Bitcoin - where to buy?

HarryGray

Hi all,

I know people have their differing views on Bitcoin but I’ve decided it’s time I put 2% of my allocation into cryptocurrency. 

I’m trying to find a website to purchase on - Coinbase charge £20 per £500 invested (4%) which seems extortionate. Does anyone have any other recommendations on a better platform?

Retireby40

I used coinbase as its easy. Wouldn't go buying crypto now. Better waiting till it drops again.

HarryGray

Retireby40 said:

I used coinbase as its easy. Wouldn't go buying crypto now. Better waiting till it drops again.

Might never happen. Pound cost averaging a small amount into it each month and holding for 35 years!

masonic

HarryGray said:

Hi all,

I know people have their differing views on Bitcoin but I’ve decided it’s time I put 2% of my allocation into cryptocurrency. 

I’m trying to find a website to purchase on - Coinbase charge £20 per £500 invested (4%) which seems extortionate. Does anyone have any other recommendations on a better platform?

Coinbase Pro only has a 0.5% fee and you have access to both sites if you register for either. A private wallet and localbitcoins is an alternative option. Personally I had some shrapnel lying around from the early days when I was experimenting, and that had grown to a tempting level, so I cashed it out this morning.

Retireby40

HarryGray said:

Retireby40 said:

I used coinbase as its easy. Wouldn't go buying crypto now. Better waiting till it drops again.

Might never happen. Pound cost averaging a small amount into it each month and holding for 35 years!

It will go down again. History has shown that. Where in the middle of a bull market where everyone is hearing about crypto and bitcoin and the FOMO is taking over. Similar to a few years ago. 

bowlhead99

I've used Bitstamp for years; back in the day they were the largest and most legitimate European exchange. They no longer have anything like the top volumes in the industry but the liquidity is fine and they are credible and reliable. So I haven't bothered to sign up with a new provider for the occasional sale.

If you're only punting £500 and don't mind virtual exposure as it's not the sort of lifechanging investment you would want to be bothered storing securely yourself, you could just trade it virtually via a spreadbet provider (the spread would be under 1% at IG.com) or using Etoro or similar.   Coinbase charge 4% for an instant debit card transaction, which drops to about 1.5% if you're not trying to fund in real time, and they also have a spread of about 0.5%, so you're right that overall the cost of using them is pretty outrageous.  Maybe the 'Pro' version of their service is cheaper for decent amounts; I'm not a customer.

However, if you're making a long term investment and '2% of my allocation' is only £500, I don't suppose getting the price down from £20 to £5 or £0.50 really matters. In a decade the value will likely either be £1000++ or next to nothing, and the fact you paid £20 will be forgotten. 

The obvious point to mention is whether waiting for a time where a volatile asset has trebled in value in the last three months is a good time to finally 'decide it's time' to put a proportion of your wealth into it. You could imagine most people saying it sounds like the wrong time...

HarryGray

bowlhead99 said:

I've used Bitstamp for years; back in the day they were the largest and most legitimate European exchange. They no longer have anything like the top volumes in the industry but the liquidity is fine and they are credible and reliable. So I haven't bothered to sign up with a new provider for the occasional sale.

If you're only punting £500 and don't mind virtual exposure as it's not the sort of lifechanging investment you would want to be bothered storing securely yourself, you could just trade it virtually via a spreadbet provider (the spread would be under 1% at IG.com) or using Etoro or similar.   Coinbase charge 4% for an instant debit card transaction, which drops to about 1.5% if you're not trying to fund in real time, and they also have a spread of about 0.5%, so you're right that overall the cost of using them is pretty outrageous.  Maybe the 'Pro' version of their service is cheaper for decent amounts; I'm not a customer.

However, if you're making a long term investment and '2% of my allocation' is only £500, I don't suppose getting the price down from £20 to £5 or £0.50 really matters. In a decade the value will likely either be £1000++ or next to nothing, and the fact you paid £20 will be forgotten. 

The obvious point to mention is whether waiting for a time where a volatile asset has trebled in value in the last three months is a good time to finally 'decide it's time' to put a proportion of your wealth into it. You could imagine most people saying it sounds like the wrong time...

I don’t believe in market timing as you could at that about anything. If you’re holding for 30 years then it shouldn’t matter. Thank you for the advice. Also I’m pound cost averaging £500 a month for 6 months so £3000 in total 😊

booneruk

masonic said:

Coinbase Pro only has a 0.5% fee and you have access to both sites if you register for either. A private wallet and localbitcoins is an alternative option. Personally I had some shrapnel lying around from the early days when I was experimenting, and that had grown to a tempting level, so I cashed it out this morning.

+1 for Coinbase Pro - been using it for years now. Just be careful not to misplace your two factor authentication

Wildsound

I'm waiting for slightly more media attention than it's starting to get already, at which point I will hit the sell all button. History will repeat itself. When it's dropped 95% of it's value again I will buy back in most likely.

Retireby40

So it just seems its going to continue rising and rising and rising. There must be millions of people in the world have decided to buy bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin along with other crytptos in literally the last few weeks and even more so the last few days. 

Is the working man really ploughing everything the have into crypto at this price? Incredible really. 

eskbanker

Retireby40 said:

So it just seems its going to continue rising and rising and rising. There must be millions of people in the world have decided to buy bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin along with other crytptos in literally the last few weeks and even more so the last few days. 

Is the working man really ploughing everything the have into crypto at this price? Incredible really. 

Only if he believes that "it just seems its going to continue rising and rising and rising", in which case more fool him....