Bitcoin is often associated with ideologies like anarcho-capitalism, liberalism and voluntaryism. And for good reason so: Bitcoin is designed to be a truly decentralized system.
One of the biggest differences between Bitcoin and traditional currencies lies therein, that there is no central authority that issues the currency. While the fiat currencies we use every day all carry the approval of some bank or government institution, Bitcoin does not require anyone to “issue” it. In fact, Bitcoin “belongs” to any participant of the network that helps sign and validate trustless transactions peer-to-peer across the world.
Unfortunately, the link between the fiat world and the crypto world is still not ideal.
In reality, you must often go through a verification process to obtain tokens that are purchased with traditional money, which is…well, a centralized point of data collection.
However, there are ways to obtain bitcoin in an anonymous way, without having to perform an ID verification, quite in the spirit of a decentralized system.
In this article we will explore some options which will allow you to purchase Bitcoin anonymously and without verification, the true crypto way.
Buy From Friends
An obvious choice but nevertheless one to mention here.
Buying in cash from friends is the easiest, safest and most anonymous way to purchase cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.
What if you friends don’t have coins? Don’t worry. Have a look if there is a Bitcoin meetup happening in your town anytime soon (Meetup.com is your friend) and you will surely find someone willing to trade there and sometimes the meeting places even have a Bitcoin ATM, which brings us to the next point.
Bitcoin ATM
If you don’t know anyone who is willing to sell you some Bitcoin, the first place to look for is a Bitcoin ATM machine.
Most large cities have a Bitcoin ATM, and some even have several!
Check on the internet if you are one of the lucky folks who has a handy Bitcoin ATM in their city. Bitcoin ATM’s are fairly easy to use and let you purchase Bitcoin anonymously with your credit or bank card.
CoinMama
CoinMama is a beginner-friendly, Europe-based exchanged which offers small crypto purchases without verification. To be precise: You can buy up to $150 worth of Bitcoin without having to complete a verification process. This is convenient and easy, the buying process is fairly simple too. Sign-up, choose your amount from the dashboard, enter your credit card details, confirm the code sent by email and you are done!
Make sure you have created a Bitcoin wallet first though. You can use a website like bitaddress.org to generate a free Bitcoin paper wallet in just a few minutes. Be sure to save your public and private keys securely!
Buy Bitcoin anonymously on CoinMama
LocalBitcoins
LocalBitcoins is a special kind of crypto exchange.
It is a real peer-to-peer trading platfrom which means you are actually buying coins from other users who are nearby and are willing to trade.
If you don’t want to enter your bank details, you can organize a meeting through the localbitcoins messaging platform. to do this, just go to a local sellers trade, filter for those who offer cash payment, message them and arrange a meeting to complete the purchase in cash in-person.
No ID, no names, no hassles 🙂
Buy Bitcoin anonymously on LocalBitcoins
How To Convert Into Other Cryptocurrencies?
Typically, you can’t do much on Exchanges without having completed the verification process which requires you to reveal you identity. But there are other options which allow you to convert you Bitcoin into other digital assets without having to go through that step. Let’s explore a few.
Exodus
Exodus is a software crypto wallet, which you can download and use on your computor. It has a great interface and is very easy to use. It also comes with a great feature: It has a built in exchange system which allows you to convert your Bitcoin in the 20 most popular Crytocurrencies (and counting) without having to ever leave your wallet. Easy!
Changelly
Changelly is a decentralized exchange platfrom. You don’t need an ID card to use this exchange, you don’t even need an account (!) You can simply select the trade you want to make and you will recieve a temporary wallet address.
Then you just have to send the crypto to the generated address, and Changelly will send you the new tokens shortly after. This is the easiest and simplest platfrom out there in terms of user experience and you will come to the same conclusion, once you try it out!
Convert coins in “stealth” mode on changely
Shapeshift
Another popular exchange system very similar to changelly is Shapeshift.
It works just like Changelly: A temporary wallet will be generated for you whenever you need to make a trade. No registration or verification needed!
A think to keep in mind while using shapeshift is that not all currencies are available. You have to check and make sure that the crypto token you want to obtain is currently open for swapping. Furthermore, it should be mentioned that Shapeshift does take a fee on the crypto swap so you will get a little less of the pair currency you have traded for.
Conclusion
As you can see, there are quite a few ways to purchase not only Bitcoin but even other cryptocurrencies anonymously. You don’t need a bank account, ID card or credit card to actually buy crypto coins. We hope this article has been informative to you and has pointed you towards some options you may have not considered before. Remember that privacy breaks at the weakest point, so make sure to be extra vigilant when buying cryptocurrency online, if anonymity is important to you. Generally speaking, Changelly and Shapeshift are the safest way to convert coins without a centralized intermediary system.
This is really useful. No need for people tracking my tokens and personal details.
I though the only real way is to buy personally in cash. Do they not track you when you use the Bitcoin ATM?
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