I’m sure you’ve heard of the term “cryptocurrency” and wondered how it works. Many people invest in it. You see it on your social media accounts. You’ve heard of it from people who have dabbled in it. Indeed, cryptocurrency has become a sensation throughout the world and all over the internet.
Bitcoin is the first decentralised digital currency. To date, it is the most popular cryptocurrency and many people have already started to invest. But how do you buy Bitcoins in Australia?
How to Purchase Bitcoins
The easiest way to purchase a Bitcoin is through an exchange. Basically, you exchange your Australian Dollars for any number of Bitcoins. To use them, all you need to do is to provide identification. Once they review this, you’re all set to exchange cryptocurrencies.
However, you need to remember that you will need to pay a transaction fee for any form of exchange. They also have limits on how much you can buy in a day. They have different payment options that you can choose from. Lastly, you need to research well about security measures and where you will store your coins.
You can also find a broker who can assist you in buying Bitcoins. All you have to do is send your Australian Dollars to your broker and they will send your Bitcoin back to you. The only disadvantage of hiring a broker would be the brokerage fees that you will pay for.
Buying Your First Bitcoin
Before you purchase Bitcoins, the first thing you have to do is look for a convenient way to store your coins. To store coins, you need to get a wallet. There are three types of wallets you can choose from.
- Desktop – This comes in a program that you download on your personal computer; however, you must make sure that your computer is safe from any virus or malware. Recently, there were a very high number of attacks against software wallets, so this option is the least recommended at the moment.
- Smartphone – This is an application for your phone and can be more secure because mobile phone are less likely to have malware on them if you have only a trusted few apps installed.
- Hardware – This is the physical type of wallet that may come in USB or hard drive form. We will have a more detailed post later about the currently popular hardware wallets because this is considered to be the safest solution to keep crypto coins.
Once your wallet is ready, you can start buying Bitcoins. Here’s how:
Choose a bitcoin service and make a payment. Find a service you can trust and make a money transfer. You can always find a broker to help you buy coins but doing an exchange by yourself will give you a better value for your money. It is recommended to read reviews of the exchanges, what payments methods are accepted and what the fees are. Different exchanges have different Bitcoin prices, different transaction fees and different services, so reading review about them really worth it.
Receive your bitcoin. Provide your wallet address to receive the bitcoin you purchased. This will look like a long string of letters and numbers. Your broker will request this from you to send the bitcoin. Once they’ve sent it, it will appear in your wallet in less than an hour. Exchanges show their transfer time in the confirmation, which would take around 10 minutes.
Voila! You have purchased your first Bitcoin!
Ledger Nano S Cryptocurrency hardware wallet (photo from ledgerwallet.com)
Where to Buy Bitcoins
Now that you know what to do, all you need to look for is a reputable source where you can buy Bitcoins from. We’ve looked for them and compiled them here so all you’ll have to do is choose the one that suits you the most but it is not a complete list of AUD compatible exchange, so you might find more offers on the market.
CoinJar is an Australian exchange and offers Bitcoin, Zcash, XRP, Litecoin and Ethereum cryptocurrencies for Australian Dollars. The Australian exchange is operated by CoinJar UK Limited, a private limited company registered in the UK.
BTC Markets – This is a good place to get started. You may exchange your Dollars easily in this site and they accept bank transfers and BPAY payments. Recently they extended their customer support and became a lot more efficient with support requests and payment processes.
Independent Reserve – They are located in North Sydney and became a trusted Australian exchange. They support bank transfers and POLi, but the latter is currently not available.
CoinSpot – This is a well-known exchange in Australia. It supports a lot of cryptocurrencies and they accept BPAY, POLi, cash and cryptocurrency payments.
CoinMama – You can use your credit card or debit card in this site.
Coinbase – They offer a minimalist site, so you will not get confused and the app is very user friendly, but they only accept credit or debit card payments only. There was a recent announcement that they no longer accept new credit cards, so basically only debit cards are supported. Australian customers can find more information here.
CoinTree – They accept cash, electronic funds transfer and POLi.
There are a lot of other sites you can visit. Always bear in mind that you have to be extra careful when buying your Bitcoins. Happy transacting!
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