Investors working on the strategy of "buy for a long term", most often prefer to acquire well-known and stable crypto-currencies. The purchase of time-tested assets protects the portfolio from a sharp loss of value and gives a consistently high yield.
Today the most popular are BITCOIN and Ethereum. Before investing funds you need to understand how to buy bitcoin or ethereum with the greatest benefit.
How can a newcomer buy a cryptocurrency
The main difficulty in purchasing is the search for a profitable exchange rate. Often, the most convenient ways are unprofitable for the investor, so a good knowledge of all exchange options helps to save a considerable amount of money.
Main purchase options:
• virtual exchange offices;
• cryptocurrency exchanges.
Virtual exchange offices (exchangers)
In online exchangers, you can buy or sell a small amount of digital currency at a fixed price. The principle of their work is simple: the user concludes the transaction not with another person, but directly with the owner of the exchanger.
The advantages of exchangers:
• simplicity and accessibility: there is no need to register and verify the identity;
• fixed exchange rate at the time of exchange;
• unhindered entry of currency from bank cards, payment systems like QIWI, Yandex Money, etc.
The disadvantages of the exchangers derive from their centralized nature:
• the exchange rate is always understated relative to the exchange rate;
• low limits, as a rule, do not allow buying a lot of cryptocurrency at a time;
• there is a risk of losing funds due to fraudulent actions of the exchanger.
In order not to become a victim of scammers, it is necessary to take a responsible attitude towards the choice of an exchange office. The website bestchange.ru conducts regular monitoring of the course. The site has a system of feedback, from which you can quickly understand the level of reliability of a specific exchanger. Always give priority to exchanges with a high rating, based on at least 700 - 800 reviews.
Please note that in order to receive coins you must have an appropriate crypto-currency wallet.
To purchase the cryptocurrency on the website ... choose the desired direction of exchange (for example, change QIWI to Bitcoin) and follow the system’s tips. In most cases, you will need to enter the wallet address for the transfer and the mobile phone number. The purchase process does not cause any difficulties even for newcomers: the interface of exchangers is designed for beginners.
Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Thanks to the exchanges, you can purchase any crypto-currencies, including those that are not available for purchase in exchangers. In this case, the investor will face many small nuances, the first of which will be the choice of currency for the transaction.
The user can purchase cryptocurrency in two ways:
• for fiat money (usually rubles or dollars);
• for bitcoins.
First of all, it depends on the availability of the desired currency pair on the popular exchanges. Here is a website coinmarketcap.com, where you can check the availability of currency pairs on a particular exchange, using the "Markets" tab.
Even with having a suitable currency pair, you may encounter another problem - verification. To purchase cryptocurrency for fiat money, you will need to go through the process of checking the identity and the address. The list of documents required to confirm this data may vary. Everything depends on the stock exchange itself. As a rule, all exchanges require the same set of scans:
• passport (sometimes exchanges allow the use of national passports, however we would not recommend the use of a national passport for verification due to security concerns);
• any document in English, confirming the address of the user's residence - a bank statement is usually sufficient.
Some exchanges may require verification for operations with crypto-currencies, especially when it comes to buying or withdrawing large amounts of funds from the exchange. This is the case, for example, of the Bittrex and Poloniex exchanges. Please note that the Bitfinex trading platform allows you to transfer large amounts in the cryptocurrency without any verification.
The most popular trading platforms are:
• Bittrex;
• Bitfinex;
• Poloniex;
• WEX;
• cex.io.
To familiarize with a rating of stock exchanges on daily trading volumes is also possible on a website coinmarketcap.
Advantages of cryptocurrency exchanges are large trading volumes, allowing to exchange currencies in large volumes and with a low spread (the difference between the price of buying and selling). In addition, on the exchange it is possible to buy those currencies which are not offered in exchangers, for example, IOTA.
Disadvantages: the use of cryptocurrency exchanges can bring serious difficulties for the new investors. The interface of trading platforms is more sharpened for professional traders, therefore, as a rule, no step-by-step instructions on exchange of currencies are usually given by exchanges. In addition, many exchanges create a deceptive impression of reliability, because of which users often postpone the transfer of cryptocurrency to “cold wallets”. Important! In case of a collapse of the trading platform, all the coins may disappear as well. You should always remember it and transfer money to a cold (reserve) wallet at the earliest opportunity.
How to buy a crypto currency on the exchange
To buy a cryptocurrency you need to get the appropriate level of verification and top up the balance of your stock exchange wallet. To do this, use the "Wallets" tab (in the case of the Bittrex exchange) or "Deposit" (on Bitfinex).
Pay attention: if it is a question of entering a cryptocurrency, you need to replenish the wallet which corresponds to the name of this coin.
Depending on the chosen currency, you receive the requisite details for replenishing your wallet.
If the currency was successfully credited to the wallet of the exchange, you can safely move on to the exchange. In this example, we'll look at the process of buying Bitcoin Cash cryptocurrency (ticker BCC) for bitcoins, but for some other currency pairs, the process goes in the same way.
First you need to go to the data view for a particular currency. To do this, you can use the search.
In the opened window there is a process of trading. You will be required to enter the cost and quantity of Bitcoin Cash coins for purchase.
To select a suitable price, be guided by the data in the tables that is formatted with the "Bids" and "Asks" headers. The buyer is interested in the column "Asks", which lists all requests for the sale of crypto-currencies put up by the users of the exchange.
To complete the process, you need to press the "Buy" button and wait for the transaction confirmation.
Note! If the price has changed drastically at the time of purchase, and the order has not been executed, you can safely cancel it in the "Orders" section.
After making a purchase, be sure to transfer the coins to a cold (backup) wallet installed on your computer or mobile phone. You can order the output via the "Wallets" menu (or "Withdraw" in the case of Bitfinex).
How else to buy Bitcoin
The high popularity of Bitcoin opens up additional ways of exchanging it. The main one is the p2p platform of localbitcoins, which acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers. Unlike the exchangers, where you have to interact with a specific organization, localbitcoins can independently choose partners for currency exchange.
For exchanging, bitcoins are transferred to the internal wallet of the system. Please note that in case of violation of the conditions, the transactions can be frozen until all the circumstances of the case are clarified. In comparison with exchangers, localbitcoins users often offer a profitable rate, while the upper limit of the amount of exchange is not limited. There is also a feedback system that allows you to choose the most reliable partner from the general list.
Conclusion
The process of buying a cryptocurrency at first glance may seem complicated, but it's only in its unusualness. We often come across a lot of new terms and concepts, but after a few purchases the effect of novelty passes, and currency exchange becomes a simple and ordinary thing to do.
The simplest thing is with the purchase of Bitcoin. You can use any of the three available options: exchangers, exchanges or localbitcoins. For example, the most difficult thing that many people recognize is the process of buying IOTA, which is best purchased on the exchange not for fiat money, but for bitcoins.
When choosing any option, you should always be careful about buying and storing cryptocurrency. Backup files with keys and passwords, careful and thoughtful study of information about exchanges and exchange offices, 100% care when copying addresses in the blockchain - all these are simple rules that will help you to protect yourself from unnecessary problems.
