We are in 2020, we live in the age of modern technologies, the speculative craze for cryptocurrencies has passed, but the slow evolution of this market has begun. More and more places, also in Europe, accept payments in virtual coins. It is worth getting an alternative to cash and electronic money controlled by banks. The more that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are still a good investment. Contrary to appearances, it is worth investing in them when others write them off or are afraid of further declines in the market than when everyone rushes to buy.
It’s getting easier to find places to spend your cryptocurrencies, but it’s still easier to get them than to exchange them for goods or services. All the better for those who read this article, as we are about to present you a number of options for buying a virtual, cryptographically encrypted currency. We will try briefly and concisely to answer your question, which you ask us more and more often, i.e. “where to buy cryptocurrencies for euros, dollars, pounds GBP”? If you are interested in this topic, we also encourage you to read the article where to buy Bitcoin?
Create a free account – bitcoin exchange (BTC) and cryptocurrency exchange
We know them very well, because we exchange fiat currencies (“paper” money) on the same principle. The same is the case with cryptocurrencies. Most exchange offices do not exist in physical form, as a place to enter. Instead, they exist in the form of an internet platform. It is one of the basic places where you can buy cryptocurrencies for dollars, euros, pounds or zlotys. The most common currency exchange offices are traditional currencies for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Monero and other popular cryptos. The procedure also works the other way – in the exchange office we can get rid of the cryptocurrency we already have. European currency exchange offices include platforms such as bitcantor.com and 4coins.pl, charging 2% on each transaction.
Cryptocurrency exchange | Bitcoin exchange – Zonda free account – registration
We must be aware that the exchange office is not a stock exchange. We won’t find tens or hundreds of available cryptocurrency or currency-cryptocurrency pairs here. Bitcantor offers three of the most popular cryptocurrencies on the market – Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. At 4coins, it is only Bitcoin and Bitcoin cash. Before buying or selling crypto, the exchange office may require us to verify your identity, e.g. with an ID card or passport. This is the AML (Anti-Money Laundering) procedure, anti-money laundering. The purchase at the exchange office is made via bank transfer or debit card. In the case of instant transfers, additional fees may be charged on this account. Such topics are dealt with by a professional IT law firm that handles the most difficult legal issues such as the preparation of IT contracts or the implementation of the GDPR.
When selling cryptocurrencies, the money obtained in this way is transferred to our account, after deduction of fees and commissions. Online currency exchange offices usually also provide wallets where we can temporarily store our cryptocurrencies before transferring them to our private wallet. Remember not to keep cryptocurrencies in network wallets, exchange offices or exchanges for too long. Unfortunately, platforms can be hacked and our funds will be lost, and it is very likely that they will be irretrievable. So you already know the first type of place to buy cryptocurrencies.
Zonda – european bitcoin exchange and cryptocurrency exchange – account registration:
Another type of bureau de change are “bitmats”, so named because they look and feel similar to traditional ATMs. In fact, the bitomat is a self-service exchange office, we can buy or sell cryptocurrencies there (usually only Bitcoin). Before buying, however, we must have our own cryptocurrency wallet, because the bitomat will ask us to enter its address. We can set up such a wallet online (bearing in mind the aforementioned risk) or use a wallet previously installed on our computer (eg Electrum). Having our own cryptocurrency wallet, we can proceed to purchase them.
The principle of operation of bitomats is simple – enter the wallet address. Then we put into the bitomat the amount of cash that we would like to receive the equivalent in Bitcoin. We set the amount of the commission (the higher the commission, the faster the transaction is made) and we accept it. After buying Bitcoins, they end up in our wallet and we receive a receipt. Nothing difficult, as opposed to selling cryptocurrencies and exchanging them for cash. As in online exchange offices, when selling crypto in a bitomat, we may be obliged to pass the required verification. Therefore, it is worth having an identity card with you.
Fortunately, it is not always required of us. In most bitomats, when buying and selling, we have a predetermined transaction size limit, usually up to several thousand zlotys. Among the disadvantages of bitomats, the biggest one, in the case of purchase, is the commission, which can reach up to 5% of the transaction amount. Cryptocurrency sellers are better off – they will pay about 1% commission on the transaction amount. If you’ve been wondering where to buy cryptocurrencies – the answer is quite simple – in Bitomats!
