Cheapest way of deposit way, exchanges and exchange payment method to buy crypto currencies?

Question

My question basically is what is the cheapest way to buy crypto currencies?

So far I checked out coinbase and binance. There are different ways to buy crypto currencies. First decision regarding the money deposit is between SEPA cash deposit or buying directly a crypto currency with credit card.

I first thought that money deposit with SEPA and then buying crypto (btc and some minor known currencies) with my cash balance should be the cheapest way. While the transaction fees of the money deposit via SEPA are neglectable I had to learn that the spread for buying with this cash balance in my account is wider than I expected. For example, when I want to buy BTC with 1500 Euro from my cash account, on coinbase I get 0.07081804 (and I see that there is a fee of 22,35 Euro) while on binance I would get 0.071114. This is approx. equivalent to 1.477,54 Euro. So there is some spread, at least something like 20/30 Euro.

I then discovered that payment with credit card seems to be cheaper. However, in the last step it displays an additional 2% (30 Euro for a 1500 Euro amount) which is even more.

I know that there is also the possibiilty of P2P and spot trading. For P2P there are also transaction fees, which are - as far as I could see - are not cheaper. Spot trading seems to be cheaper when I buy a crypto currency with another, however not, if I want to pay with cash. Or am I wrong?

So which combination of deposit option, payment method and exchange would be the cheapest way to buy bitcoin (and other crypto currencies, which are not that much known)?

My geographic region is Europe.

Answer 1

In general, using a SEPA bank transfer to deposit funds into an exchange, and then using that balance to buy cryptocurrencies can be one of the cheapest options. However, as you have noted, the spread (the difference between the buy and sell price) on some exchanges can be higher than expected. This can increase the overall cost of buying crypto.

Another option to consider is using a decentralized exchange (DEX) or P2P trading platforms, like Uniswap. Some sites that can help with this is founded by Finnish, called Localbitcoins, a fair market rate in EUR see here, and in EU you can also use these ATMs, which are popular in Spain for example, for less than 5K transaction ATMs can also be fairly anonymous. Coming back to Localbitcoins, which may be the most convenient for you, it basically allow you to trade directly with other users and can often have lower fees than centralized exchanges. However, the selection of available cryptocurrencies may be more limited and the process may be more complicated for beginners. Almost forgot! Check the P2P marketplaces also Binance has.

Using a credit card to buy crypto can also be a cheaper option, often times the charge is lower for this payment method.

Or buying crypto with another crypto! (exchanging one crypto for another), as you can avoid the spread and transaction fees that come with cash transactions.

Answer 2

pocketbitcoin.com, relai.app and similar services charge 1-1,5% fee. Hodlhodl.com may be as cheap as 0.6% depending on amount of spread set by a peer/counter-party.