Need a Better Way To Buy BTC With a Credit Card! My Failed Buy the Other Night...
By Dave @ Dave's Crypto
December 22, 2017
BTC took a big dip yesterday, some 20%. I thought I might visit one of my local Bitcoin ATMs/BTMs, but seems they've jacked up the fees a whole lot recently!
It used to be you'd be paying a premium of around 5 to 8% to get your BTC from one of these machines, but since the last BTC price rise, I've seen the rate go way up - some as high as 27%! The rates on these machines also seem to fluctuate almost by the minute, so by the time you've found a good rate for one of the machines (by checking it online) the price has gone up before you get out the door! It's really not worth it anymore to me to use them, so I have been looking into other options.
There are online exchanges, sure, but they are usually not instant to use. The ones that are charge big fees, so not much different than the ATMs. That leaves the exchanges that need to verify ID and go through all the banking stuff. It's creepy/invasive, a hassle, and takes time, but can save you big on fees, so these can be good for the long run. But when you don't have an account that's verified, and want to grab some BTC quickly, these sites won't work.
The solution was to use my credit card to buy some BTC online, so or I thought…
I did a search to see what sites I could use a credit card on to buy BTC and found very few, and even fewer that seemed trustworthy. Of the sites where you can buy BTC right away with your card, the fees are quite high. So, not much of an advantage over the highly-priced BTMs.
That sent me back to square one, and I didn't end up getting any BTC when I wanted to. I'll have to wait days to get my account verified on my exchange of choice (probably longer than usual, as it’s the holidays). And I'm also going to need a new bank account to fund it with, as the exchange only supports certain funding options from certain banks if you want the best rates (and no credit card funding!).
Can't someone come up with a better way? Why can't we buy BTC and other cryptos online with our cards without getting ripped off? Charge a reasonable fee and people will flock to you! They'd do very well, I think! I'm sure there are so many people who'd like to go online and buy some crypto with their credit cards or PayPal instantly - and not get dinged by high fees. (And they'd also buy a lot more crypto at ATMs if the rate was reasonable, so lower the crazy fees already!)
I know there are certain concerns and reasons why using credit cards (and PayPal) to buy crypto can be problematic, like the lack of reversals and danger of fraud, but can't someone build a better, safer system? We're got cryptos moving all over the world now, and it's still not easy to buy them when you want to with well established methods, like credit cards and PayPal. Something needs to change. Those who create the change are going to reap great rewards if they do it right.
Someone do it right, soon?
Santa, are you listening? It's Christmas time!
Thanks,
Dave
Dave's Crypto
http://davescrypto.com
"To the moon!"
It’s basic economics and smart business I think. They charge ridiculously high fees because people will pay it out of FOMO. The average person that just heard of bitcoin last week wants in no matter the amount. They also probably haven’t found the cheapest or most efficient way of obtaining btc.
You make a valid point about if someone were to lower the fees they could grab a significant piece of the pie but there again is that fine line of how much can I charge and how much will they pay.
Yes, it's always about the maximum price that will be paid, isn't it? And FOMO is one of the drivers, as is the convenience factor. But with the fees getting very high for that convenience, I find I'll look elsewhere...feel like that fine line's been crossed for me. Still, even paying a high fee for some cryptos could be worth it in the long run, anyway, so it depends on how one wants to buy it, and how much extra you're willing to pay. I think maybe some of the providers are driven to high fees due to the volatility/risk, but it seems excessive - perhaps they'd get more business overall with more reasonable rates.