Ok, you’re interested in Bitcoin, maybe you’ve decided an amount you want to buy, maybe not. In this post I’m going to go through how to do it, step-by-step.

Pick an Exchange

When I talk to people about Bitcoin I will often get asked if I can help them buy it. It’s a pretty simple process but there are a lot of options out there, and a lot of scams too. So, I’m going to do away with the options in this post and just tell you what I do. I wasn’t paid to write this so this is my recommendation simply because after trying a lot of things, I’ve come upon a setup that I think is good, and would be easy and safe for most people.

I’ve tried a lot of exchanges. I started with Coinbase, also bought some on LocalBitcoins (a site where you just meet someone in person, a little sketchy). I’ve also used Swan Bitcoin as well, and they are also good. But, these days I am using River.

Why River?

I like River for a few reasons. First, I have attended a Bitcoin meetup based in San Francisco for a long time and the founder of River was the emcee for it for a while. So, I have some social proof that their not looking to try and scam anyone.

Secondly, River custodies their own Bitcoin. Most other exchanges use a third party to actually hold the Bitcoin for them and there have been issues with that in recent years. A lot of them have gone bankrupt and lost everyone’s deposits.

Third, they have a deal right now for Zero fee dollar cost averaging. If you don’t know that term there is some info on their site about it here. In short, dollar cost averaging or DCA just means you buy some set amount of Bitcoin every day, week, month or whatever. It’s a good way to deal with Bitcoin’s volatility.

Lastly, they have a feature that will automatically send the Bitcoin you buy to your own wallet. So, if you’re ready your Bitcoin will show up in your cold storage wallet without you having to do anything. (Learn more about Cold Storage here).

What Are the Steps?

This part they make pretty easy. You just sign up and deposit some funds. You can add funds with ACH (your checking account), or with a wire transfer.

Once you have some dollars in there, you just enter the amount of Bitcoin you want to buy and that’s it.

If you’re not sure how much you should buy read this: How Much Bitcoin Should I Buy?. You can start with $1 if you want.

Extra Credit

If you are comfortable and have a hardware wallet setup, you can setup Automatic Withdrawals.

Conclusion

This might seem pretty basic but I can’t count the times I’ve been asked by people to just tell them specifically where to go. There are so many options out there that it gets overwhelming so I tried to resolve that. I hope this helps some of you out there.

If you have any questions or want to discuss anything else Bitcoin related, check out the Bitcoin Buddy Forum or email me at joel@bitcoinbuddy.co.