How to Easily Exchange Bitcoins & Altcoins for Fiat Money with Bittylicious
Introduction
Two of the commonest questions that people who are new to cryptocurrencies ask are:
- How do I buy cryptocurrency X using fiat money?
- How do I convert cryptocurrency X TO fiat money?
The first step in both cases usually involves converting to bitcoins. You either buy the cryptocurrency you want (e.g. STEEM) using bitcoins or you convert them to bitcoins (if you are selling).
There are no shortage of tutorials on this.
I have previously created a guide to one of my favourite methods using Blocktrades.
This is the easy part!
The Second Part of the Equation
The problem most often comes with the second step, how do you exchange Bitcoins for fiat money or vice versa?
The most commonly cited method is a service like LocalBitcoins.
I have heard mixed reviews for this service and can't personally comment as I have never used it.
The service I always use and recommend is called Bittylicious.
They have excellent customer service and I have been using them for at least 3 years without a problem.
Why Use Bittylicious?
- You can buy or sell bitcoins (and selected altcoins).
- Adequate supply (usually at least 10BTC).
- It is fast - usually taking a few minutes (BTC transfer is the slow part).
- They accept credit cards or direct bank transfers.
- Protection - "promise of a full refund if the payment arrives late".
- Fast and responsive support (UK office hours).
What You Need
It is actually really easy to use the site but there are a few things you will need before you can get set up to use it:
- A Bitcoin address (if you are buying bitcoins).
- Your bank details (account no, sort code etc).
- Your bank will need to accept fast online transfers (in the UK this is called the ("Faster Payments") service.
- You need to be in the EU (I am not 100% sure on this though).
Using the Site
Register/Login
Register or Log in here.
Unfortunately I can't illustrate the registration process as it won't let me do it again (for obvious reasons).
It is quite simple though if you have the details that I listed above to hand.
Buying
If you are buying you just need to enter your bitcoin address, choose a quantity, payment method and click "Get some coins".
If you are using bank transfer the next screen (not shown here) will give you the bank details of the seller which you will need to send money to from your online bank account.
Selling
If you are selling the screen is even simpler.
Just make sure you have selected "Sell" in the drop down menu, choose the amount and click "Sell some coins".
The next screen will will give you a bitcoin address to send the coins to.
(Note - you can currently only sell Bitcoins.)
Final Screen
Whether you are buying or selling the next screen will be very similar and look something like this.
If you are selling using online banking you will be asked to confirm that you have received the funds for the sale into your bank account.
It is only once you have confirmed, that the funds are then transferred to the buyer.
I was happy with circle then it stopped trading BTCs.
Yep... Circle was really good, especially for us in the UK. Bad move on their part.
Sadly I never got a chance to try it!
I never did understand why they stopped but it was great when buying steem.
I never used Circle.
I've used bittylicious in buying BTCs a couple of years ago, and circle was advised to use with steem. I guess that leaves bittylicious :)
Yes.
we can Change bitcoin to any Altcoins Instantly ! It is a cryptocurrency exchange with the most favorable rates and the fairest terms. Your exchange has never been so smooth. https://changelly.com?ref_id=44c1f9794b98
I'm in Canada so I guess Bittylicious wouldn't work for me. Two days ago, I discovered Instacoin's web site. I plan on trying exchanging Bitcoin for Canadian Dollar and the other way around on one of their vending machines pretty soon. If it works fine, I'll probably finally become part of the crypto-enthusiast club. The availability & usefulness of Bitcoin is a problem for me (read my post linked below).
https://www.instacoinatm.com/index-en.html
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@heroic15397/from-crypto-ignoramus-to-finally-buying-my-first-bitcoin-and-steem
Cool thanks for the links.
I've been experiencing the same restrictions. Bought in on coinbase, but they don't allow me to cash out. So, bittylicious was looking like a good option. Until I realized its EU based system. The fiat is so close, I can almost taste it! I've been looking at using localbitcoin. But I haven't got much to compare it to, I'll look into whether instacoinatm is still open here. Thanks for the info!
I'm starting to read "You need to be in... (country that is not the USA)" as "You need to be in a country that doesn't treat everyone like a criminal."
Sigh.
Great write up for those who can use it.
That is the big problem unfortunately.
My life has been FULL of 'Only available in the US' inapplicable things, :P how you like them apples hahaha.
haha (bitch - jus kidding)
Hahah. Oh, look, there's some grass over there. It's looking really green...
heheh.
Yup. "Not available in the US, where we always nab you by the short hairs if it involves money."
I transfered 1 Steem Dollar and got my Ethereum in less than 2 minutes , great option for exchanging currencies
I got a question @thecryptofiend and sorry to ask you here,
do we have any banks that can offer a virtual credit card or some sort of thing without needing you to be a resident of that location? I live in Iran , here there is no Visa or Master card branches, and exchanging money with digital currencies costs me 20-30 % more than the real amount, and that is a pain
Not as far as I know and don't think the facility exists because of AML and KYC regulations.
Thanks for this guide @thecryptofiend I remember running into bittylicious while searching many options and it seemed too easy to be true glad to see this up upvoted.
Any suggestions of what works best for sending bitcoin to fiat in Croatia? We have one ATM that takes 10%. I'm trying to find better option.
The only site I know for Europe is Bittylicious - have you tried using them or do they not allow Croatia? The other alternative would be Localbitcoins if you can find someone who is buying/selling.
I'll definetely try. I'll post anything relevant. Coinbase lets me buy at 4% with credit card and talks about verification of bank account (sending them small amount of euros) before I can pay OUT. However, it costs 13 Euros to send fiat money to foreign bank account and I don't want to lose that if the process won't work. Support sends me 'bot answers'. How nice of them.
Yes I think these issues often come up because of AML and KYC issues when fiat is involved.
Paxful is okay too, I've used them a few times.
Is that in the US? If so would be cool if you could do a guide for US users and I could put that up on Steemithelp too.
Great to read, will check this - I read that post on esteem android app and your markdown #### for headlines turnup in the post, while on browser version all looks well formated maybe sth to look into @good-karma @thecryptofiend
I will look into this issue, please report future issues to eSteem github https://github.com/esteemapp/esteem/issues
Thanks!
Thanks @good-karma- just to be sure, for that case I do not need to raise a support ticket, right?
For above issue I have created ticket, for future issues please feel free to report them...
It must be a difference in how esteem handles markdown. Please fill a support request with esteem.
Can do that for you when back from CeBIT- was first post I discovered this, will let you know what they say. Will do a support request today 😎
Thank you!
NICE POSt.!!!
thanks for sharing, i like it..
Thank you:)
you're welcome @thecryptofiend