It should not come as a shock that you can purchase Bitcoin easily in the US. The country is, after all, known as “The Land of the Free”. Cryptocurrency is a topic that is no exception. Swapping fiat for Bitcoin is a common practice in the US and can be done through a variety of exchanges and using many different methods.
Due to the capitalistic free market, many Bitcoin hubs are centralized in America. As such, purchasing the currency with paper, plastic or wire transfer are convenient, simplistic options. Below, you can look at some of our recommendations for the best exchanges available to US citizens.
Bitquick
In 2013, the business was started by Jad Mubaslat and is in the state of Ohio. BitQuick is most famous for being the first cryptocurrency exchange to validate their stockpiles of fiat and crypto.
This is important because if an exchange cannot back up their claimed holdings, they cannot deliver the intended service to the customer and provide liquidity. Among the common people of the US, it is widely regarded as a safe exchange because of its location within US territory.
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Platform’s Services
BitQuick provides its customers with two essential services: Buying and selling cryptocurrency. The buying option is a quick, user-friendly way to get your hands on a stack of Bitcoin. There are hundreds of banks to choose from with an average transaction time of less than 30 minutes.
The buy screen is transparent. It lists the available prices and min/max purchases. These payments are made in cash at the selected bank, which can be a detractor if you want to remain anonymous. But with so many banks to choose from, there’s bound to be a place suitable for you. Selling for physical money is the second service offered, and it fulfills the cycle of Bitquick.
If you have Bitcoin, you can sell it for a direct deposit to your bank account or even cash by using a service such as MoneyGram. On the sell page, just enter in the price, amount of coin, and your desired payment method. After some verification processes, buyers can take up the offer and complete the exchange.
Available Currency
Although transactions are conducted in the currency native to the originating country, people can use a variety of currencies to pay. The following are a few examples of the trading pairs at BitQuick:
- BTC: USD
- BTC: EUR
- BTC: CAD
- BTC: RUB
- BTC: AUD
Payment Methods
The payment options at BitQuick are generally all the same: go to your local bank branch indicated on the “payment method” section and place a cash deposit directly into the account of the seller. The most popular method is Wells Fargo banks, as they usually have a good combination of prices, availability, and min/max purchases.
The second most used option is the credit unions which use shared branching at multiple locations. The best part about this is you can use any credit union in the country. BitQuick also has a bunch of other banks as payment methods including: Citizens Bank, Western Union, and MoneyGram, each with their own transaction fees associated with them.
Fees & Limits
Fees using BitQuick are higher than normal exchanges. The website itself charges a 2% charge on all transactions in addition to a 0.001 BTC mining fee to cover blockchain expenses. Additional fees can also be incurred based on the bank used, but these additional charges vary for each method. The buyer is responsible for these fees.
In terms of limits, the smallest buy order can be placed for 0.003 BTC. The maximum is determined by the seller but is generally no more than $10,000. Without ID verification, the maximum one-time buy limit is only $400, so getting verified is a big step in unlocking BitQuick’s potential.
CEX.IO
CEX.io was originally created with the intention of becoming a hub for cloud mining where individuals could be a part of a larger effort to mine Bitcoins and be compensated accordingly. This model meant that a single person would be more likely to receive profits, and everything could function in the cloud. It was founded in 2013 with its headquarters in London.
The site soon became a popular market exchange for the cryptocurrency. Although available in the United States, the website is banned from a host of states, making it less popular than other options.
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Platform’s Services
CEX.io offers some unique services to the public. Firstly, there are easy options to buy and sell a coin. The website offers multiple trading pairs to several fiat currencies and a host of coins. These altcoins include: ETH, BCH, BCG, DASH, and XRP amongst others.
The CEX.io buy/sell page is very user-friendly with prices that automatically update every minute and allows predetermined amounts or custom orders. This simplistic style is great for newcomers to the crypto scene and can be done directly from a credit or debit card.
