Is coinbase a GOOD way of buying bitcoin?

We are fast approaching 2022 and Bitcoin recently celebrated its 13th anniversary. Despite this, there are very few low-cost ways to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Let’s start by saying that for now, the best way is to purchase crypto from a trusted friend. They should be able to help you set up a suitable wallet and transfer the tokens at your agreed price.

If you don’t have a friend that’s clued up on crypto or they are looking to HODL their CDAs (Cryptographic Digital Assets) then what do you do?

• Buy Bitcoin at an ATM
• Buy Bitcoin with Paypal funds
• Buy Crypto on Coinbase with a bank transfer or debit / credit card
• Check out LocalBitcoins.com

We don’t recommend using ATM’s at this current time. They are convenient if you have one in your area, but the costs are worse than old school, fiat transactions. Hopefully in time the fees will come down but for us ATM’s are a last resort route to owning crypto. There are ways of buying Bitcoin with Paypal but the systems we have tested cost more than using an ATM. Around 20% in costs and unless you have no way of spending your Paypal funds its another route best avoided.

We have never used LocalBitcoins.com so we will leave our review of what they offer to a later article. Ultimately most owners of crypto are going to use an exchange to trade between the thousands of different tokens. There are hundreds of exchanges, ranging from low volume niche markets to multi-billion dollar global enterprises.

Coinbase Exchange

One very well known exchange is Coinbase and it’s one we recommend to people new to the blockchain. Coinbase can be used from a PC or a smartphone but we prefer the Trust wallet for mobile use. This URL is a referral link and anyone purchasing a $100 or more of cryptocurrencies will receive an extra $10 from Coinbase. The referral link also helps us to fund this site. The exchange accepts funds via bank transfers and credit / debit cards but many credit card providers block purchases of CDAs. In Europe, a SEPA transfer to their nominated account costs just €3 and takes 2 or 3 working days.

Once your funds have been credited to your Coinbase account you should purchase a token such as Ethereum Classic (ETC) and then transfer the tokens to your Trust Wallet. Trust wallet is about to add Bitcoin support to their iOS and Android wallet but for now our suggestion is to buy ETC on the exchange. Once you have transferred the ETC to your Trust wallet your smartphone should show something like the image at the top of this article. Costs for using Coinbase in Europe, excluding the UK, are quite reasonable:

Costs of using Coinbase are broadly similar across the globe but some countries, like Australia, Canada and Singapore don’t have the bank transfer account funding option. Funding your account from a UK bank account is free and withdrawals cost £1. Trust wallet is preferred to the Coinbase wallet as it accomodates all the major blockchains including Ethereum, Tron, ICON, Wanchain and Callisto etc. We will publish a follow-up article on some of the major exchanges but for this exercise, we just used Coinbase as an easy route to your first CDA purchase.