How to sell Bitcoin — quick, safe and reliable methods

Digital assets are becoming increasingly popular, but conventional (fiat) money is still used more as payment for services. In this regard, every owner of cryptocurrencies must constantly exchange them. But sometimes, selling coins is more complex than buying them. Therefore, market participants will find it helpful to know how and where to exchange their savings profitably, quickly, and safely. That’s what our article today is about.

Exchanges

When selling any assets, one of the first things that come to mind is exchanges. To use them, it is enough to register and give personal information. The advantage is that such platforms make transactions faster than simple exchanges. The principle of action is as follows:

• the holder of coins places an order, which specifies the amount, the desired currency, and the rate of sale;
• the buyer chooses what he thinks is the correct bid and agrees to the transaction;
• the platform transfers the digital asset to the buyer and the money to the seller.

The main disadvantage of this approach is that funds cannot be withdrawn directly from the exchange account. You will have to use the bank’s services, which will take some time. Most of all, you will have to wait if the exchange has liquidity problems, which, especially now due to the crypto winter, happens quite often. When choosing a platform, check trade conditions and read reviews about the exchange to avoid this. Some of them have a built-in mechanism for exchanging cryptocurrencies into fiat.

However, some platforms work only with cryptocurrencies. They are suitable for speculative trading and digital asset exchange.

This raises the question, what is the benefit to exchanges if it is essentially not involved in the transaction? The answer is simple; such platforms earn through transaction fees, which are charged to sellers and buyers. It depends on the number of funds transferred. This is also essential information that the user should know before starting to work with the service. Read more about exchanges with favorable conditions at the link.

It is also worth mentioning that in the exchange, user funds are not protected by blockchain technology but by platforms’ tools. For example, businesses are very vulnerable to the so-called 51% attack. The possibility of hacking such an account is higher than when using private wallets. Therefore, experts in the field do not advise using crypto exchanges for the long-term storage of their assets.

 

Direct trades (online P2P selling and face-to-face transactions)

If you want, you can use exchangers. These platforms act as an intermediary in purchasing and selling digital assets, but unlike the exchange, funds are credited immediately after the transaction is completed. Traditional exchangers work in the following way:

• the seller and the buyer find each other on the exchanger’s website;
• both parties transfer funds (fiat and cryptocurrency) to the exchanger’s so-called escrow accounts;
• the service employees wait for the obligations of both parties to be fulfilled;
• if everything is done correctly and without fraud, the exchanger sends money from the escrow account to the seller and the buyer of the coins. 

Online P2P selling

There are also decentralized or peer-to-peer (p2p) exchangers. With their help, you can exchange money without intermediaries and identification procedures. Such sites have a system of protection against fraudsters, so your funds will be safe. Here is what some of them can offer users:

• a platform called LocalBitcoins allows the seller and the buyer to meet in person for a transaction if they wish.
• the developers of Coinffeine have rolled out a protocol in which the seller and buyer must make a mandatory deposit into escrow accounts. We wrote about this above.
• Bisq allows the seller and buyer to choose an arbitrator who only becomes a party to the transaction when the dispute begins. In this system, the seller of the coins transfers funds to a particular address. But the buyer can only receive the money if the seller or arbitrator confirms the transaction. If the transaction is not completed in a few days, the parties can go to the arbitrator and get the funds back. The arbitrator, in turn, will ask for confirmation of the money transfer and decide whom to trust.

To sell online, you must:

• resort to using a reliable service;
• understand how it works;
• transfer coins to the specified address;
• get money to the card or any other way.

This method requires identity verification, but the user can get a favorable exchange rate, plenty of limits, and no extra fees. To exchange funds, you need to:

• enter the address;
• specify the transfer amount;
• fill in the details.

After receiving the service, you must confirm that you have paid all expenses. After that, the money will be sent to the destination. 

