Where to buy bitcoin, how and when

The best ways to buy bitcoin in the UK (and elsewhere). Special Report

Today we consider bitcoin - how, where and when to buy it.

I wrote the first (and many say the best - who am I to disagree?) book on bitcoin from a recognised publisher back in 2014. So I know a thing or two about it.

“A great account. Read and glimpse into the future,” said Richard Branson. Though it’s not clear he actually read it.

Bitcoin seems to go through four phases with every cycle.

1. There’s the Quiet Accumulation. Few outside of the bubble of ardent bitcoiners take notice, as it discreetly creeps up. 

2. The Frenzy and Blow-Off Top. The price rises accelerate. There is a rush to buy. The media is all over it. Everyone on social media is crowing. There’s a huge row about whether bitcoin is in a bubble or not. I get invited onto the BBC to talk about it. You get a phonecall from your mate’s nan asking how to buy it. Dean from up the flats starts holding court in the cafe about irresponsible monetary policy at the Federal Reserve. Bitcoin has one of its blow-off tops. See 2013, 2016 and 2021 for more details.

3. The Monster Correction. Bitcoin loses over 50% of its value. Economists who missed the boat go on telly and declare they were right, ignoring the fact that the price to which bitcoin corrected to is several hundred percent above where the quiet accumulation phase began. Earlier in bitcoin’s evolution these corrections could be 90% or more. Now they have “scaled back” to more like 60%.

4. The Frustrating Consolidation. Bitcoin goes into a period of range trading, consolidating the gains of the previous bull market. This is a period of relative quiet, at least by bitcoin standards. There are rallies that get many excited, but prove to be false dawns. Investors get frustrated by the grinding action. The media loses interest. Many forget about it, and so we gradually drift into another Quiet Accumulation phase.

Last year saw a Monster Correction (actually two), during which bitcoin lost over 50% of its value, twice going from north of $60,000 back to around $30,000.

Compared to the noise of last year, few are talking about bitcoin today. It quietly crept up from its lows around $30,000 to $47,000 today and now sits around $40,000 as I write. I would say we are either in stage 4 - Frustrating Consolidation - or back in stage 1 - the Quiet Accumulation. In other words, we are entering a new cycle.

If you already own, this weakness might be a good time to add to your positions. You can never own enough bitcoin in a bull market.

If you missed the boat last time around, now might be your chance.

Bitcoin should make up a core part of your investment portfolio. Never mind the noise, the doubts, the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt), the “but I don’t understand how it works”, bitcoin is the money of the future. In fact, it’s the money of the present. Own a share of the pie - it is in limited supply.

The best time to accumulate is while nobody cares - during the Frustrating Consolidation or the Quiet Accumulation, whichever it is we are in.

EDIT: June 14. It looks like we are back in the Monster Correction phase.

Next we cover the how and where.

Here are the best ways to buy bitcoin.