Every aspiring bitcoin investor needs to have a few things with them. For starters, you need personal identification documents, an exchange account, and a secure payment method.
Additionally, you will need to have a secure internet connection to when buying bitcoin. Although there are no physical cryptos, privacy and security are crucial factors for investors.
It’s why you can’t go around bragging about your large crypto holdings. Remember that anyone who has the private key to a public crypto address on the platform can authorize transactions.
Always keep your private keys secret to protect your crypto holdings.
Things Needed to Buy Cryptocurrencies
1. An Exchange
The first thing you will need to do to start buying cryptocurrencies is signing up for a crypto exchange. It will enable you to buy, sell, or hold crypto assets.
Look for the best crypto exchange that will allow you to withdraw your digital assets to an online wallet for storage purposes. This feature doesn’t apply to persons looking to trade BTC or other assets.
2. Connect the Exchange to a Payment Option
Once you have settled on an exchange, it’s now time to start collecting your personal identification documents.
The information required may vary from a Social Security number to your driving license picture. Additional information may include the source of funds and employer information.
You will need to follow the steps followed when opening a brokerage account. Wait for the exchange to clear the information to allow you to connect a payment option.
Most exchanges allow you to connect a debit card or a credit card. You could even connect your bank account, depending on your state.
3. Place Your Order
After choosing an exchange and connecting a payment option, you can now proceed to buy cryptocurrencies. Crypto exchanges have in the recent past become more mainstream.
The exchanges have grown in terms of their features and liquidity. Exchanges offer varying order types and different ways to set up recurring investments.
For example, you could set up recurring daily, weekly, or monthly purchases with Coinbase.
4. Safe Storage
Before you can start buying gift cards with your newly acquired digital assets, you need to find a way to store the assets securely. And this is where digital wallets come in handy.
Transferring the crypto assets from the exchange and into your wallet provides you complete control over the assets. It ensures you’re the only one with the private key.
It allows you to store the assets away from the exchange and reduces the risks of losing your assets through a hack. Exchange hacks are quite common and often lead to unimaginable losses. Getting a steel crypto wallet and keeping track of your seed phrase would help immensely.
Choose your wallet wisely, as some have more features than others. Some are BTC specific, while others will allow you to hold more than one type of cryptocurrency.
As you look into how you can buy gift cards with cryptocurrencies, make sure you have fully understood the concept of cold wallets and hot wallets.
How to Buy Bitcoin
There are several ways to buy bitcoin, the most popular being PayPal and credit/debit cards.
I. PayPal: Investors can buy BTC using payment processor PayPal in two ways:
- Use your PayPal account to buy crypto
- Use the balance present in the account to purchase from third party sites
II. Credit/Debit Card: If you want to buy bitcoin with credit card, you will need to follow the same steps as when purchasing through an automated clearing house. Make sure to enter the correct credit card information.
Bottom Line
The information provided in this article should help you get started on buying crypto. Ensure you read the terms and conditions issued by each exchange before signing up, as this will dictate how and when you can access your digital assets.