Thomas isn’t that much of a tech-geek, but he likes to read the news. Recently he has read a lot about Bitcoin, and how it is the currency of the future. He isn’t so convinced about that, but if it turns true, he doesn’t want to stand on the sideline watching.
Thomas has some money set aside for investments. This is money that he can afford to lose, but of course, he hopes it will get more, not less. He has recently read about lots of cryptocurrency exchanges, but they all seem complicated, and they all require you to own Bitcoin before starting. Thomas doesn’t have any Bitcoin, making it impossible for him to trade on such exchanges. Isn’t there a simple way in which he can just go and buy some Bitcoin?
An easy way to buy Bitcoin?
Thomas looks for information online, and there are two websites he can read about that seems promising. The first one is eToro. But, he quickly closes his eToro browser window as he discovers that you do not actually own the Bitcoin you buy there, you only trade with the value of Bitcoin.
Then Thomas surfs to the Coinbase website. This is a very user-friendly website, and Thomas likes the design. It is different than the complicated exchange sites. He needs to register and confirm his identity, but once this is all done, he is ready to buy his first Bitcoin.
Thomas likes the fact that he can buy Bitcoin using his VISA/MasterCard and get it all arranged at once. He cannot buy an entire Bitcoin as CoinBase has limitations for purchases with VISA/MasterCard on new accounts, but he can at least buy a little bit.
A few days later he is happy that he didn’t buy more because he discovered that using a bank transfer to CoinBase he can buy with a much lower commission, and he can actually buy an entire Bitcoin. He transfers some money from his bank account to CoinBase, and two days later the money has arrived and he is the happy owner of one Bitcoin. And, since he transferred more money than he needed to buy a Bitcoin, he also bought one Litecoin and one Ethereum.
Now Thomas sits back in his chair, relaxing, and hoping for the Bitcoin price to moon!