Are exchanges the only way BTC can be purchased?

[Solosanz]

Exchanges isn't the only way to buy or sell Bitcoin, but direct P2P trade will ruin your privacy and you need to fully trust the person you're want to trade, also you can use Bitcoin ATM, but it doesn't worth since they charge large fees. IMO exchange is the comfortable place to buy or sell Bitcoin since it's easy and you don't need to choose which person you want to trade. But you need to avoid centralized exchange since it will ruin your privacy, privacy is really important. I suggest to buy Bitcoin via decentralized exchange e.g. Bisq.

[PrivacyG]

but direct P2P trade will ruin your privacy

No.  It is the opposite, if I had to make a list of ways you can buy Bitcoin, Decentralized Exchanges and Peer to Peer (as in face to face) trades would be at the bottom of the list.

Peer to peer gives you the best privacy since no party is collecting data on you, unless you fell in a honeypot or are trading with a weirdo.  That is considering you are taking the proper safety measures prior to meeting the guy you are about to trade with.

also you can use Bitcoin ATM, but it doesn't worth since they charge large fees.

ATM's usually charge large fees only upon selling Bitcoin.  For buying Bitcoin they are in fact a great choice most of the time.  Buying fees are negligible.

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Regards,
PrivacyG

[Frankolala]

Mining is another way but it takes so much time and electricity,P2P is decentralized just between you and the changer, you need to know or trust the person that you want to trade with because scammers  are everywhere or you can use bisq it is very safe. ATM is also another way to buy bitcoin, you can deliver a service in this forum to get paid in bitcoin

Central exchange is good because of convenience but you are to only put the money you are using and don't leave any coins in the exchange as they can't secure your coins. I  use p2p all the time since I have a friend that I trade with in my neighborhood at least this is safe.

[DdmrDdmr]

<…> ATM's usually charge large fees only upon selling Bitcoin.  For buying Bitcoin they are in fact a great choice most of the time.  Buying fees are negligible.

I figure there may be quite a bit of variability in fees from one country to another though. Taking a look at the fees on CoinAtmRadar for Toronto, buy fees are pretty steep, for the most close to/in the 2 digit percentage range. Likewise, Madrid has a similar costly buy fee. L.A. shows a bunch charging close to 15% for buy operations, though most ATMs there don’t list the fees on CoinATMRadar.

[BITCOIN4X]

OP, looks like you have a very useful answer now even the first one. I don't know if you care about privacy or not, but you can buy bitcoin in several ways as suggested. If your country doesn't prohibit you from buying and owning bitcoin, then you should trust that bitcoin will be very easy for you to buy, be it a centralized or decentralized exchange.

If you are forced to buy bitcoin on centralized exchange for your own reasons, then consider withdrawing your bitcoin to your non-custodial wallet for safety. This is just an additional suggestion, maybe you already know how it works.