Bitcoin Forum

I know this will depend on where you are, but where do you get the best rate for buying and selling bitcoin?

I take it pure peer to peer would be the best.

In general, are places like localbitcoin better than the large exchanges like Coinbase?

Privacy advantages aside, the great thing about peer-to-peer exchanges is not necessarily that bitcoin are cheaper, it's mostly that you can browse these exchanges for offers, or if you don't like the listed prices, you could always set your own buy/sell offer and wait.

But yea, they can also be cheaper in terms of fees.

Check out HodlHodl[1] and Bisq[2].

---

[1] https://hodlhodl.com/
[2] https://bisq.network/

Coinbase usually asks for KYC so if you're good with that, think before using them. The two mentioned websites are so far the best option for p2p type of exchange. Check this thread about Coinbase KYC if that adds to your concern as you buy.
Coinbase wallet without KYC as long as you do not buy/sell crypto?
 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=5261979.0)

If you do not have any problems with the tax office and if you do not strive to buy cryptocurrency unofficially, then the best option would be to use large centralized exchanges. This ensures you don't have any problems or any annoying mistakes that beginners can sometimes make.

Thanks. Would they tend to be the best option in terms of fees as well?

You can check it here https://www.bitdegree.org/crypto/cheapest-cryptocurrency-exchange. May I know where is your location is ?  if you can buy it in your local exchange then thasts better but if you find it much cheaper to use other exchange then you can choose in that option.

If you are looking for more exchange option you can check this one https://www.cryptowisser.com/exchanges/ .

It depends on the payment method and your location. IMO, if you're going to use something like Skrill, Neteller or PayPal, etc. then yes, peer to peer might be the best option but if you're from the EU or the U.S and you do have a bank account, then centralized exchanges could be better for you. I personally don't like suggesting CEXes because of the KYC procedure, but since you already know about LBC and Coinbase, I assume you don't have a problem verifying your identity.

I am in Thailand. I just have a hard time figuring out all the fees and exchange rates for buying and wondered which was best.

No kyc would be best for me. I used coinbase for my first small purchase but was not crazy about it as you mention. I have a larger purchase or two coming up and just want the best rates and lowest fees.

Thanks to all I will check out the suggestions.

It all depends on how much you want to purchase really. How large is a large purchase. If you are buying less than $1000 then just save yourself the hassle and go to a bitcoin ATM, the fees are huge (10%) but its quick and KYC free. You can use peer to peer but it gets tricky if you want to buy larger amounts. Basically if you want to buy $10K worth or so, its risky doing it in person because you have no idea if they will rob you or not. Hence if you use some peer to peer exchange, make sure you use someone who has tons and tons of feedback and reviews. Many people were robbed this way.

So if you want to purchase 5 figures or more, just use a centralized exchange, go the KYC route because it will be the safest in my opinion. The rates depend on the broker. For example Gemini has 0.1% fees if you use their API, regular fees are crazy high like 2%. There is Bitfinex which has 0.1% fees, there is also Kraken, etc. Need to go to each exchange and see if it supports your country and payment methods.

The best you can use to buy or sell bitcoin is the best price you are willing to accept the price. If the price now is at $13,200, and you accept the price, whether it's down or up, you can buy at the current price. But if you are not accepting the price, you will not buy or sell bitcoin because you can not accept it if the price is up or down.

How about https://www.bitkub.com/ because I do a little search using Google, and that site is at the first link, so maybe you can visit the site to see if that fit for you. Or you can search for the other exchange on https://www.bitrawr.com/thailand

Peer to peer exchange traders offers better rates but it highly depends on which country fiat money you are going to trade.If you are from a country where more trader available on LBC will offer better rates due to high competition but you are also in the risk of getting scammed when you look for the best price because cheaters will use hacked accounts and buy your bitcoin for premium price.

I dont think rates vary too much between centralized or decentralized exchanges. Previously people could buy from one and sell on another and get a 1-2% profit based on price variations even on a stable market. But is not so now.

