How to buy Bitcoin Cash in 5 Minutes

If you were carefully checking Bitcoin Cash news, this wouldn’t be new to you. The birth of the coin dates back to August 2017 when a debate between two developer teams resulted in the creation of Bitcoin Cash. The first group – the ones who had stuck with the original Bitcoin (BTC) – argued that they have to implement off-chain solutions to improve the scalability of the network. On the flip side, Bitcoin Cash supporters wanted to upgrade the network by an on-chain method (increasing the block size limit). As the community could not discuss this debate properly, it resulted in the BTC blockchain splitting in two on August 1, 2017: Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.

In November 2018, a proposed upgrade of the BCH network split the community in two: Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV (Satoshi’s Vision). Although two cryptocurrencies were created from one coin, Bitcoin Cash managed to keep its place in the top 10 digital currencies.
Many traders, investors, and crypto enthusiasts made good profits from Bitcoin Cash. In 2017, the coin managed to climb up to over $4,000 from $500 in less than two months.

The disagreements within the community did not change the fact that Bitcoin Cash is still a hot asset. Most of the services that allow users to buy Bitcoin also offer BCH trading too. Now, the question stands: where to buy Bitcoin Cash? In this guide, we’ll show you how to buy Bitcoin Cash using brokers and exchanges, comparing the different service providers as well as the payment methods.

Please note that due to the November 2018 Bitcoin Cash chain split, BCH is sometimes abbreviated as “BCHABC” or named “Bitcoin Cash ABC” on some exchanges and brokers.

How to create a Bitcoin Cash Wallet

Binance CEO Zhao Changpeng co-founded the BCH exchange in 2017 with the company’s CMO, Yi He. Firstly, the exchange was headquartered in China. However, after the cryptocurrency ban in 2017, Binance has moved its operations to Japan and Malta. The company features a crypto to crypto exchange with a wide variety of coins and four base currencies (BNB, stablecoins, BTC, ETH). You can choose between two trading views (basic, advanced) to trade Bitcoin Cash on Binance.

Now, you know the upsides and downsides of the exchange. Let’s continue with our step-by-step guide on how to buy BCH on Binance. We modified the steps in this guide, leaving out the verification part as Binance has high limits (a daily limit of 10 BTC for withdrawals), which will be sufficient for normal trading. We replaced the verification step with a security measure (2FA).

Step 1: Registration

Creating an account on Binance is easy.

If you prefer anonymity or semi-anonymity, Binance is a good choice as the exchange will only ask for your email address.

Click “Register” on the home page and proceed with creating your account.

After you opened your account, don’t forget to check your inbox and verify your email.

Step 2: 2-factor authentication (2FA)

Setting up 2FA is essential to protect your account from attackers.

After your first login, Binance will ask you to set this security measure up.

Do that by either using your phone number (the Bitcoin Cash converter will send a text message every time you log in) or Google Authenticator.

Please don’t proceed to the next step without setting up 2FA.

Step 3: Deposit

After your account is secured via 2FA, it’s time to continue with depositing funds.

Please note that Binance only accepts cryptocurrency deposits. Therefore, you need to own coins before you can start trading on the exchange as the Bitcoin Cash exchange does not accept fiat deposits.

Head to the “Deposits” tab under “Funds,” choose your desired cryptocurrency, and send funds to the address shown on the page.

Make sure to double and triple check the wallet address before sending funds to avoid any mistakes.

Step 4: Buying

You can start trading as soon as your coins have arrived at Binance. If you have deposited any of the four base currencies (BNB, BTC, ETH, USDT), select Bitcoin Cash from the list under your base currency as well as the amount of BCH you want to buy, and execute the trade.

In case you added a cryptocurrency that’s not a base currency, you have to exchange it to a base currency on the platform before you can buy Bitcoin Cash.

