How to Buy Bitcoin (BTC) with USD

Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, and is considered to be the first decentralized cryptocurrency to have been created back in 2009. It pioneered the concept of a blockchain, of which many other applications and cryptocurrencies have been created.

Since Bitcoin works a bit differently than the regular financial world, it's important to educate yourself on how to be as secure as possible. You are responsible for your stuff: your investments, your choices, and most importantly, your security. There are no babysitters or undo buttons, and no bank to call up and have a transaction reversed. The power of the blockchain lies in this autonomy, but it can also be dangerous to expect all of the convenient failsafes we have come to enjoy. We wrote an in-depth guide about securing yourself which you can find here, which we highly recommend any newcomer to this space to read.

Buying Bitcoin with USD

You can go to buy.mycrypto.com and use our MoonPay integration, or alternatively, use an exchange for purchasing cryptocurrency.

Buying Through an Exchange

If you use an exchange like Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, Poloniex, Bittrex, then you have an account with that company, and they hold your BTC and your keys for you. They have their own account on the blockchain with all their and their customers' funds in it. Then you have a username / password with them, which are stored on their servers, and they keep track of how much BTC they "owe" you.

This allows you to have a more traditional username / password situation and do things like reset your password if you forget it, change your password if your password is compromised, and turn on 2FA. However, it also means that if the exchange loses BTC, it's your BTC that is lost. If you still want to purchase BTC through an exchange, follow the steps below.

1. Create an account on either Coinbase, Gemini, or Kraken. Verify that account. You will need to upload a variety of documents to prove you are who you say you are. Once you upload all this regulatory stuff, verification takes about a day or two (time is dependent on how busy the service is and can be affected by price increases and influxes of new users. Be patient.).

2. Follow the instructions on the exchange to deposit USD into that exchange. This, depending on your bank and the wire transfer, will typically take 3-5 business days.

3. Now you have USD in your exchange account and can buy BTC with it.

4. Once you have all the BTC you want, withdraw that BTC into a wallet that you control. Exchanges are notorious for being hacked (although the ones mentioned above are very reputable) and you want your funds in a place that you have the private key to.

Storing Your BTC

Unfortunately, MyCrypto does not support Bitcoin at this time. However, there's a few really good options for storing Bitcoin, along with other cryptocurrencies. We highly recommend you to get a hardware wallet, as this is the safest way of storing your funds.

As for storing Bitcoin without a hardware wallet, we recommend using either Exodus or Jaxx. Both of these options also allow you to store other cryptocurrencies from Bitcoin, such as Ethereum. Make sure that you back these up well.

How to Create a Coinbase Account

Navigate to Coinbase.

For a NEW Coinbase account, click on the Get Started button, enter your email address and follow the directions to register and verify your account and device.

For any questions or issues on how to buy BTC with USD via Coinbase, please contact Coinbase directly. You can find Coinbase’s support page here.