Bitcoin remains the largest cryptocurrency globally and forms a crucial part of many investors’ portfolios. Due to this popularity, BTC can be purchased from the vast majority of leading trading platforms – yet it’s vital to partner with one that is both safe and cost-effective.
With that in mind, this guide will discuss how to buy Bitcoin in NZ by reviewing a selection of top exchanges and walking you through how to invest in Bitcoin with low trading fees.
Where to Buy Bitcoin in NZ – Best Platforms
Cryptocurrency trading has undoubtedly become more prevalent over the past few years – so much so that most of the best crypto exchanges in New Zealand will allow users to buy BTC outright or invest in Bitcoin in a passive manner.
With that in mind, discussed below are a selection of leading platforms that will allow you to buy Bitcoin in NZ safely and cost-effectively:
1. Crypto.com – Buy and Margin Trade Bitcoin in NZ
Another option to think about if you want to buy Bitcoin in New Zealand is Crypto.com. Crypto.com was among the fastest-growing cryptocurrency trading platforms last year and has kept that momentum going this year. Users can trade more than 250 coins on the Crypto.com platform, with complete support for NZD deposits.
As well as spot trading you can also margin trade with leverage on the perpetual futures pairs – if you’re an experienced with scalp trading and day trading.
When trading with Crypto.com, you can opt to make your purchase via the exchange or the mobile app. If you choose the former, you’ll pay a fee of 0.4% each time you buy or sell a cryptocurrency. Notably, you can reduce this fee by 10% if you pay in CRO – Crypto.com’s native token.
On the other hand, if you invest through Crypto.com’s app, you’ll be able to invest in Bitcoin instantly using a credit or debit card. The decision to buy Bitcoin with debit card will be more costly than the exchange since a 2.99% fee will be charged. However, new Crypto.com users will have this fee waived for the first 30 days of trading.
You can also deposit FIAT currency (such as NZD) into your Crypto.com account for free and exchange it into BTC. Aside from investing, Crypto.com also offers a wide array of supplementary services, such as staking and an NFT marketplace. The platform even provides a crypto credit card that you can use, with scope to earn regular cashback rewards.
Pros
Cons
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
2. Capital.com – Beginner-Friendly Platform with Huge Educational Library
If you’re looking for the cheapest way to buy Bitcoin in NZ, Capital.com is worth considering. Capital.com is a well-known broker that has operations worldwide, allowing people to invest in cryptos through a handy browser-based portal or dedicated web app.
Notably, Capital.com works through CFD trading, which New Zealand’s authorities do not currently permit. However, if this changes, you’ll be able to invest in BTC with no commissions – only having to pay a small spread. Furthermore, CFD trading also opens up scope for leverage, and Capital.com offers up to 1:2 on crypto-assets.
Capital.com also offers crypto-to-crypto trading pairs, ideal for investors looking to speculate on BTC’s price movements against another asset. The platform requires a minimum deposit of only $20 (30.75 NZD), which can be made via credit/debit card, wire transfer, or various e-wallets.
The trading process with Capital.com is beginner-friendly, with real-time price charts and various technical indicators for analysis. The platform even has a dedicated educational library, complete with webinars, tutorials, and guides, which can make the learning process much smoother for new traders.
Pros
Cons
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and can afford the risks.
3. Coinbase – Best Site to Buy Bitcoin in NZ for Beginners
Coinbase is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, offering over 100 cryptocurrencies for users to trade. The platform has over 98 million clients worldwide and provides a beginner-friendly way for investors to buy Bitcoin. You can make BTC purchases through the Coinbase app or by using ‘Coinbase Pro’ – the platform’s native exchange.
If opting for the exchange, you’ll pay a taker fee of 0.60% or a maker fee of 0.40% when you open or close a position. On the other hand, if you purchase through the app, you’ll have the option to buy Bitcoin with debit card instantly. However, as with most platforms, this can be costly as Coinbase charges a 3.99% transaction fee.
Coinbase will also charge a volume-based fee, which can rise to $2.99 (4.60 NZD) for trades worth more than $50. However, aside from fees, Coinbase makes the trading process easy since the platform’s mobile app is well-designed and has a sleek interface with no advanced jargon.
Although Coinbase isn’t regulated within New Zealand, this platform does store 98% of customers’ holdings in cold storage, making it extremely difficult for cyber attackers to access them. Finally, Coinbase even offers a free self-custody crypto wallet app to store your BTC – which also allows you to browse the decentralized web and store NFTs.
