How to buy bitcoin
Six steps. The first four take about twenty minutes spread over two days, most of it spent waiting for a bank transfer. The last one is the step that decides whether the coins are yours or an entry in somebody's database.
1. Pick an exchange that works where you live
Residence rules cut the list before fees do. Kraken serves no one in New York or Maine. Gemini covers all fifty states and has closed its UK and EU accounts. eToro is authorised by the FCA and is the one on this list still fully open to UK buyers.
| Exchange | ID check | Payment methods | US states | Withdraw to your wallet | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kraken | Identity documents before any fiat trade | Bank transfer, debit card | Every state except New York and Maine | Yes, standard withdrawal to any bitcoin address | Sep 11, 2026 |
| Coinbase | Identity documents before trading | Bank transfer, debit card | Every state except Hawaii | Yes, standard withdrawal to any bitcoin address | Sep 11, 2026 |
| Gemini | Identity documents before trading | Bank transfer, debit card | All fifty states | Yes, standard withdrawal to any bitcoin address | Sep 11, 2026 |
| eToro | Identity documents before trading | not checked | The US arm does not serve New York, Nevada, Hawaii, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire or Tennessee. | Yes, through the eToro wallet. The fee page quotes 2 % on a transfer out. | Sep 11, 2026 |
| Bitstamp | Identity documents before trading | not checked | not checked | Yes, standard withdrawal to any bitcoin address | Sep 11, 2026 |
2. Get the identity check over with
All five want a government ID and usually a photo of your face before any money moves. Do it before you fund the account rather than after, because a pending check while a transfer sits in limbo is the worst order to do this in. Approval is normally minutes and occasionally a day.
3. Fund by bank transfer
Cards cost 3.49 percent at Gemini and 4.2 percent at Coinbase. A bank transfer is free or nearly free everywhere and takes a day or two. On 1 000 dollars that is 42 dollars against nothing, for two days of waiting.
4. Order from the advanced screen
The simple screen and the pro screen are the same account and the same balance. Gemini charges 1.49 percent on one and 0.20 percent on the other. Coinbase folds roughly half a percent of spread into its simple price and charges 0.60 percent as a taker on Advanced Trade. Find the link that says Pro, Advanced or ActiveTrader and place the order there.
You are not buying a whole coin. Every exchange here sells fractions, and the order box takes either a bitcoin amount or a dollar amount.
5. Read what you actually got
The fill confirmation shows the price, the fee and the amount. Compare that price against the market price at the time. The gap is the spread, and on a simple screen it is often larger than the fee that is printed next to it.
6. Withdraw to your own wallet
Coins left on an exchange are a balance the exchange owes you. Withdrawing puts them under a key you hold. Send a small test amount first, confirm it arrives, then send the rest. Every exchange in the table allows a standard withdrawal to any bitcoin address, though eToro routes it through its own wallet and its fee page quotes 2 percent on the way out.
How wallets and seed phrases work
Fees read on Sep 11, 2026. Every row links to the page it was read from.