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Can You Buy Half a Bitcoin 2023
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Sinead Burgess
When Bitcoin (BTC) was released back in 2009, there weren’t any options to buy bitcoins in any fractions or smaller amounts. Only a single Bitcoin token was available for purchase on the limited cryptocurrency exchange market.
The main reason for this was that the price of Bitcoin was insignificant to the store of value it holds today and you could even get a full Bitcoin for free through faucets and airdrops.
Of course, all of this started to change after a short period of time as the popularity and value of Bitcoin began to grow. The massive popularity that Bitcoin achieved influenced many users to start investing in crypto and, with that, there was suddenly the need for users to buy a fraction of a Bitcoin in order to use it as an everyday payment method once its value reached well into the thousands.
In our guide, we’ll discuss Bitcoin’s smaller fractions, where to buy them, and finally, how to store them in a secure place. Let’s get started!
Is Bitcoin Divisible?
In the beginning, things were not so readily available. The first Bitcoin to fiat transaction was conducted in October 2009 where the first crypto exchange website, called New Liberty Standard, purchased 50.50 BTC through PayPal for the value of $5.02. After a few years, following massive Bitcoin adoption and price increase, cryptocurrency platforms started offering users the option to purchase Bitcoin in fractions.
Bitcoin’s smallest amount is called a satoshi – named in honour of its creator. A satoshi is a one hundred millionth part of a whole Bitcoin or 0.0000001 BTC. One Bitcoin is equal to a hundred million satoshis.
The total amount of Bitcoin is limited to 21 million coins and, according to the calculations within the 10-minute interval for mining a single BTC, this threshold will be reached in the year 2140. To combat inflation and to prolong its shelf life, one of the functions that Bitcoin can easily perform is divisibility. By design, the Bitcoin network protocol can handle an almost infinite number of transactions and that’s credited to the divisibility of the asset.
Divisibility is one of the main characteristics of any type of currency. This is the process of breaking down money into smaller units. For example, if users want to purchase a part of a US dollar, they could get their hands on 25 cents and they would own ¼ of a dollar.
The same goes for Bitcoin. As an example, we can say that one BTC can be broken down into 100,000,000 satoshis. 21 million whole BTC coins can be converted into satoshis and the Bitcoin network has room for upgrades for handling even more divisions.
What Is the Smallest Amount of Bitcoin You Can Buy?
In the beginning, users could purchase only a whole Bitcoin. As time went on and the value and price of Bitcoin rose, cryptocurrency exchanges began to adapt and started offering lower amounts of Bitcoin or fractions of a Bitcoin for users to purchase.
The minimum amount of Bitcoin that users can buy nowadays depends on the cryptocurrency exchange used and the current price of Bitcoin. Different platforms offer different minimal amounts but most of them allow the minimum deposit of $10 for a Bitcoin purchase.
If you’re a first-time crypto user, you might opt for purchasing the minimal amount just to get the feel of the market, but you should keep in mind the applied transaction fees. It’s not worthwhile to start off with such a small sum because when you calculate the deposit and withdrawal fees, you’ll be left with approximately $2 worth of Bitcoin from your initial $10 deposit.
Alternatively, you can look up Bitcoin faucets that reward users with satoshis for participating in daily activities like completing captchas, watching videos, etc.
How to Buy BTC on Cryptocurrency Exchanges?
Users can choose many marketplaces or Bitcoin exchanges for the purchase of Bitcoin but the most efficient way is through the numerous cryptocurrency exchanges now in existence. Each cryptocurrency exchange offers its own minimum deposit and withdrawal, as well as different transaction fees.
Some cryptocurrency exchanges accept fiat deposits or crypto-to-fiat purchases while others accept only crypto-to-crypto conversions or pairing. Users can create accounts on these crypto exchanges and these accounts vary based on the information the user has provided. Some exchanges impose daily transaction limits depending on how many credentials the user has provided. The more transparent you are as a user, the more features and fewer limits you will have to endure for crypto trading.
Features like debit card and credit card purchases are also present on some crypto exchanges, along with ACH transfers, wire transfers, or simply cash transactions through Bitcoin ATMs.
All of these deposits, transfers, withdrawals, or pretty much any type of account movement incur their own fees along with a blockchain fee that is paid to miners for transaction verification.
Most exchanges don’t utilize deposit fees as a way to thank the user for choosing their platform for conducting business but withdrawal fees are almost always utilized.
