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The Basics of Buying Bitcoin

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Buy bitcoin in three easy steps

A crucial first step for any new bitcoiner is figuring out how to actually buy bitcoin. The good news is that today there are so many easy-to-use options for buying bitcoin that you should be able to find something that works for you. 

In this guide, we’ll walk through how to buy bitcoin using Coinme and how to set up a Coinme wallet to send, receive, and store bitcoin. 

How to buy bitcoin with Coinme

Coinme is the simplest way to convert dollars into bitcoin. All you need to do is find a Coinme-powered bitcoin kiosk, which is easier than ever through our partnership with Coinstar. So far there are over 5,000 Coinstar bitcoin kiosks nationwide. Most of them are located in places you probably go to already anyway, like the grocery store. 

For a more detailed, step-by-step guide on how to find and use a Coinme kiosk to buy bitcoin, check out this post. In the guide there is also a “buy bitcoin near me” tool which will help you locate the nearest bitcoin kiosk. 

Once you locate a Coinme kiosk, you will be able to buy bitcoin with cash in three easy steps.

  1. Find the Coinme-powered kiosk and insert cash. You can convert up to $2,500 into bitcoin a day!
  2. Get your printed voucher, which will contain important information for accessing your bitcoin via smartphone or desktop computer. Treat these vouchers like cash and safeguard them accordingly. (Protip: don’t share images of your voucher on social media! It is exciting to easily convert cash to BTC, but sharing voucher information opens you to security issues.)
  3. Setup a Coinme digital wallet and then use your voucher information to access your bitcoin. Once you complete this setup process, you will be able to easily repeat steps one and two while you build up your stack of bitcoin. You can also use your Coinme bitcoin wallet to send and receive bitcoin to and from other bitcoin wallets.

Best practices when buying bitcoin

While buying bitcoin at a Coinme-powered ATM is simple and straightforward, there are still some very basic best practices to follow.

  • Bitcoin is volatile: Bitcoin’s underlying market dynamics, and the overall size of the market, make it extremely volatile. When the price of bitcoin starts to move, the movements are often dramatic —  sometimes gaining or losing thousands of dollars in the span of hours or days. So whatever price you buy bitcoin at, be prepared for it to change. This volatility can be exciting when the price is rapidly rising, but it can also be painful when the price plummets. Be prepared for both and expect the unexpected at all times.
  • Average in/out: One tactic used by stock market investors is to dollar cost average into the market. This means buying little chunks of the asset over time, instead of entering into a position all at once. The reason for averaging? It will help establish a cost-basis that reflects the market’s movements over time. In other words, it will help protect you from buying too low or too high, because you would buy consistently over time —  creating an average. This is a great tactic for long term bitcoin buying.
  • Are you investing or speculating: Many people are buying bitcoin to hold for the future. If that’s the case for you it’s a good idea to think about your goals. Investing is a long term play that requires decision making and planning. Speculating is kind of like gambling where you make a big bet looking for a payday. It’s a good idea to think about strategies and tactics before big market movements and then execute the plan.
  • Storage and security: Before you buy bitcoin, it’s a good idea to review some of the basic bitcoin storage and security best practices. Bitcoin is different than the traditional money and banking system (which is good), but it does require a few extra steps to make sure your assets are secure and stored properly.

Key takeaways

The key takeaway is that buying bitcoin is becoming easier and easier all the time. That’s the good news. The bad news is that as new products and platforms emerge for buying bitcoin, it becomes increasingly important to do your own research. Pay particular attention to the security elements of new bitcoin products. 

Another key takeaway is that setting up a Coinme wallet is one of the easiest ways to convert cash to bitcoin. And once the bitcoin is in your Coinme wallet, you can send, store, and receive bitcoin anytime, and anywhere.

Coinme Blog.

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Whether you are feeling good about the recent bitcoin market gains, or just generally feeling the giving-back vibe of the holiday season — there are plenty of ways to donate bitcoin to great charities and nonprofit organizations.

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November 30, 2020

How To Buy Bitcoin With Cash

Buying bitcoin with cash — or more specifically, buying bitcoin with cash at a bitcoin ATM or bitcoin kiosk has never been easier. There are a handful of good reasons why you would want to buy bitcoin with cash. So in this post we’ll dig deeper into how and why people are converting USD to bitcoin.

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November 18, 2020