Pros
Cons
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
4. Binance – Huge BTC Trading Platform with Vast Asset Selection
Many investors believe Binance is the best site to buy Bitcoin in NZ due to the exchange’s huge asset selection and low trading fees. According to CoinMarketCap, Binance is still the world’s largest crypto exchange and regularly processes more than $20 billion in daily trading volume.
Binance offers over 500 crypto-assets to trade, including altcoins, DeFi tokens, and crypto-to-crypto trading pairs. It’s easy to buy Bitcoin in NZ with Binance, as the exchange charges a flat 0.1% fee when opening or closing a position. However, if you pay your fees in BNB (Binance Coin), you will receive a 25% discount.
In terms of deposits, Binance doesn’t support NZD – so you’ll have to fund your account with crypto or deposit another currency. Alternatively, you can buy Bitcoin with credit card instantly, which removes the need to make a deposit. However, this will cost 3% per transaction.
Binance’s trading platform is fantastic, with an advanced option for experienced traders. This option provides information that many other platforms don’t have, such as order book data and market depth. Finally, Binance also offers various additional trading services, such as staking, crypto savings accounts, and a dedicated NFT marketplace.
Pros
Cons
Cryptoassets are a highly volatile unregulated investment product.
5. Swyftx – Buy Bitcoin in NZ with No Minimum Deposit
Spread can be as low as 0.41% for BTC trading, making Swyftx competitive with many top brokers. Although you can’t buy Bitcoin with PayPal, Swyftx supports bank transfers, credit/debit cards, PayID, and POLi. There is no minimum deposit threshold, and Swyftx is registered with AUSTRAC to boost regulation and credibility.
Pros
Cons
6. Independent Reserve – Highly-Regulated BTC Broker with Stellar Reputation
Users can invest in over 20 tokens (including BTC), although Independent Reserve also provides an array of crypto-to-crypto trading pairs, too. In terms of fees, you’ll pay 0.5% every time you open or close a trade, although these can be reduced if you are a high-volume trader. Crypto deposits are also free, although Independent Reserve does support NZD deposits – although the SWIFT network must be used, which comes with a $15 transaction fee.
Pros
Cons
Should I Buy Bitcoin?
Once you’ve decided where to buy Bitcoin in New Zealand, it’s vital to look at Bitcoin from an investment perspective and determine whether it would be an excellent addition to your portfolio. Bitcoin (and cryptocurrency in general) is a highly-volatile asset, meaning it often isn’t suitable for risk-averse investors. However, BTC can provide a valuable way to diversify investment portfolios for risk-tolerant investors.
A glance at the price chart will highlight that BTC has the ability to produce triple-digit returns within a calendar year. We’ll explore Bitcoin’s price later in this guide, although it’s important to note that BTC can also move fast in the opposite direction. This is being evidenced right now due to the broader market sell-off.
However, Bitcoin has also garnered a solid reputation as a store of value. A recent article from Bloomberg noted that a debate is going on amongst certain sets of investors regarding whether Gold or BTC is the more effective asset for retaining value. Although there’s no definitive answer to this question, the fact that BTC is even being discussed in this manner is viewed as a hugely positive factor.
Benefits of Buying Bitcoin
Continuing on from the points raised in the previous section, let’s dive in and explore some of the main benefits of buying Bitcoin:
Store of Value
As we expressed above, BTC has emerged as a viable alternative to Gold when it comes to being a store of value. A store of value is defined as an asset that maintains its value over time without depreciating.
Since BTC’s price has deteriorated in the past, there’s an argument that it isn’t a good store of value. However, Bitcoin has proved to be a solid option in times of economic turmoil, such as during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. To evidence this, between February 2020 and April 2021, BTC’s price rocketed by more than 1,140%.
Potential for Market-Beating Returns
Another benefit of Bitcoin is that it has exhibited market-beating returns in the past. It’s not uncommon for Bitcoin’s price to rise by more than 10% in a single day, which is relatively rare for stocks.
Furthermore, Bitcoin tends to outpace leading market indices such as the S&P 500 – most notably in 2020 when the coin returned over 300%. Again, in the interests of a balanced discussion, this can work in the opposite way too, as BTC’s bearish spells tend to be aggressive.
Diversification
BTC is also suitable from a diversification perspective, as it can help balance out the risk-return profile within an investment portfolio. Although BTC has become increasingly correlated with the stock market, there have been occasions where BTC goes up and stocks trade flat (or decline).
If you have a portfolio full of altcoins, you may even wish to add BTC into the mix to add some stability. Due to Bitcoin’s massive market cap, the coin tends to be less volatile than smaller coins – meaning it can be a good investment if you’re looking to lower your risk level.
Did you know that you can use BTC tokens to gamble via the best Bitcoin casinos in New Zealand?
