How to buy Bitcoin in your country?
There are a lot of options to buy Bitcoins, available in nearly every country of the world from, Gift cards, ATM, local Traders, broker, exchanges: Our ultimate guide explains, how to buy Bitcoin anywhere in the world.
Worldwide: Nearly everywhere in the world, you have a chance to use local bitcoins, BitSquare or a Bitcoin ATM. While these are options you could use, it is worth to look for further options available in your country.
North America
The USA and Canada are two of the biggest markets for Bitcoin buyers. Buyers can choose from a wide variety of options to buy Bitcoins. In both countries, you find beside LocalBitcoins and ATMs the direct vendors Coinbase, Circle, and India coin, the P2P-market Paxful and the exchange Kraken.
USA
Direct Exchanges: With Coinbase and Kraken two major platforms offer an easy way to buy Bitcoins with low fees and save them in an online-wallet. Both platforms accept both bank transfers and credit cards. Indacoin is another platform for the direct exchange, but without an integrated wallet. A next option, Expresscoin, enables the acquisition of Bitcoins with cash via Billpay.
P2P-Markets: Beside LocalBitcoins and Bitsquare Bitquick and Paxful are P2P-markets available for customers in the US. On Bitquick you pay by depositing leaving cash on the bank of the seller, on Paxful the seller can choose whatever payment-channel he wants, including PayPal, Western Union, credit and debit cards, gift cards and much more. While prices on Paxful are usually quite high, Bitquick charges a fee of 2 percent.
Exchanges: If you want to buy Bitcoins with Dollar on an exchange, you have a couple of platforms to choose. The biggest exchanges are Bitstamp; Coinbase‘s GDAX and Bitfinex, followed by BTC-E, Kraken, and Gemini. While most exchanges strictly accept bank transfers, BTC-E offers additionally the funding of an account with Credit Cards and payment providers like PerfectMoney, Paysafecards and more.
Canada
Direct: Both Kraken and Coinbase are open for Canadian Customers who can buy Bitcoins with bank transfer or credit card and store them on the platform‘s online wallet. Also, Indacoin is available for Canadian customers. More specific for Canadians, however, are QuickBT and canadianbitcoins.com, platforms where you can directly buy Bitcoins for up top 150 Canadian Dollar with several means of payment like INTERAC® Online and Flexepin Vouchers. Canadianbitcoin.com also offers the option to pay with cash in person or deposit.
P2P: Customers of Canada can use international P2P markets like Paxful and LocalBitcoin to buy Bitcoins on P2P-markets.
Exchange: Several exchanges enable the trade with Canadian Dollars. Kraken, QuadrigaCX, and CoinSquare are the most prominent examples.
Middle and South America
Other than North America, Middle, and South America just discovered Bitcoins some years ago, mostly in 2014/2015. Most exchanges are relatively new, and due to the lower volume and smaller liquidity, buyers have to pay more in fees and for the spread.
Several exchanges are available in some countries of South and Middle America: Satoshi Tango is a direct vendor for Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Peru; Bitex.la offers services in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Uruguay.
The P2P-market local bitcoins is available in most countries of Latin America.
Mexico
Gift Cards: With the app of Chip-Chap.com you can buy Bitcoin gift cards at more than 5.000 shops.
Direct: Volabit.com allows people to buy Bitcoin with MXN by bank transfers or depositing cash at OXXO, 7-Eleven, Banamex branches and ATM.
Exchange: Bitso.com is an exchange for Mexico. Fees are rapidly decreasing with trade volume to as low as 0,1 percent; the spread is relatively small.
Brazil
Direct: People of Brazil can buy Bitcoins directly at Mercadobitcoin.com.br, a broker calling himself the biggest Bitcoin exchange in Latin America.
Exchange: One major exchange for Bitcoin in Brazil is FlowBTC. Here people can buy or sell Bitcoins. Deposits can be made with Ban transfers. A second major exchange is Foxbit.com.br
Argentina
Direct: Ripio is a Wallet-App that allows the users to buy Bitcoins. Its special feature is that it enables the acquisition of Bitcoins on credit and serves as a payment gateway to pay with Bitcoin.
