6 Ways to Buy Bitcoin with a Debit Card (2018 updated)
Last updated: 9/3/18
Buying Bitcoin with a debit card has become relatively easy in the past few years with the introduction of anti fraud systems for Bitcoin exchanges. However, these systems are quite expensive to operate and therefore exchanges will usually charge a premium for buy Bitcoin with a debit card.
Post summary
- Visit Coinmama
- Decide on a deposit amount
- Complete the id verification process
- Enter your Bitcoin address
- Complete the payment with your debit card
If you’re looking for additional options here’s a complete list of exchanges that allow Bitcoin purchases with a debit card.
Buy Bitcoins with a debit card through Coinmama
Pros: Good support, fast turnaround, respectable company
Cons: Limited countries in the US,
Overall rating: 4.5 stars
Coinmama supplies an easy way to buy Bitcoins with a debit card while charging a premium. The company has been around since 2013 and supplies a wide variety of cryptocurrencies aside from Bitcoin. Recently the company has improved its customer support substantially and has one of the fastest turnarounds for buying Bitcoins in the industry.
Visit Coinmama Read our review Step by step guideBuy Bitcoins with a debit card through Cex.io
Pros: Reputable company, high buying limits
Cons: Limited countries available, relatively high exchange rate
Overall rating: 4.5 Stars
Cex.io has both trading services and brokerage services (i.e. buying Bitcoins for you). If you’re just starting out you may want to use the brokerage service and pay a higher fee. However, if you know your way around exchanges you can always just deposit money through your debit card and then buy Bitcoin on the company’s trading platform with a much lower fee.
Visit Cex.io Read our review Step by step guideBuy Bitcoin with a Debit Card at Bitpanda
Pros: Low fees, intuitive interface, multiple payment options
Cons: Limited to the Eurozone
Overall rating: 4.5 Stars
Bitpanda was founded in October 2014 and it allows residents of the EU to buy Bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies through a variety of payment methods (Neteller, Skrill, SEPA etc.).
The daily limit for verified accounts is €2,500 (€75,000 monthly) for credit card purchases. For other payment options, the daily limit is €10,000 (€300,000 monthly).
Visit Bitpanda Read our review Step by step guideBuy Bitcoins with a debit card at Coinbase
Feb 2018 Update: Coinbase has cut off new credit card purchases for US customers. However, debit cards are still an option on Coinbase.
Pros: User friendly interface, Relatively low fees, Established reputation
Cons: Not available worldwide, Support takes time to respond
Overall rating: 4 Stars
Coinbase is a well known Bitcoin broker that gives you the option the option to buy Bitcoins with a debit card on their exchange.
Buying Bitcoins with your debit card is free of charge (credit cards have a 3.75% fee applied). Keep in mind you will need to upload a government issued id in order to prove your identity before being able to buy the coins.
Visit Coinbase Read our review Step by step guideBuy Bitcoin with a Debit Card at Bitstamp
Pros: multiple payment options, one of the oldest exchanges around
Cons: Not very user friendly, verification process can take a while, limited to US and EU
Overall rating: 4 Stars
Bitstamp is a fully licensed Bitcoin exchange that has been around since 2011. The website provides mainly trading services however they do have a brokerage option to sell you Bitcoins directly when buying with your debit card.
To finish your order you have to use 3D Secure. Some banks may consider your credit card deposit as a cash advance. If that is the case, your bank or debit card provider may charge extra fees.
Visit Bitstamp Read our review Step by step guideBuy Bitcoins with a debit card through Virwox
Pros: No verification needed, available worldwide
Cons: High fees, poor support, low buying limits
Overall rating: 3 Stars
Virwox is the oldest exchange allowing you to buy Bitcoins via a debit card. The exchange doesn’t sell you Bitcoins directly – you will need to fund your account with your debit card, buy Second Life Lindens (SLL) and then exchange the SLL to Bitcoins. Due to the multiple exchanges occurring on the way fees can add up.
This exchange should be used as a last resort only. On the bright side if you don’t want to go through a verification process this is the exchange for you. The process on this exchange is probably the most expensive one and should be avoided if possible.
Visit Virwox Read our review Step by step guideBuying Bitcoin with debit card exchange guides
The following section contains step by step guides for specific exchanges listed on this page.
