Key points to consider

The three key points to consider when buying bitcoin cash are:

1. Payment method
2. Platform/venue used
3. Where your bitcoin cash goes

Payment methods range from credit card to bank transfer, payment app (PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, etc.), face-to-face with cash, and even barter. Each payment method carries tradeoffs in terms of convenience, privacy, and associated fees.

Platforms/venues for buying bitcoin cash include digital wallet providers, centralized spot exchanges, OTC desks (private 'Over-The-Counter' exchange services used primarily by high-net-worth individuals), peer-to-peer marketplaces, and even payment apps like PayPal and Venmo.

Of course, it's also possible to buy bitcoin cash face-to-face. For example, you could give cash to your friend in exchange for receiving an agreed amount of bitcoin cash.

As for where your bitcoin cash goes after you buy it, the options are:

1. Into a Bitcoin Cash wallet you control (ie. a 'non-custodial' wallet like the Bitcoin.com Wallet)
2. Into a Bitcoin Cash wallet someone else controls (eg. a centralized cryptocurrency exchange or a payment app like PayPal).

Not your keys, not your bitcoin!

When you hold bitcoin cash in a wallet you control (known as a 'non-custodial' wallet), you never have to ask for permission to use it. This means you can receive your bitcoin cash without waiting for a third party like a centralized exchange to approve the transaction. It also means you can send your bitcoin cash wherever you want, whenever you want - and you'll always pay the same low fee (typically less than a penny).

By contrast, many custodial Bitcoin Cash wallets impose severe restrictions on what you can do with your bitcoin cash. First of all, in most cases, only people who are resident in specific countries can use a custodial service. Next, you may be asked to register an address before sending bitcoin cash to it, and you may be required to wait several days before being allowed to make a withdrawal - and there's almost always a high fee for making a withdrawal. In some cases, withdrawals of any kind are simply not permitted. It's also not uncommon to have your account frozen altogether. If you've been deemed a security or fraud risk, for example, you may be locked out of your account with no recourse to action.

Perhaps most importantly, non-custodial wallets are more secure. As long as you maintain password management best practices, you'll never have to worry about getting hacked, nor will you be exposed to counter-party risks like a centralized exchange getting hacked or going bankrupt.

Get the Bitcoin.com Wallet, the fully-non custodial Bitcoin Cash wallet trusted by millions.

Read more: The difference between custodial and non-custodial Bitcoin wallets.

Why do I need to verify my identity to purchase bitcoin cash?

When you buy bitcoin cash with a government-issued currency like dollars or euros through an exchange service, you're interacting with a regulated business. Such businesses must comply with Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations pertaining to the transfer of money. These regulations require the collection and storage of customer information, including identity documents and sometimes proof of address.

What are the fees for buying bitcoin cash?

Fees for buying bitcoin cash depend on the payment method and platform/venue used. For example, if you're buying directly from a friend and settling in cash, you'll only need to consider the 'network fee' for sending the bitcoin cash from your friend's digital wallet to yours. Network fees for sending bitcoin cash are typically less than a penny so, in most cases, you can safely ignore them altogether.

Read more: Learn about sending bitcoin cash.

If you're paying with a credit card or bank transfer, you'll of course need to factor in the fees for using those payment methods.

Beyond that, exchange services charge additional fees for facilitating trades. These fees cover the exchanges' operating costs plus a small margin. In general, you'll pay lower overall fees for larger purchases, so it often makes sense to avoid making many small buys.

Read more: How bitcoin exchange works.

Ways to buy bitcoin cash

Having gone through the basics of buying bitcoin cash, let's look in more detail at the methods and processes.

1. Buying bitcoin cash with the Bitcoin.com Wallet
2. Buying bitcoin cash from the Bitcoin.com website
3. Buying bitcoin cash from a centralized cryptocurrency exchange
4. Buying bitcoin cash using our peer-to-peer trading platform

1. Buying bitcoin cash with the Bitcoin.com Wallet

The Bitcoin.com Wallet makes it easy to buy bitcoin cash from the convenience of your mobile device or from your desktop. Importantly, the Bitcoin.com Wallet is fully non-custodial. This means you're always in complete control of your bitcoin cash.

Read more: What's the difference between a custodial and non-custodial digital wallet?

