One of the lesser known mysteries of modern finance has made many people millionaires while many have suffered huge losses. He has surprised banks, politicians and shrewd financial advisors during his short tenure. Bitcoin is the first and most popular cryptocurrency in the world that has suffered some wild swings in price. Prices have been like a roller coaster ride ever since it was first introduced in 2009.
A recent survey found that only 5% of Americans have adopted the digital currency while 60% believe they have heard of bitcoin at least once. If you are considering this decentralized version of digital cash, you have a few different ways to buy bitcoin. In case you don’t know, there will only be 21 million bitcoins and 18 million bitcoins have already been mined.
Investing shouldn’t be a light-hearted decision, but it’s a lot more complicated than it sounds. If you also want to invest in bitcoin, then let’s know what is bitcoin and how can you invest in it.
What Is Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is the first decentralized and peer-to-peer cryptocurrency created by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. It was launched in 2009 and has the distinction of being the first cryptocurrency. It was created “to allow online payments to be sent directly from one party to another without going through a financial institution.” Bitcoin has evolved into an investment asset in today’s time. Most people who invest in it consider BTC to be a store of value, and it is often referred to as “digital gold”.
The bitcoin cryptocurrency, launched in 2009, represents 41% of the market today. Although its prices are quite volatile, the value of bitcoin fell to around $19,000 in October 2022, after reaching around $67,500 in November 2021. Although it is already determined that there will be a total of 21 million bitcoins and 18 million bitcoins have already been mined. Let’s go through 5 easy ways to buy bitcoins.
5 Easy ways to buy bitcoins
If you want to trade bitcoin in today’s technological age, the good news is that you now have many options. You may not need an account to buy bitcoins, because today there are many options where you can buy them. Today there are crypto exchanges as well as brokers, credit cards, trading apps and bitcoin ATMs from where you can buy and sell it very easily. If you also want to start investing in bitcoin, then the most important thing is to choose one that comes with low fees and high security. Let’s go through the 5 easiest ways by which you can buy bitcoins.
Buy Bitcoins From Crypto exchanges
You can buy any type of cryptocurrency from crypto exchange, it is one of the best and popular option to buy bitcoin. For this you You can exchange dollars. Crypto exchanges provide the facility to buy bitcoin as well as store it. In addition, exchanges offer some major advantages to the traders which also include costs. Some exchanges do not charge a spread mark-up, which is a fee hidden in the trading prices.
However, the fees for each exchange can obviously vary, so it’s worth checking out which one offers the best combination of value, crypto choice, and service. Some popular alternatives to Exchange include Coinbase, Binance, Crypto.com, and Kraken.
Buy Bitcoins From Bitcoin ATMs
Bitcoin ATMs are the most direct way to buy bitcoins. There are over 39,000 Bitcoin Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) around the world for buying bitcoin, the most popular cryptocurrency today. Some ATMs offer you the facility to use cash or debit cards. It works like a normal ATM, which only you can use to buy and sell bitcoins. However, you are likely to pay more in commission when you buy bitcoin from an ATM than anywhere else.
There are two fees associated with ATM bitcoin purchases, a purchase fee and a conversion fee for converting fiat currency into bitcoin. When you buy bitcoins using these ATMs, you will be charged around 7 to 20 percent, mainly because of the high cost of running and maintaining these physical machines.
Buy Bitcoins By Credit Cards
Today’s fastest way to buy bitcoins using your debit/credit card. You can add bitcoin to your portfolio in a very short time using it. However, some banks that provide credit cards limit you to $1,000 worth of bitcoin purchases per month. American Express users are obliged to pay the current cash advance fee plus a 25% annual percentage fee for such transactions.
This is primarily because credit card issuers treat bitcoin purchases as cash advances and charge hefty fees and interest rates on such advances. Knowing does not allow people to buy bitcoin with a credit card due to processing fees and the risk of fraud. These are some of the major websites currently available to buy bitcoins with credit cards- CEX, Coinmama and Coinbase.
Also Read – What Is Cryptocurrency And How Does It Work?
Buy Bitcoins By Financial apps
In today’s time there are also many financial apps to buy bitcoin from where you can buy it. Some of the major apps include PayPal, Venmo, Revolut, Peach, CashApp, Robinhood and Strike. PayPal is a payment app through which you can buy and sell bitcoins directly. When you buy bitcoins directly from PayPal, it makes money from the crypto spread or the difference between the market price of bitcoin and its exchange rate with USD. The company also charges a transaction fee for each purchase whenever you buy bitcoins from it. These fees depend on the dollar amount of the purchase.
Buy Bitcoins from Brokers
Today, many brokers specializing in traditional investments such as stocks, bonds and mutual funds also offer cryptocurrency trading. However, you have to pay an additional fee for buying bitcoins through them. These can be desktop-based, app-based or both. Some cryptocurrency exchanges also act as brokers by offering services such as derivatives and leveraged trading. The major ones include FTX, eToro, TradeStation and Webull.
Is Bitcoin a Good investment?
Investing in any crypto depends on your risk appetite although bitcoin has so far been a high risk high reward investment. It has been a very risky investment since its inception in 2009. Your portfolio should consist of high risk and high reward investments when it comes to investing. However you should invest only the amount you are losing for the higher risk. That’s why bitcoin should be part of everyone’s portfolio under high risk, high reward investments.
How to Sell Bitcoin
Just as it is easy to buy bitcoin, it is also very easy to sell it. You can also sell it at the same places where you buy bitcoin. Generally, the process of selling bitcoin on these platforms is very similar to the process of buying it. When you sell bitcoins through a cryptocurrency exchange or any other medium, you also have to pay some fees. Cryptocurrency exchanges charge a percentage of the crypto sale amount as a fee. However whenever you sell bitcoins using these exchanges there is also a withdrawal limit. However, there is no limit to the amount of cryptocurrencies you can sell.
Frequently Asks Questions(FAQ’s)
Q1. Which is the best platform to buy bitcoin?
There are many platforms available around the world to invest in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies today but eToro is the leading platform. It allows buying and selling of bitcoins and cryptocurrencies with a minimal investment.
Q2. Should I consider buying bitcoin?
Whenever you invest in anything, start with a minimum. Even something like $5 will allow you to buy a few bits of bitcoin. This will help you learn about this new technology and how to buy, sell and move it. After that, you can decide to buy more or not.
Q3. What is the cheapest way to buy bitcoin?
Whenever you plan to buy bitcoin, then definitely consider the options available in the market because the charges of every platform change with time. If you can’t find this as a method then find a bigger exchange with small transaction fees.
The Bottom Line
With increasing popularity, bitcoin is expected to grow its user base and technical capability over the next few years. You might want to be a part of this innovative monetary system. If you are looking to buy bitcoin or other digital currencies as an investment, it is important to keep costs to a minimum. Whenever you buy bitcoin, choose a service that best suits your geographic location, level of technical skill, transaction fees, security and privacy.
The price of bitcoin over the years has been like a roller coaster, with serious risks that make it not suitable for everyone. Generally, those looking for a conservative investment or who cannot afford to lose money should consider avoiding bitcoin or trading only with the amount they are willing to lose.