How To Buy Bitcoins
Buying bitcoin may seem scary but, honestly, it is much easier than you may think. Once you have the process down, you will be buying bitcoin like a pro in no time at all. There are a few steps that you will need to follow.
Firstly, Get a Bitcoin Wallet
The first thing that you need to do when you are buying bitcoin is to get your hands on a Bitcoin wallet. There are plenty of different bitcoin wallets out there. Choose the one that is most appropriate for you. For example; some will be based online, while others will have mobile apps attached to them.
There may be fees attached to the bitcoin wallet. Of course, you will want to ensure that whatever service you use has been proven to be reputable. Plenty of people have lost their bitcoin by signing up to services which are a bit ‘dodgy’.
This is something that you are really going to want to avoid. Without going too much into things here, we do want to point out that a wallet is not technically a wallet. You aren’t storing bitcoin there. The bitcoin will show up, though. This is due to the way in which cryptocurrency works. Bitcoin will be attached to a specific private number. Your bitcoin wallet is going to provide you with that number.
You can think of it as being akin to your pin number. There will be a secondary number, known as the public key, which is similar to your bank account details. Never give out your private number as people can use this to authorise transactions. It is the public key which you need to share in order to buy and sell bitcoin.
Find a Bitcoin Exchange
Once you have your bitcoin wallet, you are going to need to fill it with bitcoin. This is actually the easiest part of the process. You can purchase your bitcoin using most payment methods i.e. your credit card, through bank transfer, or a debit card. However; do be aware that most credit card providers will class purchasing bitcoin as a cash advance, which means that there will be additional fees to pay for it. Check with your card provider to find out whether this is the case or not.
Once you have found a bitcoin exchange, again ensure that they are reputable, it really is going to be as simple as hitting the buy button. Then you go through the checkout process, much like if you were carrying out any other purchase online. It really is going to be that simple!
It is likely that the bitcoin exchange will provide you with a wallet where your purchased bitcoin will be stored. However, and we can’t stress this enough, it is so important that you do not leave your bitcoin in the wallet provided by the bitcoin exchange, particularly if you have a lot of bitcoin kicking around.
Even the bitcoin exchange will likely advocate that you do not. If you did not transfer your purchase to your external wallet when you made the purchase, then you should do it as soon as possible after you have purchased your bitcoin. Honestly, the only time that you will ever need to keep your bitcoin at a bitcoin exchange for a long period of time is if you are playing to sell it in the immediate future.
Remember; there will be different prices for bitcoin at the various exchanges, although the price should be fairly close to each other. There may be some fees applicable to your purchase, although these fees are more likely to fall on the seller as opposed to you. It is also important that you take the time to find a quality bitcoin exchange to use when you are buying bitcoin. They will ensure that your transaction is protected.
Anything else you need to know?
Yes. The price of Bitcoin does fluctuate quite a lot. We really suggest that you look at trends to see whether you are buying bitcoin at the optimum time. If the price seems to be trending downwards, then you may be able to wait an additional day or two before you make your bitcoin purchase. It could save you a lot of cash!
You should also try to purchase your bitcoin in bulk as opposed to in drips and drabs, particularly if there are fees attached to it when you buy through the bitcoin exchange. It will make your life a whole lot easier if you do this!