How Do I Get Bitcoin Into My Bank Account
Compare and choose the best Bitcoin wallet here → 2. Get Your First Bitcoin. You can get Bitcoin in three different ways. The most common and usually easiest is to buy Bitcoin on a marketplace. But you can also sell a product or service in exchange for Bitcoin. The third way is to earn Bitcoin through Bitcoin Mining. Related: Bitcoin boom may be a disaster for the environment. Right now, I can use my bitcoin holdings to pay for purchases at Overstock, or book a hotel on Expedia. But if I use bitcoin to buy.
Every so often at Coinmama, we get a question that makes us scratch our heads, rethink how we explain things, and go back to Bitcoin basics. Recently that question was “Can you tell me how to transfer Bitcoin to bank account?”
Experienced cryptocurrency buyers will know that the answer to that question is, “You can’t.” And while, sure, it’s tempting to leave it at that, we’re Coinmama, this is a family, and we’re not going to act like a sullen teenager! Nope, like a good Coinmama, we’ll do our best to unpack the question, figure out what’s really being asked, and how to answer the impossible.
A short history of Bitcoin
Seventh, you can get bitcoins by accepting them as a payment for goods and services or by buying them from a friend or someone near you. You can also buy them directly from an exchange with your bank account. Eighth, there is a growing number of services and merchants accepting Bitcoin all over the world. You can use Bitcoin to pay them.
Let’s back up and take a minute to look at why you can’t simply transfer Bitcoin to your bank account. After all, if you’re in possession of a foreign currency, you can go to your bank branch and deposit it into your account at the current exchange rate. So why not Bitcoin?
The answer to this goes back to the origins of cryptocurrency as a decentralized currency. In 2008, in the wake of the financial crisis and with the banks on the brink of collapse, people were becoming distrustful of the banking system and wanted more control over their own economy. It was becoming more and more apparent that there was a need for a currency that wasn’t controlled by a central bank. Out of that need, Bitcoin was born as a decentralized global currency, one that was peer-maintained and eliminated the middle man, one that provided transparency. A currency that was different from other currencies.
In other words, Bitcoin was developed to exist outside of the banking system as we know it. So while it still functions the same way as a traditional fiat currency, it isn’t one. And because of that, you can’t simply transfer the Bitcoin you hold to your bank account. Why? Because even though it exists in tandem with fiat currencies, putting Bitcoin into the centralized banking system would be antithetical to its intent.
We are living in a material world…
Despite your interest in the financial revolution, you’re still living in a world that largely depends on fiat. After all, most landlords (and coffee shops) aren’t accepting Bitcoin for payment yet. So what happens if you’re in possession of a virtual handful of Bitcoins? Where do you store them? How do you use them? And if you’re not yet in possession of them, how to you buy those Bitcoins we speak of? There are so many questions! If you’re asking how to transfer Bitcoin to your bank account, you’re probably really asking one of those questions. Fret not! Coinmama has answers!
How to store Bitcoin: You can’t transfer Bitcoin to your bank account, but you still need to store it somehow. Before you buy Bitcoin, you need to set up a wallet that’s just for cryptocurrency. It is, in many ways, your Bitcoin bank account. There are wallets that are better for everyday crypto use, and there are wallets that are better for housing large sums that won’t be touched for a while. Many people even have more than one wallet—think of it as your checking and savings accounts for cryptocurrency!
How to use Bitcoin: While the ability to use Bitcoin as an everyday currency still isn’t widespread, it’s becoming more and more available. Many online retailers as well as some brick and mortar stores make paying with Bitcoin as easy as scanning a QR code. In other words, trade in your debit card for your wallet app—no bank account needed!
Of course, neither storing nor using Bitcoin is relevant if you don’t already have Bitcoin. Luckily, while we may not be able to help you transfer Bitcoin to your bank account, if you still need to buy Bitcoin, Coinmama makes that part easy.
Some people kill time at the airport by browsing duty-free shops. I decided to shop for bitcoin.
But first, there are two things you should know about me: I tend to be almost as afraid of losing money investing as I am of flying. On some level, I figured one fear might cancel out the other.
So last Thursday, while waiting for a flight to Nashville, I pulled up a popular application called Coinbase that can be used to buy and sell bitcoin. The virtual currency had hit $10,000 for the first time a couple days earlier, before retreating somewhat. News of bitcoin's rapid rise was everywhere, including on CNN.
For 15 minutes at the airport, I refreshed the price of bitcoin over and over, watching as it gained and lost hundreds of dollars in a matter of minutes. I called out the price fluctuations breathlessly to my wife, who gently encouraged me not to be an idiot, before returning to her magazine.
