Buying Cryptocurrency in India

Interested in buying cryptocurrency in India?

This article will cover absolutely everything you need to know to ensure that your cryptocurrency purchase goes smoothly. 

Type of Cryptocurrency

The first thing to consider before making your cryptocurrency purchase is the type of cryptocurrency that you would like to purchase. 

If you want to purchase bitcoin, then you shouldn’t have any issue making a purchase on an exchange because just about every cryptocurrency exchange sells bitcoin.

In fact, it’s difficult to find a cryptocurrency exchange that doesn’t sell bitcoin. 

You may have issues if you want to purchase cryptocurrency that isn’t Bitcoin or Ethereum, though. 

Fortunately, there is a solution to this problem. All you have to do is purchase bitcoin, transfer it to an exchange that sells the cryptocurrency you want to purchase, and use the bitcoin to purchase the other cryptocurrency.

It’s a little convoluted and will cost more in fees, but that’s oftentimes the only option if you want to purchase a less popular cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency Exchanges in India

Here are some of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in India. Remember, India uses the rupee, which makes purchasing cryptocurrency online a little more difficult.

Our list has taken that into account, though.

WazirX

WazirX is an Indian cryptocurrency platform owned by Binance. For those familiar with Binance, it shouldn’t surprise you that WazirX has over 120 different cryptocurrencies available for purchase.

Our favorite part about WazirX, however, is the low fees that they offer. You should expect to pay 0.1% to 0.2% in fees when you make a transaction.

That’s the lowest cryptocurrency exchange fees you will find on a cryptocurrency exchange that accepts Indian rupees. 

For that reason, we recommend WazirX if purchasing cryptocurrency in India. 

BuyUcoin

BuyUcoin is a cryptocurrency exchange aimed more at traders than investors. However, they have earned a spot on our list because of the amount of cryptocurrencies they have available for purchase (over 30) and the low fees. 

In fact, BuyUcoin does not charge any fees for Indian rupee withdrawals. The only fees charged are when purchasing cryptocurrency, and the exact fees vary depending on the cryptocurrency being traded.

Unocoin

Unocoin is one of the original Indian cryptocurrency exchanges. 

Unfortunately, they have been overtaken by newer competitors such as BuyUcoin and WazirX. 

Despite that, Unocoin isn’t a bad cryptocurrency exchange. They just have fees that are a little higher than WazirX at about 0.4% and offer under 30 cryptocurrencies.  

We recommend Unocin if you don’t want to use WazirX for some reason. WazirX is simply the better option.

Bitcoin ATM

Finally, you can purchase bitcoin in India at a Bitcoin ATM. 

A bitcoin ATM is easy, secure, and private. What’s the catch?

Bitcoin ATMs tend to charge a high fee. You can expect to pay anywhere from 5% to 10% in fees if you purchase bitcoin at a Bitcoin ATM.

We only recommend a Bitcoin ATM if privacy is your main priority.

What type of cryptocurrency wallet to use?

You don’t usually need a cryptocurrency wallet to purchase cryptocurrency. However, we highly recommend not leaving your cryptocurrency on the cryptocurrency exchange. 

With that recommendation in mind, here are some different options for a cryptocurrency wallet.

Online

An online cryptocurrency wallet is the easiest to use. Unfortunately, they are not nearly as secure because they require an internet connection to access them, which means your password could get stolen. 

We only mentioned online wallets because they are technically an option, but you should not use an online cryptocurrency wallet.

Hardware

A hardware wallet is the most secure cryptocurrency wallet available. What exactly is a hardware wallet, though?

A hardware cryptocurrency wallet is a piece of hardware dedicated to running a cryptocurrency wallet. You purchase the hardware, create your wallet (with keys), and have cryptocurrency sent to the wallet address. 

They are the best option because they do not require an internet connection, or even computer, to access. The only way to access a hardware wallet is via the hardware itself, which means the risk of hacking is extremely low.

The Ledger Nano (any model) or Trezor are regarded as the two best hardware wallets. They also can be formatted to different cryptocurrencies.

Software

A software wallet is a good mix of security, ease of use, and cost (free). Software wallets are a free program that allows you to access the blockchain and your wallet. They will have an interface, which makes using them extremely easy.

The most popular software wallet for Bitcoin is Electrum. Mycelium is also popular because it is compatible with many different cryptocurrencies.

If you’re purchasing your first cryptocurrency, then we highly recommend storing them on a software wallet. 

Paper Wallet

Paper wallets often confuse people. But they aren’t particularly complicated. The basics of a paper wallet involve creating a cryptocurrency wallet and writing the private key on a piece of paper. 

If you need to access the wallet, to make a transaction for instance, then you simply use the private key to send the entire balance of the paper wallet to a separate wallet. 

Sending the full balance of the wallet ensures maximum security of your private key and wallet, but it isn’t entirely necessary.

Anyway, paper wallets are fairly complicated. We only recommend them for advanced cryptocurrency users. You can also read our article about the best crypto wallets.

Cryptocurrency Safety Tips

Cryptocurrency is generally safe. However, you still must take some precautions to ensure that you do not lose any money. Here are some quick safety tips for cryptocurrency.

Don’t Keep Cryptocurrency On The Exchange

We mentioned this tip earlier, but it’s worth repeating because it’s so important.

Don’t keep cryptocurrency on the exchange. The exchanges tend to be secure, but they can get hacked.

We recommend keeping all cryptocurrency in a cryptocurrency wallet.

Use a Trustworthy Exchange

All the exchanges listed above are trustworthy. You should not use an exchange that is not popular – it might be legitimate, but scams do exist.

Keep Your Password Secure

This one should be obvious – keep your password secure. Don’t tell anyone the password you use on your cryptocurrency exchange account. 

In addition to that, don’t use the same password on any other website. You can even take it a step further and use a completely separate email address for maximum security.