How to Buy Bitcoin: A Complete Guide for Beginners

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• Bitcoin is the most coveted and largest cryptocurrency by capitalization. You can buy it in various ways, but for beginners, the most convenient and safe option is a popular and well-known crypto exchange.
• To buy the first cryptocurrency, you will need a registered account on one of the trading platforms, a crypto wallet and a bank card or account.
• Now is the best time to understand cryptocurrencies and buy your first bitcoin. If you are a beginner and don’t know where to start, this guide is for you.

What do you need to buy bitcoin?

First, you must decide where you will store the cryptocurrency. There are two main ways – in a custodial wallet on the trading platform or in your own non-custodial wallet, to which only you will have access.

Then you need to choose an app to buy. For the first trade, we recommend using a centralized cryptocurrency exchange with a high trading volume, such as FTX, Huobi, Binance, or Kraken.

As soon as you register on the exchange, you will have your own wallet for storing cryptocurrencies in your profile. It is worth strengthening the security of the profile in advance by setting up two-factor authentication for entry and withdrawal of funds, and go through the “Know Your Customer” (KYC) procedure – identity verification.

Where is the best place to buy the first bitcoin?

Bitcoin is traded almost everywhere: on cryptocurrency exchanges, P2P platforms, online exchangers. In some countries, bitcoins can even be bought through a semblance of an ATM – a crypto machine.

But the most suitable option for beginners is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange. Such platforms provide a wide range of crypto assets and profile settings, they have technical support and many additional services. The exchange account can be replenished in a large number of ways, including from a card or by bank transfer. The current rating of the most popular centralized exchanges can be viewed on the website CoinMarketCap.

However, centralization is their main drawback. The site administration has full access to the accounts of its users, can transfer personal data at the request of law enforcement agencies, or completely freeze the account.

How to buy BTC on a cryptocurrency exchange?

Let’s take a closer look at the process of buying bitcoin using the KuCoin centralized platform as an example.

First you need to register, fill in information about yourself and pass KYC. Without identity verification, some important functions are not available on KuCoin, for example, you cannot replenish your account with fiat money (in particular, from a card) and withdraw coins in the amount of more than 1 BTC per day.

The exchange has a P2P exchange service, purchase through third-party services BTC Direct, Banxa and Simplex, and a simplified trading method – Fast Trade. We will use the last option. To do this, select it in the “Buy Cryptocurrency” tab in the top menu.

You will be redirected to the page with the transaction window. Select the fiat currency with which you want to buy bitcoin. KuCoin supports more than 40 national currencies, including hryvnia and ruble. When paying in hryvnia, bitcoin can be purchased using Visa or MasterCard cards. Enter the purchase amount, then click the green Buy BTC button.

When the card payment is completed, the cryptocurrency will be credited to your KuCoin account. You can check the balance in the wallet located in the upper right corner of the screen, in the “Main Account” tab. Cryptocurrency can be stored on an exchange, but the safest way is to transfer it to an external address that only you have access to.

How else can you buy bitcoin?

You can buy and sell cryptocurrencies not only on exchanges. The advantage of this method is that prices on the exchange are formed by supply and demand, and outside of it, participants can agree on their own conditions, the volume of the transaction and the price.

There are various over-the-counter services for trading bitcoin and other crypto assets: P2P platforms and exchange sites, offline exchangers, and even crypto ATMs.

Physical cryptocurrency exchanges can be found in many countries. They are not much different from traditional currency exchange offices, except that they exchange cash for digital assets. Each exchanger usually forms the cryptocurrency rate based on quotes on the world’s leading exchanges, however, it can take into account current circumstances, risks, additional costs, and so on in the exchange price.

The same applies to online exchangers, although in some of them quotes can even be more profitable than the market average. However, you should only use trusted sites, as the risk of fraud is quite high. The catalog of exchangers and reviews about them can be found on the Bestchange aggregator website.

You can also use the services of cryptomats. These are special terminals similar to ATMs that allow you to buy and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for cash or a card.

These devices send bitcoin to a cryptocurrency wallet in exchange for fiat. All you need to do is to enter money or a card into an ATM, and then provide an account number or scan the QR code of a crypto wallet. Cryptomats charge quite a large commission. The closest machine to buy BTC can be found on the website Coin ATM Radar.

What are the benefits of a P2P transaction?

There are many platforms and services on the Internet that allow you to exchange bitcoins directly with each other online. Any user can view ads and respond to them, or post their own after registration.

P2P services provide protection to all participants in the transaction using their website, feedback system and escrow accounts. Each user has a rating, which is given to him by other participants of the platform during transactions. Therefore, it is worth paying attention to it, the higher – the more reliable the exchange participant. To complete the transaction, both the seller and the buyer must block the amount necessary for the exchange in the service, only then the transaction will be executed.

Among the largest P2P platforms: LocalBitcoins, Paxful, Binance P2P and others.

How to buy bitcoin on Telegram?

A Telegram wallet is an automated service based on bots that perform operations for storing and exchanging cryptocurrency. With it, you can make transactions in the messenger without installing additional applications.

Consider the process of buying bitcoin through such a service using the example of a wallet Any.Cash. The service supports the hryvnia, tenge, euro and US dollar, as well as popular crypto assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Tron and Tether (USDT).

Users can withdraw up to $200 in cryptocurrencies and $50 in fiat without verification. To increase the limits and support bank cards, you need to pass KYC.

First you need to replenish one of the wallets – press the button start in the Any.Cash Telegram bot and select an asset. After that, you can proceed to the exchange.

Each asset has several trading pairs. Before executing a transaction, the service shows the total amount of the transaction, including the transaction fee. The transaction history is stored in the user profile.

To improve security in Any.Cash, you can activate two-factor authentication using a one-time code that will be sent to your email or generated in the application.

What are the fees for buying bitcoin?

In the process of buying bitcoin on the exchange, each user will face 3 types of commissions: for replenishing with fiat money, for trading, and for withdrawing BTC to the user’s crypto wallet.

For example, the Binance crypto exchange provides different commission levels and trading conditions depending on the amount of funds in the account. The standard commission is 0.1%. There is an opportunity to get an additional discount on commissions if you pay it in the native coins of the ecosystem called BNB. The tokens of other exchanges have a similar function – OKX (OKB), Huobi (HB), FTX Token (FTT), KuCoin Token (KCS), GateToken (GT), etc.

Some P2P exchanges charge transaction fees, but these are usually lower than the standard exchange transaction fees. For example, on the Binance P2P site, users who place bids on ads to buy bitcoin pay no commission at all.

Physical and online exchangers are simple and easy to use, but they are much inferior to exchanges in terms of the number of functions, and are also considered the most risky way to exchange. In addition, they often use a system of hidden fees: formally they do not charge a commission for exchange and other operations, but they include their profit in prices.