Selecting an exchange to deposit your money and buy your first bitcoin (BTC) can be overwhelming, especially given the more than 200 exchanges on the market.
Not choosing a legitimate exchange can come with some real risks to you and your investments. Some exchanges allow you to deposit money but make it extremely difficult to withdraw, some others have gone bankrupt (and disappeared with users’ funds), while others simply don’t take security seriously. This can lead to them being hacked and your funds being stolen, and if they don’t have a solid emergency fund or proper insurance, you may never see them again.
You should select your exchange as if it was your bank – but thankfully, we’ve done the hard work for you. We’ve tested numerous exchanges and listed only the best, most trustworthy ones below.
What’s the Best Place to Buy Bitcoin?
Founded in 2012, Coinbase is one of the oldest exchanges in operation, with over 30 million customers around the world. In Europe, the entity is supervised by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), while in the U.S. they have a license to operate in most states, including New York.
Regulated in reputable jurisdictions (UK and USA), highly compliant and secure
Deposits in EUR, GBP, and USD through wire transfer
Possibility to buy bitcoin with CreditCard, Sofort, Giropay, and iDeal
Easy to use through a browser or with the iOS and Android apps
Customer support can be slow at times
High liquidity on EUR, USD, and GBP markets
Kraken is an exchange geared towards experience traders, so isn’t the best place for newcomers. However, if you can understand how the platform operates, Kraken is one of the best choices to trade cryptocurrencies, especially the USD and Euro pairs with their deep liquidity.
Highest-rated exchange for security according to ICORating, and has never been hacked
Deposits in EUR, USD, GBP, CAD, and CHF through wire transfer
Deposits only through wire transfer
Harder to use than other exchanges
Customer support can be slow at times
High liquidity on EUR and USD markets, and possibility to trade on leverage
Binance is the leading cryptocurrency exchange despite being a latecomer to the market (2017). It has not only some of the lowest fees on the market, but also a wide array of cryptocurrencies that aren’t usually available on other exchanges.
Not regulated (despite having a good reputation), but strong security features
No fiat deposit capabilities
Possibility to buy bitcoin with a credit card
Easy to use through a browser or the iOS and Android apps
Responsive customer support
High liquidity on all its trading pairs
bitFlyer is the leading cryptocurrency exchange in Japan (80% of JPY trading volume!) with regulated branches worldwide. In 2017, the exchange expanded to the EU and to the U.S. In Europe the entity is supervised by the Luxembourg FSA (CSSF), in Japan by the Japan FSA, and in the U.S. bitFlyer is regulated in most states including New York – demonstrating that the exchange is trying to emulate the success it achieved in its motherland.
Regulated in reputable jurisdictions (Luxembourg, USA, and Japan), highly compliant, secure, and has never been hacked
Deposits in EUR though wire (SEPA) transfers
Possible to buy bitcoin through wire transfers, credit card, Sofort, Giropay, and iDeal
Easy to use via your browser or the iOS and Android apps
Responsive customer support
High liquidity on EUR markets
BitBay is Poland’s leading cryptocurrency exchange and the best place to buy and trade bitcoin for Polish users. They have a strong track-record on security, numerous Polish Zloty (PLN) funding capabilities, and high BTC/PLN liquidity.
Regulated in Estonia, and has never been hacked
Deposits in PLN, EUR, GBP, and USD through wire transfers
Deposits only possible via wire transfer (or in-person in a Polish post office)
Easy to use through browser, or the iOS and Android apps
Responsive customer support
High liquidity on PLN markets
What Should You Do With Your Bitcoin?
Now you’ve bought your first bitcoin, you need to decide what to do with it. There are a few options for you.
HODL – Store Your BTC for the Long Term
Originally a misspelling of “hold” that caught on, hodling is what we recommend newcomers to the space to do.
Timing the market is something that even the professionals get wrong a lot of the time. You’re better off storing away your bitcoin and weathering any ups and downs in the market. Bitcoin regularly outperforms all other major assets, and in the long-term has achieved practically unheard-of gains.
While you can store your bitcoin on an exchange, for extra security you can also invest in a hardware wallet, which adds an extra level of physical security to your bitcoin storage. For similar control but slightly less security, you can use a software wallet.
Start Trading
If you don’t have the patience to hold your bitcoin, then two choices are open to you.
The first and most obvious is to start trading using technical analysis. However, we don’t recommend this to beginners.
It takes years to master the art of trading, and even then few manage to trade successfully. If you do try this, start off with a small amount that you’re fine with losing. Some exchanges even have simulated markets where you can make practice trading with fake bitcoin to improve your skills.
The easiest option for beginners is to use a social (or mirror) trading platform to copy the trades of more experienced traders or buy a trading algorithm on one of the many marketplaces available. One company providing such services is Cryptohopper. Cryptohopper enables you to buy strategies and bot templates from their marketplace for $17 to $80 per month.
However, keep in mind that there’s no such thing as a free lunch and that most successful trading strategies will not be released publicly on such a platform. Additionally, returns with such a platform are not guaranteed and the return estimates are based on historical returns which might not be similar in the future. An alternative to Cryptohopper is Kryll.
Learn More About Bitcoin and Blockchain
If you want to learn more about bitcoin, blockchain, or cryptocurrency in general, there are plenty of resources you can check. We’ve written articles on blockchain in the supply chain industry, blockchain in the internet of things, and blockchain in politics, with more pieces in the pipeline.
We also compiled a list of the top 5 books about cryptocurrency and blockchain if you prefer a deeper dive into the topic.
Contact us to have your exchange added to this list.