Here's the process for buying bitcoin cash using our app:

1. Open the Bitcoin.com Wallet app on your device.

2. Select bitcoin cash (BCH) and tap the "Buy" button. Note: you can also buy other digital assets.

3. Follow the on-screen instructions to choose your preferred wallet for depositing*

   *The Bitcoin.com Wallet actually consists of separate wallets for each crypto asset we support (eg. BCH, BTC, ETH, etc.). Additionally, you can make as many individual wallets as you want - a feature that can help you to both organize your funds and protect your privacy. For example, you can make one Bitcoin Cash wallet called "My BCH Savings" and another Bitcoin Cash wallet called "Everyday BCH Spending."

4. If it's your first purchase, verify your identity.**

5. Once complete, your purchase will proceed.

**After your first purchase, which includes identification verification, future purchases are completed in seconds!

Of course, you can also use your Bitcoin.com Wallet to receive, hold, and use the bitcoin cash you've already purchased via a different method. Other methods for buying bitcoin cash include:

2. Buying bitcoin cash from the Bitcoin.com website

You can buy bitcoin cash from the Bitcoin.com website using your credit/debit card or other payment method (Apple Pay, Google Pay, etc.). When you buy bitcoin cash from the website, you'll need to decide where to receive it. This means you'll need to input a Bitcoin Cash 'address' when prompted.

For example, a Bitcoin Cash address looks something like this:

bitcoincash:pqx5ej6z9cvxc2c7nw5p4s5kf8nzmzc5cqapu8xprq

Here's the process for buying from Buy.bitcoin.com:

1. Visit the Buy Bitcoin page.

2. Select bitcoin cash (BCH). Note: you can also purchase a range of other select crypto assets.

3. Choose whether you want to pay in USD or another local currency, and enter the currency amount (eg. $100).

4. Click the BUY button.

5. Enter your wallet address.*

   *Here's where you'll decide where the bitcoin cash you're buying goes. For example, you can send bitcoin cash straight to your Bitcoin.com Wallet. To do so, you just need to know your Bitcoin Cash address. To get the right address:

   1. Open the app.
   2. Tap the receive icon.
   3. Select bitcoin cash (BCH) and choose the wallet you want to receive it to (eg. My BCH Wallet).
   4. Tap the copy button to save the address to your clipboard. You'll need to paste that address into the Bitcoin.com Buy website.

6. Complete the purchase process by creating an account and providing your payment details.

3. Buying bitcoin cash from a centralized cryptocurrency exchange

With this method, the bitcoin cash you purchase will at first be held by the cryptocurrency exchange on your behalf. If you'd like to take full control of your bitcoin cash, you'll need to withdraw it from the exchange to a non-custodial wallet like the Bitcoin.com Wallet. When you withdraw bitcoin cash from an exchange, you'll be subject to the exchange's withdrawal policy and fees. In some cases, you may not be able to withdraw for days or weeks, and the withdrawal fee will almost certainly be much higher than a Bitcoin Cash transaction fee would normally be (sending bitcoin cash typically incurs a fee of less than a penny).

Here's the usual flow for buying bitcoin cash from an exchange:

1. Visit a cryptocurrency exchange website where you can buy bitcoin cash.
2. Create an account and verify your identity as required.
3. Follow the website’s instructions to buy your bitcoin cash (BCH) or other digital asset.
4. Your bitcoin cash will appear in your exchange account.
5. If you'd like to take full control of your bitcoin cash, send it from the exchange to your non-custodial wallet (like the Bitcoin.com Wallet).

4. Buying bitcoin cash using our peer-to-peer trading platform

Bitcoin.com Local is a simple, transparent, and private platform to buy and sell bitcoin cash. Like other P2P marketplaces, Bitcoin.com Local is an introductory service that helps people interested in trading BCH to find each other. People can use Bitcoin.com Local to create advertisements where they offer to buy or sell BCH. Others reply to these advertisements and together you can agree to a method for completing the transaction such as sending a bank transfer.

Remember, you'll want to send your purchased bitcoin cash to a wallet you control (like the Bitcoin.com Wallet). Here's how it works:

1. Visit Local.Bitcoin.com and create an account. Note, no personal information or document verification is required to make an account and it takes just a few seconds to get set up.
2. Find an existing Bitcoin Cash (BCH) seller or create a new buy order yourself. In the latter case, sellers will seek you out if your buy order is competitive.
3. When you initiate a trade with your chosen seller, they’ll send the BCH to a decentralized escrow mechanism that exists on the Bitcoin Cash distributed network. This means Bitcoin.com Local never touches the BCH!
4. Once you’ve sent the agreed payment via bank transfer or other payment method, the seller will confirm they’ve received the funds.
5. The BCH you’ve bought will then be released from the blind escrow and sent to the digital wallet address you provided.