How To Buy Bitcoin With Cash In 2020 [Step By Step]

BySudhir Khatwani Updates On Bitcoin

Bitcoin is topping the charts, and the frenzy is about to begin.

You must not be left behind, and you should purchase atleast something to get off zero this time.

The fact you are reading this tells me you have thought enough about it, have done your homework and are now ready for action.

But it also seems like you are a fan of cash and want to buy BTC with fiat currencies like USD, EUR, or GBP. If you are doing this for the first time, it can be a bit confusing.

That’s why to help you out TheMoneyMongers-which is a complete one-stop solution for all your crypto queries is sharing this step by step guide to get you off zero and buy some bitcoins with cash in your country.

We will use LocalBitcoins service in this guide simply because it the best in the business for buying/selling Bitcoin for cash in more than 240 countries and 7500+ cities around the world.

So let’s get started:

Where To Buy Bitcoins With Cash or Cash Deposit In USA & UK

Step #1. Go to LocalBitcoins.com, click on the ‘sign-up for free’ button, and register using your email ID.

Step #2. Once the sign-up is done, you will receive a mail from LocalBitcoins asking you to confirm your registration. Confirm your registration in your inbox.

Step #3. Login to LocalBitcoins using your email ID and password to see this screen:

Step #4. Under the ‘Quick Buy’ section, select the fiat currency that you want to use as cash to exchange it for BTC and select your respective country. These fields are usually autoselected as per your geo-location. Then select the option of ‘Cash Deposit’ in the third drop down and click on ‘Search’ button to start seeing this list of results showing you traders who want to sell their BTC for cash.

Note: Though the payment is in cash, some of the traders might want to meet in person or would wish to you to deposit cash in their bank account. You can choose a trader as per your requirement and their advertised payment method.

Step #5. One of the suggestions while choosing a trader who is dealing with it is to see their number of successful trades and feedback scores.

For example, if you see a trader named in this way dlr355 (100+; 94%), it means this trader has completed 100+ successful trades and has a success rate of 94% which is the feedback score. Usually, we recommend you to go for 10+ trades and a feedback score of above 90%.

You can click on the trader’s name to see all these details:

Step #6. Once you have narrowed down the trader, you want to deal with click on the ‘Buy’ button as shown below.

Step #7. Once you click on ‘Buy’ you will see this screen where you can send a request to the seller the amount of BTC you wish to buy from him/her. So select the USD value, and it will show you the amount of BTC you will get as per the current rate. You can also send an optional message or note to the other party. Also, don’t forget to read the terms of the trade, as shown in the top right corner.

Step #8. Click on ‘Send Trade Request,’ and you will see this screen showing you the steps. First to pay the seller in this case to (dlr355) who will meet you at the bank where you will deposit the cash in his account. Once that is done, the second step is to confirm your deposit by clicking on ‘I have paid’ button.

Alternatively, if you are meeting someone in person to hand over the cash to them, you need to do the same by clicking on ‘I have paid.’

Also, if you notice in the above image in the second step, there is a timer being run. This timer shows that for this ‘X’ minutes $1000 worth of bitcoins of user dlr355 are under escrow with LocalBitcoins.

This escrow feature makes sure that the seller is not cheating you and gives a fair chance to resolve any issues if encountered during the trade. So you need not worry that the seller will run away with your money !!

Step #9. Now as soon as you have deposited or hand over the cash to the seller, the seller now will go to his LocalBitcoins account and release the coins after which they will start reflecting in your LocalBitcoins account.

That’s it; this is how you buy BTC with cash in almost any country and with any fiat currency supported by LocalBitcoins.

Note: Whenever you are depositing money in the bank account of the seller or handing it over the cash, please make sure you have the receipt. This receipt will be useful if the seller denies releasing your bitcoins. In such a scenario, if you can prove and produce the receipt of the payment done to the seller, LocalBitcoins will invariably release the escrowed coins of the seller to your account.

Buy Bitcoin (BTC) For Cash or Fiat Currencies Like USD or GBP On LocalBitcoins?

First things first:

Yes, it is easy and safe to buy Bitcoin using cash from LocalBitcoins like service. It has been two years since I am using LocalBitcoins and haven’t yet found a better way to trade Bitcoin in cash.

But LocalBitcoins is certainly not safe for keeping your bitcoins there once you have bought it. I can say this confidently because my LocalBitcoin account has been compromised twice in the last two years. Luckily there were no bitcoins in there at that time, and I reported no losses.

That’s why you should purchase Ledger Nano X (recommended) or Ledger Nano S soon after you have bought BTC. This single step will make your life so much easier and keep your BItcoin safe till eternity, of course, unless you make a mistake.

On the other hand:

What more can be safer than meeting someone in person in a coffee shop or bank to directly trade in Bitcoin, but this is not the only reason why people buy/sell BTC for cash using LocalBitcoins.

There are several reasons why people like to buy BTC with cash, and the most common one is the lack of decent services in their country.

Being a resident of the USA or UK or India you might not realize the kind of problems which the third world country people face. People from Nigeria, Syria, Zimbabwe, Venezuela, etc. find it difficult to buy Bitcoin in their country because they don’t have access to banking services, or either their banks have stopped supporting fiat transactions for crypto.

Whatever may be the case, you should try this method once if you haven’t tried it yet. This method is also useful in case you want to hide your actual identity and trade under an alias name.

But for accessing full features of LocalBitcoins, I urge you to use the correct name and if possible, get your identity verification done by submitting relevant KYC documents. This will increase your transaction limits and give you a seamless experience while buying BTC using cash.

There are several other payment options that LocalBitcoins support, and you can find traders who are accepting various payment methods.

But well that’s a topic in itself for the next time and so until next time keep learning about the Bitcoin revolution with TheMoneyMongers.

If you have any questions while using LocalBitcoins to buy BTC using cash or any other method, feel free to drop your comments below and we will make it easy for you from there !!

Sudhir Khatwani
Latest posts by Sudhir Khatwani (see all)

Hey there! I am Sudhir Khatwani, an IT bank professional turned into a cryptocurrency and blockchain proponent from Pune, India. Cryptocurrencies and blockchain will change human life in inconceivable ways and I am here to empower people to understand this new ecosystem so that they can use it for their benefit. You will find me reading about cryptonomics and eating if I am not doing anything else.

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