Best cryptocurrency exchanges in India How to buy cryptocurrencies in India 2021
Last year was huge for the whole crypto community with several amazing projects and product launches. We saw ATH for Bitcoin and all the other coins also rallied along. With institutional investors getting more and more interested in cryptocurrencies and the popularity of crypto increasing rapidly 2021 will surely be the an important year for mainstream popularity of cryptocurrencies.
A lot happened in Indian crypto industry as well. After the ban lifted on trading cryptocurrencies in India, The hype came back and people started looking again as to where should one go to buy cryptocurrencies. Since then a lot has happen and most of the exchanges are well established again.So here is the new 2021 edition of my ever popular How to buy Cryptocurrencies in India and the list of top crypto exchanges where you can trade.
Jump to:
- How to buy CryptoCurrencies in India
- Best Cryptocurrency exchanges in India
- Understanding Crypto Exchanges
Alert to readers
Crypto markets are highly volatile and risky. You should have a good knowledge about cryptocurrencies and the how-tos about trading and invest into cryptocurrencies before putting any money. Don’t just follow the hype but instead do a thorough research before investing so that you know what you are doing with your money.
How to buy CryptoCurrencies in India
The simple steps to buy crypto are the following:
- Create an account with an exchange like WazirX or Binance
- Get KYC done
- Add bank account
- Transfer funds and start trading
That’s it. for more information on crypto visit the Understanding Crypto Exchanges section at the end.
Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges in India
Here is the list of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges from where you can buy cryptocurrencies and do trading. I have made quick bullet points so you don’t have to read everything to find what you need to know about them. Also marked them as Local/Global so that you know which one accepts INR and which one doesn’t
Wazirx (Local Exchange)
Best in India with the most number of trading coins offered in India. They have their own coin WazirX( WRX) for trading on their platform at discounted fees. They were accquired by Binance which is already one of the most popular Global exchange. They are the only one currently to Provide P2P sercvices along with the exchange platform in India.
- Currencies: around 200 pairs
- Trading Fees: 0.1–0.2%(Lowest in India)
- P2P : Yes
- KYC verification: Required
- Method of Purchase: Bank Transfer/UPI/IMPS
- Instant funds deposit and withdrawal
Binance (Global Exchange)
The are one of the most popular exchange in the world and also renowned in crypto world for their services. They own the Indian Exchange WazirX. They have their own coin Binance(BNB) for trading on their platform at discounted fees. They are one of the most fully featured exchange that you can find. Binance is also the largest exchange in the world by trading volume.
- Currencies: Almost all the coins
- Trading Fees: 0.1%(Lowest in India)
- P2P : Yes
- KYC verification: Required
- Method of Purchase: Crypto to Crypto / Credit cards
BitBNS (Local Exchange)
Another popular Local exchange with around 85 coins. It is also very innovative which provides SIP equivalent using Bitcoins. They don’t have a peer to peer trading platform. If you complete KYC then you get 50 BNS tokens as a reward.
- Currencies: around 120 pairs
- Trading Fees: flat 0.25%
- P2P : Yes
- KYC verification: Required
- Method of Purchase: Bank Transfer
Zebpay (Local Exchange)
One of the earliest exchange in India and also operates in some other countries as well. Less than 10 coins are available because of which they aren’t very lucrative for Altcoins. They are a leading name in crypto community due to their innovative solutions.
- Currencies: around 40 pairs
- Trading Fees: flat 0.4%
- P2P : No
- KYC verification: Required
- Method of Purchase: Bank Transfer
If you just want to buy 💰₿itcoins💰:
Peer to peer only (Worldwide) (Bitcoins only)
I know a lot of you will think that since there are are over 5000 cryoto-currencies in the market why would one want to buy just bitcoins?
Well first thing is Bitcoin dominates the whole crypto market with around 65% dominance and that figure certainly tells that of all the currencies it is the Godfather. From time to time Bitcoin has been proved to be a safe heaven for investment perspective and equivalent to GOLD. The price predictions suggests that the more you hold the more its price will skyrocket over the time.
These are the two platform which are peer to peer only and provides their services worldwide. Here you can buy or sell bitcoins only but on the bright side you don’t need to provide KYC information or anything.
1. Paxful (Most popular and widely adapted)
So if you are just into Bitcoin then Paxful platform might be your simplest and hassle free entry because of the following reasons:
- Buy Bitcoin with 300+ payment method: IMPS, NEFT, UPI, PayTM, PhonePe, BHIM, Gift card, international wallets etc.
- You’ll get minimum price on Paxful compared to any other exchange
- Buyers can trade free of charge.
- Seller pays 1% trade fee.
- KYC verification: Required
2. Localbitcoins (Widely popular and one of the oldest)
- payment method: IMPS, NEFT, UPI, PayTM
- advertisements are charged a 1% fee
- buying, and selling Bitcoin is completely free.
- KYC verification: Required
Understanding Crypto Exchanges
Now here is a detailed how to of the crypto exchanges
To buy cryptocurrencies there are only two ways:
- Using Money(Fiat to crypto)
- Using cryptocurruncies (crypto to crypto)
To Buy using Fiat(INR) you need to have KYC done and add your bank account to the exchange for transfer of funds. You can do that only on exchanges that support Fiat trading that’s why you need to use any indian exchange like WazirX to convert your INR to Crypto.
To buy crypto using other crypto that you have, you don’t need to add Bank account but your might be asked to do KYC verification if your trade volume is high. Just send your money to the exchange wallet and start trading.
Local (fiat exchange) vs global (pure crypto exchange) currency exchange
Local exchanges gives you the flexibility to trade using INR and also support your banks. Your Bank accounts are linked on the exchange so you can deposit and withdraw INR whenever you want. But they don’t provide as many currencies as the Global exchanges so for that you need to have an account on the Global exchange like Binance.
Global exchange have almost all the cryptoes that you’d ever want to invest in. To buy them you can do so by buying some crypto like Bitcoin,Ethereum from local exchange then send it to your Global exchange wallet and then use it for trading. When you want to withdraw then repeat the same process from Global to Local exchange and then to your bank account.
Peer to peer vs Exchange
In peer to peer trading you buy directly from someone who is willing to trade and in exchange you give them INR directly to their Bank account or mobile wallet using IMPS, Net Banking or UPI. There are no charges for peer to peer trading.
On an exchange you set a price and if that’s available then trade will happen automatically. There is always some exchange fees involved in this but you get trades done faster.
Docs for KYC:
- A national ID like PAN-card, Passport, Driving License
- A selfie of yourself
- A bank account to link to the exchange
Payment modes:
The payment can be done in the following ways
- IMPS
- NEFT
- UPI
