Bitcoin purchase with card: cryptocurrency exchanges, electronic currency exchangers and forums
Bitcoin investment profitability
The first cryptocoin ever, Bitcoin, came into existence back in 2008 and wasn’t worth anything at that time. But in 2013, the lot of cryptocurrency drastically changed. The price of Bitcoin rose from 10 to 600 USD at first, but only recently it shot up to 3,000 USD. Bitcoin became a precious commodity that was really profitable to invest in.
3 ways of buying BTC with bank card:
Cryptocurrency exchanges
This is where traders place buy and sell orders, telling that they are ready to buy or sell certain amounts of cryptocurrency at certain prices. The price of Bitcoin that people are willing to buy or sell it at is the BTC rate. Cryptocurrency prices are affected by world events, fluctuations in supply and demand, and so on. There are many exchanges in the world, and they all look and work in the same fashion.
Cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex
Cryptocurrency exchange EXMO
Let’s dissect the process of bitcoin purchase on exchanges:
After topping up your balance, it’s time to move on to trading. To buy cryptocurrency, place an order and set a price. As soon as someone willing to sell BTC at your price shows up, the transaction will be carried out automatically. The expected amount of cryptocurrency will land in your pocket after a small deduction.
Funds from exchanges can be transferred to crypto wallets upon request. In such a case, exchanges charge a fee as well. Do not forget that cryptocurrency withdrawal takes some time, up to several days.
Exchanges allow traders to «squeeze» the most out of cryptocurrency trading. But in order to buy bitcoins at a nice price, one has to thoroughly study all kinds of charts, follow world news and patiently wait for the right moment. This is why cryptocurrency trading platforms are geared toward more experienced traders who are knowledgeable in this particular field.
Advantages: freedom to set prices, possibility of substantial income, thrilling and exciting process overall, possibility to buy cryptocoins at the best prices, almost unlimited supplies of BTC.
Disadvantages: difficult for starters, excessive commissions, lengthy withdrawals, high risks, it takes time to achieve real results, exchanges are hackable, not all existing top-up options are available.
Electronic currency exchangers
The easier and more economical way of buying Bitcoin is to buy it from an electronic currency exchanger. Exchangers convert e-currencies and cryptocoins into others and vice versa.
All share the same principle: «you give X—you get Y». Let’s see how such services work by looking at one of them—electronic currency exchanger Emexchanger:
Electronic currency exchanger Emexchanger
For example, you give OKPAY USD in exchange for Bitcoin BTC. Specify the number of your bitcoin wallet + e-mail address.
Exchange OKPAY USD—Bitcoin page
Then follow the rest of the steps and bear the exchange to fruition.
One more thing to mention here—exchanger monitors. Monitors gather information from many electronic currency exchangers and display it on one page: exchange rates, currency reserves, available currency pairs, mode of operation, etc. In other words, what users need to know about exchangers lands on a single page. The purpose of such services is to help users find and compare currency exchange rates from multiple exchangers, and thus track down the most favorable ones.
Let’s take a look at how monitors work by taking exchanger monitor OKchanger as an example:
List of Visa/MasterCard USD—Bitcoin exchangers
Just like with exchangers, choose currencies of interest in the fields «you give—you get» on the left. For instance, say you have some funds in your Visa/MasterCard card but you need Bitcoin. So, you choose Visa/MasterCard—Bitcoin. In this case, the most favorable rate is offered by PAYBIS:
Exchanger with the best Visa/MasterCard USD—Bitcoin rate
Click on its name and go to its website where you’ll be prompted to enter all the necessary information, and complete the Visa/MasterCard—Bitcoin BTC conversion:
Exchange Visa/MasterCard USD—Bitcoin
You shouldn’t use the same converters all the time: exchange rates tend to go up and down, currency reserves run out every once in a while, and so on. Manual monitoring of exchange services takes plenty of time. This is why, if you need to buy Bitcoin through exchangers hassle-free, exchanger monitors are indispensable.
Currency converters operate fast and are easy-to-use. You can make money with their help too, not a whole lot, though. Bitcoins are not always in stock + some exchangers are fraudulent. However, exchanger monitors are there to take care of such issues.
Advantages: easy-to-use, no registration required, transactions are carried out very quickly, the best deals are found within seconds through exchanger monitors, lots of currency options.
Disadvantages: hard to tell whether a service is trustworthy or not, currency reserves run out every once in a while, exchange rates may be above average, exchangers charge fees and commissions.
Direct purchase
Another way of buying bitcoins is buying them from someone. If you want to buy, then there must be someone who wants to sell. Go to a forum and look for offers or post your own. For example:
Forum where people look to exchange cryptocurrencies directly
Get in touch, negotiate the prices, which will be more favorable than on exchanges and exchangers. Then transfer funds from your card and get the negotiated amount of cryptocurrency in return. BTC transactions are irreversible, this is why you’ll have to take the first step.
This method of bitcoin purchase was relevant when exchanges and exchangers were in the beginning stages of their development. The only benefit of such dealings over automatic services is the lack of fees and commissions. But there are more drawbacks.
Advantage: no charges.
Disadvantages: it takes a lot of time, no guarantees.
Which way to choose when buying bitcoins with card?
It all comes down to this: if you just want to buy some bitcoins in a quick and easy manner, the best way to do that is to use an exchanger monitor to find the best exchange rate. If you’d like to dive into more advanced cryptocurrency investment techniques and are not afraid of difficulties, go for cryptocurrency exchanges.
