How To Buy Bitcoin in India

From India and want to know how to buy Bitcoin? Well it’s not as difficult as the mainstream media would like you to believe.

If you believe the media, Bitcoin and India seem to have a fractious relationship. One week buying BTC is reported to be illegal, the next week a new Bitcoin exchange is opening up, bla bla bla.

But the truth is, although some Indian banks are known for banning some of their clients for buying Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency is very much legal in India.

And while there might not be as many options to buy BTC in India as there are in America or Europe, any Indian can quite easily get hold of Bitcoin, without their bank even knowing.

Buying BTC In India Isn’t That Difficult

At 1.353 billion and 17% of the world’s population, India has the potential to create major shockwaves in any market.

There are constant rumours that the Indian government intends to ban Bitcoin. And there are always stories of certain Indian exchanges shutting down, but it seems highly unlikely that India will ban Bitcoin.

The size of India’s population, and the political and economic instability makes India such a huge potential for Bitcoin.

But how does one go about buying Bitcoin in India?

As with anywhere else, India has Bitcoin subreddits or BitcoinTalk where anyone can get plenty of free information about local issues surrounding Bitcoin.

And with 5 million Indian Bitcoin hodlers there is real interest in the country, with much more interest to come.

There is an Indian Bitcoin exchange: Unocoin which allows users to buy Bitcoin with Indian Rupees using bank transfers.

However, there are stories of people having their banks accounts shut down when trying to use this service through their bank account.

I cannot verify how widespread this is, but it is a concern that seems to pop up all too often regarding buying BTC in India.

There are several cases of exchanges having to shut down trading in India. With the instability of Indian exchanges, therefore, many Indians prefer to use international exchanges and marketplaces to buy Bitcoin in India.

CEX.IO Is a Leading International Exchange

CEX.IO is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges. Based in London and available worldwide CEX.IO is an exchange that allows Indians to buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

CEX.IO is registered with FINCEN and anyone signing up has to complete the KYC online form, which means verifying your account with government approved photo ID at least.

There are four stages of verification:

Identity verified accounts can purchase up to $1000 worth of Bitcoin per day, using only credit cards.
Address verified accounts can purchase up to $10,000 worth of Bitcoin per day and withdraw $50,000 per day.
Enhanced verification.
Corporate verification, both of which require further verification, but allow for unlimited daily Bitcoin transactions.

Once signed up, CEX.IO offers its clients the possibility of buying Bitcoin with a credit card, wire transfer, and it also allows users to deposit other cryptocurrencies to trade on the exchange.

As well as the cryptocurrency exchange, CEX.IO also offers its users a brokerage service. This is generally more expensive, but is easier if you’re completely new to buying and trading Bitcoin.

If you just want to buy Bitcoin in India with CEX, however, you can simply send money. If you send Indian Rupees, CEX.IO will transfer it to USD at the going exchange rate, which you then trade for BTC.

Once you buy BTC it will be sent to your exchange wallet, which is ok to keep in there if you’re trading. If you’re buying Bitcoin to hodl long term, it’s highly recommended that you purchase a secure hardware wallet.

Paxful – A Peer-to-Peer Bitcoin Marketplace

Paxful is the world’s leading peer-to-peer Bitcoin marketplace and is a great way to buy Bitcoin in India.

Unlike cryptocurrency exchanges, Paxful doesn’t have an order sheet in which you buy BTC. Paxful acts more like a mediator between buyer and seller of Bitcoin.

Launched in 2015 by co-founders, CEO Ray Youssef, and COO, Artur Schaback, Paxful has headquarters in New York City, and established offices in Johannesburg, Estonia, Hong Kong, and Manila.

There are millions of buyers and sellers using the Paxful marketplace from all over the world, and you can find many people willing to accept Indian Rupees.

As well as Indian Rupees, you can buy Bitcoin with almost every single currency going, and many sellers will accept gift cards, or air miles for Bitcoin.

Signing up with Paxful is easy, and you don’t even have to complete a KYC form if you prefer not to.

However, many sellers won’t sell to users who don’t verify their accounts, so if you want to buy Bitcoin anonymously, you might pay a slight premium.

If you complete the KYC registration, however, you will have many more options of buying Bitcoin.

To buy BTC on Paxful, simply click on the ‘Buy Bitcoin’ tab, and it will search for all sellers in your area.

You can enter the payment of choice and it will narrow it down to all the local sellers willing to accept your means of payment.

Once you find a seller offering a fair price, click ‘Buy’ and complete the amount of Bitcoin you wish to buy.

It will automatically put the amount of BTC in an escrow from your seller and await you to make payment.

As soon as the sale is underway, a live chat will open up between you and the seller if you need to use it, but all you have to do is complete payment, click ‘Confirm’.

Only do this once you are happy with terms and have checked the correct amount of Bitcoin is in the escrow.

Once you both confirm, the Paxful escrow will release the Bitcoin into your Paxful Bitcoin wallet, and your payment will be released to the seller.

Again, it’s important not to keep Bitcoin on an exchange-type wallet, as these are susceptible to being hacked.

If buying Bitcoin to hodl long term, a secure hardware wallet such as a Ledger Nano or Trezor are the best selling hardware wallets for good reason.

Buying Bitcoin In India Is Easy

Bitcoin’s status in India seems to change a lot, or at least the narrative does. There are many cases of Indian banks shutting down customer accounts just for trying to buy Bitcoin.

But India is opening up to Bitcoin, and with over 5 million Bitcoin hodlers, India is quickly becoming one of the biggest adopters of Bitcoin.

Local Indian exchanges are a thing, and many people seem to be ok using them, but it’s probably a good idea to use an international exchange at the moment. They’re safer and have much more volume.

CEX.IO and Paxful are two platforms that allow users worldwide to buy Bitcoin without any problems.

While you can’t buy BTC directly with rupees on CEX.IO, you can purchase them easily enough. And with Paxful you can buy Bitcoin not only with rupees, but pretty much anything the seller is wiling to accept.