How to Buy Bitcoin in Canada in 2024

Is Buying Bitcoin a Good Idea?

By 2023, it’s managed to attract both institutional and traditional investors. And it’s no wonder, considering the myriad advantages that come from trading in Bitcoin. First of all, there’s the liquidity — we could argue that Bitcoin is one of the most liquid assets you can invest in on the planet. There are plenty of trading platforms for Bitcoin established worldwide, as well as online brokerages and exchanges. Today, it’s easier than ever to trade bitcoin for other crypto, assets like gold, or even cash — all with substantially low fees.

Plus, unlike regular fiat (government-backed) currencies, bitcoin doesn’t suffer from inflation. It’s not regulated by any government, and its blockchain system is well-established and theoretically infinite. The value of bitcoin may be changed due to other market forces, but it’s entirely immune to inflation.

Also, becoming a crypto trader is far easier in terms of barriers of entry, at least compared to any other kind of trading. Stock traders have to obtain licenses and certificates to find work, and they have to work through brokers to buy and sell shares. However, Bitcoin trading is entirely minimalistic — if you want, you can just buy and sell it through exchanges or keep it in your wallet. And unlike stock or other similar transactions, Bitcoin trading is instantaneous.

Of course, even though many consider Bitcoin to be the currency of the future — you should also be aware of the downsides surrounding this kind of investment today. Dabbling in crypto doesn’t come without a substantial amount of risk. This doesn’t mean that investing in Bitcoin is a bad idea — you just have to go into this investment with the right mentality. Make sure you’re not investing any money that you can’t afford to lose. And that’s sound advice for any investment!

How to buy Bitcoin?

If you’re sure about buying Bitcoin in Canada, you’re probably wondering — how can you do this in a literal sense? Take a look at our detailed guide for buying bitcoin in Canada for beginners.

While there are plenty of different crypto exchanges you can use, we’ve gone with Coinbase as an example — a variation of their trading interface is found in most other exchanges, so you’ll have no trouble adapting to different ones.

Risk assessment

Make no mistake, investing in Bitcoin doesn’t come without its risks. And even though that’s true for any sort of investment, we’d be remiss not pointing out the particular volatility of cryptocurrencies. More than other financial instruments, crypto is vulnerable to radical fluctuations. For example, one tweet where Elon Musk said he’d stop using Bitcoin was enough to send its worth in a 15% downwards tumble.

Still, even though Bitcoin has had its share of crashes, it’s proven to be the most resilient and stable cryptocurrency in the world. But bear in mind how volatile these goods are — if you want to trade in crypto, you’ll need to have the patience and mental stability to hold onto your Bitcoin even when the value goes down temporarily.

Considering all of this, you need to think things through and perform a detailed risk assessment before investing any money into Bitcoin. And you need to think of more than the Bitcoin market — consider how stable and diverse the rest of your investment portfolio is, and take your risk tolerance into account.

Creating a crypto exchange account

If you’re ready to buy Bitcoin, you’ll need to choose the best possible crypto exchange for the job — and create an account on their website. As mentioned above, we’re going with Coinbase for this guide.

Account Opening on Coinbase

The “Create your account” page on Coinbase is quite simple and self-explanatory. You don’t need to be very tech-savvy to go through the process — just enter your complete legal name, and your email. After that, choose a strong password and you’re good to go!

Verification on Coinbase

Bear in mind you’ll need your actual working email for this, as you’ll receive a verification email when you create your account. After that, click on the “Sign In” option at the Coinbase homepage, and enter your details.

Once you’ve logged in, you’ll be greeted with an overview of the additional information you need to provide. They’ll likely ask for your home address, some sort of government-issued ID like a passport or a driver’s license, and perhaps some other info.

Verify your identity according to their instructions, and you’ll be able to start trading!

Funding your Coinbase account

Naturally, there’s one more thing you need before you can start buying Bitcoin in Canada — and that’s actual money in your account! That’s why you’ll need to add your preferred payment method to your account.

Unfortunately, Canadian customers don’t have the same range of deposit methods on Coinbase that US and EU citizens enjoy. Basically, you can only pay with debit cards, though you can use PayPal to get money from any sold cryptocurrencies as a withdrawal method.

Still, when you provide your debit card details through Coinbase’s secure interface, you’ll be good to go!

Buying Bitcoin

So, you’ve managed to create, verify, and fund your Coinbase account — that means you’re ready to start trading!

How to Buy Bitcoin on Coinbase

Once you access your Coinbase dashboard, you’ll see the “Trade” option on the left. Click on it, and you’ll immediately be greeted with a list of all the many cryptocurrencies you can buy and sell on this platform. As you might expect, Bitcoin is at the very top as the most valuable and most popular option.

For every currency, you can see its current market cap, recent price movements, and current price. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was worth over $57,000 — but make sure you’re aware of the current market trends before buying. You want to sell at a high and buy at a low — or you may simply want to hold onto Bitcoin as a long-term investment.

And that’s all — you just use the “Buy” button on the right and enter your desired amount. The good part about paying with debit cards is that the transaction is almost instantaneous.

First Bitcoin ETF

While regulatory support for Bitcoin (and cryptocurrencies in general) has been lacking in the past decade, the sheer market cap of Bitcoin has led institutions to take note and adapt to the new normal of global finance.

The first Bitcoin-based ETF (BTCQ) has been created by 3iQ CoinShares in Canada. By January 2023, it has already surpassed a billion dollars in assets. And 3iQ has made significant strides by creating the first public bitcoin investment fund as well, along with a separate one for Ether.

Brokers and traders that haven’t given much thought to cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin will surely start taking more note in the future.

How Can I Use Bitcoin in Canada?

These days, there are plenty of uses for cryptocurrencies. In fact, you can use them for everything you’d use your physical currency for. You can buy and sell products with Bitcoin online, or pay for services. Of course, you can also keep Bitcoin as a part of your investment portfolio, considering its immense growth in value over the past decade.

On the other hand, did you know there are hundreds of Bitcoin ATMs in Canada? Google if there’s one near you — they’re very convenient, as they allow you to convert bitcoin to cash directly via a physical interface. You can also use these to purchase more Bitcoin via a debit card or cash.

Top 10 Best Altcoins

There are plenty of other cryptocurrencies that might be worth your time (and money), so make sure you keep an eye out for them as well. We’ve compiled the list of the most promising (investment-wise) altcoins in 2023 right here, based on investor attention, technology, performance, and similar criteria.

Note:

This article is not financial advice and is for educational purposes only. Buying cryptocurrencies is a high-risk type of investment.