Face-to-face transaction

Oddly enough, the easiest way to get cash for digital coins is to trade with an interested buyer directly. However, there are problems here because no one guarantees the honesty of the transaction. In many countries, digital assets are not a means of payment at the state level, so it is pointless to think about a judicial settlement of disputes. The most logical and safe way in such a situation is to sell coins for cash without a commission to someone you know or relatives. If you don’t have that option, to protect yourself when making a transaction directly, follow these rules:

• set the price in advance, taking into consideration account exchange rules;
• take a friend to the deal and set up a meeting in a crowded place.

To find buyers, there are special forums and publishers. Often such groups organize events where participants sell and buy coins for cash. 

Bitcoin ATMs

The fastest way to cash out your coins is to use a Bitcoin ATM or Bitcoin Teller Machine (BTM). There are more and more of them. The first devices appeared in 2013, and their number has only grown.

The speed of the transaction depends on the ATM, but some machines allow you to transfer your funds in 15 seconds. However, it is worth noting that it is more difficult to find an ATM than to use online services. In addition, such devices may not operate 24 hours a day, which complicates the possibility of making the operation at any time convenient for you. Some devices even allow the withdrawal of money but let’s talk about that in more detail. 

Withdrawing funds

The easiest way to withdraw funds is after selling cryptocurrency for fiat money to a bank account with an ordinary transfer. You can also use the so-called Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) system to transfer euros. Its purpose is to increase the efficiency of international transfers between members of the European Union, so many experts recommend it for transactions.

The disadvantage of this method is that it can take a long time, which depends on the country and transfer amount, plus the processing of the transaction itself may take several days. Nor will you like the fact that there is an additional fee for using such a system.

There are financial institutions that charge a fixed amount for SEPA transfers, but the sooner you wish to receive funds, the more you will have to pay. And there are banks, which don’t tolerate cryptocurrency organizations at all, so they don’t make any allowances for them when transferring from account to account and charge the maximum.

Therefore, if you want to open a bank account to withdraw money from selling digital assets, first choose a financial institution that will be as loyal to the crypto industry as possible. 

How to withdraw your savings: methods

Cash

In this way, the only thing you need is a crypto wallet. One of the ways to withdraw money immediately is through a Bitcoin ATM. We wrote above that you can use it to sell digital assets and send them to the needed address; some of them have a withdrawal function.

This method allows you to get money instantly. The main difference from a regular ATM is that you must enter your bitcoin address, your card, and its PIN code. Just be sure that nobody is following you to take your funds by brute force.

PayPal & other services

One of the options to cash cryptocurrency is to use special services like PayPal. This method is time-consuming and confusing, but it is worth considering anyway. 

Selling and withdrawing coins using Coinbase

This option has been available since 2016, and consumers can withdraw their account’s balance in USD to a payment system account. Then, to sell your assets, do the following:

• transfer BTC to your Coinbase account;
• under Buy/Sell BTC, select Sell BTC;
• enter the number of coins you wish to transfer into USD;
• select PayPal as your payment method;
• click the Sell BTC button.

Selling and withdrawing coins via BitPanda

While you can’t buy coins from PayPal with this service, you can cash out your savings to top up your payment system account. To do this: 

• create an account on BitPanda;
• click Sell, and select PayPal as your payout method;
• after you transfer your BTC to BitPanda, you will receive payment via PayPal.

Bank account

Of course, it’s easier to withdraw all funds by transferring them to your bank account. To do this, you just link your bank details to your account at the exchange and use the Withdraw function. This option is usually available in your wallet or on your account page. Here’s what you need to do:

• on the account page, select Withdraw and indicate that you want to transfer funds to a bank account;
• confirm the transaction (at this point, you will be shown information about commission).

That’s all.

Conclusion

The necessity to cash out cryptocurrency exists for most users. But at this stage, it is possible to make many mistakes, leading to partial or even total loss of money. For example, you can lose part of your funds due to hidden commissions or become a victim of fraudsters. To avoid this, use only proven methods and services.