How To Buy Bitcoin In Australia

Bitcoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world and currently has a bullish market. 

Bitcoin was released on January 3rd 2009 by a mysterious entity under the name of Satoshi Nakamoto. Since then, the price has climber to massive highs, and is attracting the attention of many.

You may be wondering how to buy Bitcoin. Don’t worry; we have you covered. We will guide you through the process of buying BTC.

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Buying Bitcoin Step By Step

There are many ways you can buy BTC in Australia. You can approach any popular Bitcoin exchange, withdraw BTC from a Bitcoin ATM, trade-in cash for Bitcoin with another person and so on. If you need to buy Bitcoin anonymously, you can approach a Bitcoin ATM, opt for peer-to-peer trading on a P2P platform, or purchase directly from some crypto holder.

We highly recommend that you use Swyftx, as it’s one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia. Read our full review here.

To sign up, follow these steps:

  1. Create Your Account
    Click here and you’ll be taken to a page where you can quickly create an account with Swyftx in minutes.
  2. Verify Your Info
    After you have created your account, you would need to verify your details through KYC.
  3. Add a Payment Method
    We recommend Poli or PayID as the funds will show up in your account instantly.
  4. Buy Coins
    Once you’ve deposited AUD into your account, you can go over to the trading area and buy any cryptocurrency you wish that is listed by Swyftx.
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How To Get Started With Swyftx

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Create Your Account

To create your account, follow these steps:

Step 1: Sign up here to register your Swyftx account.

Step 2: The registration of your account consists of a form where you have to provide your email id, password, first name, last name, country of origin, and mobile number.

Step 3: Then, you need to complete the reCAPTCHA form and click on “Create My Account.”

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Verify Your Information

The ID verification process on Swyftx is simple and takes only a couple of minutes.

To start the verification process, head to the sidebar on the left and click on “Profile”. Now, click on “Verification” under your name. This brings up an online form where you need to enter your email address, mobile number and ID number.

KYC is a standard procedure and has been made mandatory by the Australian government, so all exchanges in Australia have this process.

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Add a Payment Method

Once you have set up your account and verified it, you need to add a payment method to purchase your Bitcoin so you can start buying and selling. Since you may have already linked your bank account, you can opt for bank transfer (just ensure you follow the exchanges instructions otherwise you may receive a message from your bank asking for identity verification). You can also use POLi, PayID deposits and card purchases to buy bitcoin.

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Buy Coins

To buy coins, select the “Trade” option and choose “Bitcoin” from the sidebar on your left. You can then input the total amount of Bitcoin you want to buy using the “Instant Buy” area. If you already own some Bitcoin (BTC) or crypto assets, you can trade them for various digital currencies using trade pairs.

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Where to Buy Bitcoin in Australia

There are a myriad of cryptocurrency exchanges available in Australia. However, Swyftx is one of the best Bitcoin exchanges and is the one we’d recommend to beginners and advanced crypto enthusiasts alike. Other exchanges include Zipmex, CoinSpot, CoinJar, Coinbase, etc.

If you want to buy Bitcoin anonymously, you can go to any of the country’s fifty Bitcoin ATMs.

How to Pay for Your Bitcoin?

When Bitcoin was launched, there were only two ways to pay for your Bitcoin. You could either mine new BTC blocks or use Peer-to-Peer trading. Earlier, Bitcoin wasn’t as popular and did not have many payment options. 

But now, there are innumerable ways to pay for your Bitcoin, and within a few hours, it will reflect in your Bitcoin wallet. You can use your credit and debit cards, wire transfers (POLi, PayID), PayPal, cash, among other payment methods to pay for your Bitcoin.

If you already own some crypto assets, you can use them to purchase Bitcoin. Many exchanges support trade pairs that allow you to trade in some cryptocurrency for Bitcoin.

Buying Bitcoin With Your Bank Account

This is one of the most common ways to pay for your Bitcoin in Australia. When you deposit funds with your bank account is quite simple and straightforward to buy Bitcoin. Since you would have linked your bank account during the KYC process, all you may need to do is approve the transaction.

It may take up to a few hours to confirm your transaction on the network and for the crypto funds to show up in your wallet. Just ensure you have followed the procedure to verify your identity, otherwise you won’t be able to start trading. Also be away that the fees for bank transfer may vary based on network congestion and exchange policies.