The second service is margin trading. This type of trading is a high-risk, high-reward endeavor that involves borrowing funds to trade at a greater volume. Different leverages such as 1:2 and 1:3 can be selected for multiple trading pairs. Although this kind of trading is risky, CEX.io offers stop-loss protection and a negative balance defense that can help investors manage their money.
Available Currency
The exchange offers a good number of coin-to-fiat trading pairs including:
- BTC: USD
- BTC: EUR
- XRP: USD
- BTC: RUB
- BTC: GBP
- XLM: USD
- BCH: GBP
- ETH: EUR
Payment Methods
CEX.io accepts two payment methods: credit cards and bank transfers. Credit cards are popular with the masses. Funds are available with one or two days at the maximum and can be used to transfer currencies such as USD, EUR, and RUB. The only downside is that the fees can reach around 3.5% to even 5% on some cards depending on the company.
Bank transfers, on the other hand, charge flat fees of about $10 per transaction. This is great for people buying large sums in one go. The negative is that the transaction time can vary and take up to a week depending on the amount and bank as it needs to go through the ACH process.
Fees & Limits
The CEX.io has a myriad of account types. Fees and limits associated depend on the account. For example, when using a Visa credit card as a basic user, the maximum transaction amount hits $1,000 with a monthly cap at $3,000.
When using a corporate account, those numbers skyrocket to $10,000 and $100,000, respectively. Each transaction incurs a $3.80 fee, while MasterCard charges 1.2% on top of that. If using a bank transfer, there is no commission charge and nearly no limit to deposit amounts.
Changelly
Changelly is a cryptocurrency market that was established in 2013, much like other popular exchanges. It was originally created by MinerGate as a cloud mining service but rebranded to a crypto-to-crypto exchange service shortly thereafter. Today, it has over one and a half million users and boasts over 15,000 transactions on a daily basis.
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Platform’s Services
Changelly is unique in that it does not specialize in converting fiat to crypto. Instead, the platform is specifically designed to swap one coin for another. Changelly’s API provides the best available trade to the customer — this eliminates the need for searching endlessly for the optimal result.
For this service, a small service charge is withheld from the transaction. By linking users together, Changelly is at the forefront of crypto-trading technology.
Available Currency
Changelly offers dozens of cryptocurrencies to trade, with the most popular being the big three: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. While these are the most traded in and of themselves, the site also offers other coins such as DOGE, XMR, XDN, and XRP.
Payment Methods
In general, you can only pay Changelly with fiat currency if you are purchasing from the site directly. However, if you have a compatible cryptocurrency wallet and wish to pay with crypto, you most certainly can do that as well. Any currency supported by Changelly will be automatically converted to the fiat equivalent exchange. This means you can pay in BTC, LTC, ETH, etc.
Fees & Limits
Changelly states that it charges a 0.5% fee for each transaction made. This seems great at first as it is very competitive with other markets. However, Changelly may tweak the exchange rate in its favor. For example, if Ethereum is listed at $330 on one exchange, Changelly may source a lower price (say, $310) and give you less for your money on top of the service charge.
Coinmama
Like the others, Coinmama was founded in 2013 as a Bitcoin-focused company. Its headquarters is in Slovakia. Coinmama is available in many countries across the globe, including a bunch of areas in the United States. Though it is not as popular as some on this list, it remains a solid service for those located in the United States but has strict requirements on payment methods and high fees.
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Platform’s Services
Coinmama supports the standard service of selling Bitcoin and Ethereum. The site accepts only Visa or MasterCard credit/debit cards. By registering and finalizing an account with personal details, the user can then purchase their designated cryptocurrency in a quick, efficient, no-hassle manner.
Available Currency
While prices are listed in USD and EUR only, Coinmama accepts any currency in the world. The only catch is that your bank will most likely charge an exchange fee, which can range from 1-5% of the transaction amount. These funds can only be used to purchase Bitcoin or Ethereum; no other currencies are sold at this site.
Payment Methods
Coinmama only takes Visa and MasterCard. Other payment options, such as bank transfers and PayPal, are unavailable.
