How and Where To Buy Cryptocurrency? Overview
Despite the recent news about banks closing their doors on credit card purchases of crypto; one after the other, there are still available options you can use to buy crypto. Let’s see what they are.
The easiest way is to buy cryptocurrency with a debit card on a centralized exchange.
It really is as easy as buying clothes on Amazon. Coinbase, for example, is a popular interface to buy crypto with fiat (fiat = paper currency like dollars or euro).
On Coinbase, users need to create an account and verify identity. After that, they can buy with their debit card.
Rules for verifying identity differ for each exchange/country; generally, users need to at least provide an ID/Passport and enable 2-factor authentication.
Coinbase also has a sister company named GDAX - this type of platform gives users a better idea of how crypto exchanges really work. It features an intuitive interface with many charting tools, trade history, and real-time order books. These are all tools that traders use to make sure that they are getting the most out of their trade. This exchange follows US regulations, bringing it to compliance in USA, Canada, Europe, the UK, Australia, and Singapore.
Bitfinex is another very popular exchange that has been around as early as 2012. Its website boasts being the “most advanced cryptocurrency trading platform” in the world, with many advanced charting tools to equip while trading. The website even has an app that is available for both Android and the iPhone. The core of the exchange is made up of three features: Exchange trading, Margin trading, and Margin funding. The P2P financing market integrated into Bitfinex matches borrowers with lenders to bring the advanced tools of margin trading. A beginner’s guide is offered in their support section so that even a first timer can buy on the site.
While there are many more places to buy cryptocurrency with fiat, Robinhood is unique in its zero-fee approach and their goals to be an even easier platform to buy cryptocurrency. This exchange/trading app hybrid lets users buy Bitcoin and Ethereum right from their phone with no trading fee. Compare this to Coinbase’s 1.49%-3.99% fees added to every purchase.
Just after the announcement of launching a crypto trading platform, the millennial stock trading app received over 1 million users on their waitlist to try in just five days.
While this app platform is not fully released yet, Robinhood has allowed some users from a few states to begin trading on the app.