There are times when you may need to get your hand on some Bitcoin quickly. This can be for a variety of reason, maybe you need to purchase something online and the online store only accepts cryptocurrency, or maybe the price has recently crashed and you want to get your hands on some cheap coins before the price shoots up again.
In these instances, it can be difficult to decide the fastest way. We’ll go over the top 3 quickest ways to buy Bitcoin.
Online Exchanges
Online Exchanges. Although this isn’t the fastest method on the list, it is still by far the most popular just for the sheer convenience that you don’t have to leave your home.
However, not all of the online exchanges are quick. Quite a lot of online exchanges can take hours or even a couple of days for your money to clear – it all depends on what bank transfer systems in place.
You need to find an exchange that allows instant bank transfers and these types of exchanges tend to be country specific. For example, in Australia there is an exchange called CoinSpot, which is known for their instant online transfers, and being in Australia, they only allow the use of Australian dollars. For a CoinSpot review, see here.
Bitcoin ATM Machines
Bitcoin ATMs. Bitcoin ATMs are a great option if you have one near your home. You use it just as you would a normal cash ATM – you choose the amount of Bitcoin you want, and then the machine will send the coins to your wallet.
They generally don’t require any type of sign up process like an exchange, which normally slows down your purchases if you have never used them before.
LocalBitcoins – Person To Person Exchange
LocalBitcoins. LocalBitcoins is a good option if you live in a very populated city (this means that there will be more people there to trade coins with). With LocalBitcoins, it’s kind of like a Craigslist for cryptocurrencies – you sign up and then browse all the coins that people have for sale. And as the name suggests, all the people are local to your area. Once you’ve found someone reputable to purchase from, you meet up with them and make the transaction.
When using LocalBitcoins, remember to make the transaction in a very public place – and take someone with you feel the need for extra security.
Although you don’t hear of it very often, there have been instances of people having conterfiet money handed to them in exchange for the Bitcoin and not realising that it was counterfeit until much later. This is why it is important to also use only trusted sellers on the exchange that have a good reputation.
These are our top 3 ways to quickly buy Bitcoin. Do you have a faster way? Let us know!
Over the past few years, the interest of the general public in cryptocurrency has increased greatly. This is mostly due to the surge in the price of Bitcoin, which has been the most dominant name in the industry.
In recent years, there has been many other cryptocurrencies which have come into the market which many people do not know about. Most people are only aware of a few common ones like Litecoin and Ethereum. Even more people are, however, still not aware that these digital currencies are different from one another in lots of ways, including their price in terms of dollars.
Similarities and Differences Between Bitcoin & Litecoin
In order to differentiate between Bitcoin and Litecoin, it is important to understand that the developers of Litecoin created this currency as a response to Bitcoin. They wanted Litecoin to be “silver” when Bitcoin was “gold.”
To the layperson, it may appear that both these currencies have quite a lot in common, the first and foremost fact being that they are both cryptocurrencies.
Store of Value
Bitcoin is probably the best store of value when it comes to cryptocurrencies. It is recognized by most people and is supported by most service providers. It has also been around the longest. However, Litecoin is also quite popular and is probably one of the best alt coins to be considered as a store of value. It is also quite a good option to consider for those who want to try another cryptocurrency apart from Bitcoin.
Being a good store of value is important since most cryptocurrencies are volatile. For example, Bitcoin was trading at $1,000 at the beginning of 2017 but was at $20,000 by the beginning of 2018. Litecoin also rose in price in a similar way from just $4 in the beginning of 2017 and to around $370 by the beginning of 2018.
This pattern is not uncommon in cryptocurrencies, but Bitcoin and Litecoin are well recognized in the market, which makes it easier to buy them.
Medium of Transaction
Litecoin definitely has an edge over Bitcoin when it comes to making transactions and for transferring money. When it comes to the speed of transactions, the confirmation time for Bitcoin takes about ten minutes and 2.5 minutes for Litecoin, the latter being literally a quarter of the time it takes for Bitcoin transactions. This means that the transfers through Litecoin happen faster and there is less backlog.
Furthermore, the fees are lower for Litecoin as compared to Bitcoin. This makes Bitcoin more expensive as well.
However, Bitcoin does have an edge; if you want to buy something with your digital currency, Bitcoin offers more options.
There are improvements being made for both cryptocurrencies, but for now, Litecoin is cheaper as well as a faster way of making transactions, while Bitcoin has more options for making use of the cryptocurrency. Litecoin could be kind of compared to a coin like Ripple (strictly for payments).
