Bitcoin is the new currency that has finally come around as a standard for payment by over 100,000 merchants. It’s an exciting new way to pay for goods or invest. Investing in bitcoins or buying goods requires the purchaser to have bitcoins to trade with. There are several ways to get bitcoins.
One way is to buy bitcoins from a bitcoin exchange. If you choose this way it’s best to find a licensed vendor. There are many vendors now who are licensed in their jurisdictions to trade bitcoin. Check in your locale for licensed bitcoin vendors.

Another popular way to get bitcoins is by exchanging them for gift cards. Amazon, iTunes, even Starbucks all offer gift cards that can be exchanged for bitcoins. One of the most popular sites for this is Paxful. Once you sign up for an account you can then trade gift cards for bitcoins. Or use your cash to buy gift cards. For example, if you have a $50 gift card from iTunes, you put your request out there and Paxful will hook you up with a seller. You will almost never get $50 of bitcoins since the seller now has to somehow get their money back on the gift card but you may get $45 in bitcoin for $50. Deals vary from seller to seller. The cool thing about gift cards is you only need the gift card and receipt. No names are exchanged it’s a completely encrypted transaction. Hence the name cryptocurrency.

The drawback of cryptocurrency is it can be used for money laundering and hiding money in general. China, while it hasn’t banned cryptocurrency, has stopped bitcoin ICOS. Some of their exchanges have closed. Bitcoin in China trades at a discount to the rest of the world. Japan, on the other hand, has added more than 10 places to legally exchange bitcoin adding another option for the bitcoin buy/sell experience.

$20 of bitcoin in 2008 is now worth over $20,000,000. The bubble may burst or just fluctuate but it looks like bitcoin is here to stay.

For those who are looking to invest, getting bitcoin is pretty much the same. Buyers need to go to an exchange and buy the coins. Some places allow credit cards, Paypal and bank transfers. After that the bitcoin is yours to hold and sell dear! Whether using bitcoins for making purchases or investing or selling, it’s an exciting new entry in the world of currency.