Bitcoin emerged as the first cryptocurrency on the 3rd of January 2009 following the 2008 financial collapse. The inventor of this digital asset, Satoshi Nakamoto, created it to serve as a medium of exchange and innovation to bypass the traditional banking infrastructure. However, Bitcoin has advanced in 2021 to become a reliable source of earning and investment for traders and holders, respectively.
Regardless of which approach you decide to choose, the means of making a profit remains the same: buy Bitcoins at a lower price and sell them off when the price goes up. How can you do this? It’s pretty simple. The content on this page will teach you how to use exchanges and wallet apps to purchase Bitcoins and manage your assets.
Before You Buy Bitcoins
Before you buy Bitcoin, here are a few things to bear in mind. Many cryptocurrency exchanges require a verification process before you can create your account. This verification process is called a Know Your Customer (KYC) protocol. The procedure is meant to assess your risk tolerance, investment knowledge, and financial position.
You’d need personal identification documents like your driver’s license or social security card to process your verification on a cryptocurrency exchange. Generally, the credentials you have to provide will depend on your country of residence and the laws within it.
It can take anything from a few hours to 3 working days to get verification approval on these platforms. Be patient. After your verification, you are good to go.
How To Buy Bitcoins
If you’ve got your verification documents and payment method down. You can now proceed with the following steps to purchase Bitcoin.
Chose A Reliable Exchange
When you want to purchase Bitcoins, you should find a trustworthy exchange that supports the cryptocurrency. As the king of cryptos, you can easily find Bitcoin on almost every exchange. However, some of the most popular and user-friendly options include:
- Coinbase
- Binance
- Bitfinex
- Bitstamp
- Kraken
- KuCoin
Each of these platforms charges a specific transaction and commission fee to speed up your purchase. This fee can vary from 0.1% to 1% per trade, depending on the exchange you choose.
Besides the crypto fees, another essential thing to consider when signing up on an exchange is your security. Most of the platforms will offer you a two-factor authentication security option in addition to your unique password.
Connect Your Exchange To A Payment Option
After creating and verifying your account on your chosen exchange, the next step is to provide a supported payment method. Valid payments methods for purchasing Bitcoins include bank accounts, debit cards, and credit cards. You can also use peer-to-peer exchanges and e-wallets like PayPal to purchase your Bitcoins.
If you choose to buy Bitcoin through PayPal, you can either do it from your available PayPal account balance or a debit card linked to your PayPal account. The only setback with using PayPal is your assets have to remain within the confines of their payment processor. You’ll be unable to transfer your Bitcoins from PayPal’s wallet to an external wallet. But this shouldn’t be a problem if you enjoy PayPal’s services.
Some platforms only support crypto-only transactions. So the only way you’ll be able to buy Bitcoins is through digital tokens. So if you have coins like Ether (ETH) or Litecoin (LTC) in another crypto wallet, you can easily use them to purchase their BTC worth.
Where To Store Your Bitcoins
Bitcoin storage is an indispensable concept to consider when it comes to short-term or long-term investments.
The most typical way of storing Bitcoin for trading or short-term holding is through digital wallets. However, cybercriminals are constantly upgrading their techniques to penetrate people’s wallets and steal their funds. Therefore, offline storage is always the safest means of holding Bitcoin. Storing your Bitcoins like this ensures that you have exclusive control over the private key to your assets.
There are two means of offline storage: hardware wallets and paper wallets. Hardware wallets are devices that will enable you to store your private keys. They come with an associated web, mobile, or desktop application that allows you to control and monitor your funds.
Paper wallets are another offline storage mechanism that looks like conventional money notes. Their surfaces hold the printed version of your private and public keys. You can also use these keys to monitor your assets from an electronic device.
Regardless of your choice to store your Bitcoin, you can’t be too careful with transactions. Always check addresses before confirming transactions. Cybercriminals can still hack the hardware wallets that confirm Bitcoin payments.
Final Thoughts
The existence of Bitcoin has transformed the world of finance, and you, too, can key into this transformation by making wise investment decisions in this area. If you’re looking for more reliable crypto news and updates like this, read more on VantagePointTrading.