Fortunately, Bitcoin Cash is one of the handful of coins that are supported by the San Francisco-based cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase. Hooray! So, you are able to trade BCH on the crypto exchange’s newbie and user-friendly platform. Among all of the major cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase has one of the lowest credit card processing fees (about 1.5%), and using this payment method is really easy as well as convenient on the service.

Step 1: Registration

So, as the first step of our Coinbase tutorial, let’s create an account at the service. Head to the official website of the cryptocurrency exchange. When you are there, you’ll find a button stating “Get Started” in the top right corner of the page. Click it, and the site will take you to a page where you have to fill out a form with your first and last names, email address, and desired password. Don’t forget to tick that you are not a robot as well as you have accepted the terms and conditions and privacy policy of the service (and that you confirm that you are above the age of 18). When you are ready, click “Create Account” at the bottom of the form and proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Verification

As Coinbase is operating in the US, the cryptocurrency exchange is subject to strict regulations that require the company to request Know Your Customer (KYC) documents from its customers. Therefore, you need to raise your account limits by verifying your phone number and identity before you can proceed to buy Bitcoin Cash.

To verify your account, head to the “Account Levels” tab under “Settings.” The verification page will show your current account limits and what is left of those limits as well as different features that are either enabled or disabled for your account. When you are on this page, you’ll see that there are two levels. While the first will raise your limits that will allow you to buy Bitcoin Cash on the platform, you will need to complete level two to have access to unlimited buying and selling on the service. Level one will need you your phone number and a photo ID, while the next level will require you to provide additional personal information to the operators of the cryptocurrency exchange.

Now, let’s verify your phone number – by typing in the code that the exchange has texted you in the related fields – and your identity. For the latter, crypto exchanges typically accept government ID, driver’s license, and passport. Take a clear photo of either document and submit it to Coinbase. Wait for a while until the team verifies your document and either proceed to the next step or complete verification for level two.

Step 3: 2-factor authentication (2FA)

As you are planning to hold Bitcoin Cash (at least for a while) in a cryptocurrency wallet, it is essential to turn on 2-factor authentication (2FA). Fortunately, Coinbase supports 2FA in the form of text messages. Every time you log into your account, you’ll get a code from the company, which you have to type in the related fields. Also, Coinbase has an option to set a certain amount – like 1.2 BTC. If that’s reached, 2FA will be activated.

To set up 2FA on your Coinbase account, navigate to the “Security” tab inside “Settings.” You’ll find a section about 2-factor authentication. Click the blue button stating “Enable Authenticator.” Also, we recommend you to choose the setting in which a verification code will be sent to your phone if any amount of digital currency is moved.

Step 4: Buying

Now, it’s time to buy some Bitcoin Cash. Please note that we are using credit card as the payment method in this tutorial. This method does not require you to funds your account with money before you can trade as the credit card transactions will be processed almost instantly. However, if you wish to credit your account with fiat via bank transfer, you need to first wait for the deposit to arrive before you can buy BCH.

Head to the “Buy/Sell” tab where you’ll see a list of cryptocurrencies. Firstly, choose BCH from the list. Now, you need to proceed by adding your credit card as the payment method you will use to buy Bitcoin Cash on Coinbase. When you are done with that, select the amount of BCH you want to purchase on the cryptocurrency exchange. Then finish the process by executing the trade.

Changelly is a cryptocurrency exchange that features near-instant transfers with reasonable fees. Unlike at brokers, such as eToro and Plus500, you need a cryptocurrency wallet to buy Bitcoin Cash on the exchange. While you can’t sell coins for fiat, the service accepts credit card payments on its platform (though they will cost you a lot).

At Changelly, the deposit process is completely left out (one of the reasons for the fast transaction times). Moreover, for trading normal amounts of coins, you don’t need to verify your account, so we’ve left out that step from the guide. Let’s focus on setting up 2FA instead.

Step 1: Register

You only need an email address to register an account on Changelly.

Click the “Join” button in the top right corner of the page, fill in the details with your email and desired password and continue to the next step.