Total Number of Coins
The total amount of Bitcoin cannot exceed 21 million, while for Litecoin, the limit is at 84 million. Even though it may appear that Litecoin has an edge over Bitcoin, in the real world, this is quite a negligible number as both these currencies are divisible into infinitesimal amounts.
For example, the minimum amount of Bitcoin that can be transferred is one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin, that is, 0.00000001 Bitcoin, which is also known as “satoshi.” As such it does not pose much of a problem when the price for an undivided single Litecoin or Bitcoin is high.
Mining
When it comes to mining, which is the process whereby new cryptocurrency is created, the process for Bitcoin involves advanced computer processing power which is used to run complex algorithms through which new blocks are created on the blockchain. As Bitcoin gained popularity, the mining also became a race where miners used large amounts of processing power to quickly create more coins.
When it comes to Litecoin mining, it is based on a concept called scrypt rather than the algorithm that is used for Bitcoin. The speed for creating new Litecoin cannot be increased just by increasing the processing power. This was done particularly to keep the creation of Litecoin steady.
Buying Litecoin or Bitcoin
Bitcoin is obviously the most popular cryptocurrency in the industry, but Litecoin is also quite readily available in most digital exchanges. For instance, Coinbase, the most common and reliable exchange, is one such place where you can easily buy both Bitcoin and Litecoin easily.
Which One Is the Best?
It is not easy to determine which cryptocurrency is the best. All cryptocurrencies have some positive features as well as some negative features. The best digital currency varies from person to person as it depends on what you want to use the cryptocurrency for.
When it comes to Bitcoin vs Litecoin, you must consider two things. If you are looking for long-term investment in cryptocurrency, Bitcoin is the best choice.
However, if you want to use the cryptocurrency for spending or for transferring from one place to another on a regular basis, then investment in Litecoin is definitely a better decision for you.
No matter which one you choose, you can rest assured that you won’t be disappointed. Both of these cryptocurrencies are quite useful and reliable. Litecoin is fast becoming a pretty good store of value as well, and the transaction speed for Bitcoin is also increasing over time.
Your choice may even depend on when you want to invest and your preferences. There is no concrete answer for which one is the best.
Have you ever wondered how a blockchain actually works? You’ve probably heard the term many times over the past year but still have no idea what it actually means.
Person A Wants to send money to Person B
The transaction is represented online as a ‘block’
The block is broadcast to every party in the network (this is usually the ‘miners’ – see more on cryptocurrency mining here)
Those in the network (the miners) approve the transaction is valid – eg. does person A actually have the funds that they say they do?
The block then can be added to the ‘chain’, which provides an immutable and transparent record of all the transactions that have taken place
Finally, the money is then released to person B
Hopefully this quick rundown gives you a better understanding of the blockchain. If you have any questions, or want some further clarification, feel free to get in touch.
It’s always when people least expect it that something seems to happen in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. You may have heard the news recently that George Soros has taken a keen interest the the cryptocurrency world. This may come as quite a shock to a lot of people who have heard Soro’s previous remarks about Bitcoin being a bubble. However, there’s no mistake that Bitcoin is still in its infancy and there’s A LOT of money still to be made – so why wouldn’t Soro’s and the like be interested in taking part in this revolution.
Some spectators have speculated that Soro’s has already bought in during some of the recent lows, after all, do you think someone in his financial position would be announcing that he’s about to buy in and then risk the chance of the price rising? Other people have speculated that he was calling it a bubble to cause a price crash – which the price seems to have done over the past 3 months, falling from nearly $20,000 to lows as low as $6000. Could there be more downside to come? Possibly – the market sentiment is overall bearish at the moment.
Similar rumours have also been heard about the Rothschild family getting involved with cryptocurrecies.
In other signs of institutional money becoming involved, Goldman Sachs owned finance company Circle, is rumoured to have recently acquired the cryptocurrency trading platform Poloniex. Although the volume on the exchange has dropped to lows in the 2000(BTC), it is still considered to be by many traders to have the best trading experience due to their user interface. It will be interesting to see if Circle’s influence has any effect returning the volume to it’s glory days.
Whatever happens over the next few years, it’s sure to be just as exciting and volatile as it had been since its inception – Bitcoin has historically wildly fluctuated in price, sometimes gaining thousands of percentage points in just a few months.
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