We are going to cover our standard procedure for taking a new user through setting up an account and buying their first crypto.

Just to be 100% clear here. You have complete control over your decisions and accounts. We have noticed an awful lot of people on social media promising get rich quick schemes particularly with the Forex bros and 212 dudes.

This isn’t what this is. We are a free to use platform that wants to encourage and educate people to leave those dinosaur markets and enter the modern crypto-world. We would appreciate it if you can use our links to the suggested platforms below as we will both benefit.

With Coinbase we both get around $10 in BTC (when you buy the equivalent of $100), whilst with Binance we get a discounted rate on commission if signed up through the referral link. Nothing is at extra cost to you, that wouldn’t sit right with us.

Equally, once you are all set up and know what you are doing and eventually become a trillionaire… think of your old pals at blocmates who helped you out in the early days and consider buying us a pint or a cup of coffee through our donation channels at the bottom of each of our posts.

Right, let’s get to it.

We will lay out a few exchanges that we use ourselves and let you make your own decision based on the information.

Coinbase vs Binance –

Both of these platforms are excellent. We recommend them both. They differ slightly in ease of use and fees etc. but depending on what you want to do, there is a solution.

How easy is it to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?

Using Coinbase – it doesn’t get much easier. Sign up (through this link) add a visa or MasterCard to your account and purchase your first coins. We both get $10 worth of Bitcoin if you use the link and buy $100 or more. Why wouldn’t you?

There are a few things you will need to do this

• Email address

• Phone number

• Identification

Create your account by following the link and registering your email address. Follow the instructions and verify the email address by going into the email received by Coinbase and clocking “Verify”.

You will now need to verify your phone number.

Take a photo of your ID, a passport, driving license or government-issued ID will work.

Set up 2-factor authentication – With Coinbase and Binance for that matter, you need to set up something called 2-factor authentication (2FA). The first factor being your account password to log in and the second factor being a temporary code that will be sent to your phone to allow you access to your account.

MOST IMPORTANT PART OF ALL – You will be asked to write down this authenticator code it will be a string of letters and numbers.

DO NOT LOSE THIS CODE – IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO RECOVER YOUR ACCOUNT IF IT IS STOLEN OR SOMEHOW LOST. 

Any time the words “seed-phrase” or “private key” is used, TAKE A NOTE OF IT AND STORE THIS INFORMATION OFFLINE NOT CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET. 

A seed phrase is a collection of 12 random words that give you, and only you, the access to your account and coins. Make a note, write it down and keep it somewhere very safe.

You can store it cryptographically on the google cloud depending on how much you trust Google.

This added security is slightly annoying but vitally important.

Adding a payment option – There are a few ways you can deposit your cash into Coinbase and then use it to purchase cryptocurrency.

You can set up a bank account – This is typically focussed for large investments if your banking app allows you to connect directly then your funds will be deposited in a few minutes. Although some banks require a few days to set up a connection and take in to account weekend banking hours too. For a long term play, it might be wise to get this set up whilst looking at the other options below for instant buying.

Connect Visa or MasterCard – this is for smaller payments if you are just wanting to dip your feet in and see what the fuss is all about, then here you go. We recommend using an internet bank like Monzo or Starling because their processing seems to be 100 billion times faster.

You can set up PayPal if you really need too… I’m not so keen on the ‘gatekeepers’ of the internet and their policies to be honest.

Once you have connected your banking account and deposited over $100, take a look at our guides. This will have all the information you need to make a decision on what crypto you want to buy. Please be aware that cryptocurrency markets are very volatile (they move up and down… A LOT). Have strong hands and hold on for dear life (HODL) if you believe in the project.

Following your purchase of over $100 – you will receive your first $10 of Bitcoin for FREE (if you followed our referral link). How easy was that?!

Each crypto you buy will have its own wallet in the Coinbase app or web browser. A wallet is basically an account for that specific cryptocurrency. You will have a BTC wallet that stores…BTC, an Ethereum Wallet that stores… you guessed it, ETH and so on.

If you decide (which we strongly recommend) to send it to a more secure hardware wallet Trezor or a Ledger Nano S for example or even DApp like Trust Waller, MetaMask or Exodus.

For full disclosure – purchasing a hardware wallet trough the embedded links above comes at no extra cost to you. We receive a tiny commission if you decide to purchase through the Amazon links we provided.

To send and receive each specific crypto, you would need the recipient address of the wallet you are sending the crypto to.

This will be a long collection of letters and numbers which is specific to that particular address. Or, the address will have a specific QR code which you can scan, easy peasy.

BTC wallet address – 13nHaDS4Uqq7jc9cieyYwr9F3y2qcqBmBo

Yes, those are our BTC wallet address… utterly shameless.

