You understand what Bitcoin is, you’ve chosen a wallet, and you know how to protect yourself. Now the most practical question: where and how do I get my first bitcoin? There are several routes, each with its own advantages and drawbacks. Let’s go through them all.
First of all: what kind of user are you?
Before you even choose where to buy, it’s worth pausing for a moment and asking yourself a few fundamental questions. Not everyone uses Bitcoin the same way, and the right strategy depends on who you are and what you want to do.
- How much do you want to invest? Are you buying a small amount to experiment, or are you planning long-term savings?
- How often? A one-time purchase, or would you rather spread your buying out over time?
- What will you do with your bitcoin? Hold it for years, use it for everyday payments, or a mix of both?
- How much do you care about privacy? Are you comfortable handing over documents to a centralized platform, or do you prefer methods that preserve it?
- Where do you live? Local laws and tax rules can affect the methods available to you.
Answering these questions helps you choose not only the best buying method, but also the overall strategy that suits you best. In the final sections you’ll find four typical profiles that can help you find your bearings.
1. Buying on an exchange (the most common method)
Exchanges are online platforms where you can buy bitcoin with euros, using a credit card, a debit card, or a bank transfer.
The most widely used in Europe include Kraken, Coinbase, Binance and others. They all require you to register and verify your identity (KYC: name, ID document, selfie).
Pros: simple, fast, you can start with just a few euros. Some also offer an automatic recurring buy plan (DCA) and have high liquidity, with tight spreads between the buy and sell price.
Cons: you have to share your personal data; some platforms can be complicated or push you toward advanced trading features or altcoins you don’t need; significant privacy implications.
How to do it: register, verify your identity, deposit euros, buy bitcoin, transfer it to your personal wallet.
Once you’ve completed your purchase, don’t leave your bitcoin on the exchange any longer than necessary. Exchange platforms, however reliable, are not designed for long-term custody.
2. Buying from another individual (peer-to-peer)
You can buy bitcoin directly from another person, with no intermediaries. There are two main variants:
Direct cash exchange: buying directly from a friend, a family member, or through local meetups. No registration, no digital trail. It’s probably the single most private method there is, but it carries an inherent physical risk, since it’s an in-person exchange.
P2P platforms: services like Bisq, RoboSats or Peach facilitate online exchanges between individuals without the need to verify your identity, using escrow systems to protect both parties. Bisq, for example, is fully decentralized: there’s no company behind it, just a protocol and a network of users.
Pros: greater privacy, doesn’t always require identity verification, keeps you outside the traditional banking system.
Cons: it requires more care; it often comes with a small premium compared to exchanges; lower liquidity; in exchanges between individuals there’s a counterparty risk that shouldn’t be underestimated.
3. Bitcoin ATMs (physical kiosks)
In many cities there are automated kiosks where you can insert cash and receive bitcoin directly into your wallet (via QR code). You can find the ones near you on coinatmradar.com.
Pros: immediate, you pay in cash, often no online registration for small amounts.
Cons: fees are often higher (from 5% to 10%); the available amounts are limited; in Italy, every Bitcoin ATM applies KYC, so they require ID verification even for small amounts.
It’s a useful option for anyone who wants to enter the Bitcoin world quickly without opening online accounts, but it’s not the cheapest choice.
4. Earning it through your work
More and more professionals accept partial or full payment in bitcoin. If you’re a freelancer, a designer, a developer, or you run any kind of business, you can simply offer your clients the option to pay you in bitcoin.
If you’re an employee, depending on your jurisdiction, you might consider receiving part of your salary in bitcoin. Some online work platforms already support payments in this form.
Pros: you get bitcoin without having to buy it; no intermediary; often no KYC.
Cons: it requires your clients (or your employer) to be willing to use bitcoin.
Receiving bitcoin for your work is one of the most natural ways to enter the ecosystem: you accumulate it gradually, without having to make explicit purchases, and you learn to use it in everyday practice.
5. Saving gradually (DCA)
DCA (Dollar Cost Averaging, or “accumulation plan”) is the strategy favored by many mindful bitcoiners: instead of buying it all at once, you buy a small fixed amount every week or every month, regardless of the price.
This approach reduces the impact of volatility: sometimes you buy when the price is high, sometimes when it’s low. Over the long run, you tend to end up with a reasonable average price. You don’t need a large initial capital — you can start with as little as 10 euros a month and increase it over time.
Some exchanges offer this feature automatically. DCA is particularly well suited to those who don’t want to constantly follow the market and prefer a disciplined approach. Consistency matters more than the amount: it’s better to accumulate small sums for years than to overcommit and then give up.
6. Mining
A lesser-known but interesting method for anyone who wants to explore Bitcoin more deeply: mining bitcoin. Older or smaller machines can be found at affordable prices, and by joining a mining pool you can receive regular payouts even with non-professional equipment.
It’s a KYC-free method that lets you acquire bitcoin without going through any platform. It’s not the easiest route to get started, but it’s a legitimate way to take part directly in the network and recover part of your energy costs.
7. Receiving bitcoin as a payment or gift
You can receive bitcoin from anyone who already has some. A relative, a friend, a colleague. All you have to do is share your Bitcoin address or your wallet’s QR code.
