Bitcoin Forum

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Having gotten tired of BTC ATMs (expensive, 9% - 14% over "spot") and localbitcoin.com (a hassle), I went looking today for a better solution to buy BTC.  I wanted to find a BTC exchange that was reliable yet easy to use.

Especially that "easy-to-use" business.  I'm an American after all.  "Simplicity is a virtue."

So, I looked at several options, but none looked very good.  For example, cex.io and others would not sell to Americans in my state.  So it was between Coinbase and Circle.  I tried Coinbase first, but could not get very far.  Then I tried Circle.  Withing two hours after Sign-Up and verfications, I got Bitcoin sent to me.  Payment (first to my account there) by debit card.

I still have yet to hear back from Coinbase even after filling out a ticket asking for help.

Circle is the winner, at least so far.


EDIT: I got $9.87 worth of BTC when I asked for BTC to my own wallet (not at Circle).  1.3% net fee.  Not bad!

I have noticed that circle's price tends to be roughly 1.5% higher then that of coinbase, so if you are buying bitcoin you will likely pay more even though circle does not charge a fee.

I think that both services are fairly easy to setup and use, although I don't think you can potentily buy bitcoin the day you sign up for coinbase while I believe you can with circle. Although once it has been 30 days from the date of your first purchase you are able to purchase fairly large amounts on both services instantly.

If you are American you are restricted to those sites that comply with the US money laundering rules. You could try bitstamp which accepts dollars and allows you to trade. As others have said, Circle makes it's money by a "spread" - charging slightly more than the market rate for your BTC.