Be careful with ETH transaction fees at the minute they are very high. This will be resolved soon with the ETH2.0 roll out. You can always check the fees before you send any crypto.

If you send it to a DApp wallet you may want to keep that device disconnected to the internet until you need to use it again for added security.

Next, you will find yourself sneaking off to the toilet at work to refresh your Coinbase account and take a look at your newly-found investments. Your average screen time will increase, apologies.

What is Binance?

Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange out there with a record $80 Billion in daily volume. It is commonly used by new and experienced traders and we personally use it to buy a lot of our coins, although we do use others too.

First, register through this link and follow the simple set up instructions.

There are a few things you will need to do this

• Email address

• Phone number

• Identification

Please ensure to follow the referral link when signing up – you will receive a discount on your trading fees! If you forgot, no problem here is the referral code – REYRU6RH

You will be asked to complete the Binance puzzle by sliding the piece into the missing section. Don’t worry this will make sense when you see it.

Next, you need to verify your email. You do this by clicking the link that Binance has sent you in your email inbox. There should be a 6 digit code which you should type into Binance when prompted.

Now your email is connected and verified, you need to add 2FA again. If you have downloaded google authenticator by the point, you can use this. Follow the instructions to add Binance to google authenticator.

Right, now you are a fully-fledged Binance trader…

What you now need to do deposit your local currency GBP, USD, EURO etc. Click Buy Crypto and select Bank Deposit.

Ensure the correct local currency for your card is selected. For example, if you have a UK issued card, then the deposit needs to be in GBP.

Next, you will see this screen. Select faster payments, no fees, no brainer.

Enter the amount you wish to deposit in your local currency, GBP in this example.

Binance will then generate the following:

• Account Number

• Sort Code

• Reference

YOU MUST DO THE FOLLOWING –

1. You must send money from a card with your name on it. 

2. You also MUST put the reference on there. Failure to do so may result in a lack of deposited funds. 

3. You also must put the recipient’s name as “Binance” 

Again, we recommend Monzo or Starling to process such payments as they are a lot faster than dinosaur highstreet banks. Once it is in there as an account, you can freely send money to that specific Binance account for future deposits. Make sure the reference is in every time.

This might take a while the first time although it could take a few minutes. It depends on a number of factors like your banks processing speeds and how many people are trying to deposit and withdraw from Binance at that time. If there a big run happening, be patient it will arrive.

I am going to use an example to explain the next section so bear with me.

Scenario 1 –

I have deposited £200 and I want to buy £100 worth of ETH and £100 worth of REEF.

ETH – on Binance has an ETH/GBP pair. This means they can be traded directly. You do not need to trade into a common first to get to ETH.

In this example, you will sell your GBP for ETH.

Buying REEF is a tiny bit more difficult but once you understand this you will be able to trade anything.

There is no GBP/REEF market. Don’t panic, it’s easy, you can still buy Reef.

A quick refresher on stable coins – USDT, USDC, BUSD are all stable coins which means they are pegged cryptographically to the US dollar. These coins are, as their name suggests, stable. They will always be the same prices – $1. They are a way to quickly and easily trade out of coins that are a little volatile for your liking.

There are markets for GBP/USDT and GBP/BUSD. Next, you will need to look if any of those stable coins match the markets available for REEF.

There will always be a market for the coin you are looking to buy and a stable coin. So currently on Binance, there is a REEF/BTC or a REEF/USDT market. Meaning you can only buy REEF by selling your  BTC for it or buying it with USDT (depending on which way you look at it).

So, as you can imagine to buy REEF you would first need to sell your GBP for USDT. Once you have USDT you can then buy REEF. Easy peasy.

But how do I click all those buttons on the scary red and green chart? Again… easy.

Let’s go back to the ETH example for ease. There is a spot tutorial button on just below if you get stuck. See the yellow boxes below.

Ensure the ETH/GBP market is selected – MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT SELECT ETHUP OR ETHDOWN MARKETS – THESE ARE MARGIN TRADING MARKETS AND YOU MAY LOSE A LOT OF DOUGH.

Make sure that ‘market’ is selected and not limit. Select with the slider how much you wish to buy or equally type in the amount of in the box. Then click Buy ETH. Check your wallet and it should be in there.

You can select a limit order instead of ‘market’ if you wish to place a bid. For example, if ETH is $1600 currently but you only think it is worth $1500 (you’re wrong but that’s okay, you are still learning), you can place a bid in the limit order section and if the price drops to that price whilst the order is placed your order will hopefully be filled.

Same applies for sell orders. If you buy ETH now at $1600 and want to automatically sell if and WHEN it hits $2000 then go for it. You may miss out on $3000 though…

If you liked this article and want to learn more, we offer free one-to-one support online to help you set up and get involved in the cryptocurrency space. Hit the ‘book for free button’ at the top of this page to get started.

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