Excerpt
I outline how and where to buy bitcoin, stressing that the best method varies by country and individual needs. I explain the differences between purchasing bitcoin through exchanges, peer-to-peer platforms, and earning it directly, underlining the importance of understanding Bitcoin first. With a focus on the privacy concerns associated with KYC (Know Your Customer) regulations, I advise on approaching bitcoin purchases with caution, especially in today’s bullish market. Join me as I guide you through the essentials of bitcoin acquisition, emphasizing education, privacy, and the importance of community engagement through Bitcoin meetups.
Transcript
Which platform do you recommend for purchasing bitcoin in the market? So, that’s a very complicated question because I don’t know in which country you are and I think it’s very different depending on the possibilities in your respective country because like, for instance, if you’re in Zimbabwe I wouldn’t know any exchange that you can use because Zimbabwe is an internationally sanctioned country and there is no bitcoin exchange that is working or is offering its services in Zimbabwe. I’m talking about how to acquire and use Bitcoin extensively in my (L)earn Bitcoin course in a chapter by the same name where I’m talking about what is KYC and AML, how can you obtain bitcoin, I’m talking about peer-to-peer, non-custodial trading platforms and also how you can buy bitcoin on a regulated exchange and the risks involved. So in general, the first thing I would recommend is you try and find a Bitcoin meetup in your area, attend a meetup, build connections and assess if this is a meetup where it’s only about how to get rich in the next five minutes or if it’s really about Bitcoin education. There is no free lunch. When someone promises you high gains and says “I help you exchange bitcoin, I do everything for you” be careful, this might be a scam. Also we are in a bull market that means the value of Bitcoin has been rising in recent months and suddenly the media is writing about Bitcoin again and people are calling me, they some immediately or like very surprisingly again you know, I didn’t hear from them in months or in years and suddenly they are back and some people are getting very shortsighted and want to buy bitcoin immediately. Don’t let yourself get pushed into that fear of missing out, you don’t have to buy now, that minute, at any price because one day bitcoin will probably or definitely fall back from its all-time high down again maybe to 40,000 or less for one bitcoin. No one knows that. So I think it’s very much more important to learn about Bitcoin first, how to use and store it securely. So also the risks are different if you are buying bitcoin on a regulated exchange because there are also better options to purchase or acquire bitcoin and the best in my opinion is still earning bitcoin. Now you might say, well, how should I earn bitcoin? I have no one who could pay me in bitcoin? I know, but try maybe you find someone who wants to buy your bicycle for bitcoin or you can ask your employer if they want to pay you in bitcoin or you find online work that pays in bitcoin? There’s a website called Bitcoinerjobs, maybe there’s something you could do and then you could look for people at those meetups who exchanged the national currency for you to bitcoin. Also there is a new app, it’s called Vexl. That’s Vexl.it, where you can build up a network of trusted contacts to buy and sell bitcoin between you and others without know your customer identification so and if all that doesn’t work then you might need to go to a regulated exchange like Kraken, Luno, Yellow Card, Strike or to a Bitcoin broker, for instance, Coinfinity which is a broker in Austria for the German speaking area. A broker is different to an exchange because a broker doesn’t hold your keys, they send the bitcoin into your own wallet where you have the keys. An exchange like Kraken or Binance, for instance, there you only get a password for an account on their website in their system. It’s basically like a bank account and also the downside of these regulated entities is that they need to do know your customer information collection so you have to give them your data, your personal data, your ID, your resident address, when you’re born and also they are asking you where you got the money from that you’re using to buy bitcoin and these KYC regulations are a danger to each and everyone’s privacy. Why? Because why because as soon as you buy on a regulated exchange they have all those data sets and at the one side governments of course are able and have the power to request all that data or a breach is always happening hackers are always searching for these KYC data sets because they can sell it for high money and you run into the problem that maybe people who want to steal your bitcoin are threatening you and scamming you because they know your residence address. So our financial privacy is totally gone as soon as we KYC ourselves and at least I would say, if you have to KYC yourself, don’t do it on many different platforms. Stick to one platform so that you don’t spread your ID everywhere, that’s the problem with KYC. So getting back to your initial question where to purchase bitcoin. I can’t really tell you, I only can tell you these options but you need to find the best working way for yourself because it really depends on where you live, what your goals are, how many bitcoin you want to acquire and as I said before maybe it’s better to earn them because if you earn bitcoin, you don’t need need to give anyone your KYC data and the bitcoin are not connected to your name and that’s a very important learning basically and also I always say if you start using Bitcoin and if you are on social media, in general don’t use your real name, use a fantasy name, there is no need to connect your real name, your identity with your use of Bitcoin online.
