Best 5 Fiat-to-Cryptocurrency Exchanges

How to Buy Bitcoin With Bank Account and Credit Card

Blockchain and cryptocurrency markets are blowing up right before our eyes, with many spectators, analysts, and investors describing it as a significant moment in time and will be the biggest transfer of wealth in human history.

Everybody from John McAfee to Mark Zuckerberg has added their ten cents worth, and whether it has been positive or negative, it has led to a huge worldwide spike in popularity.

This has led to many new members or as the crypto community would describe ‘noobs’ wanting to enter the market and the first point of entry is the cryptocurrency exchanges.

This popularity has led to massive competition within the cryptocurrency exchanges sector with a host of companies vying for your business and a host of new exchange ICO’s popping up every month.

Before we get into our best 5 fiat to cryptocurrency exchanges and how to buy Bitcoin with with bank account, it’s critical to understand what a cryptocurrency exchange is and how it works.

What is a cryptocurrency exchange?

A cryptocurrency exchange is an online platform which facilitates the buying, selling and exchange of cryptocurrencies like giants Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin.

What are the different types of exchanges?

There are three main types of exchanges, web-based trading platforms, peer to peer decentralized exchanges and brokers.

Web-based trading platforms

This is a market facilitated and controlled by the platform owner, buyers and sellers place “buy” and “sell” orders.

Buyers and sellers transact directly with the platform and do not interact with each other, for this service the platform charges a fee for facilitating and holding customer funds

Peer to Peer Centralised and Decentralised Exchanges

With this type of exchange, trade occurs directly between users and there is no third party platform interaction.

Prices are set on a peer to peer basis and the sole role of the platform is to provide escrow and intermediary services.

These exchanges mainly come in two forms centralised where a “KYC” (know your customer) is required and decentralised where no personal information is required, you are provided with private and public keys and then you are set to go.

Cryptocurrency Brokers

These function very much like your traditional forex brokers where price is set by the broker and these traditionally operate a contract for difference or CFD and your customer does not actually own the currency. However, companies like Etoro have plans to change this structure by developing their own cryptocurrency wallet allowing customers to own coins and transfer them to external wallets.

But if you are new to cryptocurrency then one of the first hurdles you will face will be figuring out the best way to exchange your fiat currency i.e Dollars, Pounds, Euro’s etc for cryptocurrency or coins.

We are going to focus on what we believe are the best five fiat to cryptocurrency exchanges to help our readers make the most informed decision as possible when exchanging your fiat to crypto.

1.

Coinbase is probably among the most popular wallet and exchange service providers and is the most common first point of entry into the crypto market. Headquartered in San Francisco, Coinbase has over 13 Million customers in 32 countries and over $50 Billion traded so far. They also operate GDAX which is their in-house trading platform.

The best feature of Coinbase is the customer interface and ease of use. Customers can easily buy the four currently traded currencies there, which are Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereaum (ETH) and Litecoin (LTC) via 1-click with credit/debit card or bank transfer.

Credit/debit card transactions are the quickest, with the usual process time of a few minutes, however, you are limited to under $1000 per week with this method, worked out through a daily increment, the fees for card transactions can be as high as 5%.

You can deposit much larger amounts with bank transfer but this can take up to 3–5 days.

The fees seem to be the biggest issue with the platform and Coinbase will face stiff competition moving forward from the likes of Ethos and Robinhood who will be offering fee-free transactions.

2.

Gemini has the accolade of being the first licensed ether exchange, it was started by the Winklevoss twins in 2015 and leads the way in regulated cryptocurrency exchanges.

Gemini is available in in 42 US states as well as a few international countries including Canada, Japan, UK, and Singapore. Customer deposit can be made in both credit/debit cards and wire transfer in USD only.

The company places a huge emphasis on customer assurance and security, all customer deposits are placed in banks which are protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and the bulk of their ETH and BTC are kept in cold storage.

Gemini is one of the few exchanges trusted by the hedge fund, Block Tower Capital and is reported to be one of the exchanges to be used for daily settlement in the upcoming bitcoin futures listing.

3.

Kraken claims to be “the world’s largest Bitcoin exchange in euro volume and liquidity”.

Set up in 2011 and based in, Kraken has become a prominent player and differentiates itself from others on this list by offering margin trading making it a good choice for traders.

Customer deposits can be made by wire transfer with fiat currencies including USD, JPY, CAD, and GBP.

Identity verification is required for account opening and Kraken offers four tier levels of funding limits, each with increasing amounts of deposit/withdraw limits.

Kraken is also a partner in the first crypto bank, Fidor Bank AG. Kraken. The company’s fiat & cryptocurrency trades/withdrawals are much cheaper than on other exchanges.

The user interface is not as beginner friendly as Coinbase but offers super-fast SEPA withdrawals which is a huge plus

4.

CoinMama is the trading name of New Bit Ventures Ltd, an Israeli exchange started by bitcoin enthusiasts Nimrod Gruber and Ilan Schuster in April 2013.

Customer deposits can be made by credit and debit cards from over 180 countries, however, they do not currently accept wire or SEPA transfers.

Coinmama does, however, accept cash and are one of the few exchange’s that offers this method.

Cash can be deposited via Western Union payments and Moneygram, they also offer one of the highest daily buying limits for new signups of $50,000.

The company only supports ether and bitcoin with no suggestion of bringing on other altcoins.

Coinmama charges up to 12% per transaction which is slightly higher than competitors and also do not buy back your crypto like other exchanges.

Like most other exchanges, Coinmama requires identification to buy but does not hold customer funds, opting to rather sell from its holdings making it a secure option.

5.

Bitstamp has become one of Europes foremost exchange due to their no-fee SEPA transactions. The company is based in Luxemburg and is headed by CEO Nejc Kodrič and co-founder Damijan Merlak.

Bitstamp allows trading between USD currency and bitcoin cryptocurrency. USD, EUR, Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple or Bitcoin cash deposits and withdrawals are accepted.

They also have a very competitive fee structure, purchases below $500 are charged 0.5 percent and above $150,000 are as low as 0.2 percent. The user interface is very user-friendly and offers advanced trading graphs and charts.

Bitstamp are regulated by the CSSF (Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier) in Luxembourg.

Final Thoughts

Cryptocurrencies like any other investment carry substantial risk and this article is not an endorsement of any exchange just our honest feedback of thew exchanges we have tried.

Research is King and reduces the chances of loss, so please do conduct your own research and due diligence on the exchanges we have mentioned here before parting with any funds.

Stay safe and see you on the Moon.