Coinbase is quite popular, as seen by the surge of new users. But a lot has changed since Bitcoin’s last market boom, and there are lots of alternatives to Coinbase for first-timers looking to buy their first bitcoin, including some with lower costs.
Keep in mind that when volumes surge, all exchanges are vulnerable to outages. None of these swaps are in any way superior to Coinbase.
This is only a sample of some different ways to buy bitcoin that aren’t available on Coinbase;
Cash App
Square’s Cash App is perhaps the quickest method to acquire bitcoin in the United States.
You can either use your bank account, which takes a few days to set up, or your debit card, which allows you to buy bitcoin right now.
Cash App, which is available on both mobile and web, allows you to buy up to a hundred thousand dollars in bitcoin each week and withdraw $4,000 per day and $8,000 per week.
Cash App also features a debit card that gives users bitcoin-back rewards and offers automatic recurring purchases.
Purchasing fees range from 1percent to 5%, depending on the quantity of the order. Cash App does not charge a fee when you withdraw money.
River Financial
U.S.-exclusive River Finance is a new bitcoin-only broker that focuses on delivering consumers a full array of bitcoin-related customer service.
Although River’s financial suite isn’t as simple to use as Cash App, it does provide a variety of services that set it apart from other bitcoin exchanges.
River, for example, supports Lightning Network cash transactions, which means you may deposit or withdraw bitcoin quickly with no network fees.
You may also link your hardware wallet to your River account, allowing you to keep track of the bitcoin you keep in frozen storage.
You can set up auto-recurring bitcoin purchases in the same way as you can with Cash App.
The river is designed for larger purchases, as the minimum charge is a hundred dollars and purchases may only be made using a US bank account.
The river does not impose a withdrawal fee and costs between 1percent and 3percent for purchases, depending on the size.
International Bitcoin Exchanges
Here are a few centralized exchanges that service numerous clients, whether you are inside or outside the United States.
Each of the exchanges listed below has a mobile app that allows you to manage your account while on the move and accepts fiat money deposits via bank transfer, credit, or debit cards.
They have also enabled Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, which allows clients to avoid paying exorbitant on-chain fees when withdrawing to self-custody.
These bitcoin exchange services provide cheaper trading costs than Coinbase and other brokers, ranging from 0.2 percent to 0.6 percent each trade.
However, newbies may find it more difficult to purchase bitcoin because these exchanges, which also provide a variety of altcoins, are primarily designed as trading platforms.
As a result, users unfamiliar with bitcoin exchange designs may find them more difficult to use than other solutions.
Decentralized Bitcoin Exchanges
These bitcoin exchanges don’t involve know-your-customer identification authentication, allowing users to trade explicitly with one another without handing up their encryption keys to a third party.
No third party may freeze your funds on these services since you never provide the exchange of your private keys.
Non-KYC exchanges allow clients to purchase bitcoin without disclosing sensitive personal information to third parties.
Not every theft results in a loss of cash, as proven by the Ledger and BlockFi security problems; exchanges and services that retain KYC data serve as a goldmine for hackers, who sell illegal personal info such as emails and physical addresses on the dark web.
If you acquire bitcoin this way, you’ll have to jump through more hoops and it will be tougher than the traditional path, but the bitcoin will be “more secret” as a result.
In conclusion, you can buy bitcoin without using Coinbase if you use the following techniques:
- Decentralized Bitcoin Exchanges
- International Bitcoin Exchanges
- Cash App
- River Financial
It is crucial to learn these other options for purchasing bitcoin besides Coinbase so that you can stay afloat financially. I have tried them and they are fantastic; give them a shot and see what you come up with.