In p2p it would depend on the buyer/seller. They can fix a price and you have to accept that. Eventually with increase in number of traders on a p2p platform the average price tend to go towards the current market price because of competition and wish to trade.

Both have their pros and cons. Try both and see which one you like.

It is true that buying and selling Bitcoin will depend on the country where you live and you will get the right price. Many countries around the world do not yet support Bitcoin, so peer-to-peer is the best alternative to Bitcoin. Bitcoin is an open digital finance system. Bitcoin works on peer-to-peer network cache system technology so it has no central server or central storage, and it is not possible to clearly identify the owners of Bitcoin. Above all, Bitcoin has no central or regulatory authority this is why it is a very safe system.

Price differs from exchanges to exchange, so we can't conclude that this exchange has better rates than this one.Taking coinbase into account where the prices are normally same as the prices projected on cointracking websites but on peer to peer exchanges traders can set their desired prices in positive or negative to the market price which makes it more lucrative and instant payment options make people to go for it when they are trading crypto to fiat and vice versa.

When profitability and comfortability are brought into the discussion, and since I am to use a centralized platform to buy the coins, I believe platform like Binance are preferable to centralized peer2peer exchange. Firstly their rate are more profitable. Example, the exchange rate of bitcoin to my local currency is more profitable if you're selling as you stand a chance of recieving more Naira or dollars per se.

Although that's not the case for buying as if you were to use the Binance exchange you'll still be buying high as the selling rate was high and the buying and selling rate are fixed to each other although if you make use of peer2peer exchange exchange, there are many possibilities of getting the coins cheaper as the seller have the choice of lowering their prices to attract buyers faster.

I do prefer a peer 2 peer platform and though dislike exchanges that require KYC like coinbase that makes it as a requirement for such transaction. We also remember that it is not stable with the fluctuation and some times it is reevaluated with the current rate.

How would the fees and exchange rate be at Blockfi vs Coinbase for buying Bitcoin?

I find it difficult to figure this stuff out. It seems like you have to have an account and go through KYC just to know what the Blockfi rate would be.

If you are looking for the best rates possible I think you need to look at directly buying and selling your cryptocurrencies to a buyer or seller since in this way you will be removing several fees and commissions that will come out on their services aside from that you'll also remove the rate difference from liquidating your cryptocurrencies to fiat within any service. Direct P2P will be straight to the point, if you like the exchange rate then you can take advantage of it without any additional cost involve.

I don't think so if your's going peer to peer you have to agreed on what price that you are going to trade or deal on exchange you can get a better rate if you set a much higher rate on your sell or buy order and let the market decides on the best rate, honestly I have never tried local Bitcoin I am more comfortable trading on exchange I feel much safer trading there.

P2P offer the best rate and when my friends selling their Bitcoin at a cheaper price, I usually deal with them but this kind of transaction is very rare and I have to deal with the rate of exchanges at all cost because I have to chase the price of Bitcoin and I can’t miss its cheaper price. If you do have local wallet in your place then it can be a great option since I’m using our local wallet and the rate is favorable to both parties.

I don't agree that P2P platforms can provide best rates compared to exchanges, because even on exchanges we can get the best rates too.
Because we can set the rate we want for buying and selling Bitcoin when using the exchanges. But if you want to avoid KYC procedure using
P2P platforms is the right decision. For now I am still comfortable and safe using centralized exchanges.

Literally it is possible but how long it will take to complete your transaction is more longer and no definite time frame but on p2p platforms, you can find the traders with no issue at all but someone who wants to trade without completing KYC then they need to compromise the best rates because complete p2p trading platforms have lesser liquidity which makes the prices to be less favorable to the market price.

I think it becomes a matter of choice with time and people become more comfortable using a P2P exchange or a CEX. For those countries where crypto is somewhat legal, people will go with CEXs because they can happily undergo KYC and transact without hassle.

P2P exchanges become more common with the opposite group. However there may be users in the previous group who might go with P2P because of custom rates.

Even then check and keep using both is a better approach than being stuck to one.

