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How to buy Bitcoin with M-Pesa in 2023
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10/1077% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Firstly, the most important question to answer is: can I buy Bitcoin with M-Pesa?
No, M-Pesa doesn’t allow you to purchase cryptocurrency. However, you can use M-Pesa to fund a trading account and buy Bitcoin that way.
You just need a crypto exchange that accepts M-Pesa deposits. And we’re here to help.
How to buy Bitcoin with M-Pesa – a step-by-step guide
It takes about 15 minutes to buy BTC with M-Pesa. Have a copy of your photo ID to hand and follow this guide to get started.
Step 1. Sign up with eToro
We recommend eToro as the best platform to use to buy BTC with M-Pesa.
77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
Step 2. Create an account
You need an account before you can buy anything. Sign up with your contact details and a form of ID for verification.
Step 3. Make a deposit via M-Pesa
Enter how much you want to deposit and select M-Pesa as your payment method from the list of options.
Step 4. Use the search box to find Bitcoin
Use the search box on the home page to search for Bitcoin and the currency you want to pay in (such as GBP).
Step 5. Make your purchase
Enter how much Bitcoin you want to buy, check the details and process the transaction. Once the payment goes through, your new Bitcoin will show up in your exchange account.
Top Bitcoin platforms that accept M-Pesa
1. eToro. Best for beginners, copy-trading & demo-account
1500
No. assets
$10
Minimum deposit
Crypto
Platform type
Pros & Cons
Overview
We love eToro because it makes it simple to trade crypto at home or on the go. If you’ve never bought cryptocurrency before, then eToro makes it simple to buy 75+ of the leading coins, including the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin. Every crypto trade comes with a flat 1% fee, which makes it one of the cheapest crypto brokers on the market to boot.
As well as being a broker that offers lots of investor protection, eToro offers a very social trading experience. You can easily see what’s trending on the crypto market every day, browse the latest technical analysis about every one of those tokens, and copy other people’s trade suggestions from your desktop or the eToro app.
The fees: You will be charged a 1% fee every time you buy or sell crypto. The charge is included in the market price that’s displayed on eToro. CFD trades may be charged an overnight or weekend fee if you leave the position open.
77% of retail CFD accounts lose money.
2. Public. Best for sharing beginner trading ideas
...
No. assets
...
Minimum deposit
Crypto
Platform type
Pros & Cons
Overview
We love Public because it’s a social platform where you can share trading tips and get ideas from other people. Public offers 9,000+ financial instruments, including cryptocurrencies and stocks from around the world.
Alongside a community of other investors all sharing their ideas, Public offers real time news and information so that you can see the full picture before you invest. And the assets don’t just include your run-of-the-mill assets; you can make alternative investments in things like handbags and comic books as well.
The fees: Cryptocurrency trades are charged a 2.5% fee per transaction.
3. Bitstamp. Best for professionals & trading with APIs
1
No. assets
...
Minimum deposit
Crypto
Platform type
Pros & Cons
Overview
We love Bitstamp because it has a proud reputation for top performance over more than decade. Bitstamp offers trading on 75+ cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, while staking is available on Ethereum and Algorand.
Bitstamp was one of the first crypto platforms to set up shop in 2011 and has built up trust since. It’s designed with institutional traders in mind, so it prides itself on near 100% uptime. It stores 95% of assets in cold storage and offers a sliding scale of fees so that high volume traders get the best rates.
The fees: There are no trading fees if you trade less than $1,000 in a rolling 30-day period. Above that, fees start from 0.4% and decline the higher your trading volume is. There is a 15% charge for staking. Withdrawals are charged a flat €3 fee.
Quick answers to key questions
Can I buy crypto with M-Pesa?
Yes, you aren’t limited to buying Bitcoin alone. The only limit is which coins are available on the exchange you’ve chosen. Most crypto exchanges that support M-Pesa as a payment method offer 50+ cryptocurrencies and many offer hundreds more.
Is M-Pesa safe?
Yes, it’s completely safe to use M-Pesa. The only risk to look out for is to make sure you sign up to a regulated M-Pesa Bitcoin broker when buying Bitcoin. Using an unregulated broker platform can put your money at risk.
How much does it cost to buy Bitcoin via M-Pesa?
The average fee is about 1-2% of the total transaction amount. The exact fee is different, depending on which broker you use, but anything more than 2% is expensive.
Can I store Bitcoin on M-Pesa?
No, M-Pesa is a mobile payments service that isn’t compatible with storing Bitcoin. There are two main alternative ways to keep your crypto safe: store it on the exchange you used to buy it, or transfer it to a dedicated Bitcoin wallet for safekeeping.
Why don’t more crypto platforms support M-Pesa?
Some crypto platforms only accept payments made via a debit card or bank account. As M-Pesa is a mobile payments system, it’s often not available as a result.
However, that is starting to change. Leading crypto platforms like Binance already have added M-Pesa to its available payment options.
Should I buy Bitcoin using M-Pesa?
Yes, it’s a convenient way to buy Bitcoin from your mobile phone. M-Pesa makes it possible for people to buy crypto, even if they don’t have a bank account, while it’s simply a lot faster to use M-Pesa than to use your bank card to make a deposit.
However, M-Pesa is still relatively unknown outside of Africa. It can be hit and miss whether crypto platforms based in the rest of the world accept M-Pesa payments.
Here’s a summary of the pros and cons of using M-Pesa to buy Bitcoin.
Pros
- Deposit money and buy Bitcoin straight from your phone
- You don’t need to have a bank account to use M-Pesa
- Growing in popularity across Africa
Cons
Is there an alternative to buying cryptocurrency with M-Pesa?
There are plenty of alternatives, whether you want to pay through an online payment provider or go down a more traditional route. Here are some of the different ways to pay for your Bitcoin purchase.
- Buy Bitcoin with Afterpay
- Buy Bitcoin with American Express
- Buy Bitcoin with Apple Pay
- Buy Bitcoin with bank transfer
- Buy Bitcoin with cash
- Buy Bitcoin with Cash App
- Buy Bitcoin with Discover Card
- Buy Bitcoin with gift card
- Buy Bitcoin with Google Pay
- Buy Bitcoin with Moneygram
- Buy Bitcoin with Neteller
- Buy Bitcoin with Netspend
- Buy Bitcoin with Payoneer
- Buy Bitcoin with PayPal
- Buy Bitcoin with Paysafecard
- Buy Bitcoin with Paytm Wallet
- Buy Bitcoin with Revolut
- Buy Bitcoin with Skrill
- Buy Bitcoin with Swish
- Buy Bitcoin with Venmo
- Buy Bitcoin with Western Union
- Buy Bitcoin with Zelle
- Buy Bitcoin with Zippay
FAQs
More ways to buy cryptocurrency
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