Venezuela
Exchange: With SurBitcoin Venezuela has its own Bitcoin exchange.
Chile
Exchange: Chile has its own Bitcoin exchange SurBTC, which hit the international news when it received funding from the chilean government. People can buy or sell Bitcoins here and deposits in chilean peso can be made with local bank transfers.
Europe
ATM: The website coinatmradar.com lists hundreds of Bitcoin ATM in Europe.
Direct: Due to the unclear state of regulation in the Eurozone there are a dozen of direct exchanges to buy Bitcoin which offer a large variety of payment channels. Most of this broker charge their customers with fees depending on the payment channel of 0,5-5 percent and earn by the spread.Examples in alphabetical order:
Any coin-direct (SEPA, Sofort, Giropay, Ideal, MyBank, TrustPay), BitIT (Neosurf Prepaid Voucher, not available in every country), BitPanda (SEPA, Sofort, Skrill, Credit Card, Neteller, PayPal), BTCDirekt (SEPA, Sofort, Credit Card, Giropay, Neteller), Coinify (SEPA, Credit Card, PayPal), CoinMate (Sofort, SEPA, Money Polo), HappyCoins (Sofort, Ideal, Mister Cash, SEPA, Giropay, MyBank), Indacoin (Credit Card), Spectrocoin (Sofort, Giropay, IDeal, Perfect Money, SEPA).
While the platforms above just sell Bitcoin and offer no or no advanced online wallet, Coinbase and Circle online wallet with the option to buy Bitcoin with bank transfer or credit card are available in most European countries.
P2P-Markets: LocalBitcoin is available for every country of the Eurozone except Germany. Bitcoin.de is a P2P-Marketplace for the whole Euro-Zone where people can buy and sell Bitcoins with SEPA transfers. With 0,5 percent and a low spread, Bitcoin.de is likely the cheapest method to buy Bitcoins except for the exchanges.
Exchange: Several exchanges serve the Eurozone. Kraken is the leading exchange, followed by Bitstamp and BTC-E. All exchanges demand full KYC.
Eurozone (specific)
Austria
Citizens of Austria can buy Bitcoins with gift cards from bitcoinbon.at that are sold in many traffic shops. This is comfortable, but the relatively expensive method to buy Bitcoins.
Germany
For Germans, the Fidor-Bank is a good start to buy Bitcoins. This online-bank partners with Bitcoin.de and Kraken, making the trading on these platforms significantly faster and more comfortable. On Bitcoin.de customers of Fidor can immediately achieve full KYC status and use the so-called ExpressTrade. This enables them to buy an unlimited amount of Bitcoins for relatively low prices only minutes after the first contact with the platform.
Spain
In Spain, you can easily buy Bitcoins at thousands of ATMs with Bit2Me.com and chip-chap.com.
Europe (not Euro)
In nearly every European country localbitcoins is available. Due to the good currency exchange between local currencies and Euro many people in European countries use the big European platforms (Kraken, bitcoin.de) to buy Bitcoins. Since high fees and a big spread on small exchanges can add a huge premium on the price, it is often cheaper to change the local currency into Euro and use the Euro-platforms which mostly accept clients from whole Europe.
An easy method is to pay with credit card if available. Your credit card provider earns on the currency exchange spread and fee, but you can buy Bitcoins fast and comfortably.
UK
Direct: Coinbase is also available for UK citizen to buy Bitcoins with bank transfers and credit cards. Many people from the UK use bittylicious.com, which offers beside bank transfers and credit cards UK-specific payment options like Paym or Barclays Pingit. The fees, however, can be, depending on the payment option, quiet large. Another broker who offers a direct exchange
Exchange: The most popular Exchange in the UK is Coinfloor, followed by Kraken and Coinbase‘s GDAX.
