Why Buy Cryptocurrency and How Do You Buy Them?

What is cryptocurrency?

Before you even consider buying, it’s important to understand what it is you’re about to buy. Cryptocurrencies, or crypto for short, are digital currencies that can be used to pay for items and services or process transactions.

The term ‘crypto’ is derived from cryptography which involves advanced coding for encryption, which makes transactions secure, and cryptocurrencies themselves safe from counterfeiting.

Transactions are stored in blocks in a blockchain, a type of distributed ledger or database shared across the world, and is therefore decentralized. Transactions stored in each block are permanent and cannot be changed.

The most popular crytocurrencies are Bitcoin and Ether, but there are now thousands of coins and tokens growing in popularity like Solana, Luna, Avax, Ada, BNB, Dot, Axs, Sand and Doge, and stablecoins like USDT, USDC and UST.

Why buy cryptocurrency?

Because the record of transactions using crypto are decentralized There is no central body or organization, like banks and governments, controlling the system. For citizens of countries who have had bad experiences with government control, or whose monetary systems have failed or are failing, decentralization is an appealing concept.

There is, however, more to crypto than just decentralized finance. Crypto and blockchain technology have budding applications in a variety of fields including gaming, virtual reality, fashion, art, even environmental protection and more. The possibilities for where this technology can be used is endless.

So why buy cryptocurrency? It is disruptive and transformative technology, and it is the future. This is where we’re headed. You’d definitely want to find out how to navigate the future now.

How to buy crypto easily and quickly

There are three different types of crypto buyers: investors, traders and those who just want to test things out. Investors hold crypto coins with the expectation of future gains. Traders buy and sell crypto more regularly also for gains. Majority of beginner crypto buyers perhaps fall into the category of inquisitive testers.

If you aren’t a seasoned investor or trader, it’s probably best to buy just a little bit of crypto through the easiest way possible. It’s simple, sign up for an account at an exchange or crypto wallet and make your purchase there. Below are some of the more popular easy options.

1. Coinbase

Coinbase is available in more than a hundred countries, however, there are restrictions to what you can do and will depend on your country of origin. Visit their ‘Places’ page to find out if you can buy crypto using your credit card, debit card, Paypal or bank transfer in your country.

Sign up to Coinbase here to get some free Bitcoin after purchasing.

Coinbase is a good place to test buying your first few crypto coins, however it isn’t a trading platform. If you want to trade frequently, you’d have to use their Coinbase Pro platform. However, other trading platforms like Binance and Bybit are easier to use.

2. Coins.ph and Maya

If you live in the Philippines, the best alternative to Coinbase and the easiest to use is Coins.ph. They’re a digital wallet where you can make mobile payments and other digital transactions and functions a lot like Gcash. Their main edge over the competition is their digital currency service where you can buy 12 (and counting) of the most popular coins.

You can fund your account through bank transfer, Gcash, Paymaya, 7-Eleven, SM Bills Payment, PeraHub, TrueMoney, Palawan Pawnshop, Bayad Center and more.

Like Coinbase, Coins.ph is not a trading platform. It’s really more of a wallet where you can buy and keep your coins Traders can use their sister platform Coins Pro.

An alternative to Coins.ph is a newer app called Maya.ph (formerly known as PayMaya). This is an all in one payment, bank and investment app. As of this posting, you can purchase crypto for as low as one peso.

Note: You may also buy Bitcoin in the Philippines through a few limited UnionBank kiosks in Makati.

3. Binance

If you’d like to step up your game, the first choice to try out is Binance, the biggest crypto trading platform in the world and is one of the most user friendly. In Binance, you can buy and keep crypto, spot trade, trade with a margin and trade futures. Other than purchasing, other ways to make money on Binance include putting your crypto in savings, staking and joining liquidity pools.

If you aren’t a hardcore trader, you can just sign up to Binance Lite here (you can switch to Pro later), and get a 100 USDT cash voucher after your first deposit.

Depending on where you’re located, you can fund your account using a credit card or bank account. In some locations like the Philippines, you will have to use the peer to peer (P2P) option where you buy from fellow Binance members and pay via Gcash, Paymaya or bank transfer. Read the official tutorial here. Note, you will have to do a bit of evaluating to find a good, reliable seller.

Another account funding option for Filipino users would be to buy XRP from Coins.ph, transfer it to your XRP Binance wallet, convert XRP to USDT and buy your crypto of choice.

4. Bybit

Like Binance, you can buy crypto spot on Bybit, and trade spot and futures. You can also put your crypto in flexible savings or provide liquidity. Some users may prefer Bybit over Binance when trading futures due to the lower fees and a more user friendly futures user interface. Please note however, that futures trading is not recommended for beginners.

