How to sell Bitcoin

Buying Bitcoin is far more straightforward than cashing in on them and unless you are a true evangelist, who believes Bitcoin will replace fiat currencies in the near future, knowing when to cash in on your profits is very important. Here at Bitcoin Casino Kings, our forte is not to give out investment advice but we can guide you on exactly how to sell your Bitcoin by breaking down the fundamentals. 

There are several different ways to go about selling Bitcoins online. You can either carry out peer-peer transactions, via an exchange or a direct trade. Bitcoin ATMs are also conveniently accessible nowadays or you can go the old-school route and sell them in person. 

As they say, there are many ways to kill a cat but all these solutions have pros and cons and you need to weigh up these options to decide which one will work best for you. Let’s hammer away. 

Exchanges

Exchanges are one of the more conventional solutions when trading Bitcoin and although it might have many drawbacks, it is convenient. Exchanges act as a middle man which means that it holds the funds of the seller as well as the buyer. 

First, you will need to register and set up an account at a reputable exchange. A verification process is an absolute given at all trustworthy exchanges and will require a connected bank account as well as a complete identity verification. From here on the steps are basic. You will need to decide on a price and then set an ‘offer to sell’ in a specified cryptocurrency. Once someone matches your offer, the exchange will automatically complete the transaction and Bob’s your uncle.  

After the sale, you will need to transfer the amount to your linked bank account which can sometimes take annoyingly long because of red tape from your bank’s side. Some banks simply refuse to process transactions related to crypto so make sure the bank you link to your exchange account is crypto-friendly. 

You also need to bear in mind that you will most likely need to pay a transaction fee, although most likely not a huge amount. CEX.io for example charges a flat fee of $50 for direct bank transfers, $3.80 for a VISA card and 1.2% of a transaction plus $3.80 if you are withdrawing to a Mastercard. Every exchange has its withdrawal fees so I would strongly advise you to check this out before you choose one. 

You will most likely also be restricted to a certain amount that you will be able to store but this amount might increase the longer you use a specific exchange. To be honest, this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker because it is not very secure to store your funds in an exchange because they are prone to hackers and in the past, some have shut down entirely and ran off with the money. It is best to store your coins in a secure offline wallet if you don’t need them immediately.  

Coinbase exchange

Direct Trades

If you prefer to interact with the buyer directly instead of an exchange, this option will fit like a glove. When you register on a website that offers you direct trading, you will also need to verify your identity after you’ve registered on the site but the website acts only as a platform where you ‘advertise’ your sale. 

Like when using an exchange, you need to post an offer (almost like an ad) indicating your price. Once a potential buyer wants to do a direct trade with you, you are notified and you will then deal with the buyer directly from there onwards. 

Take note that direct trading is more time consuming than using an exchange and you will need more patience so do your research before you choose a direct trading site. Some of the most reliable sites are LocalBitcoins, Bittylicious, Bitsquare and Coinbase. 

Crypto prices on Coinbase

P2P Trading

Peer 2 Peer trading is a relatively new concept in the crypto space and does not offer the exchange of any funds but rather a platform to bring people with different (yet equivalent) needs together in one place, a website. 

The ideology behind the concept is to offer a space where people can buy Bitcoins or any cryptocurrencies while others can buy goods with Bitcoins from places that don’t usually accept Bitcoins as a payment method. So, in short, P2P Trading websites offer users a secured, guaranteed service plus a wallet to store their cryptocurrencies.

It is almost like a Facebook marketplace but the P2P trading website acts as the middleman to ensure security. Let’s say you see a post on Reddit where someone is interested in buying cryptocurrency and you happen to have a couple of Bitcoins that you want to sell. 

Because Reddit is not a P2P website, there is no guarantee that the transaction will be secure. But, if both parties register on a P2P site, the seller can add an offer and the buyer can buy it through the marketplace. Once the Bitcoins have been delivered, the marketplace will release the funds into the seller’s account. 

You can also advertise goods, such as art and clothing on these sites and accept Bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies. It can also be quite costly but it is convenient and makes transactions a hell of a lot easier. Some of the most established sites are OpenBazaar, Purse and Binance P2P. 

Now, all the services that I have mentioned thus far are online-based decentralized options which means that you will need to undergo a complete verification process that nullifies the anonymity of trading in cryptocurrencies. 