Fees & Limits
This cryptocurrency exchange has great limits which vary on your account verification level. For standard users, $10,000 is the cap. This cap can be lifted to a million if the full verification process is complete. Monthly limits vary, but $20,000 per month is on the low end.
While the limits are great, Coinmama has steep fees. 5.5% is what you’ll pay on each transaction. This is on top of the 5.0% fee using a credit card with the site will cost. And, of course, this doesn’t account for any other miscellaneous fees your bank may charge.
Localbitcoins
Localbitcoins is one of the original websites people flocked to for exchanging Bitcoins — you guessed it — locally. It is a peer-to-peer service that connects buyers with sellers. It began as a small startup in Finland and has been run by Jeremias Kangas since 2012. The premise is simple and reminiscent of Craigslist.
People post offers and a designated payment method. Interested individuals contact the original poster and work out a deal. Localbitcoins is popular around the globe for those who want an in-person, tangible experience.
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Platform’s Services
As with all platforms on this list, Localbitcoins is a site created to help users buy or sell their Bitcoins. Users are required to verify their ID to create and maintain an account. Once done, they can post a buy or sell offer that can be viewed by anyone and sorted by location. For example, let’s say you live in San Francisco, CA and want to purchase BTC from someone in the area.
You can go on Localbitcoins.com and find a seller in the area, meet them, and pay cash while they transfer the coin to your electronic wallet. The process works both ways as a peer-to-peer service.
Available Currency
As the name suggests, this site focuses entirely on the original cryptocurrency: Bitcoin. Any fiat currency that the two parties agree on such as USD, EUR, CAD, RUB, etc. can be used as a medium for the transaction. Posts for altcoins are not allowed.
Payment Methods
The traditional payment method for Localbitcoins users is cash in person. But, over time, people have developed into using credit cards, wire transfers, Western Union, PayPal or gift cards as a substitute for physical money. Localbitcoins officially supports all these methods and more — ultimately it is up to the buyer and seller to agree on a payment vehicle.
Fees & Limits
The best part about Localbitcoins is that there are zero set fees. Nothing. Limits are agreed upon by the parties involved. The only fees that exist are for sending coins to a third-party electronic storage area, which can cost as little as 0.0001 BTC to cover the blockchain network fee. Additionally, if you are an active advertiser on Localbitcoins, there is a mere 1% fee when Bitcoin is held and subsequently released from an escrow account.
For me, Cex.IO is a service #1. The trading pairs are very diverse, including not only various fiat currencies, but also numerous digital money. I have counted 8 e-currencies.
The desktop version of Bitquick is okay. Yet, I tried to get BTC thru the mobile app on my iPhone, and the application crashed.
Though, the interface of Localbitcoins is too plane and ordinary, the service is really worthy. If I were to create a sort of rating, this site would get 4/5.
The service of Coinmama matches perfectly for new users. It is easy to use and available among 188 countries. Besides, it is possible to use credit and debit cards when purchasing BTC and ETH.
The Changelly exchange form is right on the home page. That is great. And how about providing more information about privacy policy? The terms and conditions do not represent the full information.
The variety of allowed countries of Localbitcoins impresses. More than 200 regions and about 14,000 cities around the world can but the desired crypto currency here. There are also numerous banking methods for purchasing.
Cex terms say it doesn’t include any fee for buying e-money, it does the banking method you select. But what I like about the site itself is that it provides the highest transaction limit, which can reach up to $30,000.
In the whole, the service of CEX.IO is good. But it would be much more convenient is it offered Live Chat. All the ways to contact the representatives require some time to wait.
The process of purchasing on Changelly is really confusing. Too many options among which a new visitor can get lost. What is more, sometimes the operations thru cards take too long.
I love that Bitquick is Bitcoin oriented. Besides, when making a purchase, there is a list of various banks, from which you can choose the one with the cheapest price.
How come? There is no mobile application of the Coinmama exchange. And purchasing thru desktop is not always so convenient. Unfortunately, there is also no option to sell me own currencies…
Quality and safety of CEX is out of doubt. Though, there are so many pages and information that sometimes it makes me get confused. Wish the interface was more plain.