-use platform with a nice, user-friendly design. If you are looking for one of the fastest ways to exchange crypto to another coin or buy Bitcoin with fiat, Changelly is a good choice.

As Changelly accepts credit cards and bank transfers for Bitcoin purchases, we’ll go with buying BTC from this exchange. We’ll also leave out the verification part of this guide as it is not needed for trading a normal amount of funds. There’s no need for a deposit as the platform uses near-instant transactions.

Step 1: Registration

Let’s start with registering an account on Changelly. Just enter your email address and click the green button at the bottom of the form. You can use Google+, Facebook, and Twitter for faster account creation.

Step 2: Verification

As Changelly only asks for your email (or social accounts), you need to verify that before you can start trading. Check your inbox for a message from the service provider and click the link inside to verify your email address. Upon verifying, Changelly will send you another email with your login credentials inside. Use that to login to your account. It is advised to change the password to one that you’ll remember (while being also secure).

Step 3: 2-Factor Authentication (2FA)

For your own security, it is important to set up 2FA at Changelly. Head to “Account,” then “Settings,” and proceed with setting up 2-factor authentication for your account via Google Authenticator. You’ll find the links for iOS and Android in the 2FA section within your Changelly account.

Step 4: Buying

One the homepage, select the fiat currency (in this case we will use credit card payment) you want to use to buy BTC and the amount of Bitcoin you want to purchase. When you are done, copy and paste your Bitcoin wallet’s address. Be sure to double or triple-check whether the address you just pasted in the field is correct. On the next screen, you have to fill in the form with your credit card’s details. After you are done, the payment will be initiated. Your funds are expected to arrive between 10 and 30 minutes, according to Changelly.

To buy Bitcoin anonymously, you have to either use a service that does not require the following from their customers:

No, Bitcoin is certainly NOT a scam. We – along with millions of cryptocurrency enthusiasts and numerous traders and investors – can confirm that. These people use the coin in their everyday lives to either pay with it, invest, trade, or just simply hold BTC.

This is a question you have to answer. But before that, you have to first determine multiple factors.

Firstly and most importantly, your financial situation. Can you afford to invest in a relatively high-risk asset?

Secondly, are you comfortable with investing in Bitcoin that could go up 10% in an hour and down by the same percentage in the other?

If you have the money and you are willing to take risks in the hope of higher returns, then your next step should be to choose the best exchange where you can buy Bitcoin.