Which of the best companies can I safely invest my Bitcoins without getting scammed?
Peter How To Invest In Bitcoin
Investing in BTC is similar to investing in stocks, except far more volatile because of the daily swings in BTC. Here are the steps to invest in stocks from the beginning:
- Open a brokerage account at a firm that allows crypto investments
- Deposit funds from your bank into the brokerage account.
- Buy a stock using deposited funds (cash balance).
- Later sell the stock for a gain or loss. Funds are returned to your cash balance.
The main difference with BTC is for step three; you buy BTC or another cryptocurrency instead of stock.
With BTC, the above flow is similar in most cases but it depends on the exchange or trading platform. In some cases, you can buy BTC using your credit card or by transferring funds from your bank account.
For other platforms, you must transfer BTC directly. This is known as a direct deposit of BTC.
We’ll discuss how to invest in BTC for US citizens. The methods vary across countries because of differences in laws and regulations. Some countries require more private information than others to verify you are legitimate.
To exchange Bitcoin, visit: bitcoin to Paypal
How To Deposit USD To Buy Bitcoin And Crypto
Coinbase is one of the most popular platforms and has a straightforward process. Some of the mentioned websites below will follow this same process. We love Coinbase because you get $10 if you invest $100.
With Coinbase, you open a Coinbase account and link your bank account or credit card. Then transfer funds from your bank account to purchase BTC or purchase using your credit card. Credit card purchases of BTC are the most expensive.
The mechanics of purchasing BTC involve entering a USD amount or a BTC amount. The website will then convert the other currency.
For example, if you enter in 500 USD, the website will fill in the BTC side with 0.0357 (or what ever the current BTC exchange rate is).
Once you have the amount filled in, click to purchase your BTC. While credit card transactions cost the most, they are also the fastest to complete BTC transactions.
Bank accounts can take up to a few days. Keep in mind that you will get the exchange rate at the time you purchased BTC.
If BTC goes up 1000 by the time your transaction completes three days later, you’ll miss out on the rise.
Where exactly does the BTC you’ve purchased go? After all, you haven’t invested it yet. Your BTC sits in what’s called a digital wallet. Most all exchanges have their own wallet that you use to contain your BTC.
Going back to the brokerage example, your cash balance is used to trade stocks. BTC in your wallet is used to trade BTC.
What about your USD?
Your wallet has a space for BTC and USD. If you deposit 10,000 USD and buy 5,000 USD of BTC, your wallet will look like this:
5,000 USD
0.34 BTC
Wallets are a big topic of discussion when talking about cryptocurrencies. We won’t go into depth with them but you can use a stand-alone wallet if you don’t want to use the exchange’s wallet. Electrum.org is one example of a stand-alone wallet. This can be desktop, mobile or website based.
You can even use a hardware wallet such as LedgerWallet.com.
Once you’ve deposited funds with the exchange of choice and purchased BTC, you’re ready to invest. Trading platforms on the exchanges look very similar to brokerage platforms.
You’ll have a chart and buy/sell buttons with the amount of BTC to trade.
When trading in BTC, you can exchange into other cryptocurrencies, which is another method for selling BTC. Or you can exchange out of another cryptocurrency and into BTC, which is the same as buying BTC.
Direct Deposit Of BTC
In the case that the exchange doesn’t allow purchasing BTC by transferring funds or using a credit card, you can deposit BTC from another exchange.
This is done by getting your wallet address from the target exchange. Then enter it on the source exchange along with the amount of BTC to transfer to the new exchange.
The transaction takes a few minutes for the exchanged BTC to appear in the target wallet.
Top 10 Most Popular Bitcoin And Crypto Investing Sites
Here is our list of the 10 most popular Bitcoin and Crypto sties.
1. Coinbase
As we mentioned above, Coinbase is by far the most popular because you can invest directly with USD. However, you can only currently purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin on the plaform.
Plus, when you open a Coinbase account and deposit $100, you get a $10 bonus!
2. Gemini
Gemini is a popular platform to invest in crypto because of its focus on security and transparency. Unlike some exchanges that appear vulnerable, Gemini makes it a focus to protect its customers.
Plus, when you open a Gemini account and deposit $100, you get a $10 bonus!
3. BlockFi
BlockFi is a cryptocurrency investment platform that allows you to lend and earn interest on your holdings. Also, instead of selling your coins and tokens, you can also borrow against your holdings.
If you're just looking to hold your tokens, you can also just let them earn interest for you.
4. Robinhood
Robinhood offers free crypto trades on their platform. They are starting in just a few states, and with just Bitcoin and Ethereum, but they plan on expanding this quickly. There are limitations, but it's free!
Plus, when you open a Robinhood account, you get a free share of stock!