You can use Google+, Facebook, and Twitter to register an account faster.

Step 2 2-factor authentication (2FA)

The next step is to set up 2FA on your account.

Changelly accepts Google Authenticator, which you can download to either iOS or Android using the links inside your account’s settings tab.

Download the app and set 2FA up for your own security, then proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Buying

On the home page of the website, you’ll find a converter.

Choose Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHABC) and the fiat currency you want to use to buy BCH.

Set the amount of Bitcoin Cash you want to purchase.

After that, you need to provide your credit or debit card details to initiate the trade.

Plus500 is a CFD broker founded in 2008. With its headquarters in Israel, the company is regulated in many countries, including the UK and Cyprus. Plus500 is listed on the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange, which gives users on the platform additional safety. The service features an easy-to-use platform with low spreads and a fast, fully digital account creation process.

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Plus500 is a broker that offers Bitcoin Cash trading via CFDs. Therefore, you don’t need a BCH wallet to execute crypto trades on the platform. Let us show how you can do that with our step-by-step guide below.

Step 1: Register

Firstly, navigate to Plus500’s website and register an account. To do that, click the “Start Trading Now” button and fill in the form with your details. Plus500 accepts integrations with your Google+, and Facebook accounts for a faster sign up process.

Step 2: Verification

Once you have signed up, it’s time to verify your account. To start, fill in the questionnaire and verify your email account as well as your phone number. Upload clear images of the documents required to verify your identity and address. Continue with proceeding to the next step.

Step 3: Deposit

Such as eToro, Plus500 accepts multiple payment methods for deposits, and the whole process is free of charge. Choose “Deposit” from the menu in the top left part of the page, choose your desired payment method (credit card and PayPal payments are accepted) and the amount of funds you want to send to your account.

Step 4: Buying

After your funds have arrived on your account, you can start trading Bitcoin Cash. Search for Bitcoin Cash ABC (the coin is named like this on Plus500) and choose whether you want to buy or sell the cryptocurrency. Then select the amount of coin you want to trade for BCH to USD to finish the process.

While many of the properties of Bitcoin Cash are based on the protocol of the Bitcoin blockchain, there are some major differences between the two cryptocurrencies. When comparing Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash, the most important factor to consider is the block size limit of the two coins. But first, let us explain to you what the block size limit is. The block size limit restricts the maximum size of transactions that can be processed by a cryptocurrency’s network in each second. This setting was first introduced by Bitcoin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto to prevent malicious parties from attacking the network of the coin. However, as the cryptocurrency’s system has been upgraded (including Bitcoin Cash’s network), this problem has been fixed. So, there’s no need to keep the initial 1 MB block size limit to protect the network from hackers. As the block size limit is restricting the number of transactions processed in each minute, it means that miners are allowed to process only a certain number of transactions. If the transactions reach the limit, the ones that are beyond the limit are put into the mempool for the miners to process them at a later time. If many users are active in the system, that could lead to a congested network. The result of that could be higher fees and slower transaction processing times. So, how is the block size limit related to the Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash debate and the two cryptocurrencies? Because this was the reason why BCH was born in August 2017. During a long debate on the scaling issues of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency’s community has been divided into two camps. The first one supported a decision in which Bitcoin’s network would be upgraded by increasing the block size limit. On the other hand, others have denied this solution and proposed upgrades that would solve Bitcoin’s scaling issues via lowering the size of the transactions via a feature called SegWit that could lead to additional upgrades via the Lightning Network (a network featuring off-chain transactions). As neither parties could agree on one joint solution, the Bitcoin blockchain has split. SegWit and Lightning Network supporters stayed with BTC, while the others went with creating Bitcoin Cash that featured an initial block size limit upgrade of 8 MB (which has been upgraded to 32 MB). Critics of Bitcoin argue that implementing SegWit and the Lightning Network could result in a more centralized ecosystem. On the other hand, supporters of the upgrade state that the Lightning Network helps Bitcoin scale much better than BCH and transactions will be cheaper and faster if the upgrade is ready.

