Introduction
Welcome to Australia! It’s a beautiful place, so make sure to bring your sunscreen. There is a very thriving cryptocurrency community here in Australia. More than $1 billion worth of crypto is traded weekly on local exchanges. And while there are many great ways to buy digital currencies in Australia—like using an app or going through a broker— Here are some tips for getting started with buying crypto in Australia:
Buying your first bitcoin.
Buying your first bitcoin is simple, but there’s a lot of information to digest. It’s not just about buying the currency; you must choose the best place to buy it. Start by learning about what an exchange is and how they work:
- An exchange is a website that connects buyers and sellers of different cryptocurrencies.
- Exchanges can be based in any country, so you must make sure you’re buying crypto in Australia. For example, if you lived in Australia when writing this guide, you would want to use an Australian-based exchange because they are more likely to accept AUD payments (Australian Dollars).
Keep your cryptocurrency safe.
Safekeeping your cryptocurrency means keeping it safe from hackers, accidents, and mistakes. The following tips will help you do that:
- Use a hardware wallet. These physical devices store your private keys (the code needed to access and spend your cryptocurrency) offline. They’re much harder for hackers to breach than web-based wallets or software wallets, which keep private keys on hard drives connected to the internet. Some popular hardware wallets include Trezor, KeepKey, and Ledger Nano S.
- Use a password manager. Many people use this software to organise their passwords into individual logins with unique passwords for each account, so they don’t have to remember everyone. If someone gets hold of one password, they won’t have access to all of them at once! Password managers like KeePassXC make this easy by allowing users to generate random numbers (called “passphrases”) rather than long text strings when creating new passwords. The user enters only one piece of information—like an email address or username—and then KeePassXC generates the rest automatically using these passphrases instead of actual words or phrases like “password123456789!”
Where to buy Bitcoin in Australia?
There are four main ways to buy crypto in Australia:
- From an exchange
- From a broker
- From a seller
- From a friend
How does a crypto exchange work?
A cryptocurrency exchange is a place where you can buy and sell digital currency. They work by matching buyers with sellers, so if you want to sell AUD 100 worth of Bitcoin, you’ll have to find someone who wants to buy it from you.
Exchanges are also great for beginners to buy crypto since they’re usually more user-friendly than peer-to-peer exchanges like LocalBitcoins or OTC desks (see below). The main downside is that many exchanges require users to verify their identity before purchasing cryptocurrency. This process can take up to 10 days, so if you’ve got your eye on something special—like an upcoming ICO—you should try and do it sooner rather than later.
Conclusion
If you’re interested in investing in cryptocurrency, the first thing to do is create a trading account with an exchange. Once you have created your account, it’s time to trade for some digital coins.
Crypto wallets are where cryptocurrency is stored when it’s not being used on an exchange or spent online (as part of a transaction). There are two main types: web wallets and hardware wallets – both offer different levels of security and accessibility, so it depends on what kind of person you are when trying to decide which one suits you best.