How to buy Bitcoins with a Credit Card [MasterCard or Visa]
By Dr.Peter, April 2019
I think you will agree with me when I say:
It is really hard to convert hard currency to Bitcoins quickly.
Or is it?
Well, it turns out, you can dramatically speed up transaction time by buying Bitcoins with Credit Cards. Of course, I am not talking about large amounts of money, in that case a bank transfer and waiting for a couple of days for the transaction is a necessity.
However, if you see an opportunity to get cheap Bitcoins you need to be quick about buying them at such a price.
Moreover, in this post, I am going to show you what the necessary steps are, from registering to the verification process.
Step one: Find an exchange.
Many Bitcoin exchanges are floating around and want your money.
Since early 2017 all exchanges have been overwhelmed with new customers, and as a result server speeds, support responses, and the verification processes have slowed down significantly. The result is a lot of angry and impatient users who are shouting loud online, writing bad reviews and sharing their heart-breaking stories.
Why does this matter?
Well, it turns out that Coinbase, the largest US bitcoin exchange, added 100,000 customers in just one day in November 2017 after the announcement that the world's largest futures exchange, CME, is planning to launch bitcoin futures by the end of the year.
As you might have guessed, what happened next was what normally happens to a web page when a huge flow of users suddenly hit a website; chaos/service disruption/it crashes. Some exchanges take hits well, most of them not.
So, should you be concerned about those bad reviews?
Of course!
As long as they are legit and explain in detail what has been going on. Saying something like “This is a scam, give me my money back”, doesn't really mean anything.
If an exchange gets anything like over 1 million active customers, it stands to reason that they will receive a proportionally high number of complaints. By the way , if you have any heart-breaking stories to share, let me know at 'creative(at)anim.tech' and I will publish your story in the comments section (if it is confirmed with some documented proof)
To choose the right exchange, make sure the exchange serves customers around the globe, and that your country and credit card provider (MasterCard or Visa) is listed there.
I tested a few exchanges located in the UK and haven't had any issues (so far).
Here are some of my favourites:
I would suggest that if you are a US resident then you should go to a US-based exchange and likewise EU residents should go to an EU-based one. People in other regions should also use their local exchanges first.
Step two: The verification process.
The exchanges mentioned above have AML (Anti-Money Laundering), and KYC (Know Your Customer) practices much like any bank. You will have to provide a lot of personal identity information if you wish to avail yourself of their service.
The verification process could be a pain. The lack of support and long waiting times for responses will not work for you if you are in a hurry.
Normally you have to provide a photo/scan of an ID card, a credit card and a utility bill as proof of residence .
To avoid being rejected and having to repeat the painstaking process, try the following:
- Before uploading any documents, make sure that you prepare all photos in advance because you must upload everything in one go.
- Take the pictures using a good quality mobile phone camera
- Upload only high-resolution photos
- Your face and information in the document in the photos must be clear. Blurry photos are a definite no no.
And that is not all.
- Uploaded pictures must not be altered or enhanced by any image-processing app like Photoshop, Lightroom, etc.
Take the pictures using a good quality mobile phone camera in a brightly-lit room, and I am sure this will do the trick.
Step three: Buying Bitcoins, Ethereum or other CryptoCoins with a credit card.
Once the verification process and credit card approval are completed, you are all set to move forward.
Depositing via credit card will cost you a lot , from 3.5% up to 8% for small amounts. Here is some additional info about the cost of purchasing Bitcoins with a Credit Card (December 2017).
- Bitstamp (credit card purchase fee: 5%-8%)
- Coinbase (credit card purchase fee: 3.99%)
- CEX (credit card purchase fee: 3.5%)
On the upside - If you are interested in Coinbase, you may follow [ this link ], and during your purchase of more than 100 USD, you and I will both get $10 worth of free Bitcoins!
Great!
So, I have just bought $200 worth of Bitcoins, now what?
Well, I am not a day trader nor am I giving any advice about trading. That is not my profession. However, these days, crypto-market is very volatile, maybe it would be best just to hold onto it for a few years; maybe :).
Be safe!