How to Buy Bitcoin in The UK

Coinbase is one of the most popular digital currency exchanges, based in the U.S and boasting over 43 million users. Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the platform offers both an all-in-one exchange and a wallet, making it one of the easiest starting points with Bitcoin. Coinbase’s wallet and merchant services, which have won the trust of over 43 million users, have their payment platform integrated with more than 48,000 businesses worldwide.

Coinbase is one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges and also considered to be one of the safest. Coinbase is a regulated company and holds licenses in all districts in which it operates. It is also a VC backed company with over $100 million in funding. Cash held in Coinbase wallets is FDIC insured up to $250,000.

eToro is an innovative and versatile trading platform where you can trade stocks, ETFs, currencies, cryptocurrencies, incides, and commodities. eToro works as a social investment platform with its 'CopyTrading' feature which allows users to view, follow and copy the network's top traders automatically.

eToro offers a state-of-the-art, fully-managed cold storage Custody as a Service (CaaS) solution. eToro is a legitimate broker and trading platform and are regulated in Europe by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and in the UK by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). They are also registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Bitpanda is an Austrian cryptocurrency exchange that offers users a personal wallet and trading platform. The exchange has been becoming increasingly popular throughout Europe with a very well designed and easy to use platform.

Bitpanda stores user funds in secure offline wallets (cold storage), use SSL encryption, offer DDOS protection and session management and email confirmation for all critical actions like sending cryptocurrencies from Bitpanda to other wallets.

Within 8 months of launching in July 2017, Binance quickly skyrocketed into the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, processing more than $1 billion on a daily basis. It’s rise to popularity can be attributed to the impressive number of cryptocurrencies they offer, professional attitude, friendly and transparent CEO, and low trading fees.

Binance is considered a safe cryptocurrency exchange. Binance provides 2-factor authentication and offers both multi signature wallets and cold storage options.

Gemini is a digital asset exchange and custodian, founded in 2014 by brothers Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, that allows customers to buy, sell, and store digital assets such as bitcoin and ether. Gemini is regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS) and also the first exchange to launch bitcoin futures contracts in December 2017.

Gemini is considered to be one of the most secure cryptocurrency exchanges on the market. Gemini is governed by the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and complies with anti-money laundering (AML) rules. Client deposits are eligible for Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance coverage and the company is also heavily capitalized to protect the digital currency you store offline

Cex.io started in 2013 as a Bitcoin exchange and cloud mining provider which has since become a multi-functional exchange, trusted by over half a million users. The exchange has developed a multi-level account system with an individual approach to each customer, from Bitcoin beginners to institutional traders. Worldwide coverage, multiple payment options, and 24/7 support are accompanied by time-proven platform stability that guarantees the safety of assets and data.

CEX is authorized as an MSB by FinCEN and has a Level 2 PCI DSS data security clearance. CEX shows a required level of security and due diligence for storage, processing and transmission of payment card data.

Coinmama is a leading cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to buy and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with a credit card and/or bank transfers. Since its foundation in 2013, it has grown to serve over 2 million customers across 188 countries and today has over 40 employees. Coinmama is a really simple exchange, which makes a perfect platform for safe, secure and quick transactions.

Coinmama is considered a reputable platform for bitcoin purchases.

With millions of active users, an international market, and strategic investors on board, Kraken, joins Coinbase and Binance to become the big three cryptocurrency exchanges in the global market. Kraken provides cryptocurrency to fiat trading and provides price information to Bloomberg Terminal. In February 2019, Kraken announced that it had raised $100 million in a direct offering to its largest customers at a $4 billion valuation.

Kraken is considered one of the safest bitcoin exchanges around. The platform provides cryptography-verified proof of reserve audits. These audits verify the total amount of cryptocurrency held by Kraken. The company appears to be well-capitalized and very safe to use.

Previously known as BitX, Luno was founded in 2013 in South Africa. Luno serves upcoming markets that lack local cryptocurrency exchanges and as such has a strong presence in presence in South Africa, Singapore, Nigeria, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

Luno claims that the majority of customer Bitcoin funds are kept in what we call “deep freeze” storage. These are multi-signature wallets, with private keys stored in different bank vaults. All web services and communication happens over SSL-secured (https) channels. Wallets are stored using PGP encryption. No individual has direct access to customer Bitcoin funds and regular auditing — both financial and security auditing — ensures that funds are always safe and fully accounted for.

Bittylicious is a UK-based company that works more like a peer-to-peer exchange rather than a professional trading platform. This P2P approach means that no coins are actually stored in a centralized exchange. The website looks more like an order form which simplifies the buying and/or selling process. Unlike similar platforms, such as Localbitcoins, Bittylicious does not allow for anonymous cash exchange. There are no fees involved with Bittylicious. Prices are set by the brokers. Due to this, the markup can be considerably higher.

Bittylicious has never been hacked and has positive user reviews.

Paxful works as a peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading platform. Established in 2014, the peer-to-peer marketplace allows buyers and sellers to interact by posting trade offers. Users can choose to make purchases using PayPal, MoneyGram, Amazon/iTunes gift cards and many more payment methods.

Funds are held in escrow by Paxful until both parties confirm all components of the transaction.

LocalBitcoins works as a decentralized exchange, facilitating P2P (peer-to-peer) Bitcoin sales by allowing users to list their own buy/sell advertisements. By using the site users can create and list advertisements, communicate with prospective buyers and sellers and confirm all the transaction details before finalizing any trade. Users can either meet in person or trade online. LocalBitcoins allows for private purchases and can be used worldwide; it also allows users to make purchases via a number of different payment methods and doesn’t impose buying or selling limits.

LocalBitcoins has a strong reputation for being reliable and safe to use. Security-enhancing features like two-factor authentication (2FA), Login Guard, support staff, and a feedback-driven reputation system all contribute to the safety and security for users. Also, the fact that all online trades are protected by escrow.