She was in good company. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon recently called bitcoin a 'fraud' and suggested people who buy it are 'stupid.' Warren Buffett called bitcoin a 'mirage' in 2014 and warned investors to 'stay away.'
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And yet bitcoin has climbed more than tenfold since Buffett's warning. Earlier this month, one college friend casually told me over drinks he'd made tens of thousands of dollars investing in another cryptocurrency. He said he hoped it would be worth enough one day to buy a house.
When I saw the price of bitcoin fall to $9,500, I pressed buy, defying the wisdom of two finance titans and my wife. One hundred dollars, or 0.0101 bitcoins. (A few days later, I bought another $150.) By the time we got to our hotel, my stake had already gone up 10%. One week later, it was (briefly) up 100%. My wife's opinion of me has reportedly decreased by the same amount.
How To Deposit Bitcoin Into Your Bank Account
What is happening?
It's an investing frenzy, plain and simple.
How Do I Get Bitcoin Into My Bank Account
Bitcoin cracked $1,000 on the first day of 2017. By this week, it was up to $12,000, and then it really took off: The price topped $17,000 on some exchanges Thursday, and $18,000 on at least one.Other cryptocurrencies have seen similar spikes, though they trade for much less than bitcoin.
There's a long list of factors people may point to in an attempt to explain this. Regulators have taken a hands-off approach to bitcoin in certain markets. Dozens of new hedge funds have launched this year to trade cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. The Nasdaq and Chicago Mercantile Exchange plan to let investors trade bitcoin futures, which may attract more professional investors.
Yet a key reason the price of bitcoin keeps going up is, well, because it keeps going up. Small investors like yours truly have a fear of missing out on a chance to get rich quick. And when the value of your bitcoin doubles in a week, as it did for me, it's easy to think you're a genius. But you can get burned assuming it will keep skyrocketing.
Some investors have likened the bitcoin hype to the dot-com bubble. Others, like Dimon, have said it's even 'worse' than the Dutch tulip mania from the 1600s, considered one of the most famous bubbles ever.
As Buffettput it back in 2014, 'the idea that [bitcoin] has some huge intrinsic value is just a joke in my view.' Bitcoin is not backed by a company's earnings, or the strength of a government and rule of law. There's also no interest or dividends.
Why would anyone want or need to use bitcoin?
Bitcoin serves as a new kind of currency for the digital era. It works across international borders and doesn't need to be backed by banks or governments.
Or at least that was the promise when it was created in 2009. The surge and volatility of bitcoin this year may be great for those who invested early, but it undermines bitcoin's viability as a currency.
Right now, I can use my bitcoin holdings to pay for purchases at Overstock(OSTBP), or book a hotel on Expedia(EXPE). But if I use bitcoin to buy $25 worth of socks on Overstock today, and the price of bitcoin quadruples next week, I'll feel like those socks actually cost me $100. Then again, if bitcoin crashes, at least I'll always have the socks.
Rather than a currency, bitcoin is being treated more like an asset, with the hope of reaping great returns in the future.
So is there anything truly valuable about bitcoin?
Yes, the technology behind it.
Bitcoin is built on the blockchain, a public ledger containing all the transaction data from anyone who uses bitcoin. Transactions are added to 'blocks' or the links of code that make up the chain, and each transaction must be recorded on a block.
Even bitcoin critics like Dimon have said they support the use of blockchain technology for tracking payments.
Is there a legal and legitimate way to invest in bitcoin?
Bitcoin exchanges have a checkered history. Mt.Gox, once the largest exchange, shut down in 2014 after losing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of bitcoin after a hack.
Today, the leading exchange is offered by Coinbase, a startup that has raised more than $200 million from a number of top tier venture capital firms. Square(SQ), the payments service, is also rolling out a bitcoin product.
There are also bitcoin ATMs in scattered bodegas and convenience stores around the country, through companies like Coinsource. The ATMs let you exchange bitcoin for cash, or vice versa by scanning a QR code from the digital wallet application on your phone.
With Coinbase, you must first give the app permission to connect to your bank account. As with other stock trading applications, you pay a small fee for each transaction, buying and selling. But the transaction can take significantly longer.
My original $100 bitcoin purchase won't officially be completed on Coinbase until Friday, more than a week after the transaction. The price I bought it at remains the same, but I won't be able to sell at the earliest until Friday.
If the price plummets before then, I'm out of luck. No socks for me.
-- CNN's Selena Larson contributed to this report.