If you need to buy large amounts of crypto, you can opt for a bank transfer or approach an over-the-counter desk. An OTC desk helps you trade large quantities of crypto without moving the market price of the crypto asset.

Buying Bitcoin With a Credit Card or Debit Card

Another popular payment method is to buy Bitcoin using your credit card or debit card. However, you may incur hefty charges if you use a credit card to pay for your Bitcoin on a crypto exchange as Visa and Mastercard charge hefty fees. Another downside is that not all crypto platforms support credit card payment, and there may also be a limit to the amount of Bitcoin you can purchase.

So you may have to search for exchanges that accept credit or debit cards and charge low fees. 

Buy Bitcoin With PayPal

PayPal is a popular payment gateway that many people use to pay for goods and services online. But there is one major drawback of PayPal that prevents exchanges from using it as a payment method – the chargebacks.

PayPal always favours their customers. So, if the customers demand a chargeback, they get their money back without returning the Bitcoin they bought. This leads to chargeback fraud. Hence, exchanges avoid using PayPal.

PayPal has already launched a feature in the US that allows customers to buy Bitcoin directly on the platform. If the service is successful, it may be launched in other regions of the world such as Europe, Australia, etc. While buying cryptocurrencies on PayPal may be convenient, you will not be able to withdraw it to your wallets.

Buy Bitcoin With Cash

Buying Bitcoin with cash is possible on Peer-to-Peer trading platforms. However, it is becoming less common due to various government regulations.

On the P2P trading platforms, you can choose your seller from a list and meet up with them in person. If you feel uncomfortable meeting with a stranger, you can approach Bitcoin ATMs placed around the city. Bitcoin ATMs operate quite similar to the traditional ATMs; here you submit cash into the ATM, and it will give you the Bitcoin.

The Bitcoin ATMs have a much larger spread, which means the price of 1 BTC at an ATM is much higher than what is available at the exchanges. This high price may be due to the anonymity that is offered, which ensures that no financial information will be attached to your Bitcoin wallet address.

Buy Bitcoin With Wire Transfer

Although some crypto exchanges offer Wire Transfer as a payment option, there are some limitations. There may be a minimum cash deposit and a certain fee for wire transfers. However, this is a good way to buy large amounts of Bitcoin.

Buy Bitcoin With Another Crypto

If you already own some other cryptocurrency, you can use it to trade for Bitcoin. There are numerous exchanges that offer crypto trading. Most crypto trading pairs include Bitcoin also.

So, you can easily trade any cryptocurrency with Bitcoin. Popular exchanges like Binance offer over 450 crypto trading pairs. You will also have the best liquidity on top exchanges, allowing you to easily buy/sell Bitcoin and crypto.

You may have to wait for hours before you can trade at your target prices in low liquidity exchanges. You may not be able to buy and sell large amounts of crypto as that will drastically shift the cryptocurrency market value.

 

Buying Bitcoin With a Prepaid Card or a Gift Card

Buying Bitcoin with a prepaid card or gift card is similar to buying BTC using cash. You can use gift cards on the same platform you purchase Bitcoin using fiat currency. If you do purchase Bitcoin with one of these cards, do not expect a 1:1 trade ratio as gift cards are not as valuable as cash.

You may end up getting only 50 AUD worth BTC for a 100 AUD gift card. 

Buy Bitcoin Anonymously

As most cryptocurrency exchanges now require their users to do a KYC or some other form of identification, it is almost impossible to buy Bitcoin anonymously. Your wallet and addresses will be linked to your financial identity, making it easy to track.

However, if you do wish to purchase BTC anonymously, you can do so from Bitcoin ATMs set up throughout your city. You can also approach P2P exchanges where you exchange cash for Bitcoin with another person. Even after acquiring Bitcoin anonymously, explaining how you got it to the tax office may be difficult.

Buying Bitcoin OTC (Over-The-Counter)

As more people are moving large amounts of cryptocurrencies, over-the-counter desks are becoming quite common. If you want to buy or sell Bitcoin in large amounts, you need to approach the OTC desks. The way OTC desks operate is similar to P2P trading but on a larger scale.

The OTC service will help you find people who are willing to buy or sell large amounts of Bitcoin. Unlike exchanges, OTC services do not affect the price of the cryptocurrency as the Bitcoin is still within user possession and not back on the network.

How to Store Bitcoin?

