How to Buy Bitcoin? A Complete Guide on Purchasing Bitcoin

How to Choose the Right Exchange?

Being aware of the right cryptocurrency? exchange? is of vital significance to get started with the virtual currency. Not all exchanges are trustworthy and the ones with established reputation also differ from each other in terms of how they carry out their bitcoin? trading and other operations.

Doing your homework before you dive into crypto trading is crucial. Since the crypto industry is unregulated, if anything goes wrong you don't have any channels available to seek recourse. That's why informing yourself and exercising caution remain important when you ask yourself the question of where to buy bitcoin? from. Here are a few pointers on selecting the right exchange? for buying Bitcoin?.

Location of the Exchange?

It is important to know where the exchange? is situated since there could be legislation and regulations in place that can affect day trading of bitcoin?. You should try to buy bitcoin? in your own country and to find out what exchanges provide services in your country, you can go to this buy bitcoin? page and select your country from the dropdown list. The page helps you in finding bitcoin? exchanges by country.

Remember to read the terms and conditions thoroughly before you buy bitcoin? instantly on the whim.



Transparency of the Exchange?

Transparent exchanges publish audit details or cold storage addresses for verification of their ownership of bitcoin? reserves. Bitcoin? audits are a way to substantiate that the exchange? is solvent and can afford every bitcoin? exchange? sale.

The reputation of the Exchange?

Since there are no regulatory bodies or government institutions that can exercise control over cryptocurrency? exchanges, it's your responsibility to verify whether an exchange? is reputable enough or not. Check online forums, Facebook pages, Reddit community's sentiment, and other resources to ensure you're doing business with the best place to buy bitcoin?.

Order Book Volume?

The order book volume? is just a list of buy and sell orders present on the bitcoin? trading sites. If there are a high number of buy and sell orders on the order book, it means the exchange? is popular and trusted by many customers. High bitcoin? trading volume? of order book also suggests high liquidity?. However, the lack of order book doesn't mean an exchange? doesn't have legitimate operations.

Speed of Transaction?

Unfortunately, bitcoin? buying is not instantaneous and it might take from few hours to a few days before bitcoin? show up in your account. Make yourself aware in relation to what exchange?’s policy is on lead time. Also ensure that the price being offered is a locked-in price which means that regardless of when you receive your bitcoin?, you'll be charged the price prevalent at the time of order placement.

Anonymity

If anonymity is important to you then the best way to buy bitcoin? is through cash in a face to face transaction?. Exchanges are usually bound by Know Your Customer (KYC?) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML?) laws which require them to obtain customer's identity information before making a purchase.

How do I Buy Bitcoin?

Once you have a wallet?, it's time to buy bitcoins. There are multiple ways to purchase the popular cryptocurrency? but caution must be exercised at all times.

Buy Bitcoin? through etoro.com

Local Bitcoins gives you an easy way to instantly buy bitcoins in your country. According to the website, you can trade bitcoins in 248 countries worldwide in more than 16,000 cities. Just ensure that you are buying from a seller with a strong reputation and if something feels fishy, back out instantly.

Buy Bitcoin? through Cryptocurrency? Exchanges

A cryptocurrency? exchange? is basically a marketplace where traders buy and sell crypto coins. Some exchanges have a great reputation like Coinbase but some are shady such as CEX?.IO. The idea is to sign up on a cryptocurrency? exchange? website and link your bank account or credit card to the website. There's a verification process in place that you'll have to go through. Once that's done you can easily convert your fiat currency into cryptocurrency?.

Again, the easiest and most reputable choice is Coinbase, it’s the best way to buy bitcoins especially for traders who are just getting into the crypto game. Signing up with the website can be a pain since they ask all kinds of personal information like address?, phone number, and scanned copy of a government issued ID or a passport, etc. Exchanges are legally bound to vet every trader through a verification process so there's no alternative. Once you are verified, you need to tie your credit card or bank account. You can buy bitcoin? with a credit card but credit card transactions are relatively costlier so linking to a bank account is a better idea. Start small and see how it goes. Patience is key since it can take hours and sometimes even days for the transactions to get processed.

Different exchanges have different features and purchase process also differs in terms of currencies you can buy, modes of payment, service fees, and time to process.

Buy Bitcoin? with Altcoins

There is a protocol or system called ShapeShift which allows you to buy a coin? with other coins. So, if you are an owner of altcoins, you can use them to buy bitcoins and save quite a bit in the way of service charges. Many wallets, for example, Exodus, have ShapeShift built into the system so you can buy bitcoins right from your wallet?.

Common Scams and How to Avoid Them

Being unregulated and highly complex play into the hands of scammers and fraudsters. John Oliver of Last Week Tonight defined bitcoin? as everything you don't understand about computers combined with everything you don't understand about money. As funny as it is, it's absolutely true in the case of bitcoin? and cryptocurrency? in general. That's why you need to be cautious and be vigilant to the scams. Here are some common scams that plague the cryptocurrency? space:

Fake Initial Coin? Offerings (ICOs)

It's like the IPO where companies offer shares to the public but for cryptocurrencies. Instead of the shares, investors are given token? coins by cryptocurrency? startups. This is the reason why the Securities and Exchange? Commission (SEC) has been wary of ICOs. If you are a beginner, it's recommended that you stay away from participating in new coin? offerings as there's no way to find out if an operation is legit even for seasoned traders. ICOs tend to overestimate their worth which results in a loss or are outright pump and dump schemes.

Dubious Exchanges

Last year, cryptocurrencies saw a massive rise in popularity which gave birth to a huge number of online cryptocurrency? exchanges but unfortunately, very few of them have proven to be reputable and trustworthy. There have been instances where exchanges have disappeared overnight or have had their bitcoin? reserves stolen through hacking attempts. Mt.Gox which used to be the exchange? carrying out over 70% of bitcoin? transactions globally went out of business in a matter of weeks as 850,000 coins worth $450 million at the time were stolen. Some of the highly trustworthy exchanges include Coinbase, Kraken, Bitstamp, and Bittrex.

Ponzi, Pyramid and Get Rich Quick Schemes

These are easier to spot since they offer guaranteed high returns through cryptocurrency? trading. As soon as you see an ad or a website that claims to earn you 400% profit in 2 weeks for your $1000, an alarm bell should automatically go off inside your head. If it's too good to be true, it's a scam. There are no guarantees in the crypto world. OneCoin and Bitconnect are good examples of fraud schemes.

Apart from these, there are other common scams that rely on target's technology illiteracy to con him out of his money. There are pump and dump schemes that drive up the price of a coin? artificially by creating hype and when people invest in the digital currency due to fear of missing out (FOMO?), the conspirators dump the coins making huge profits themselves while leaving other investors in troubled waters. Similarly, one should also be wary of phishing? scams and malicious emails and messages.

Bitcoin? Exchange? Fee / Service Charges & Payment Modes

Invest what you can afford to lose

Many people start trading just because it is cool or everybody is doing it. That means more often than not, such traders end up losing money. Have a plan and avoid the following mistakes at all costs:

</tr

Exchange?	Crypto	Money	Verification	Exchange? Free	FIAT Deposit Free
Coinfloor	BTC	Wire Transfer	10 days	0.00%	0.38%
Bitcoin?.co.id	8 coins	Wire Transfer	12 hours	0.00%	0.30%
Bitit	BTC	Credit Card, Western Union, Money Gram, Perfect Money, OKpay, Payeer		0.00%	8.90%
Indacoin	BTC, LTC, ETH	Credit Cart	Not required	0.00%