6 ways to get your hands on some of that Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been wandering around in bear territory since mid-summer (2019). After approaching the $13,000 mark in the spring, Bitcoin has slowly dropped to its current level which, at the time of this writing, was about $7,500. It wouldn't be a surprise if a continued bear market encouraged more first-time investors to get in on Bitcoin at a lower price. That tends to happen when the bears are out in full force.

There is no telling how low Bitcoin will fall before its price starts to rebound. As such, it is impossible to say when to start buying. But for those who want to buy Bitcoin just for the purposes of playing some casino games, then the value of one Bitcoin isn't really that important.

Should you be in a buying mood, you have options. Below are five ways to get your hands on some of that Bitcoin. Please note that some are more expensive than others.

1. Go right to a Bitcoin Exchange

Note that exchanges are private enterprises and can be operated according to any number of business models. One such business model mimics traditional stock exchanges. Under this model, investors buy and sell by placing bids - just as they would if they were buying or selling on the New York or London stock exchanges.

Binance is an example of a cryptocurrency exchange that operates on different business model. If you were to open a Binance account today, you could purchase Bitcoin the same way you would purchase any other product online. You would link your account to e.g. a Visa debit card first, then proceed to the buying portal.

There you would enter the amount you wanted to spend in fiat. Binance would purchase BTC on your behalf, at its current price. There are no bids to place. There is no hoping you can find a buyer willing to sell you BTC at your preferred price. Binance's business model tends to be preferred among new Bitcoin buyers because it is easy to understand.

Note that buying and selling Bitcoin on an exchange is not free. Exchanges have to make money, and they do so by charging transaction fees. Most exchanges charge a fee on both ends. This to say that both buyer and seller pay a fee.

Buying on local exchanges

Before moving on to the second method for getting your hands on Bitcoin, it is appropriate to briefly talk about local exchanges. Organizations like Binance operate all over the world. But there are local exchanges that operate only within a limited geographical area. These local exchanges are often run by groups of volunteers who are not doing what they do to make a quick buck.

A local exchange might be the way to go if you are concerned about exchange security, excessive buying and selling fees, inflated pricing, and so forth. But buyer beware. Any exchange you decide to deal with has to be properly vetted.

Also consider that local exchanges may be limited in their volume. Where you might be able to buy thousands of dollars in Bitcoin from Binance, you might be limited to less than $100 locally. The fact is that local exchanges are often limited in their BTC volume because the number of participating traders is also limited.

2. Sign Up for a payment service

With the emergence of online payment systems, it was only a matter of time before some of them began hooking up with cryptocurrency exchanges. One such payment service is Skrill. Known throughout Europe, Skrill offers customers lots of different ways to pay for things. They also offer on-the-fly Bitcoin purchases and conversions.

You could use the cash in your Skrill account to purchase Bitcoin the same way you would at Binance. However, Skrill offers more especially for online players. You can exchange your Bitcoin for e.g. Euros and deposit those Euros into an online casino and play Mega Moolah. If you win and want to sell your Bitcoin, you can convert it back to Euros from right within your account and withdraw to your bank account. Note also that Skrill offers a debit card so you can withdraw your winnings from an ATM also. The card is only available to residents withing the European Economic Area.

You might be interested to know that there are a small number of payment systems that integrate with PayPal. They allow you to purchase Bitcoin using funds in your PayPal account. This gives you yet another option for getting your hands on some Bitcoin without having to go through your checking or savings account. PayPal is also accepted as a deposit method at many licensed online casinos.

3. Accept a Bitcoin payment

The third option will let you get your hands on some Bitcoin without actually having to pay for it. Rather than buying, just accept Bitcoin as payment for something. Of course, you will need a digital wallet to pull this off, but obtaining a wallet is not hard to do. Simply go to Blockchain.com for your free wallet. All you need is an email address.

With wallet in hand, you can accept Bitcoin payments from anyone. Maybe you are an independent contractor or a small business owner. Ask around among your clients. If any of them already deal in cryptocurrency payments, they might be willing to pay their next invoice in Bitcoin.

