Your first bitcoin purchase

Two decisions matter and neither is about timing: how much, and in what order you do things. Getting the order wrong is what turns a small loss into a permanent one.

How much

• The only test worth applying: an amount whose complete loss would change nothing about your month. Not your year — your month. If the number makes you check the price before breakfast, it is too large.
• Do not borrow to buy, and do not use money you have already committed to something else. Bitcoin can fall 30% in a week; a loan repayment cannot wait for it to recover.
• Buying in several instalments rather than all at once removes the question of timing entirely. It does not improve your average price reliably — it removes the decision, which is worth more to most people than any average.

The order that matters

1. Learn how to withdraw before you buy. An exchange account you cannot leave is not ownership. Test the withdrawal with a small amount first — while it does not matter yet.
2. Set up the wallet and verify its backup before there is anything in it. Restoring from the phrase on an empty wallet costs nothing; discovering the backup was wrong afterwards costs everything.
3. Buy a small amount and move it out. This one round trip teaches more than any guide, and every mistake it reveals is cheap at this size.
4. Only then buy the amount you actually intended. By now every step is one you have already done once.
5. Write down what you paid and when. You will need it for tax, and reconstructing it years later across platforms that may no longer exist is the part people regret skipping.

Questions people ask