There are many ways to purchase bitcoin and other coins. For example, through exchanges and exchanges, for cash, by transfer by phone number, or even by exchanging items from Dota 2 and Counter-Strike. Let's look at how to make this easier and more reliable
Already at the stage of buying cryptocurrency, you can make a lot of mistakes and lose both part of the capital and all the funds allocated for investment. Therefore, we have analyzed the main and not obvious ways to purchase bitcoin and other digital coins.
Exchangers
The easiest way to buy cryptocurrency is through exchanges. As a rule, they provide an opportunity to purchase the most popular digital assets that are in the top 20 by capitalization. Among them are Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and others, as well as stablecoin USDT. At the same time, you can pay for coins in different ways. For example, using Bank cards, payment systems, phone numbers, cash, and other methods.
A Commission is charged for the purchase of cryptocurrency through exchanges. Its size may vary over a wide range, for example, it may be less than 1%, reach 10%, and exceed this value. But usually it is 1-2%.
The amount of the Commission depends on the cryptocurrency that the user has chosen, the payment method, and the specific exchanger. If the coin is not popular, the demand for it will be less, and the fees will be higher. The amount of Commission charged by the exchanger may also differ due to the amount of internal Commission set by the payment system.
Usually, it is most rational to buy cryptocurrency for Fiat money after a strong market downturn. For example, in may-June 2019, when bitcoin rose to $14,000, exchanges paid users 4-5% extra for the purchase of coins. However, in the case of withdrawal of digital assets, customers, on the contrary, received 4-5% less.
To determine the most profitable course will help aggregators exchangers, such as Bestchange.com. You can use them to select the payment methods you are interested in and the desired cryptocurrency, and then filter all offers by price and other parameters.
Risks of using exchangers
When purchasing cryptocurrency through exchanges, the user specifies the address to which the coins will be received. This can be a pre-created wallet on the exchange, a cold wallet, and other options. It is very important not to make mistakes when filling in the data during the purchase of funds and their transfer. Otherwise, in 99% of cases, the funds will be irretrievably lost. However, if this happens, you should always contact the service's technical support. employees will be able to help if they want and can.
When using exchanges, as well as for transfers, it is most reliable to use stablecoins, for example, THE usdt token. Its rate is linked to the dollar quotes. There is a risk that during the movement of funds between wallets, the market will begin to fall sharply. Because of this the trader that sent the currency may lose capital in case of reduction of its price. Stablecoins eliminate this risk.
To avoid this situation, some exchanges provide the option of temporarily freezing the exchange rate. A trader enters into a deal with the service that the cryptocurrency will be sold or purchased at a certain price, and it will remain so for the agreed period (usually 15 minutes), regardless of market fluctuations. However, there may be an additional fee for this, so you need to study the rules for providing services in detail.
It should be borne in mind that when buying cryptocurrencies through exchanges, there is a risk of using the services of scammers. Therefore, when searching for a service, you should only contact those that have a good reputation. This can be checked through the reviews on the aggregators. It is also better to search the Internet for information about whether a particular service has been detected in illegal activity and whether there are any complaints about it. It will be useful for the initial use of the exchanger not to transfer a large amount at once, but to start with a small one, for the test.
Without intermediaries
Exchangers are intermediaries that offer services for the sale and purchase of cryptocurrencies, and charge their own mark-up for this. However, you can purchase digital assets without a third party, directly from other people. For this purpose, p2p platforms were developed (p2p — person to person — from person to person). The most popular of them is LocalBitcoins. On it, the user makes a deal with another user, and the service acts as a guarantee that one does not cheat the other.
However, there are several disadvantages. First, the price is indicated without the Commission that the Bank or system will charge for the transfer. Second, p2p services are less popular than exchanges and exchanges. Because of this, there are few offers to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, and if there are, it is often for small amounts.
You can buy and sell digital coins without intermediaries, if, for example, you agree with a familiar person in person. In this case, the transaction can be made in person, by paying in cash, Bank transfer or any other means. However, this is probably the most risky method, and you can only use it with people you trust. Otherwise, there is a risk that the counterparty will sell the cryptocurrency at an inflated rate, disappear when receiving the money, and assign it to itself, citing a technical error. And these are not all ways to cheat and Rob in person.
Stock market
Often, exchanges are used for entering cryptocurrency on exchanges and withdrawing from them. But you can also buy digital coins on the trading platforms themselves. On the one hand, it is more convenient and safer, because the risk of an unfair counterparty is reduced. If a user buys a cryptocurrency on an exchange, it eliminates the chance to turn to the services of scammers.
On the other hand, commissions for purchasing digital assets can be significantly higher than those set by exchanges. Reason: most trading platforms do not sell cryptocurrency directly. They enter into partnerships with other services. It turns out that the user transfers money to a third-party company, it makes an exchange with the exchange, and then the latter charges coins to the user. In this case, the client pays double Commission immediately, so you should carefully check the terms of the transaction.
Some exchanges also have built-in p2p services, such as Binance. On it, users can conclude transactions for the purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies among themselves without third-party participants.
However, exchanges do not cause absolute confidence. Their managers, as in the case of exchanges, may turn out to be scammers. Also, trading platforms can go bankrupt or be hacked. What exchanges should not store money on, we told in the previous article.
Other way
Digital money is gradually becoming widespread in the world. In this regard, users have more opportunities to invest in cryptocurrency. Moreover, even banks are starting to work with it. For example, in April, the British online Bank Revolut opened the possibility of buying bitcoin and other coins for all its customers.
Cryptocurrency can also be purchased using crypto wallets. In addition to purchasing, they allow you to store digital assets, trade them and exchange them for Fiat currencies. In some cases, you can open deposits. For example, the service blockchain.com announced the introduction of deposits in bitcoin with an annual yield of 4.5%. Another popular wallet — crypto.com.
The other option is to cryptomate. They work by analogy with the ATMs. The user activates the device, enters the address where the cryptocurrency will be received, and deposits money. However, this method has significant disadvantages. First, commissions can reach 5% or higher. Second, they are very difficult to find. According to a special online map cryptocoinmap.ru now there are 5 cryptomats left in Moscow.
Another non — standard method of purchasing is via Telegram bots. The messenger has special channels where you can buy and sell cryptocurrency, as well as store it on a wallet linked to a Telegram account. However, this is one of the most risky ways. The user trusts their money to a person they don't know and can't get in touch with if something goes wrong.
There are also more unusual ways to buy digital money. For example, you can get them by exchanging them for gift cards or items from computer games. At the moment, there are many services that allow you to sell "skins" from Counter Strike, Dota 2 and other games for cryptocurrency. However, such platforms charge huge commissions, they can be more than 10%.
Trust, but check
There are many ways to buy cryptocurrencies. For example, with the help of exchangers, crypto-wallets, on exchanges, on p2p platforms, and others. All methods have their pros and cons, as well as risks. To minimize the risk of losing money, users should double-check their data, avoid obscure platforms and services, check online reviews for them, and make test purchases for small amounts.