To date, Bitcoin Cash had two blockchain splits. The first one was the August 2017 hard fork when the cryptocurrency was born. The other happened in a little more than one year later. This is what’s known as the November 2018 BCH hard fork. Now, let’s see the major events and disagreements that have led Bitcoin Cash’s second split. In August 2018, the developer group Bitcoin Cash Adjustable Blocksize Cap (Bitcoin Cash ABC) announced an upgrade for November the same year that would feature two important goals. Firstly, the developers sought to introduce non-cash transactions to the Bitcoin Cash blockchain (smart contracts and oracle prediction services). The second upgrade for the November 2018 hard fork was to change the ordering of the transactions in the BCH network from topological to canonical ordering. Soon as the proposal for the November hard fork was released, critics have started appearing in the Bitcoin Cash community. This group argued that the main goal of BCH is to deal with payments only, so there’s no need to prioritize non-cash transactions on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain. One of the main critics of the upgrade was Craig Wright, a developer who has earned notoriety in the crypto community by claiming that he is Satoshi Nakamoto – Bitcoin’s creator. The other major critic was Calvin Ayre, a billionaire who is the CEO of one of the largest Bitcoin Cash mining pools, Coingeek. Wright and Ayre both opposed to the canonical transaction ordering as well as they wanted the block size limit of BCH to be increased to 128 MB. Furthermore, Wright did not see the value that incorporating smart contracts and oracles into the BCH blockchain could add for the cryptocurrency. The supporters of the November 2018 Bitcoin Cash hard fork included Bitcoin.com CEO Roger Ver and Bitmain (the largest Bitcoin mining hardware manufacturer) co-founder Jihan Wu. Wu’s Bitmain also controls the mining pools Antpool and BTC.com. Disagreeing with the Bitcoin ABC upgrade, the Wright and Ayre-led opposing party had created its own proposal: Bitcoin SV (Satoshi’s Vision). Wright argued that this proposal contains the original visions of the Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto. This has led to the so-called Bitcoin Cash “Hash Wars.” In this conflict between the Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin SV parties, both parties used their mining pools and resources to disconnect (and connect more) rigs from mining BTC to supporting the BCH ecosystem. The goal for one party was to acquire the most hash power, so their blockchain would be the longer – therefore they would “win.” However, neither party’s decisions were rational from a financial point of view. While the price of BTC has crashed soon after the Hash Wars have started, the companies that were affected by the whole debate have lost about $12 million worth of funds in trying to take control of the Bitcoin Cash blockchain.

We have tried plenty of Bitcoin Cash wallet solutions, and we think that the best BCH wallet is the most secure one. Why? As you are holding coins in a cryptocurrency wallet, your funds are not protected or guaranteed by any third-party service (like banks or payment processors). And – as hackers are actively targeting cryptocurrency users -, you need to find a secure solution where you can leave your coins without worrying about the attackers. Therefore, in our opinion, the best Bitcoin Cash wallet services are hardware wallets. These solutions come with a hardware device, which has a PIN pad for verifying outgoing transactions as well as logging into your wallet. Let us tell you why this feature of hardware wallets give your coins extra security. If a hacker tries to steal your funds that are on a hardware wallet, he has to first hack the software side of the wallet. Then he has to acquire both your PIN and your hardware device. In case the attacker manages to do all of the aforementioned actions, that would make a great story for an action movie about a mastermind hacker. But – in real life -, the attacker would have a really-really hard time stealing funds from a hardware wallet. So, we are recommending you to buy a great hardware wallet like Ledger, Trezor, or KeepKey. All of the aforementioned brands are trusted and widely used in the crypto community. However, in case you want to stay with using a software or web-based wallet (and don’t want to pay for using a Bitcoin Cash wallet), good solutions include the Blockchain.com Wallet and Infinito. All of the solutions support BCH as well as other cryptocurrencies.