You have an advantage as a merchant accepting Bitcoin payment directly. That advantage is not incurring the fees generally associated with third-party payment processing. By accepting a Bitcoin payment directly, you are saving yourself and your client money.

Before moving on, there is one thing to be cautious about here: Bitcoin's volatility. Do not forget that this post began with an acknowledgment that Bitcoin seems to be in a bear market right now. That means prices could fall quite a bit further before they rise. If you are going to accept a Bitcoin payment, make sure your finances can tolerate lower prices for the time being.

4. Request Bitcoin as a gift

Another way to get your hands on Bitcoin without spending a dime is to ask for it as a gift. You probably have friends and family members who struggle to find just the right Christmas and birthday gifts for you. Rather than settling on gift cards or lame products you will never use, they can buy you Bitcoin instead. But here's the thing: you'll probably have to ask for it.

If your friends and family members scoff at your request, remind them of one of the greatest Bitcoin success stories of all time. It is a story involving German investor Erik Fineman. He made his first Bitcoin investment at the tender age of 11, using €1,000 he received as a gift from his grandmother.

Back then, Bitcoin was selling at about $12. By the time Fineman got around to selling some of his coins a year later, the price had risen to $1,200. Through a series of sales and investments, Fineman has managed to increase his crypto net worth to some $2.5 million today.

This is not to say that you will become a millionaire by investing Bitcoin gifted to you by friends and family members. It's just to say that Bitcoin is not valueless. Even if your friends and families do not see the point of owning Bitcoin, you do. Maybe they will humor you and honor your request for Bitcoin gifts.

5. Find your local Bitcoin ATM

The easiest, but most expensive method is to use a BATM, or Bitcoin ATM. The fee alone can easily be 10% or higher, which is probably why there are now over 6,000 Bitcoin ATMs worldwide and this number is growing at a rate of around 10 BATMs per month. 85% of all the existing Bitcoin ATMs are in North America and Europe. See Coin ATM Radar for your nearest BATM.

Despite the high fees a Bitcoin ATM is more secure and more anonymous for users as using one does not require you to register. To buy Bitcoin a user will insert cash into the machine which then scans your Bitcoin address QR code directly from your mobile phone. You can easily generate a QR code in your Bitcoin wallet. You can even print the QR code and let the machine scan the code from a piece of paper instead. The Bitcoin is then promptly transferred to your wallet and is ready to use.

6. Become a Bitcoin Miner

The fifth way to get your hands on some Bitcoin is arguably the most difficult: become a Bitcoin miner. Miners earn Bitcoin by doing the work necessary to keep the Bitcoin network operational. They are located around the world and often do what they do with very impressive server setups that would rival the best data centers.

Unfortunately, mining Bitcoin is not as easy today as it was five years ago. It is also not as cheap. It used to be that you could invest $1,000 in a fairly robust desktop PC and be on your way. Your biggest expense back then was electricity. To mine successfully, you had to keep your computer running 24/7. It would consume quite a bit of electricity as it worked to keep up with all those hashes.

Mining in 2019 is still based in the same fundamental principles. What has changed is the amount of work necessary to be successful. Remember that Bitcoin's blockchain continually grows. Every new transaction adds information to a new block. Each new block is added to the chain when complete.

Most importantly, all the existing blocks have to be accounted for when building a new block. The end result is that the amount of work required to build a new block increases with each new block built. What does this mean for miners? It means they need increasingly powerful computers that consume ever more energy.

If you have the money to invest in mining equipment, the business of mining can be quite lucrative. There are entire companies that exist for no other reason than to mine Bitcoin. Their computers do the work and earn the coins. The companies then turn around and sell those coins on exchanges.

Now you know five ways to get your hands on some of that Bitcoin. If you are thinking now is a good time to get on board, you might want to look into them. Just remember that the bears are around. Bitcoin's price could fall a bit more before rebounding.