Swiss
ATM: Recently the national railway company SBB announced that citizens of the Swiss could buy Bitcoins at every ticket machine in every rail station. Payment can be made with Cash or electronic cash; credit cards are not accepted. On top of this person in the Swiss can find Bitcoin ATM operated by bitconsuisse.ch on several places.
Direct: The broker bitcoinsuisse.ch offers the option to buy Bitcoins with cash and bank transfer. 247exchange.com implemented the option to buy Bitcoins with Franken. Most other direct exchanges like Coinbase, Circle and so on accept Swiss customers, but demand them to pay with Euro.
Poland
Exchanges: With BitMarket.pl, BitBay.net and bitmaszyna.pl Poland has three Bitcoin-exchanges where you can buy Bitcoins with relatively good conditions with Zloty.
Norway
Direct: Cubits.com enables the direct acquisition of Bitcoins with NOK.
Exchange: Norway has one exchange, bitcoinsnorway.com. But the volume is quiet low so that buyers pay a premium.
Sweden
Direct: Sweden has two Bitcoin broker where you can buy Bitcoin with SEK: bt.cx and fybse.se.
Denmark
Direct: The only Danish exchange is coinify.com.
Ukraine
ATM: With the help of btcu.biz it is possible to buy Bitcoins at many bank ATM in the whole country.
Direct: Buy.kuna.io offers a direct exchange of Bitcoin for Hryvna. Another direct exchange is btcu.biz.
Exchange: With kuna.io the Ukraine has its own Bitcoin exchange for Hryvna.
Russia
Due to the unclear legal situation of Bitcoin in Russia only a few exchanges and brokers exist. Many people seem to trade with localbitcoins.
Direct: matbea.com is a direct vendor of Bitcoin for Ruble. It demands the registration of Users with a phone number.
Exchange: BTC-E is the major exchange to trade Rubel and Bitcoin. It works with a variety of payment providers to allow the deposit of funds.
Asia
Asia is the fastest growing market for Bitcoins. In China, Japan, and South-Korea there is a vivid trade with Bitcoins on exchanges, while Arabian countries like the Emirates are more or less Bitcoin-free. In this countries, best changes are to find an ATM or sellers on LocalBitcons.
China
Exchanges: China has the most liquid Bitcoin exchange landscape in the world. With Huobi, OKCoin and BTC China you find the exchanges with by far the biggest volume. These exchanges charge zero fees, and as a result, the spread is extremely low. Beside them are many further exchanges.
Japan
Direct: The most popular direct exchange broker for Yen is bitflyer.jp. The broker offers a wide specter of verification degrees – from E-Mail full KYC – and charges very low fees.
Exchange: With Quoine, Coincheck, and Kraken three exchanges serve the Japanese market. While they can‘t compete with Chinese exchanges regarding liquidity, they provide a good service to cheaply buy Bitcoins.
Thailand
Direct: A Bitcoin-Broker for Thailand is bitcoin.co.th. Another broker, coins.co.th, adds a comfortable online wallet.
Exchange: With bx.in.th Thailand has its own Bitcoin exchange.
Korea
Direct and ATM: coinplug.com offers a variety of services to buy and sell Bitcoins. They provide two unique ATM in Seoul, enable the purchase of Bitcoin in thousands of ATMs in the country by partnering with an ATM producer and provide the option to buy Bitcoins with several gift cards.
Exchange: With korbit.co.kr South Korea has a well-developed exchange that offers not only the trading with Bitcoin but also wallets for all devices and a remittance service. Also, coinplug.com has an exchange.
India
Direct: An address to buy, sell, save and send Bitcoin is unocoin.com, Indias biggest Bitcoin-vendor. More or less the same offers zebpay.com, another big platform for Bitcoins in India. Like every exchange in India, those two platforms require in identity verification.
Exchange: Coinsecure.in is both an online-wallet as an exchange.
Philippines
The Philippines have an amazing variety of platforms where you can buy Bitcoins.