Quick guide – Buying Bitcoins with a debit card through Coinmama
- Visit Coinmama and choose the number of Bitcoins you want to buy
- Sign up on the site and verify your identity
- Get a Bitcoin wallet and an address (Coinmama does not hold Bitcoin for you)
- Supply Coinmama with your Bitcoin address
- Complete debit card information
- Coins will be sent instantly
Quick guide – Buying Bitcoins with a debit card through CEX.io
- Visit CEX.io and sign up
- Go to “Finance” -> “Deposit” (make sure to select your own currency)
- Use your debit card to fund your account
- If you want to use the easy but expensive brokerage service go to “buy/sell”
- If you want to use the complex but cheap service go to “trade” and choose BTC/USD (or any other currency)
Quick guide – Buying Bitcoins with a debit card through Coinbase
- Create a Coinbase account
- Go to “settings” – “payment methods” and click “add payment method”
- Add you debit card
- Confirm your debit card
- Go to “buy/sell” and select the amount of Bitcoins you want to buy
Quick guide – Buying Bitcoins with a debit card through Bitpanda
- Visit Bitpanda and sign up
- Choose a cryptocurrency you want to buy (e.g. Bitcoin)
- Choose the “Visa/Mastercard” payment provider
- Enter the amount your wish to buy
- Click on “Next step”
- Confirm your order
Quick guide – Buying Bitcoins with a debit card through Bitstamp
- Visit Bitstamp and sign up
- Got “Deposit”
- Choose “Credit Card” as your payment option (this will work with a debit card as well)
- Deposit funds from your debit card
- After deposit is cleared go to on “Buy/Sell” and choose “Buy BTC”
- Enter the amount you want to buy and click on “Buy BTC”
Quick guide – Buying Bitcoins with a debit card through Virwox
- Visit Virwox and sign up
- Go to “deposit” and choose “credit/debit card”
- Fund your account with your debit card
- Go to USD/SLL (or EUR/SLL depending on your currency) and exchange USD for SLL
- Go to SLL/BTC and exchange SLL for BTC (new users can be delayed up to 48 hours)
- Go to “withdraw” and send your newly acquired Bitcoins to your Bitcoin wallet
Conclusion – Convenience at a price
Using your debit card to buy Bitcoins may be convenient but it’s also more expensive. If you’re buying a relatively large amount of coins and you have the option I suggest always using a bank transfer. However if the amount is that big sometimes paying the extra 3%-5% is worth the time saved. If you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comment section below.
I tried setting up my account on Coinbase, but was a bit surprised at the labyrinthian series of steps I had to repeat, as in multiple times sending in various photos of my drivers license, multiple different selfi photos, and so on. This was attempted on 2 different computers, in both cases with Chrome. I was finally able to link a debt card to my account, but then discovered I have a “0 dollar” limit (???). So now, I’ve been told to wait several business days for their tech support to resolve this . . .
Coinmama is crap. Don’t recommend using them at all. Support gave me zero help and basically told me to go somewhere else? Okay.
coinmama asks for verification no matter the amount you buy
Cex does not support New York. I just tried and it didn’t go through.
If you use a dedit card for trading with Coinbase the limit is only Eur 500 for the first 40 days. Not $10,000!
The Platform is currently working in demo-mode, as explained in this post. Sorry for inconvenience! If you register an account, we’ll update you as soon as we start orders processing, we plan to do it in March.
We’re sure you won’t regret the waiting
I have a coinbase account, but every time I try the verifification process it never completes, just runs and runs. I use a Kenyan Passport but I am in the US. Is that the problem? Also, as a side question, what page of the passport is front and which is back?
I thought this was a reputable site…. are you really promoting avatrader??
you should do research before promoting a company.
Bitcoin is still doing well, i would not put all my cash in to it, but buying just $100 would be what i call low riskand could get you the return of enough for a holiday. One good way to play it, buy $100 then in few weeks if it doubles – take out your original $100 leaving your $100 profit and leave it as a free run. I use Coinbase which allows you to buy small amounts like $100 and gives you an extra 10% with this link. **affiliate link removed** That means you take out your original stake… Read more »
After creating a coinbase account, I have to make at least $800 worth of deposits in no more than $100/week increments before I can get the limit lifted from my account. This is very frustrating and deposits via bank account take a few days as well as bank wires. Seems no one really lets you buy what you’re looking for without having to go through a long process or pay extreme fees.