Again, depending on your country of origin, you can fund your Bybit account using a credit card, and in some locations buy using P2P. The easiest way however is to simply buy a low fee coin like XRP from Coins.ph, Coinbase or Binance and transfer to Bybit.

5. PDAX

If you’d like to dip your toes trading crypto using Philippine Peso, you can use PDAX. You can fund your PDAX account via online or over the counter bank transfers or through e-wallets like Gcash, PayMaya and Coins.ph.

Sign up to PDAX using this referrral code REF-481cf782b0c9 and get Php 50 worth of Bitcoin upon account verification.

Other than the five listed above, other reliable platforms you can purchase crypto from anywhere in the world include Phemex, Bitget, MEXC and Kucoin. Of these, Bitget is an ideal choice for US residents, as it is registered in the US.

Tips when buying crypto

Before you get too excited, there are a few nuggets of wisdom worth keeping in mind before you start collecting coins.

1. Buy, invest or trade what you can afford to lose.

Do not put your entire life savings or your spending cash into crypto. It is a highly volatile market and can quickly go up and down in value. Bitcoin for example once plunged more than 80% in value only to skyrocket to all time highs years later. Use only your extra cash to purchase good coins and understand and accept that an increase in value may not happen overnight.

2. Learn when to buy crypto.

Some would advise buying crypto when prices are low and selling when prices are high, but this is a little simplistic. Like any financial market, crypto can have bull phases, when prices keep rising, and bear phases, when prices can drop drastically. Moreover, certain events such as scheduled bitcoin halvings, and updates to individual crypto networks can impact prices.

How do you know when prices are low enough to buy? The truth is, if you aren’t an expert technical analyst it really is hard to tell. Your best option is to click on the individual cryptos in Coin Marketcap to find out their most recent price fluctuations. You can also use trading charts in any trading platform, like Binance, to observe the swing in prices. Also, follow reliable technical analysts and the project developers of your favorite coins and tokens in Twitter and YouTube to keep updated on developments which may affect price.

3. Do your own research and choose wisely.

As of this writing, there are now more than 18,900 cryptos in the market. Some of these are bad projects, outright scams or meme coins with very little value. Before you buy any coin, investigate who the creators are, what their crypto project is about and what it aims to achieve. Find out too what their followers say in social media. Stay away from from projects that look like ponzi schemes, potential rug pulls or projects that don’t have any real use cases.

To be on the safe side, research and purchase cryptos in the top 10 or 20, ideally excluding meme coins.

4. Keep updated with current events and the movement of other markets.

The crypto market is often affected by movements in the US stock markets. Hence, when the S&P 500 or the Nasdaq crash, there’s a chance most cryptos will too. Also, then the US dollar value increases (see DXY chart here), Bitcoin’s value (and other cryptos) fall.

It’s also worth keeping in mind that various markets, currencies and cryptos are affected by real world events. Geo political tensions, economic downturns, pandemics and other negative world events can negatively affect crypto prices.

Before you buy, keep your eye on the news and US markets.

5. Choose the crypto experts and traders to follow.

We all need mentors and teachers when we’re starting to explore something new. However, not every famous crypto personality is safe to follow and believe. Be extra careful, because some famous YouTubers will use specific narratives to achieve their goals, such as earning from referrals and trading fees or shilling coin projects they’re involved in. Don’t believe anyone who says they are absolutely certain where a coin’s value will go. With Bitcoin and crypto, no one knows for sure.

For starters, the experts I trust the most and highly recommend are:

• Coin Bureau for fundamental analysis, market updates and general crypto news
• Market Makers for Bitcoin technical analysis (TA); although TA is more beneficial to regular traders, it’s important for buyers to have some idea where prices may be headed to get some idea when to buy
• Emperor BTC and Inner Circle Trader (ICT) for trading education; although you may not want to learn to trade, these two can help you understand how markets really work, which is critical; note: ICT focuses more on stocks and forex, but his analysis is applicable to the crypto market too
• B the Story and Day Trading Addict for inspiration, motivation and real talk; although they don’t exclusively focus on Bitcoin and crypto, it’s inspiring to hear trader stories especially if you plan to become a trader one day

Final thoughts

Cryptocurrencies have had their fair share of critics who point at crypto’s volatility, limited real world use, cumbersome systems, susceptibility to theft, their use in illegal acts and their environmental impact. It’s worth remembering however, that crypto is still in its early years of development and adoption. Remember the early years of the internet? It is normal for any new piece of technology to be plagued by issues at the start, but any good piece of technology worth keeping can and will be improved.

Because the best cryptos seek to solve real world problems, it is likely that it will survive and evolve in one form or another. Now might be a good time to buy a little piece of the future.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this article constitutes investment advice and should not be taken as investment advice. The writer is not a financial adviser and provides the information above for education purposes only. Crypto buying and investing is very risky. Do your own research before buying any cryptocurrency token or coin. Your risks are your own.