How to Buy Bitcoin (BTC)

How to Buy Bitcoin in 3 Simple Steps

Have you placed your BTC order yet?

What Is Bitcoin?

Why Buy BTC?

Why Buy BTC With Kraken?

How Much BTC Can I Buy With Kraken?

How to Keep Your Bitcoin Investment Safe

What Can I Do With Bitcoin After I Buy It?

Bitcoin’s adoption grows each day as more and more people discover its value and utility.

How to Buy Bitcoin FAQs:

1. What does it mean to invest in bitcoin?

   Some view investing in bitcoin as taking one step closer to financial freedom. When you purchase bitcoin, you transition from a centralized system of hierarchy to a decentralized system of consensus. Investing in bitcoin is partnering with millions of individuals around the world who collectively maintain authority over their own funds. However, you should always do your own research, including seeking financial advice, before committing.

2. Is bitcoin worth investing in?

   The short answer is, it depends on your own individual circumstances. For those that see value in a digital payment network that does not require intermediaries to operate, bitcoin may be a worthwhile investment. Additionally, those that are interested in sending payments around the world faster and more efficiently may find value from investing in bitcoin. As bitcoin is still in its early stages of adoption, many are investing in the potential of what bitcoin’s innovations can enable. Investors also enjoy Bitcoin’s ability to store value outside of centralized control, viewing it as a way to grant individual’s greater financial independence. 

3. How do beginners buy bitcoins?

   Bitcoin beginners should first do their own research (and may consider seeking professional advice) before buying bitcoin. Kraken’s “What Is Bitcoin” article offers a good overview of the key facts surrounding bitcoin. With an understanding of the software, beginners can buy bitcoin in just a few minutes with as little as $10 on Kraken.

   Buy bitcoin with the Kraken app today

4. When is the best time to buy bitcoin?

   The traditional financial advice, that “it is impossible to time the market,” holds true for bitcoin too. However, the answer to this question ultimately depends on your goals, financial circumstances and investment strategy.

   Investors that have concerns about timing the market should consider dollar cost averaging their bitcoin investment using an exchange like Kraken. Dollar cost averaging allows investors to purchase the same dollar amount of bitcoin on a consistent time interval, regardless of its market price. Kraken makes it easy to dollar cost average with recurring buys, which let you schedule daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly bitcoin purchases. This allows investors to constantly accumulate bitcoin, without having to worry about timing each market fluctuation. 

   Buy bitcoin with the Kraken app today

5. Can I buy less than one bitcoin?

   Yes, you can buy less than one bitcoin. If the current price of a single bitcoin is outside of your price range, remember that bitcoins were designed to be broken down into smaller fractions, called satoshis. Kraken lets you start buying bitcoin with as little as $10. 

   Buy bitcoin with the Kraken app today

6. Can I buy bitcoin with $50 or $100?

   Yes, Kraken makes it safe and easy to buy bitcoin with as little as $10 – or as much as you want. 

   Buy bitcoin with the Kraken app today

7. Can I buy bitcoin with my bank account or debit/credit card?

   Yes, U.S. users can buy bitcoin with a bank account. Kraken also enables investors in several countries around the world to purchase BTC with their credit or debit card. A full list of funding options by country can be found here. 

8. How much bitcoin should I buy?

   Everyone’s financial situation, appetite for risk and investment objective is different. Bitcoin is still an investment that can be subject to volatility and price decreases. Consider these factors as you evaluate how much you are willing to dedicate towards a bitcoin investment.

9. Where can I buy bitcoin?

   Bitcoin can be purchased from a variety of locations today, such as Bitcoin ATMs, various fintech platforms and even directly from other individuals. But, the easiest and safest place to purchase bitcoin is through a trusted cryptocurrency exchange like Kraken.

   With Kraken, investors can count on our low fees, easy to use products, around the clock customer support and rigorous focus on the safety and security of your bitcoin. 

