How to buy cryptocurrency in India? A stepwise guide

In May 2021, the landscape of cryptocurrencies changed. With a sharp increase in the value of crypto tokens and coins like Bitcoin, we saw the rise of overnight millionaires. This has gained a lot of attention from the media and right now, people from around the globe are interested in investing in this novel asset class. Hence, today we are going to understand how to buy cryptocurrency in India with a step-by-step guide.

This guide will help you enter the market through the most widely used and legitimate means and allow you to ride the crypto wave.

So, without further ado, let’s get started.

How to buy cryptocurrency in India – Prerequisites

The first step that you need to follow is to check whether you meet the pre-requisites for investing in the cryptocurrency market in India. This is because you would require some documents for doing your KYC and without these, you cannot enter the market.

Here is the list of the pre-requisites that you need to meet before registering to buy bitcoin, dogecoin, or Ethereum –

• Must be over 18 years of age and have a valid PAN Card.
• Have a bank account with internet banking / debit card to be able to deposit your money to the trading platform.
• Have a KYC document like Aadhaar Card, Passport, etc. for completing the KYC requirements.

Please note that the bank account that you use to deposit money into the cryptocurrency exchanges should be of the person holding the trading account. Deposits from other people’s accounts are rejected.

Step 1 – Register yourself to a cryptocurrency exchange in India

If you meet the pre-requisites, then congratulations. You are ready to enter the cryptocurrency market.

Now, the first step on how to buy cryptocurrency in India involves you to create an account on a cryptocurrency exchange.

A crypto exchange works like a stock exchange (Nifty, BSE, etc.). They allow people to deposit their Fiat currencies (normal money like USD, INR, etc.) and then trade cryptocurrencies and tokens.

Some popular currencies that can be traded are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Binance, Shiba Inu, Matic, Ripple, etc.

In India, there are 4 major exchanges that are being used to facilitate cryptocurrency trading. They are –

1. WazirX
2. ZebPay
3. CoinDCX
4. CoinSwitch Kuber

While I have accounts registered with 3 out of the 4, I would suggest you to use CoinSwitch Kuber if you’re new to investing and prefer a very simple UI for trading.

However, if you’re experienced and want advanced transaction features, then CoinDCX and WazirX are good options.

All of these platforms are secure and your funds will be kept safe. Though they are facing some issues due to lack of regulation in India, it is expected to be over soon.

Now, once you’ve selected the platform where you wish to trade, just follow the below steps –

• Download their app / sign up on their website.
• Verify your email, phone number and then follow the KYC process.
• Deposit INR into their wallet to start investing.
• Buy / Sell cryptocurrencies.

Voila!! You’re now all set to buy and sell cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Shiba, etc.

However, you must be thiking that if it was just a single step process, then why do we have this guide? Well, till now you got to know how to buy cryptocurrency in India.

Further, I am going to guide you on the steps that you must follow to avoid falling for the euphoria and losing all your money.

Step 2 – Selecting your first coin / token

While most of the people are following the hype on social media to decide which crypto to buy, I would definitely warn against it.

Crypto is a highly volatile market. A person can easily lose his / her life’s savings if they invest in the wrong coin. Therefore, crypto trading must be done with a lot of research and it is advised to only invest the amount that you can afford to lose.

Below I am sharing a few suggestions that can help you with researching the coins or tokens before investing –

• Read about the coin / token on their official website / app. Check their roadmap for the future and see if they are solving any real world problem or not. A crypto which began as a joke (example Dogecoin), does not have much to offer. These coins might give gains due to market hype but are worthless in the long run unless they evolve. However, coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dent, Matic, etc. have real world use cases and thus, they are much better from an investment perspective
• Use websites like CoinGecko, CoinMarketCap to find out about the coin. The stats you should be looking for are market cap, trading volume, low/high in the recent past, and the markets where these coins are traded.
• Search for the coin on Google and try to find out the latest news about it. Another great way to see the community support is by following their social media channels. Telegram groups are particularly good for this purpose.

Step 3 Avoiding FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt)

Fear is a great enabler. It enables us to do things that we would not generally do. Fear is a major emotion that plays the crypto market as well.

It is very easy to fall prey to emotions and get trapped by FUD. People who are new to cryptocurrency investment are more prone since the volatility in the price can be overwhelming.

However, it is vital to be emotionally stable while dealing in the crypto business.

It is my recommendation to do thorough research as detailed in step 2 and select assets with long term value than just day trading. In this way, a rookie investor can avoid massive losses in a short period of time.

If you do not wish to do too much research at the start, then a good point to begin would be to invest in small amounts with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.

Step 4 Learn about Blockchain and Digital Currencies (optional)

While it is not required to be able to trade in the crypto space, it is highly desirable. There are a lot of jargons about bitcoin and other altcoins that you would not understand without reading them up.

Doing a course, reading about or following a channel on digital currencies and blockchain will help you understand how these things work. This is important since you can only uncover the utility of the token once you know how it works and what it does.

Things like Blockchain, DeFi, NFTs, Oracles, Infrastructure and Dex’s are amazing technology that really have the power to change the way finance works.

So, if you’re really interested in doing some serious investment into Bitcoin and other coins, it is recommended that you try to learn as much as possible about the technology and use case behind it.

Conclusion – Invest, but with caution

While the Indian cryptocurrencies market is in nascent stage and the gains are huge, it is always advised to proceed with caution.

Do not treat these are a source of getting rich quick. While it is possible for you to make a fortune within a span of months, it happens only rarely.

With a clear strategy of investing in cryptos, you can actually treat them as a separate asset class for your portfolio and hold (or #HODL as they say in crypto language) them for the longer term.

I hope this has been a helpful first step into the crypto market in India. I will keep adding to the article with time and would suggest you check out my other other financial blogs for more updates from the world of fintech and cryptocurrencies.

If you have any questions regarding anything in this article, feel free to connect with me over social media or mail me at ashish.ganguli@write-it-right.in

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Looking for the best crypto exchange? This article would surely help.

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