After you’ve bought Bitcoin, you require a safe and secure place to store it. We do not recommend keeping your crypto assets on an exchange as they are vulnerable to all sorts of malicious activities. So where can you store your Bitcoin?

You can store your BTC in a digital wallet. However, there are two types of wallets – offline and online wallets. Which one should you opt for?

Online wallets are software wallets that are exposed to the internet. You have total control of your funds, and no one can steal your cryptocurrency unless they have your private key or seed phrases. Although the chances are low, being an online wallet, it is prone to hacking.

Online wallets include exchange wallets and software wallets. Exchange wallets are highly insecure and have the highest chances of being hacked. Since penetrating a blockchain network is impossible, hackers tend to target exchanges. So, storing your crypto assets on an exchange wallet is not recommended.

Some exchanges are resorting to hybrid storage for their crypto assets. Only a small amount of crypto (around 10-20%) will be in the online store, and the remaining will be in cold storage. Although this can make exchange wallets more reliable, the major disadvantage is that exchanges have absolute control over your private keys and assets.

While software wallets are more secure than exchange wallets, being exposed to the internet can have repercussions. You do have better control over your private keys and assets. But offline or hardware wallets are highly recommended.

Offline wallets or hardware wallets are the best places to store your cryptocurrency. They are impenetrable, and you have total control over your funds. Ledger Nano and Trezor are popular and trusted hardware wallets.

The hardware wallets store your private keys that help access your crypto assets. A PIN secures it, and in case you lose the wallet, or it gets corrupted, you can recover your crypto assets using a seed phrase. You can plug your hardware wallet into your desktop and authenticate transactions.

While paper wallets are also available, you need to be extra careful while printing it or you risk leaking your private keys. You need to use a bootable OS on a pen drive, have the private keys loaded on your browser offline, and print using a printer that is not connected to the internet.

If you are an active crypto trader, you require a combination of online and offline wallets. You can store most of your Bitcoin in a hardware wallet, and some funds online for trading. If you are a HODLer, you require a hardware wallet to keep your Bitcoin safe for a long time.

One significant advantage that online wallets have is convenience. You don’t have to download any application or set up your wallet. All you need to do is buy Bitcoin, and it will be stored in the exchange wallet by default.

However, hardware wallets offer more security and control over your crypto assets. With that said, choose your storage wisely.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrencies have become quite popular over the years. This is especially true for Bitcoin, which is at the top. Recently, Bitcoin gained even more traction as the market price crossed its resistance level and is still on the rise. As a result, many more people are showing interest in BTC and investing their money in it.

If you’re living in Australia, you can buy Bitcoin from special ATMs or directly from a Bitcoin Holder. However, we recommend using Swyftx, the country’s leading cryptocurrency exchange. It is regulated by the AUSTRAC and has implemented tight security measures to secure user data and crypto-assets. 

So what are you waiting for? Head over to the exchange and get yourself some Bitcoin!

Frequently Asked Questions

Where can I buy Bitcoin in Australia?

You can buy Bitcoin from a variety of crypto exchanges in Australia. Ensure that you approach an exchange that is compliant with Australian regulations (or regulated by AUSTRAC). We recommend the crypto exchange Swyftx for all your cryptocurrency needs.

Is Bitcoin legal in Australia?

Yes, Bitcoin is a legal digital asset in Australia to buy and sell or trade with other crypto assets. Many restaurants and shops around the country accept Bitcoin payment methods and some prefer it over the use of a credit card.

How do I cash out Bitcoin in Australia?

You can cash out Bitcoin on any of the crypto exchanges such as Swyftx. You can sell your BTC and withdraw AUD into your bank account. Fiat deposits (Australian Dollars) and withdrawal on Swyftx are free of any charges.

Is Bitcoin taxable in Australia?

In Australia, Bitcoin is considered an asset of capital gains tax (CGT) purposes. A CGT event occurs when you sell your BTC and convert it into AUD or use it to obtain goods and services. Some or all of these may be taxable.

Are there Bitcoin ATMs available in Australia?

Yes, there is such a thing as a Bitcoin ATM in Australia and their numbers are growing. There are over fifty Bitcoin ATMs spread across the country and found in various locations such as supermarkets, airports, retail stores, etc.

Cities And Suburbs Where Bitcoin Is Popular In Australia

  1. Sydney
  2. Melbourne
  3. Brisbane
  4. Canberra
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