We can’t provide you with a precise Bitcoin Cash price prediction for 2019 and for the years after. And we think that no one can. The reason for that is the relatively high volatility of cryptocurrencies (including BCH). A coin’s price can increase by 10% in an hour and go down by the same percentage in the next. And, in the short and mid terms, no one – including expert traders and all-star investors – can predict that precisely. However, in the long-term, you can calculate an estimated Bitcoin Cash price prediction. If the developers are working hard to upgrade and maintain the stability of the coin’s network, that could lead to an increasing rate of adoption. As the adoption increases, a growing number of people will start using BCH for different purposes, including holding the digital currency and using it for payments. If that happens, the price of Bitcoin Cash will increase with the adoption rate.

As most of the cryptocurrency exchanges and brokers are requesting different documents (KYC and AML) from their users, it becomes harder to buy Bitcoin Cash anonymously. However, there are two methods that can be used to bypass the aforementioned obstacles. The first is to buy BCH using cash from a local seller. In case he or she does not request any documents from you, the whole transaction will be anonymous. The second option is to use a cryptocurrency exchange that does not request KYC and/or AML documents from you, neither any personal (sensitive) information from you. Binance and Changelly are two good options for such exchanges. If you don’t trade a large amount of coins every day, neither service provider will request any documents from you. Therefore, you will be able to buy Bitcoin Cash on these services anonymously.

While a part of the crypto enthusiasts prefers to purchase coins via credit card and bank transfers, others prefer to buy Bitcoin Cash with cash. There are two options to buy the coin with cash. The first is to find a crypto ATM that supports BCH near you. You can use a cryptocurrency ATM finder service or just Google (Maps) to search for a Bitcoin Cash ATM in your area. The second option is to use an intermediary service – like Localbitcoincash – that will connect you with sellers in your area who are selling BCH for cash. Just head to the intermediary service’s website, choose a seller you prefer and contact him or her to exchange fiat to Bitcoin Cash.

The best way to buy Bitcoin Cash depends on your goals and preferences. For example, your priorities when purchasing the coin could include cost, time, and anonymity. Let us show you the best ways to buy Bitcoin Cash for the aforementioned preferences. In case you seek to focus on quick transactions, your best choice should be to buy Bitcoin Cash via PayPal or credit card. While you need a workaround method to buy BCH with PayPal – read back for more information -, both payment methods are almost instantly processed. Therefore, your coins are credited quite fast. On the flip side, credit card transactions cost more than bank transfers. Though, if you use a broker like eToro or Plus500, there are no fees for credit card or PayPal deposits. The most cost-efficient way to buy Bitcoin Cash is via bank transfer, especially if you are an EU citizen where SEPA transactions are supported. However, you need to wait multiple working days for your transfer to arrive. So, if you are in need to of BCH in a hurry, this payment method would not work out the best for you. The final priority is anonymity. Some users prefer to stay as private as possible when they are buying Bitcoin Cash. Therefore, the best way to buy the coin for them is locally with cash or by using a cryptocurrency exchange where the initial limits are high (so there’s no need to verify your account).

As far as we know, Bitcoin Cash is not a scam. The coin has rewarded thousands of users with profits, and many people in the world pay their everyday expenses in BCH (at merchants where the coin is accepted). However, as the Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (as well as Bitcoin SV) communities are fighting each other, as well as there are websites spreading fake news, you may have read that Bitcoin Cash is a scam. But that’s certainly not true as the coin is completely legit.

You should decide yourself whether to invest in Bitcoin Cash. If you are interested in the coin, have the money, and you are positive about the future of BCH, go for it.

As we are in early 2019 and there’s still a bear market present, a part of the crypto enthusiasts decided to wait until the market recovers to buy Bitcoin Cash this year. However, if you are bullish about the BCH price for this year and you have the required financial background, you may decide to buy Bitcoin Cash now. Hopefully, the price of the coin will go up, so as your investment.