The three key points to consider when buying Bitcoin Cash are:
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:
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, Mt Gox.
Get the Bitcoin.com Wallet app, the fully-non custodial Bitcoin Cash wallet trusted by millions.
Read more: The difference between custodial and non-custodial Bitcoin wallets.
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.
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.
Having gone through the basics of buying Bitcoin Cash, let's look in more detail at the methods and processes.
The Bitcoin.com Wallet app makes it easy to buy Bitcoin Cash from the convenience of your mobile device or from your desktop. Importantly, the Bitcoin.com Wallet app 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:
Open the Bitcoin.com Wallet app app on your device.
Select Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and tap the "Buy" button. Note: you can also buy other digital assets.
Follow the on-screen instructions to choose your preferred wallet for depositing*
*The Bitcoin.com Wallet app 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."
If it's your first purchase, verify your identity.**
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 app to receive, hold, and use the Bitcoin Cash you've already purchased via a different method. Other methods for buying Bitcoin Cash include:
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:
Visit the Buy Bitcoin page.
Select Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Note: you can also purchase a range of other select crypto assets.
Choose whether you want to pay in USD or another local currency, and enter the currency amount (eg. $100).
Click the BUY button.
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 app. To do so, you just need to know your Bitcoin Cash address. To get the right address:
Complete the purchase process by creating an account and providing your payment details.
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 app. 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:
A variety of platforms facilitate the trading of Bitcoin Cash by offering 1) a venue for buyers and sellers to post their buy and sell orders, and 2) an escrow and dispute resolution service.
Since these platforms principally help people find each other, in many jurisdictions the platforms themselves aren't technically classified as 'money transmitters,' so in some cases they don't require you to reveal your identity in order to use them. For privacy-conscious buyers, therefore, P2P platforms can be an effective method for obtaining cryptocurrencies, despite being generally less convenient, and often more costly overall (it can be hard to get the "correct" market rate using this method due to lack of liquidity). Note however, that, as a seller, using a peer-to-peer platform to engage in the commercial sale of cryptoassets (beyond, say, a few small transactions here and there) may find you on the wrong side of the law in your country since you may be considered a money transmitter operating without a license.
Read more: How crypto exchange works
Most peer-to-peer crypto exchanges integrate a reputation system, meaning they track and display the trading history of their users. If you're looking to buy using a P2P exchange, you'll want to choose sellers who have a good reputation, meaning they've completed several trades and never had a complaint.
The process for buying cryptoassets using a peer-to-peer exchange is typically as follows:
Browse through listings by payment type (eg. bank transfer, PayPal, etc.), amount, location of seller, reputation, and so on.
Initiate a trade. Doing so locks up the cryptoasset in an escrow account.
Send the agreed payment amount via the agreed payment method. Note, this could potentially even mean meeting the seller in person and handing over cash directly.
The seller then confirms receipt of the payment via the website or app. This triggers the cryptoasset to be released from escrow to your crypto wallet.
In some cases, the purchased cryptoasset will be released from escrow directly to the crypto wallet of your choosing. In other cases, it will first be sent to your peer-to-peer platform account wallet (which is typically a custodial web wallet). In that case, you'd then want to withdraw it to a crypto wallet you control. Note that this final step often incurs a fee, which typically constitutes the peer-to-peer platform's business model.
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