How to buy bitcoin on Gemini
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How to buy bitcoin on Gemini?
Gemini is a crypto exchange that allows trading bitcoin (BTC). It actually also allows trading several other crypto assets, which can be bought and sold also for US dollars (USD).
Indeed, it is an American exchange, managed by a New York company regulated by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYSDFS). This means that the exchange is in fact subject to, for example, capital requirements, IT security requirements and banking compliance standards established by the NYSDFS and New York Banking Law. In addition, Gemini is also a trusted company and a qualified custody service provider.
Although it is not among the world’s very first exchanges in terms of trading volumes, it is still among the top 15, and the third-largest in the United States, after Coinbase and Kraken.
Its peculiarities, besides being one of the very few exchanges in the world regulated by the NYSDFS, are the issuance of the GUSD stablecoin collateralized in US dollars, and the fact that it was founded by the famous Winklevoss twins.
Buying bitcoin on Gemini
On Gemini, it is possible to buy and sell bitcoin in different currencies, and not only in US dollars. However, it must be said that almost half of the trades on the exchange take place via the BTC/USD pair, followed in these days by FIL/USD. The third most traded pair in the last 24 hours, ZEC/BTC, has a volume almost eight times lower than the first.
Nevertheless, BTC is also tradable in USD and ZEC as well as ETH, LTC, BCH, LINK, DAI, BAT and OXT.
Assuming one wishes to buy bitcoin with US dollars, the procedure is the following.
The first thing to do is to register and set up an account. There are two types of accounts, one for private citizens and one for companies and institutions.
In addition to the name, email and password, Gemini also requires a mobile phone number, so that it can send a code for security confirmation, and in some cases also requires a social security number and date of birth.
After providing this information, it is necessary to accept the user contract, the privacy policy, the API contract and the market data contract.
These steps, such as identity verification, are necessary precisely because the exchange is regulated. This certainly brings some advantages, but also a certain degree of complexity in the registration procedure.
In fact, in order to complete the registration process, it is also necessary to send an ID with photos to verify one’s identity.
After completing the registration, configuration and account verification, it is necessary to connect to a bank account in order to purchase BTC in USD.
To do this Gemini uses Plaid, which is the API of the technical infrastructure for accessing consumers’ bank accounts also used for example by Venmo and American Express. The information exchanged via Plaid is encrypted end-to-end and bank details are not visible to third parties.
The process of connecting to the account via Plaid is not particularly slow or complex, and once finished it allows depositing dollars from the bank account to the Gemini exchange account.
This procedure, after connecting the account with Plaid, is quite simple, although it can take up to a couple of days before the transaction is completed.
As soon as the funds are effectively received by the exchange, they are immediately available to the user.
Once the funds are available, the user can start trading on the platform. For example, in order to buy bitcoin, it is sufficient to select the cryptocurrency and then click on the “Buy” button.
It is possible to buy, sell or create alerts. It is also possible to perform these transactions individually, and manually, or set up automatic recurring purchases on a daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly basis.
The single purchase is very easy and fast, while for the recurring purchase the procedure is slightly more elaborate, as the frequency must also be set.
Once confirmed, the purchase is made virtually instantaneously, as is any sale, at the market price at that time. Alternatively, it is possible to set custom purchase or sale prices, but in this case, there is no guarantee that the order can be executed immediately.
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