The decentralised nature of Bitcoin has been a real equaliser for Indians, who can now join global retail investors in investing and the currency of the future. This blog lays out how to buy Bitcoin in India.

The 21st of December, 2020, was a milestone in the history of Bitcoin as it reached an all-time high of $24,228.83. And it didn’t stop there — the global crypto community looked on with astonishment as the Bitcoin record rally continued. Yesterday, on the 9th of January, 2021, it topped $41,000. Early investors have been celebrating this steep ascent in the value of the world’s foremost cryptocurrency, and this has seen a rise in new interest too.

Today, many individuals are joining the cryptocurrency revolution and looking to invest in Bitcoin because of its promise of high returns.

The search volume from last month is a good indicator of public enthusiasm — on the 18th of December, 2020, the people looked up ‘How to buy Bitcoin in India?’ over 1,00,000 times.

The decentralised nature of Bitcoin has been a real equaliser for Indians, who can now join global retail investors in investing in this digital asset and the currency of the future.

If you are piqued by this phenomenon but don’t know where to start, this blog will give you a brief idea of what are cryptocurrencies: https://blog.unocoin.com/what-are-cryptocurrencies-9011af463484.

How to buy Bitcoin in India?

Buying bitcoin is fairly easy — you can purchase them from an exchange that deals in crypto assets like Unocoin, ZebPay or WazirX in India. But to ensure the safety of the transaction, you are required to register and submit some documents online. Here’s how you can set up an account with Unocoin, the leading crypto exchange in India:

• Download the Unocoin app on your smartphone.
• On opening the app, you will be asked to sign up. Fill in your email ID and set a password. You will then be asked to set a six-digit passcode that is required to enter the app and transact.
• After you’ve signed up, you will need to verify your profile. The verification process requires you to give your name, address and phone number. In addition, you have to upload pictures of your PAN card, Aadhaar card and a recent passport-sized photo of yourself.
• After you’ve given out the required details and submitted the photos of documents through the app, an agent from Unocoin might call you before your account is verified.
• Once your account is verified, you can buy and sell Bitcoin or any of the other five crypto assets that are supported by the app (bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ripple, ether, litecoin, USD Tether etc).

You’re all set! You can now get to the buying part with the following steps:

• Load your account with money from the bank. You can add money via a Net banking facility offered by your bank.
• You can also add money to your Unocoin wallet at the time of buying bitcoin.
• Once you enter the amount of Bitcoin you want to buy, a deposit order specifying the amount of money you need to transfer will be created.
• Go to your bank’s net banking facility and transfer the required amount to Unocoin’s bank account via IMPS/NEFT/RTGS transfer.
• Enter the reference number generated by the bank after the transfer of money against the deposit order in the Unocoin app. After validation of the transfer by Unocoin, the money will be added to your Unocoin wallet.
• After adding money to your Unocoin wallet, you can now buy Bitcoin. Transactions are processed in less than a few seconds and Bitcoin is added to your Bitcoin wallet maintained by Unocoin. You can also transfer these Bitcoins to another Bitcoin wallet outside Unocoin. Bitcoin can be bought any time, any day of the week on Unocoin.
• You can also buy other crypto assets (ether and USD Tether) with the money in your Unocoin wallet. Buying other crypto assets on Unocoin is no different from buying bitcoin and crypto-assets bought are stored in their respective wallets maintained by Unocoin.
• Unocoin also offers Unocoin Exchange for 30+ different coins and tokens including bitcoin which allows its customers to place bids and ask for orders similar to traders do on equity and commodity markets. Unocoin matches these orders with those of another customer as and when they are available.
• You can also withdraw money from your Unocoin wallet to transfer it back to your bank account.

If you are adding money to your Unocoin wallet through net banking, here’s how the different modes of fund transfer (NEFT/RTGS/IMPS) differ from each other:

• National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) — You can choose NEFT as the mode of payment when transferring funds to your Unocoin wallet. NEFT payments are processed in batches (every half an hour) during the bank’s working hours by the Central National Payments Corporation of India also known as NPCI (run by RBI). Thus, this facility is unavailable beyond bank working hours or on Sundays, 2nd and 4th Saturdays and public holidays. A nominal amount ranging from 0 or 2.5 rupees (for less than 10000 rupee transactions) to 25 rupees (more than 5 lakh rupee transactions) may be charged as service fee with added GST (Goods and Services Tax) by the bank. NEFT is suitable for low-to-mid value transfers that don’t have to be executed on priority. Banks have differing caps on the maximum amount that can be transferred using NEFT.
• Real-Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) — Transfers using this mode of payment are initiated as soon as the request is received. Recommended for large money transfers (available for amounts more than 2 lakh rupees). This service is also run by NPCI. This transfer is done by the RBI (Reserve Bank of India). Working hours are from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Saturdays.
• Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) — This service is also provided by the NPCI. Funds can be transferred any time any day of the week at very low charges (maximum of 3 rupees + GST) that the banks may levy. Transfers take place in real time. A maximum of 2 lakh rupees can be transferred in one transaction.

Transfers are validated by the Unocoin team in less than three to four hours, though on occasion, it might take up to twenty-four hours, due to a large number of transfers. If deposits are done in the evening or on the eve of bank holidays, it might take up to the next working day before the transfer is reflected in your Unocoin wallet balance.

If you have trouble depositing money in your Unocoin wallet, email [email protected] or call the customer number 7788978910 (7 a.m.-11 p.m., Mon-Sat). Other enquiries can also be directed to the email ID or the customer care number. Any requests for changes in transactions can also be sought through these channels before being carried out by Unocoin. For more on how to buy Bitcoins, visit Unocoin. You can also have a look at FAQs here.

We hope that this blog has helped you understand more about Bitcoin transactions and purchases. Feel free to look through our other blogs to delve into the world of decentralised money!