Decentralized Payment Method
Finally, aside from investment-related factors, BTC is also a great way to send money to other people. The main benefit is that transactions are peer-to-peer and therefore remove the need for an intermediary. This means that transactions are anonymous and do not require any prior registration.
Furthermore, sending BTC is exceptionally cost-effective, especially compared to cross-border transactions through the traditional banking network. Finally, since everything is recorded on a public ledger, using Bitcoin drastically reduces (or even removes) the chance that fraud could occur.
Ways of Buying Bitcoin
When researching “How do I buy Bitcoin?”, you’ll likely come across various mechanisms that allow you to make your investment. However, two approaches – PayPal and credit/debit card – remain the most widely used. Let’s take a look at each of these in turn and discuss how they work:
Buying Bitcoin with PayPal
The great thing is that you can still use PayPal to buy Bitcoin – you just have to do it through a respected trading platform.
Buy Bitcoin with Credit Card or Debit Card
Another option if you’re wondering how to buy Bitcoin in New Zealand is to make your purchase using a credit or debit card. Usually, this involves one of two approaches:
- Buying Bitcoin directly using a credit/debit card
- Funding your trading balance with a credit/debit card, then using that balance to buy BTC
The former option is quicker and removes the need to make a deposit – although it isn’t the cheapest way to buy Bitcoin as it tends to come with a high transaction fee attached. On the other hand, the latter option is usually more affordable (if not free), although you’ll need to fund your account and manually place the trade.
What is the Best Way to Buy Bitcoin in New Zealand?
Considering all of the information we have presented until now, what is regarded as the best way to buy Bitcoin in NZ? Let’s take a look at some of the most popular approaches:
- Brokers – Brokers act as the middleman between traders and the broader market. As such, whenever you partner with a broker and place the trade, the broker will look for a part to take the opposite side of the trade.
- Centralized Exchanges – Crypto exchanges come in one of two forms – centralized or decentralized. Centralized exchanges work in a similar way to brokers because they act as the ‘middleman’ between buyers and sellers. These exchanges also require KYC checks and can store your funds.
- Decentralized Exchanges – On the other hand, decentralized exchanges work in a peer-to-peer manner and do not rely on a centralized authority. Users retain complete control over their funds and crypto, as the trading process is facilitated through smart contracts. Furthermore, as the process is decentralized, there is no need to complete KYC checks.
Bitcoin Price
Now that you understand how to buy Bitcoin in NZ and its benefits, let’s discuss BTC and its price history. As you may already know, Bitcoin has become super-popular amongst both beginner and advanced investors due to the market-beating returns it has produced in the past. In fact, BTC even returned a remarkable 302.8% in 2020 alone – way higher than most equities.
As the chart above highlights, BTC has had some significant spikes over the past few years, with the 1,600% rise between 2017 and 2018 being the first time investors really began paying attention. Although Bitcoin trickled along in the years following this spike, the coin did rise another 569% between September 2020 and April 2021.
After a sharp pullback, Bitcoin’s bull run continued in late 2021, with the price hitting an all-time high of $69,000 on November 10th 2021 (just over $105,000 NZD). However, this high was short-lived, and the price of BTC fell dramatically in the months that followed. At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at just under $30,000 – an over 55% drop from the all-time highs.
Bitcoin Price Prediction
Given BTC’s current price point, where can you expect the coin to go in the weeks and months ahead? It’s challenging to make an accurate estimate due to the ongoing macroeconomic issues. These include rising inflation throughout the world and interest rate increases from many Central Banks, leading to a broader sell-off in the crypto market.
However, the chart above highlights some key areas where price could rebound. As you can see, BTC is currently consolidating around a major support level, which has propped the price up in the past. If we see a rejection from here, the first price target would likely be around the $48,000 region – a 68% return from today’s price. Again, it’s important to note that these are just estimates, and there is no telling what will actually happen within the market.
How to Buy Bitcoin Safely
When asking yourself, “How do I buy Bitcoin?” you must pay attention to conducting your trading activity as safely as possible. Fortunately, all of the platforms mentioned in this article have stellar reputations within the trading industry, driven by hundreds of positive customer reviews.
Ideally, the broker you choose will be regulated by a leading entity. Even if the broker isn’t directly regulated within New Zealand, it’s wise to partner with one policed by ASIC, CySEC, FinCEN, FINRA, or the FCA. Brokers covered by these institutions tend to be the safest and most credible.
Finally, it’s also important to be safe from a financial perspective. The crypto market is famously highly volatile, so it’s crucial never to invest more than you can afford to use. Before investing in BTC, it’s wise to create a structured trading plan so that your emotions do not cloud your judgement.