OK, so you want to buy and sell Bitcoin using USD and your bank and/or credit card. Just be careful. You may have heard that cyptocurrency buying and selling is cheap, but don't let that fool you. You may be surprised how much it costs you to buy and sell crypto.
Here is the process:
Step 1. You need to open an account with a crypto exchange that accepts USD. One of the most popular crypto exchanges in the USA is Coinbase.
Step 2. Fund your account
You can put money in your Coinbase account using a Credit/Debit card, linking to your bank account, or via a wire transfer. Once your account is approved, money will be available in the account immediately to trade.
Step 3. Buy cryptocurrency
Once your account is funded, you can use Buy/Sell option and buy digital assets. Currency, Coinbase lets you buy and sell Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Class, and Litecoin only. Coinbase is expected to add more cryptocurrencies to the list.
Fees, fees, fees
Just be careful when you buy. You should know the fee of buying crypto. It could be a huge sum of your investment.
For our research purposes, I put USD $3,500 in my Coinbase account.
To buy Bitcoin, I need to pay $51.38 to Coinbase as a fee. It costs me about 1.5% to just buy Bitcoin.
Now, you want to sell Bitcoin and get your USD back. Now, to sell BTC to USD, it will cost 1.5% again.
So one trip of buying and selling costs me around 3%. Now, I've only $3,381 left out of my $3,500. Now imagine if you guy and sell this few times.
OR if you buy and sell other crypto currencies from Bitcoin, they all going to cost you.
Let's try to sell $100 worth of Bitcoin. Coinbase fee for this trade is almost 3%.
So, Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are free or cheap to trade is a myth. It cost way more higher than regular stocks trading or wire transfers.
Enjoy!