This is perhaps the best and most accessible place to buy cryptocurrencies. Unlike money exchange offices, here we can choose from dozens or even hundreds of different virtual coins. Commissions charged for each transaction are incomparably lower than those found in exchange offices and bitomats. On the other hand, the exchange has an additional commission on withdrawals, less frequently, usually never on deposits.
Certainly, a novice user of the exchange will have to deal with its mechanics. Sometimes it will be more intuitive, other times it will be terribly crude and complicated – depending on the chosen platform. However, this is not one of the things that cannot be mastered.
Registration – cryptocurrency exchange and bitcoin exchange – Binance
Commissions on cryptocurrency exchanges usually range from 0.01% (e.g. KuCoin) to 0.3% (e.g. BitBay) in the case of the maker offer and from 0.03% (e.g. KuCoin) to 0.45% (e.g. BitBay) in case taker offer. The maker commission applies to buy or sell orders created by us, as well as existing buy or sell orders (created by other users) to which we have become a party.
Sometimes exchanges offer discounts that reduce the commission, e.g. by buying a cryptocurrency created by this exchange. Binance exchange has introduced its own cryptocurrency – Binance Coin (BNB) for this purpose. Performing a transaction with its help gives users the opportunity to trade with a lower commission than standard. Such a procedure will reduce our transaction costs by up to half! This is a great option for traders – people who make frequent transactions – trading cryptocurrencies.
Most stock exchanges do not support traditional currencies, as this requires meeting special conditions and appropriate regulation of activities by financial supervision institutions (eg KNF). Larger exchanges (including the already mentioned Binance) have a problem with this to this day and only provide this form through credit cards.
Fortunately, one of our native cryptocurrency exchanges – BitBay has been a place where you can buy cryptocurrencies for euros, pounds, dollars and zlotys from the very beginning. BitBay is usually the first step of Polish cryptocurrency amateurs towards larger exchanges. Although, for example, Binance does not support fiat currencies, we can exchange zlotys for Bitcoin or Litecoin, which is cheaper to transfer, and then send it to your wallet located on the Binance or other exchange. So, with the help of various mobile devices and consumer electronics, such as the Xiaomi online store – xiaomi4you.pl. Such manufacturers always follow the trend and innovation.
The big downside of exchanges is the need to verify your identity. For several years, unfortunately, this has been a norm imposed by state regulators, which to some extent has curbed the anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions. However, usually, the need for detailed account verification only occurs after the sale of cryptocurrencies and exchange them for traditional currencies, while transferring them to a bank account.
For verification you will need an identity card (ID card, passport), a selfie and may also require a fairly “fresh” (issued not earlier than 3 months before the moment of verification) official document (e.g. electricity bill or bank statement), which confirms our current place of residence.
Local exchange
It is not a flawless method (like all the others), but if someone would like to exchange large sums while remaining anonymous, this is the best way. It is, of course, about face-to-face exchange, not via the network, but meeting the other party to the transaction live. The LocalBitcoins internet platform has been enabling such forms of transactions for years. On the website, we can find people willing to buy or sell cryptocurrencies. Each of them determines the exchange rate of interest and its form. It does not necessarily have to be a face to face meeting, you can make a bank transfer, but that is probably not what this is about, it would be an excess of form over content.
The best use of LocalBitcoins will be to find a person who wants to trade during the meeting of both parties to the live transaction. The whole venture leaves no trace, as payment can be made in cash, and cryptocurrencies will be sent from the wallet to the wallet (which is not personal). Finally, you can go home.
Each of the above methods has its pros and cons, but the ways to obtain cryptocurrencies are at least not as few as they used to be. Everyone will find something for themselves, something appropriate to their situation.
In this article, we tried to bring you all the information and experiences available to us on where to buy cryptocurrencies for traditional currencies such as zlotys, dollars, euros and pounds in a safe, fast and convenient way. We hope it helped you. Please share your information with us in the comments section if you know of any other places where you can buy cryptocurrencies. We will be grateful for such information and will gladly complete the above article.