Getting Your First Bitcoins

Getting Your First Bitcoins

There are a number of specialized currency exchanges where you can buy and sell bitcoin in exchange for a local currency. These operate as web-based currency markets and include:

Bitstamp

A European currency market that supports several currencies including euros (EUR) and US dollars (USD) via wire transfer.

Coinbase

A US-based bitcoin wallet and platform where merchants and consumers can transact in bitcoin. Coinbase makes it easy to buy and sell bitcoin, allowing users to connect to US checking accounts via the ACH system.

Xapo

Another bitcoin wallet and platform based in Europe, allowing buy bitcoins in euros (EUR) via wire transfer, TDC (depends on country). Also it has a service called “Vault” it’s like a most secure and private wallet inside the platform. It’s also called “cold wallet”.

Localbitcoins

It’s a platform where people from different countries can exchange their local currency to bitcoins. The site allows users to post advertisements where they state exchange rate and payment methods for buying or selling bitcoins. You reply to these advertisements and agree to meet the person to buy bitcoins with cash, or trade directly with online banking. Bitcoins are placed in LocalBitcoins.com web wallet from where you can pay your bitcoin purchases directly.

Bitfinex

Is a trading platform for Bitcoin, Litecoin and Darkcoin with many advanced features including margin trading, exchange and margin funding. It’s possible to fund the account with buying USD via wire transfer.

Cryptocurrency exchanges such as these operate at the intersection of national currencies and cryptocurrencies. As such, they are subject to national and international regulations, and are often specific to a single country or economic area and specialize in the national currencies of that area. Your choice of currency exchange will be specific to the national currency you use and limited to the exchanges that operate within the legal jurisdiction of your country. Similar to opening a bank account, it takes several days or weeks to set up the necessary accounts with these services because they require various forms of identification to comply with KYC (know your customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) banking regulations. Once you have an account on a bitcoin exchange, you can then buy or sell bitcoins quickly just as you could with foreign currency with a brokerage account.

You can find a more complete list at bitcoin charts, a site that offers price quotes and other market data across many dozens of currency exchanges. The best example for this is CoinDesk.com.

There are three other methods for getting bitcoins as a new user:

• Find a friend who has bitcoins and buy some from him directly. Many bitcoin users start this way.

• Sell a product or service for bitcoin. If you’re a programmer, sell your programming skills.

• Use a bitcoin ATM in your city. Find a bitcoin ATM close to you using an online map from CoinDesk.