10. How long does it take to buy bitcoin?

    Using Kraken, it takes only a few minutes to buy bitcoin. Get started with our three-step process today to create your free account, connect your funding method and buy bitcoin. You can also automate your bitcoin purchases by scheduling daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly recurring buys. With Kraken’s mobile app, it has never been faster or easier to buy bitcoin.

11. Do I own my bitcoin?

    Unlike many other fintech and trading platforms that offer bitcoin, when you buy BTC on Kraken, it belongs to you. Kraken firmly believes in the self sovereignty and right to personal custody principles that Bitcoin was built upon. Therefore, Kraken allows you to take your bitcoin off of the Kraken platform. You can store it in the wallet of your choice and use it however you please. When you purchase bitcoin from Kraken, it is your digital property.

12. What can you buy with bitcoin?

    You can buy anything using bitcoin, as long as a merchant accepts it as payment. From local vendors to international corporations, bitcoin’s reputation as a more efficient form of payment grows each day. 

13. How do I send bitcoin?

    Once you buy bitcoin, Kraken makes it easy to withdraw your funds and send BTC to any other bitcoin wallet in the world, whether that’s your own or someone else’s. From the Kraken funding page, select your bitcoin asset and then select withdraw. Enter the amount of BTC you wish to withdraw from your Kraken account and enter the bitcoin address (the long string of letters and numbers) set to receive the funds. 

    It is important to check and be absolutely sure that the bitcoin address you have entered is correct. If you do end up sending funds to the wrong address, even if just one character is wrong, the funds could be lost forever.

14. How to buy bitcoin stock?

    Bitcoin is not a stock, it is a part of a new asset category called cryptocurrencies. Investors can gain indirect exposure to bitcoin through a variety of publicly traded companies such as mining hardware manufacturers or companies that have allocated portions of their corporate treasuries to bitcoin.

15. Can Bitcoin crash?

    After more than a dozen years, the Bitcoin protocol has not experienced any successful attack. While service providers and individuals have been targeted, the software itself has continued to operate without any known exploitation or manipulation taking place. Bitcoin’s distributed nature ensures that all participants maintain consensus across the network and there is no single point of failure.

    As with many early stage technological innovations, bitcoin’s price is subject to speculation and market volatility. It is no secret that the price of BTC has shifted dramatically in short periods of time, especially compared to more mature asset classes. 

16. How many bitcoins are there?

    There is a maximum supply of 21 million bitcoins that will exist. New bitcoin enters circulation during the mining process. Miners, who ensure the integrity and accuracy of the bitcoin network, compete to solve a complex math problem and earn bitcoin about every ten minutes. At this time, there are approximately 2 million bitcoins that have not yet entered circulation.

17. What is Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash?

    In 2017, the Bitcoin community reached a fork in the road. One part of the community wanted to expand the amount of data each block of transactions could hold, thereby increasing the network’s transactions per second and potential as a widely used currency. The other group wanted to maintain the block size, fearing that a larger amount of data in each block would lead to a more computationally heavy blockchain, which would centralize the network. 

    Ultimately, those favoring a larger block size voted to copy the original Bitcoin protocol and modify its rules to create Bitcoin Cash in a process called a “hard fork.” Find a complete overview of the differences between Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash here.

18. How is bitcoin taxed?

    In the United States, bitcoin is taxed as a form of property. After purchasing bitcoin, it is best to consult a tax professional to ensure that you are reporting your bitcoin holding correctly.

19. What's the difference between Bitcoin and bitcoin?

    Bitcoin with an uppercase “B” refers to the Bitcoin protocol, the software that allows the world’s first cryptocurrency to operate. Bitcoin with a lowercase “b” refers to the cryptocurrency used to transfer value within the Bitcoin protocol. Many people mistakenly use these two interchangeably, but in case you had noticed the different usage, you now know why.

20. What is bitcoin halving?

    The bitcoin halving is the process of decreasing the reward given to miners who create new bitcoin blocks by a factor of two. Since its 50 bitcoin reward at inception, the Bitcoin protocol has cut the reward for creating new blocks in half every 210,000 blocks mined (typically every four years). At this rate, block reward halving is anticipated to continue until all bitcoin enters circulation around the year 2140.

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