Cheapest (safe) place to buy bitcoin/ethereum?

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mbzon
mbzon Posts: 43 Forumite
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in Savings & investments
I know there are quite a lot of articles and posts about bitcoin, but because there are so many scammers, spammers and annoying ads it's hard to get a trustworthy answer to this question...

So does anyone have any suggestions on where to buy crypto currencies for the best possible exchange price, but of course safely?

I'm considering to buy around £1000 by bank transfer, might decide to get a mix of bitcoin, ethereum, and other currencies.


(just for the record I am not buying bitcoin to get rich quick or anything like that, it's actually been something I've wanted to buy into for several years now)
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  • markj113
    markj113 Posts: 256 Forumite
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    Localbitcoins

    You can pay by bank transfer. You can also see the sellers feedback and number of trades + Escrow is used for the transaction.
  • ivormonee
    ivormonee Posts: 395 Forumite
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    mbzon wrote: »
    it's actually been something I've wanted to buy into for several years now)

    If you've procrastinated for "several years" what's made you finally decide now is the time?
  • mbzon
    mbzon Posts: 43 Forumite
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    markj113 wrote: »
    Localbitcoins

    You can pay by bank transfer. You can also see the sellers feedback and number of trades + Escrow is used for the transaction.

    Yeah I was also thinking to go with them actually, partly because they were the only other one I'd heard of other than coinbase. Any suggestions for Ethereum or Ripple though? I'm thinking to get a mix.
    ivormonee wrote: »
    If you've procrastinated for "several years" what's made you finally decide now is the time?

    It's not why now, but why not until now. And that was because I was lazy and kept putting it off. And now it's back in the news, and yes I really wish I did it sooner... but oh well. The reasons I wanted to do it last year didn't change, nor have my expectation of it in the future.
  • Theta101
    Theta101 Posts: 140 Forumite
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    I use Hargreaves Lansdown in my SIPP.

    XBT Provider AB Bitcoin Tracker One (BIT-XBT)
    XBT Provider AB Ethereum Tracker One (ETH.XBT)

    Good luck.
  • MoneyGeoff
    MoneyGeoff Posts: 256 Forumite
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    Theta101 wrote: »
    I use Hargreaves Lansdown in my SIPP.

    XBT Provider AB Bitcoin Tracker One (BIT-XBT)
    XBT Provider AB Ethereum Tracker One (ETH.XBT)

    Good luck.

    How were you able to buy those? If I select them on HL it says "Please note that due to current regulations, you cannot place a dealing instruction for this security in your existing accounts"
  • Bonnie151
    Bonnie151 Posts: 279 Forumite
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    MoneyGeoff wrote: »
    How were you able to buy those? If I select them on HL it says "Please note that due to current regulations, you cannot place a dealing instruction for this security in your existing accounts"

    I also have some of the XBT Bitcoin in my SIPP. It’s because they are such high risk that you need to go through additional checks. I phoned HL and they asked me a few questions about my investment history/risk attitude. I’ve had money in an AIM VCT for years and am very happy with high risk so they put the transaction through for me.

    They did mention that they were looking to do the questions online in future, but phoning sorted it quickly.
    Hmmmm, need new siggie :cool:
  • Theta101
    Theta101 Posts: 140 Forumite
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    How were you able to buy those? If I select them on HL it says "Please note that due to current regulations, you cannot place a dealing instruction for this security in your existing accounts"

    I've had no issues trading Bitcoin and Ethereum trackers on HL platform.
    I have traded both since they first became available, maybe HL now ask users to confirm they understand the risks. Once you've traded them at least once, they are just like any other Share or Fund.

    Here are links to the actual exchange:
    Bitcoin Tracker.
    https://markets.ft.com/data/etfs/tearsheet/summary?s=BITCOIN/XB:STO:SEK

    Ethereum Tracker.
    https://markets.ft.com/data/etfs/tearsheet/summary?s=ETHEREUM/X:STO:SEK

    They are both in the top 20 of 'stocks' traded by HL.
    http://www.hl.co.uk/shares/top-of-the-stocks

    DYOR
  • mbzon
    mbzon Posts: 43 Forumite
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    edited 9 January 2018 at 2:28PM
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    If I'm completely honest this is getting a little technical now but as I know on these websites you don't actually own the currency correct?

    I would like to own the currency myself in my own desktop or hardware wallet. Also want to pay by UK bank transfer (without international fees or exchange rates).

    Localbitcoins definitely is great for bitcoin for example but they don't have other currencies like Ethereum and other younger currencies... :(
  • Curos
    Curos Posts: 28 Forumite
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    edited 9 January 2018 at 2:55PM
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    I've used Bittylicious (bittylicious dot com) to buy both Bitcoin and Ethereum and it's been easy and fast. I can't claim they're the cheapest/safest exchange right now but the rate was pretty good when I bought some a few months ago.

    As for 'smaller' cryptos, the only place I've found so far that works/has lots of cryptos/has good reviews (doing a very basic amount of research) is bitfinex dot com - I've already transferred some Bitcoin to the platform and that went through fine (although the transaction speed was very slow, due to how busy the network is rather than any fault of the platform). I'll be buying some other cryptos using the Bitcoin I transferred over and then transferring all funds away from the exchange and into my wallet(s).

    In addition to the above I'd check out the Bitcoin UK subreddit r/BitcoinUK and read through the posts there as there's plenty of people in similar positions who have asked this question before.

    EDIT: If you aren't already aware, be prepared to go through an authentication process where you have to submit documents for proof of identity, address etc because no matter which exchange you pick this is standard and may well take a few days to sort out.

    Let me know how you get on.

    Cheers, Joe.
  • moshady
    moshady Posts: 1 Newbie
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    Other options:
    - For buying Bitcoin, coinfloor - you can do bank transfer in, though it's an international transfer, so your bank will still likely charge you. Also it's a min of 2500GBP deposit.
    - For buying Bitcoin, Xapo is another option. When I first signed up I was able to transfer GBP in at a cost of just 50p, but couldn't do that again. Not sure if it was a sign-up offer, or if they've just stopped accepting GBP by bank transfer. You can deposit by other payment sites, like Neteller, but you will end up incurring credit cards fees as a percentage (approx. 5% if I recall)

    Once you have Bitcoin, you can use an exchange to buy other coins.

    - Kucoin - transfer Bitcoin to Kucoin and then buy other coins using the Bitcoin. They have most of the other major altcoins, though Ripple is missing - supposed to be coming soon. You can then transfer coins out to your own wallet.
    - Binance, as for Kucoin - they're one of the biggest exchanges but they're not accepting new registrations at the moment, which is why I'm using Kucoin.
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