It’s also a great way to introduce other people to Bitcoin: receiving your first satoshis from someone you trust lowers the psychological barrier considerably. Often the first contact with Bitcoin happens exactly this way — someone you know sends you a few satoshis, and from there the curiosity to understand how it really works is born.
What to do as soon as you receive your first bitcoin
- Don’t leave it on the exchange: transfer it to your personal wallet
- Make sure you have a backup of your seed phrase before receiving any significant amount
- Start with small amounts: use the first few days to understand how sending and receiving work
- Don’t chase prices: Bitcoin is volatile in the short term. If your horizon is long, the daily swings matter little
Four approaches to saving in bitcoin
Depending on how you answered the initial questions, you probably recognize yourself in one of these four profiles. They aren’t rigid categories — many users combine elements from several profiles — but they can help you figure out where to start.
The Custodian — long-term saving
The Custodian buys bitcoin with the intention of holding it for years, sometimes decades. They don’t worry about the daily swings in price and consider Bitcoin a long-term store of value, not a speculation tool.
Their typical setup involves a hardware wallet to keep the bulk of their funds offline, occasional purchases through KYC exchanges or P2P, and rare transactions. Their main challenge is psychological: resisting the urge to sell during market crashes. Anyone with this mindset knows that Bitcoin moves in cycles and that value is measured in years, not weeks. For the Custodian, selling during a downturn isn’t a strategy — it’s a mistake to avoid at all costs.
Key traits: patience, long-term vision, emotional discipline, trust in the technology.
The Accumulator — small purchases, great consistency
The Accumulator doesn’t invest it all at once: they prefer to buy small amounts on a recurring basis, week after week or month after month. It’s the DCA strategy applied with discipline over time.
The main advantage is reduced emotional stress: it doesn’t matter whether the price is high or low today — the purchase happens regardless. This regularity, over the long run, tends to produce a reasonable average price and to build a significant position even starting from small sums.
The Accumulator often uses an exchange that offers automatic DCA for new purchases, and regularly moves their funds to a hardware wallet for safe storage. It’s important not to make purchases too frequently if this generates many small UTXOs that will be hard to manage in the future. The right cadence depends on your budget and your own risk tolerance — but consistency is everything.
Key traits: organization, discipline, patience, an understanding of market fundamentals.
The Everyday Bitcoiner — Bitcoin in daily life
The Everyday Bitcoiner doesn’t use bitcoin only as a reserve: they actively integrate it into everyday life. They pay with bitcoin, they receive compensation in bitcoin, they use the Lightning Network for fast and cheap transactions. Their approach is hybrid: a mobile hot wallet for everyday spending, a hardware wallet for long-term savings.
For new purchases they may use both regulated exchanges and KYC-free P2P methods, depending on their needs. If they run a business, they consider accepting bitcoin as a payment method. This profile requires a certain technical familiarity and the willingness to stay up to date on how the ecosystem evolves, but in return it offers the most complete experience of what Bitcoin can become in everyday practice.
Key traits: pragmatism, technical curiosity, flexibility, discipline in separating everyday funds from savings.
The Discreet Bitcoiner — privacy above all
The Discreet Bitcoiner considers privacy a fundamental component of using Bitcoin, not an optional extra. They avoid KYC methods as much as possible, prefer P2P purchases, use wallets with an additional passphrase or multisig setups, and store their bitcoin across multiple physical devices in separate locations.
This isn’t about paranoia, but about awareness: limiting the links between your identity and your Bitcoin activity reduces the risk of censorship, frozen funds, or outside interference. It’s the profile that demands the most time and technical skill, but it offers the highest level of financial sovereignty. It avoids centralized services that could compromise confidentiality and, when it does buy, does so exclusively through non-KYC channels.
Key traits: in-depth knowledge of Bitcoin, attention to operational security, a preference for decentralized tools.
A note on volatility
Bitcoin’s price can swing a lot in a short time. Throughout its history, Bitcoin has gone through several phases of strong growth followed by significant corrections. These swings are part of the nature of an asset that’s still young.
Before buying, ask yourself: “If the value dropped 50% tomorrow, would I be able to wait it out without panic-selling?” If the answer is no, invest only what you can afford to lock away for a few years.
Bitcoin has been through many crashes and each time it has reached new highs over the long run — but the past doesn’t guarantee the future.
Don’t forget the succession plan
Once you have some bitcoin, there’s an uncomfortable but important question to face: if something happened to you, would your loved ones know how to access your funds?
Unlike a bank account, Bitcoin has no intermediaries that contact family members in the event of death. If you don’t leave clear instructions, your bitcoin could be lost forever. A simple succession plan doesn’t require a lawyer — a carefully written letter, kept in a safe place, is enough, containing:
- An inventory of the wallets and exchanges you use
- Instructions for accessing each one (without directly exposing the seed phrase in the document)
- The contact details of a trusted person with technical skills who can assist your heirs
- Clear warnings about scams and mistakes to avoid
It’s an act of responsibility toward the people you love, and it takes less time than you might imagine.
In summary
Getting your first bitcoin is simpler than it seems. The easiest route is a reliable exchange; the most independent is peer-to-peer; the most sustainable over time is a gradual accumulation plan. Whichever method you choose, the one rule that never changes is this: transfer your bitcoin to your personal wallet and keep your seed phrase safe.
Have a great journey into the world of Bitcoin! 🟠