“Well, I think it is working. There may be other currencies like it that may be even better. But in the meantime, there’s a big industry around Bitcoin. — People have made fortunes off Bitcoin, some have lost money. It is volatile, but people make money off of volatility too.” – Richard Branson
Bitcoin has been in the news a lot lately because of the sudden boom in its value. Several investors, who were skeptical of the trend initially, are now jumping on the crypto-train due to the fear of missing out. 2022 looks promising for the currency as prices have crossed the €32,000 mark for the first time. Numerous people have started buying, or, are looking to buy bitcoin in Finland. A lot of these people know little to nothing about the process and need proper guidance to avoid making mistakes.
At Finvesting, we want to make sure that people know what they’re getting into. To that end, we’ve simplified the whole process of How to Buy Bitcoin in Finland for you.
There are several ways to buy bitcoin, some of them include specialized Bitcoin ATMs and P2P exchanges but the majority of trade happens on the internet. To start buying and selling bitcoin or any cryptocurrency for that matter, all you need is an internet connection and a computer.
How to Buy Bitcoin in Finland – Cryptocurrency Exchanges
To buy, sell, or hold cryptocurrency, you would first need to make an account on a cryptocurrency exchange. A crypto-exchange or digital currency exchange allows you to exchange traditional assets like fiat money for Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. Exchange provides you with a digital wallet to store your digital assets. This is a straightforward process and in most cases, it’s free. Some characteristics one should look out for when selecting a crypto exchange are low fees, ease of use, good customer care support.
Now that you know what an exchange is, the next step would be to choose an exchange for yourself. There are many kinds of crypto exchanges available in the market for you to be able to buy and sell bitcoin in Finland or the whole world. Organizations that function on the ‘Know Your Customer’ (KYC) model demand personal documents for verification purposes. Now that we’re in 2021 and Bitcoin is becoming more mainstream, most of the reputed crypto exchanges follow this model. But the downside to it is the centralized structure of these organizations.
Decentralized exchanges (DEXes) are a much better alternative, allowing you to open a wallet without having to submit any personal information. You simply connect your wallet and then you can trade as much as you want. This stays true to the essence of the crypto movement i.e., decentralization. DEXes aren’t controlled by central figures who can be held accountable if some malicious activity takes place using the exchange. These exchanges help one stay anonymous and their details are not shared.
Even though there are malicious activities (for instance, flash loan attacks) take place on decentralized exchanges, the benefits easily outweigh the drawbacks. Thanks to crypto, billions of unbanked individuals can participate in a global digital economy.
Safety is a priority when it comes to the internet, and cryptocurrencies are no different. Hackers always look out for vulnerable accounts, hence make sure that the exchange you associate yourself with has good security practices. Finvesting always promotes safety, and we advise to enable features like 2-factor authentication. Some popular exchanges to buy bitcoin in Finland are:
- Coinbase: It is the most famous crypto exchange in Finland given the ease of use and a wide range of features. If you’re investing in cryptocurrency for the first time, Coinbase is the way to go.
- Binance: Binance is considered a better choice for trading as it has several features specifically designed for traders. It also offers the biggest choice in altcoins.
- Coinmotion: Finland’s exchange Coinmotion is also becoming popular among investors in the country. It lets you buy or sell bitcoins in Finland
Transferring Funds to the Exchange Account
To be able to actively invest in bitcoin, you would need to connect payment options to your crypto exchange account. Direct payments from bank accounts to the exchange account are possible, but the compatibility must be researched first.
There’s an easier route: you can buy bitcoins in Finland with your credit/debit card, but you may have to incur more expenses as the fees charged will most probably be very high. For example, Coinbase charges a 1.49% fee on deposits via bank account directly but 3.99% for deposits via debit or credit card.
Placing a Buy/Sell Order
With the money in the wallet, you are all set to buy some bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies. Depending on your needs, you can select the way you want to buy bitcoins. Just like stock exchanges, crypto exchanges are becoming conventional and are rivalling stock exchanges in terms of features available.