How to Store Your Bitcoins
You can store your bitcoins in crypto wallets, which are digital wallets designed to keep your digital currency safe, be it bitcoin or an altcoin. These wallets keep private keys used to access your crypto in order to conduct transactions. Your crypto isn’t stored on the wallet itself – it’s stored live on the blockchain. But without the private keys, the crypto is inaccessible.
The safest wallets for storing any type of crypto are hardware wallets. Hardware wallets are offline, cold storage wallets that users can use for the maximum protection of their digital assets. The primary function of a hardware wallet is to keep the stored crypto safe from any external threats. The only way users can lose crypto in a hardware wallet is by forgetting their private keys, or if their wallet gets stolen, though there are solutions for that.
Hardware wallets are more expensive than software wallets – the latter are often free. However, when you consider that some of the best hardware wallets don’t cost more than 60 dollars, you’ll realize that they’re not that big of an investment, especially considering that you’re essentially investing in maximum safety for your assets.
Some hardware wallets feature apps users can install on them and use to purchase and sell crypto directly through them. They can be connected to a PC through a USB port and linked to an exchange. They also include a variety of safety factors, such as two-factor authentication, mnemonic seed phrases for backup in case of damage and theft, and additional PIN numbers for access.
Now that we have the question of bitcoin storage out of the time, it’s time to touch on the ways users can purchase crypto in both big and small amounts on different cryptocurrency exchanges.
The Best Crypto Platforms Where You Can Buy Half a Bitcoin
Robinhood
Robinhood is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. Robinhood was originally a stock trading exchange but, after cryptocurrencies emerged, they added them to their roster and users can now purchase small amounts of BTC, as low as 0.000001 BTC.
The best thing about Robinhood is that there are no commission fees, which is rather welcoming for new users.
LocalBitcoins
LocalBitcoins is a Finnish cryptocurrency exchange that offers users the opportunity to purchase as little as 0.4 BTC. This is barely half a Bitcoin, but they make up for their lack of Bitcoin fractions by eliminating withdrawal fees.
On LocalBitcoins, there is a fixed 1% deposit fee as well as a network fee for withdrawing BTC that is very cheap and affordable, though it depends on the amounts withdrawn.
Kraken
Kraken is a popular cryptocurrency exchange that’s been around for more than 10 years. They offer a minimum purchase of 0.001 BTC and have an intricate fee and minimum deposit system. For a bank account withdrawal, there is a $5 withdrawal minimum and for Bitcoin, there is a 0.0005 BTC withdrawal minimum.
eToro
eToro is a crypto exchange that requires a $50 minimum deposit for the initial account deposit, which means the lowest amount of Bitcoin that’s available for purchase has to be above $50. This roughly amounts to 0.012BTC (at the time of writing this article) but for bank account withdrawals, there is a $500 minimum.
Their fees include a fixed $5 withdrawal fee as well as other fees for spread and deposit depending on the amount of crypto.
Binance
Binance, often deemed the world’s best cryptocurrency exchange, offers Bitcoin at the lowest purchasable amount of $10. If you want to purchase or trade Bitcoin, you must respect the $10 minimum. The fees you incur on transactions can vary depending on the payment methods you’re using and range from 0.1% to 5%.
Coinbase
Coinbase is one of the most versatile cryptocurrency exchanges and offers users to start trading crypto at a low amount of $2. The fees on Coinbase are layered and connected with their Coinbase Pro platform but the regular fees include free ACH transfers and different percentages for different payment methods. Their fees are more expensive compared to other exchanges but their minimum deposit for purchasing crypto is one of the lowest in the industry.
Bitcoin ATMs
Bitcoin AMTs function like regular ATMs but can be used to purchase crypto with fiat. Users just need to put their card inside and they can select the amount of crypto they wish to buy. You can buy any amount of crypto on Bitcoin ATMs, but their daily limits are between $1,000 – $10,000 depending on the ATM and its location.
Bitcoin ATMs are a great way for quick and easy Bitcoin purchases but their fees are one of the highest in the whole crypto market. Typically, Bitcoin ATMs charge between a 7% and a 12% fee for a crypto transaction. That means if you bought $100 worth of crypto, you will incur a $12 dollar fee and 88$ worth of crypto will be transferred to your wallet.
A Few Words Before You Go…
Today we’ve covered Bitcoin’s divisibility and its smallest fractions available for purchase. Along with that information, we’ve provided you with a guide on how to make your first purchase on some of the best exchanges out there as well as on how to store your newly purchased bitcoins for maximum asset security. We hope that, with this newfound knowledge, you can freely explore the world of fractioned cryptocurrencies.