Years ago, buying some Bitcoin required some technical knowledge and background. Today, you can just quickly sign up to a popular crypto trading platform and start for as low as 50 CAD.
For example, Coinberry allows Canadians to start with 50 CAD to buy some crypto. Signing up is easy because it’s like opening a new email account or signing up to a new social network (just email and password). Then, you can easily fund your account through Interac e-Transfer (instantaneous fund transfer).
Because of the ease, speed and convenience, more than 220,000 Canadians have already signed up to the platform. As a result, they can now quickly buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Ethereum, Dogecoin, Cosmos, Gala, Loopring, Tron and THORChain.
How to buy Bitcoin in Canada
Today you can still acquire some technical knowledge about Bitcoin especially if you’ll set up your own hardware wallet (a small plug-in device you can use to trade and manage cryptocurrencies). But if you want to save some time and quickly dive into Bitcoin, you can do the following instead:
- Sign up to a crypto trading platform
- Verify your account and identity
- Fund your account through Interac e-Transfer
- Buy some Bitcoin (start with as little as 50 CAD)
Choosing a crypto platform
Before you buy Bitcoin with a platform based in Canada, you have to think about the following:
- Trust and security
- Compliance
- History and number of users
- Number of supported assets
Trust and security are essential because the platform will hold and handle your money. Thankfully, big and popular platforms prioritize trust and security because they have a lot to lose. They also have more than enough cash reserves to invest in improving the platform’s security features and monitoring for any breach.
Compliance to government regulations is also essential. That’s because regulations are often designed to protect citizens from harm. In crypto trading, relevant regulations help protect investors from fraud. These also help strengthen data privacy. For example, Coinberry is PIPEDA-compliant. PIPEDA stands for Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. Compliance with this law means your personal information is protected with appropriate safeguards and only used for the purposes for which it was collected.
It also helps to read about the platform’s history. If you see past security and fraud incidents that involve the platform, it might make you stay away from it. Also important is the platform’s number of users. Aside from popularity, a high number of users also tells you about the capability of a crypto trading platform (e.g. it heavily invests in improving the platform’s security and overall features). A high number of users might also give you some peace of mind about your funds (i.e. “safety in numbers” or “belonging in a herd”).
It’s also good to choose a platform that supports several cryptocurrencies and tokens because:
- You can quickly buy a cryptocurrency that you believe is going to become more popular soon
- You can easily buy and sell among different cryptocurrencies depending on your judgment and market conditions
- You can quickly sell Bitcoin and switch to another cryptocurrency
Although you can start with Bitcoin because it’s still the number one cryptocurrency and with the largest market capitalization, you might prefer to invest in other cryptos with also some room for growth.
When to buy Bitcoin and when to sell
Aside from choosing which crypto to buy, you also have to think about when to buy and sell. In other words, you have to think about the timing. This is to help you minimize your losses and maximize your gains.
People often finally decide to buy Bitcoin when:
- Price is low compared to past few weeks
- Price is still far from its all-time high
- News about a celebrity, government or corporation mentioning or adopting Bitcoin
- Investors want to diversify their investment portfolio
- Beginners just want to explore first and see how it goes
On the other hand, people choose to sell their Bitcoin when:
- The entire crypto market crashes
- Stock prices fall (they’re often tied in with cryptos’ prices because they tell something about the general economy)
- Major investors dump their investments (this results in sudden increase of Bitcoin supply which drives down its value)
- Rising competition (thousands of cryptocurrencies and tokens are now available, a Bitcoin-killer or something that’s less energy intensive than Bitcoin suddenly appears again)
- New law on restricting the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
Those are just some of the reasons people buy or sell Bitcoin. Both beginners and experienced investors take their time before putting in their money. And when they finally start, they start with a small amount first and see how it goes. This is to minimize their losses and explore Bitcoin first before committing huge amounts of money into crypto.
How much Bitcoin should a beginner buy?
A beginner can invest as little as 50 CAD (Coinberry allows this). Anytime people can increase their funds and investment. As weeks and months pass, they can increase their funds and buy more Bitcoin (or invest in other popular cryptocurrencies).
It’s always good to start small and build up from there if initial results are good. Keep in mind though that good results are temporary because Bitcoin’s price can drop anytime (and fall further).
After a few weeks or months, some commit up to 5% of their total investment capital. Most of their investments might still be in the form of stocks and real estate. Others commit a higher percentage to Bitcoin and other cryptos. They’re willing to take a risk because of their strong belief in Bitcoin’s rising value.
If you’re a beginner, start with 50 CAD first to see how the crypto platform works and witness firsthand how Bitcoin’s price wildly fluctuates. Later on, you can quit anytime or invest more in Bitcoin. This is a quick and practical way to see what Bitcoin is all about and if it’s worth investing in your time and money. Later on you can also learn more about cryptocurrencies and blockchains or explore other related fields (web3, NFT, DeFi, play-to-earn games).