The flexibility is amazing, and you get trade options like market and limit orders or stop-loss orders. Kraken, a crypto exchange offers the most number of order types. Coinbase even lets its customers set up recurring orders on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis. Binance also offers its customers very useful features that make it the best choice for advanced traders.
Securing your crypto holdings is the last step when buying bitcoin in Finland — or anywhere in the world. There’s now the concern of how to safeguard these crypto assets you just bought. You should always follow some safety guidelines and store the crypto somewhere safe. Crypto can even be bought on a smartphone in Finland given how advanced the crypto space is right now.
Security and Safe Storage
Although a blockchain cannot be hacked, hackers can find loopholes in an exchange and steal your money in seconds. The fact that bitcoin transactions cannot be tracked is a myth; these transactions are even more transparent since they are recorded on a public ledger.
A healthy practice is to keep a separate savings exchange account or wallet to store large sums of crypto and trade i.e. buy and sell crypto in Finland using a checking account. The digital wallets are also risky and if you want to be a hundred percent safe, you must withdraw the crypto from the exchange into your physical wallet.
Anyone with a private key can approve a transaction on a public address. Hence it is not a smart move to tell people about your big holdings. There’s always a danger of physical assault.
Buy Bitcoin in Finland – Different types of Crypto wallets
Hot Wallets
Online wallets on exchange accounts are examples of hot wallets. As a rule, these wallets should mostly be used for little day-to-day crypto transactions or trading. Various companies offer hot wallets with several layers of security, but they still pose a risk.
Private keys are generated while the wallet is connected to the internet. These keys are not held by the owner since hot wallets are custodial. However, if you’re just starting in the field of crypto, a hot wallet is more than enough to get you on track.
Cold Wallets
After gaining some experience in the crypto world and stocking up a big pile of crypto coins, you must get ready to adopt the best security practices. These wallets are physical devices that store your crypto offline and are generally considered to be the safest of all the ways to store your money.
These devices look like USB flash drives. Cold wallets only sign transactions and store keys, but one requires an external device to execute a transaction, although the keys remain in the wallet and the external device does not have access to your passcodes.
The only way you can lose your keys from a Digital Cold wallet is if it gets stolen or someone kidnaps you and uses the “$5 wrench attack”, the probability of this happening is very less, unless you reveal your crypto fortune — which would’ be a smart thing to do, right?
On the flip side, hardware wallets are a bit more difficult to set up.
Other Less-common Ways to Buy Bitcoin in Finland
Bitcoin ATMs
A new and exciting way to exchange money for crypto is the bitcoin ATMs, just deposit cash and you get the equivalent amount of Bitcoin in return (deducting the nominal fee). The bitcoin is then deposited to a secure digital wallet of your choice.
Peer-to-peer (P2P) Crypto Marketplaces
Normally, buyers and sellers of bitcoin in Finland or anywhere meet anonymously via decentralized exchange. But, for example, if one wants to sell or buy bitcoins in Finland from a friend or a known contact, they can do it via P2P exchanges.
One of the most trusted and widely used P2P exchanges is the LocalBitcoins marketplace. Through LocalBitcoins, users can trade their crypto assets with sellers in their area and around the world using hundreds of supported payment methods. Another popular P2P crypto marketplace is Paxful.
As you can see, there is many ways to buy Bitcoin in Finland!
FAQs
How to buy Bitcoin in Finland?
Just pick one of the trading platforms and buy the chosen amount – it is really that simple. Finvesting recommends Binance, as it is the biggest and most popular platform on the world. Open free Binance account here and start trading Bitcoin!
Is Bitcoin legal in Finland?
Yes – It’s totally legal to buy and sell Bitcoins in Finland.
Should I buy bitcoin?
Maybe, maybe not – No one knows where it’s going! Make your own decision.