Gift cards: On prepaidbitcoin.ph you can redeem voucher cards you can buy in several locations in the Philippines.
Direct: buybitcoin.ph is one vendor for Bitcoins, coins.Ph another. Coins.ph accepts a wide specter of payment channels like cash deposits at banks, online transfers and vouchers available nationwide in stores.
Exchanges: With coinage.ph and BTCexchange.ph the Philippines have two Bitcoin exchanges.
Turkey
While Bitcoin is not regulated in Turkey, after the failed coup and the increasing restrictions by the government there seems to be a growing pressure on Bitcoin companies.
Gift-card: With bitupcard.com you can buy the voucher that is redeemable for Bitcoins online.
Direct: koinim.com is a platform where you can directly buy Bitcoin and Litecoin with Lira.
Exchange: BTCTurk.com is Turkey‘s first Bitcoin exchange. Here you can buy and sell Bitcoins. Recently BTCTurk had trouble with its bank account, and there have been rumors it has to shut down. But by now it still seems to be operating.
Middle East
Israel
Direct: Bits of Gold is the oldest Bitcoin platform in Israel. Here you can directly buy and sell Bitcoins.
Exchange: Bit2C is Israel‘s major Bitcoin exchange.
Other: Citizen of the United Arab Emirates can use bitoasis.net to buy Bitcoins directly; in Kuwait you can buy Bitcoins on bitfils.com; in Vietnam you find the Broker bitcoinvietnam.com.vn and the exchange vbtc.vn; in Malaysia coinbox.biz and coins.my provide an online wallet and an easy method to buy and sell Bitcoins, while oinhako.com is a wallet with the option to buy and sell for Malaysia and Singapur and bitx.co offers an exchange for Malaysia and Indonesia. In Indonesia, you can also buy Bitcoins at bitcoin.co.id. Citizen of Taiwan can use maicoin.com to buy, sell and use Bitcoins.
Oceania
Australia
Direct: Australia has several direct Bitcoin vendors: btradeaustralia.com supports Poli-Payments, buyabitcoin.com.au accepts cash deposits in banks, cointree.com.au supports both payment-options, coinloft.com.au too plus Flexepin vouchers, and bitcoin.com.au enables the acquisition of Bitcoin by depositing cash at kiosks. coinjar.com.au promotes itself not only as a vendor, but also as a wallet to use Bitcoins.
Exchange: With independentreserve.com and coinspot.com.au Australia has two exchanges.
New Zealand
Direct: At coined.co.nz you can buy Bitcoins with online bank transfers, at buybitcoin.co.nz with bank deposits. More payment options offer coinhub.nz where you can not only pay with bank transfers but also with cash deposits at ATMs and tellers as with PayPal. mybitcoinsaver.com offers a wallet and the option to invest regularly in Bitcoins with automatic bank transfers.
Exchange: New Zealand has two Bitcoin exchanges. On bitnz.com the spread is relatively large, while you‘ll find better prices at nzbcx.com,
Africa
Compared with the rest of the world Africas lacks Bitcoin adoption and has only a few exchanges. If no exchanges exist, it‘s a good idea in many countries to search LocalBitcoins to find a local vendor.
South Africa
South Africa has two Bitcoin exchanges: Bit-X and ice3x.com (Ice Cube).
Nigeria
In Nigeria, you can also trade Bitcoins on Bit-X. Also, you can use nairaex.com to buy Bitcoins with bank transfers and bitpesa.co to purchase coins with debit cards or paga.
Tanzania
In Tanzania, you can use bitpesa.co to buy Bitcoins with bank transfers.
Uganda
Bitpesa.co offers citizen of Uganda to buy Bitcoins with MTN or Airtel Money.
Zimbabwe
Bitcoinfundi.com seems to serve Zimbabwe, but prices are shown in Dollar.
Conclusion
Buying bitcoins is not always as easy as newcomers expect. The good news is the number of options is increasing, and it is getting easier all the time.