Best rate will always be person to person without a doubt and if you do bulk and have a bigger capital you are going to get a loooot more than you bargain for. For example, if you have a million dollars, and you want to buy bitcoin, you could find people who do not want government to know about their money and willing to give a big break to make that happen.

I have met someone on telegram who did exactly that, he had around 120k dollars ready and someone didn't want government to know about his money, so he gave 150k worth of bitcoins to him for 120k dollars, that is a 30k discount and all he had to do was claim it was profit on a waaaaay back bitcoin purchase and government charged him with 15% tax which was around 22.5k, with fee's and all he made about 5k profit from that legit. He could have made a lot more if he wanted to hide it, but that dude made 5k+ profit while keeping everything legal at the same time.

bitcoin peer to peer transaction now very rare, traders prefer sell or buy bitcoin on conventional exchanges like binance or others. using exchange  services will help them to make another transaction and also it have feature margin.

set buy and sell order could help us to find best rate in our transaction. we have to use trusted peer to peer platform or they will scam our money.

Even I am already into peer to peer trading for years,  I'm not checking that I am getting best rates because I'm simply going for the best available rate from the order books. Basically I am not a trader still I am actively buying bitcoins for long-term purposes hence I never check for best rates in markets but simply going with available one.

If time factor is not a criteria here then definitely anyone could get the best of best rate for sure ;D.
In my opinion, p2p trading is not for active traders. It is only for the people who are buying and selling once in week kind of timeframe.

If you want to trade first i tell you can like binance for exchange. You want to buy short time or long time. If you want to buy for long time i tell every time is best. Cause every time bitcoin price increase. If you want short time invest you follow bitcoin price chart.

Are you sure binance will get them cheaper bitcoins? They are basically here for the best rate which means possible cheaper prices for bitcoin at any given time. This is kind of demand from active traders who want quick profits on both the sides (buying and selling). They will buy cheaper than market and then sell higher than again market prices; I guess only viable platform for the must be peer to peer trading. Because, all exchange platforms are just reflecting what is exactly going with bitcoin markets but only on passive way of trading, we can demand for more.

Some exchanges some times may show cheaper or higher prices than other other exchanges but that will not be sustaining all the times as traders will converge the gap by making use of arbitrage trading.

As I understand in P2P in the price you want it to sell . It's only depend on the buyers if they want to grab it base on your price. while in centralized exchange can only give you good rate if the price increase the day you sold it.

The only difference is you can directly sell it in exchange while in P2P you need to wait for buyers for the coins you are selling .

I get this information on Coinmarket. Then, I check several exchanges I use for my operations. The rates there are compared (the reviews on the services are also checked). Everything is simply — just take some time to do it.

But when it comes to converting your crypto to your local fiat, your options are limited as very few local exchanges will provide that kind of service. Unless, you are converting it to USD, in which a lot of popular exchanges are catering that to their customers. But to check how my local rates are doing as compared to global market, I usually compare it to coindesk's prices. Just to get how far or how below they are selling and buying.

It's always been peer 2 peer with me, I've thought of transacting with locals a few times but, their percentage charges is always high, coupled with the charge it would cost me to transfer from my Electrum wallet to the local's wallet. Either way it is, the cost is relatively too high so, there would be no point for running such transaction and i'm yet to get an offer that would be so tempting than the offers I've been receiving. Else, I always stick to what I'm used to and it's been okay so far.

We have local exchange wallet that I usually buy, sell and store my btc. It was certified by BSP (Banko Sentral ng Pilipinas) and one of the trusted crypto wallet in our country. Though I also consider peer to peer but just to those trusted and whom I know so i won't get scam if ever.

Coinbase or other big exchange can also be one good choice for buying and selling. Of course fees, kyc are needed but you can actually buy and sell with those reputable crypto exchanges without a problem.

peer to peer fees more expensive, and I don't like it, I always buy Bitcoin on the exchange mate,
Binance, Bitrex or Huobi exchanges there the Bitcoin price has a high volume,
so don't worry about the spread in the order book, and the fee is also small.