Purchase Bitcoin (with $, €, etc.)
Challenge
Current Situation
You have FIAT money like USD, EUR or similar.
Desired Situation
You have a certain amount of Bitcoin in the value of your initial FIAT money.
Steps to Follow
Summary
In order to change FIAT money into Bitcoin, you need someone to exchange it. This can be done:
- at an Exchange, e.g. Kraken, Coinbase.
- at a person (e.g. a friend) having Bitcoin and willing to receive FIAT money.
There are possibilities to use vouchers like Bitpanda to go, available e.g. at the Austrian post offices. Such solutions will not immediately purchase Bitcoin, but only with redeeming the voucher at the basic exchange. So as long as you do not redeem the voucher, you will hold your FIAT money in the form of a voucher. To be able to redeem such a voucher includes to create an account at the exchange (details see here).
In the following are steps
Proposed Steps by using an Exchange
- Select an Exchange.
- Consideration:
- Security: The exchange later will keep your FIAT money and Bitcoin. In order that you keep access to your funds, choose an exchange which you trust to receive your money back, e.g. a big, well known exchange with a long track record, e.g. one listed on https://bitcoin.org/en/exchanges.
- Fees: Later you will exchange your FIAT to Bitcoin which includes to pay “maker fees” or “taker fees”. Based on the amount of money you are planning to exchange, this might/might not be relevant for you.
- You can, but are not forced to use the selected exchange after you have exchanged your FIAT money to Bitcoin. You might use the same or another exchange for later steps, or no exchange at all for holding your Bitcoin.
- Consideration:
- Open an account at the chosen Exchange.
- Every exchange has a different onboarding process, but since having satisfied customers is their business the steps shall be easy to follow.
- Based on the exchange’s country and your country of residence, the exchange might be forced to get certain information about you to fulfil the regulatory requirements of “Know Your Customer”, KYC.
- Transfer your FIAT money to the Exchange’s FIAT deposit.
- Every exchange has different possibilities to transfer FIAT money from your bank account to the Exchange, those might include wire transfer (e.g. SEPA transfer with an IBAN) triggered at your bank, credit card payment, Apple Pay, Paypal, etc. each has different durations and fees, some on the sending side, some on the receiving side.
- Exchange your FIAT money (on the Exchange) into Bitcoin.
- This should be straight-forward. Consult your Exchange if you need support.
Next:
- You might withdraw your Bitcoin balance, i.e. transfer the funds to a Bitcoin address intended to save those Bitcoin long-term.