You will also need to make a withdrawal to your bank account once you’ve successfully made a sale and this can be a lengthy as well as a costly experience. Because of this, most Bitcoin traders prefer offline trading solutions. 

Purse

Bitcoin ATMs

A Bitcoin ATM might look identical to a conventional ATM but its technological advances far outweigh the traditional cash machine. It doesn’t connect you to your bank account but instead connects you to the internet to assist the progress of Bitcoin transactions. 

These genius machines accept fiat cash and exchange it for Bitcoins, usually given as a QR code, paper receipt or it can move the Bitcoins straight to your Bitcoin wallet. One of the downsides of a Bitcoin ATM is that it is quite costly but I suppose you pay for the convenience. 

Bitcoin ATMs are also not that easy to locate but it is still a relatively new concept so I am pretty sure it will be more readily available in the near future. If you are curious to know exactly where Bitcoin ATMs are located, have a look. 

Bitcoin ATM’s around the world

Another point worth making is that not all Bitcoin ATMs offer you the option to both sell and buy Bitcoins but there are a few that has this bi-directional functionality – Satoshi2 (Genesis Coin), Robocoin, BATMThree (General Bites), Genesis1 and BitAccess. 

It’s an awesome concept right!? You simply go to a Bitcoin ATM and sell or buy Bitcoins like you would draw or deposit fiat money at a conventional ATM. 

Hold your horses. 

Robocoin Bitcoin ATM, for example, requires an intense verification screening process. You need to supply a government-issued ID card, a telephone number for notifications and activations, a palm scan and a photo verification done when you are at the ATM. 

If you want to sell your Bitcoins, you will get a QR code that indicates a wallet address. You will then need to send your Bitcoins to this wallet and once this process is completed, you will either get cash directly from the ATM or you will receive a redeem code and will need to wait for the completion of the transaction, which might take several days. 

The process requirements are also regionally tied. Some countries forbid Bitcoin ATMs entirely while others have strict anti-money laundering requirements that operators need to adhere to. 

Bitcoin ATMs

Person to Person Negotiations

You can go the old school route and sell Bitcoins in person. If it is to your friends and family, you only need to set them up with a Bitcoin Wallet and once you have transferred your Bitcoins, you can collect the cash. If you are selling to a random person, there might be a lot of negotiations and you will need to consider many factors to secure the safety of yourself as well as your funds. 

There are several sites as well as forums where you can arrange meetings with others to buy and sell Bitcoin. LocalBitcoins seems to be the most popular globally and what I really like about this site is that they have a ‘trustworthiness rating’ system because you just never know who you will meet and how dodgy (or not) they might be. 

The final price is usually agreed in the final meeting simply because the value of cryptocurrencies are volatile and fluctuates constantly but many online tools can assist you such as a Bitcoin Price Index. It is also not uncommon for sellers to charge slightly more than the current exchange rate to cover their costs and this fee is usually around 5 – 10% but it is entirely up to the seller and buyer and forms part of the negotiation process. 

If a person-person Bitcoin exchange is too daunting for you, you can opt for a Bitcoin meet-up. There are several across the globe and it is most probably the safest environment for you to sell or buy Bitcoins. Just be prepared before you attend a Bitcoin meet-up because you will need to negotiate on the spot. 

Bitcoin meet-up example

Final thoughts

Trading in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has become more accessible than ever before and although there is usually complicated and confusing jargon surrounding this new concept, you shouldn’t break your head over it.

I am sure you can remember the days when you had to physically take banknotes to a currency exchange to change US Dollars to Euros for example. This is the same as a Bitcoin exchange, nowadays it is simply online.

P2P Trading is the same as the marketplace on Facebook except that they have an added functionality that handles the payments to make it extra secure and convenient. And, Direct Trades is like an advertisement website (or newspaper back in the olden days) where you advertise for potential buyers to see.

The Bitcoin ATM might have a few intricacies around it, the verification process being one of them, but you need to go through the exact same procedure when you open a conventional bank account.

I really like the fact that Bitcoin is becoming an integral part of our lives with more and more governments accepting this new form of payment. And, the technological advances and innovations surrounding it is simply mind-blowing.

If you have any comments or questions, please write your thoughts below.