Where To Buy Bitcoin In New Zealand?

This is a bit of a departure from my usual content (reviews) but today I want to address something that might be of relevance to a number of readers of this blog – especially due to the popularity of my review of My Bitcoin Saver.

The question I’m going to ask in as simple and easy fashion as I possibly can is: “how to buy Bitcoin in New Zealand?”

Rather than bore you with some complicated guide, here are a few different ways you can buy Bitcoin in NZ, along with some pros and cons of each.

My Bitcoin Saver

This is the easiest service I have come across so far. After having tried a number of ways to purchase Bitcoin in NZ (NB I’m talking specifically here about Bitcoin and not other cryptos like Litecoin etc) I still believe that My Bitcoin Saver is absolutely the best way to get started with BTC in NZ.

Here’s how it works:

1. Register a My Bitcoin Saver account (go here to do so – it’s free)
2. Set up a wallet – something like blockchain.info will do
3. Use the unique deposit details given to you by My Bitcoin Saver to deposit anywhere from $20-200 NZD once per week (must be on a Monday) into their account.
4. On the Friday you will receive your Bitcoin, along with a nice text telling you how much you received.

It doesn’t get much easier than that. Go here for my full review of the service and more info.

Cryptopia

Cryptopia is an NZ-based cryptocurrency exchange. It’s not one of the biggest ones, but it is growing and also has the benefit of giving you access to many different potential cryptocurrency investments (I use the word investment in the loosest possible sense, as most cryptos are completely speculative purchases, but there’s something fun in knowing that $20 worth of XYZ coin might be worth $10,000 in a few years time).

Cryptopia also makes it relatively easy to buy Bitcoin in New Zealand. Here’s how:

1. Go to Cryptopia and register a free account
2. Follow their verification process (it involves submitting a picture of yourself holding NZ-legal ID, .e.g drivers licence)
3. Deposit money into the Cryptopia account using your unique details you will be provided with.
4. You will receive an equivalent amount (1:1 ratio) of something called NZDT – this is like a crypto token pegged to the NZD value.
5. Use NZDT to buy BTC on the NZDT/BTC exchange on Cryptopia.
6. Withdraw that BTC or buy other cryptos with it.
7. Reverse this process to withdraw your money.

Local Bitcoins

As the name sort of implies, this is a service that allows you to buy BTC in a marketplace environment from other people in your area. There are a number of NZ-based sellers on Local Bitcoins, and the platform is straightforward and easy to use.

Basically you just browse your area (NZ-wide or your city, e.g. Auckland) and then look for sellers. Sellers can set their own price, so it pays to shop around. But just like TradeMe, sometimes the lowest price isn’t necessarily the best – the risk for scams here is higher than the other two options I presented.

Different sellers will also have different processes for actually completing the sale and BTC deposit process, so be wary of this!