Discover the best mobile payment apps. Apps are the quickest and most convenient way to buy or sell Bitcoin. Read our guide covering the top 10 payment apps.
Introduction
Payment apps are the easiest and quickest way to buy or sell bitcoin and directly convert it into fiat currencies or vice versa.
Most payment apps are very similar in use and functionality; however, some are more aligned with the Bitcoin ecosystem and focused on applying certain standards — such as Strike using the Lightning Network for fast and secure payments, or Relai, offering a non-custodial wallet and a no-KYC policy.
A bitcoin payment app allows users to pay with bitcoin and businesses to accept bitcoin payments for goods and services. Bitcoin payments usually happen through gateways that automatically convert bitcoin into fiat currencies.
Payment apps are mostly like traditional digital payments with lower fees. If users also want to trade bitcoin, they’ll have to sign up for a Bitcoin exchange that offers a better range of trading services.
Note: Bitcoin-only exchanges, P2P bitcoin platforms and exchanges that publish their proof of reserves are usually regarded as being safer to use. However, the best you can do to protect your bitcoin is to move it out of the exchanges as soon as your trade is executed and store it safely in your wallet with your private key.
Best Apps To Buy Bitcoin
1. Strike is a payment app similar to PayPal or Cash App, with the main difference being the payment network used. While the most popular apps use traditional systems like SWIFT, Strike uses Bitcoin and the Lightning Network to secure payments. Launched in 2020, the app is currently only available in the U.S. and El Salvador but will soon be rolled out in Europe with the aim to expand it to the rest of the world as a global transaction and remittance service that needs no intermediary to function.
2. Cash App is a peer-to-peer payment system that allows users to purchase and sell bitcoin and stocks. Unlike Robinhood, the platform enables investors to transfer bitcoin to their wallet, although withdrawals are limited to $2,000 daily or $5,000 within any seven days. Cash App sets a fee depending on price volatility and market trading volume, which is disclosed at the time of purchase.
3. BitPay: As one of the first bitcoin payment systems launched in 2011, BitPay is still a popular option for merchants and customers. Users can download the app and have access to a crypto debit card, wallet and web browser extension. You can buy or sell bitcoin with the app and use it for online retailers through the Chrome extension. They have a 1% flat transaction fee applied to all businesses.
4. Relai is based in Switzerland and is Europe’s most accessible bitcoin-only investment app. It enables instant bitcoin purchases with no deposit, registration or strict KYC procedure. The Relai app only provides non-custodial wallets, meaning its customers maintain control of their private keys at all times.
5. Peach is a peer-to-peer mobile app that allows customers to buy and sell bitcoin. The service is still in beta mode, and there’s a waiting list to join it; however, it is one of the few Bitcoin P2P marketplaces on a mobile application for the European market.
6. River is a U.S.-based, bitcoin-only custodial exchange that claims to be very easy and secure to use while offering plenty of good educational material to understand Bitcoin.
River charges fees based on how much bitcoin you buy, starting from 1.20% but offers no fees for recurring buys. River stores all bitcoin offline in secure cold storage and also offers customers to buy bitcoin miners.
7. Swan is River’s main competitor in the USA and claims to be the most secure platform to buy bitcoin. Swan provides similar services to River, with the main difference being the fees: Swan’s are 0.99% while River’s start at 1.2%. They offer recurring daily, weekly or monthly purchases, which they make enticing due to a very competitive USD/BTC conversion rate.
8. Revolut was one of the first European fintech apps to offer cryptocurrency trading, although with a temporary license. In 2022 it won full authorization to provide its cryptocurrency services across Europe and the U.K. The app is straightforward to use and supports the trading of cryptocurrencies at competitive exchange rates, having access to the largest liquidity pool in Europe. Its metal customers in the U.K. can also transfer bitcoin to their private wallets.
9. Pocket is a young company and so far available in some European countries. It enables you to stack satoshis by setting up recurring payments from your bank account directly to your preferred wallet. Each payment will be automatically exchanged to bitcoin and paid out on the date you set.
10. Amber enables multiple ways of automating your Bitcoin transactions, such as buying when Michael Saylor buys or when Peter Schiff tweets about Bitcoin. They offer a number of such clever solutions, affording customers the ability to create a plan and leave it to the app to execute. Amber charges basic members 0.99% fees on Bitcoin transactions, while holders of a premium account are not charged any fees. Bitcoin is stored in cold storage in a collaborative multi-signature set up with Unchained Capital for custodial wallets.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Which is the safest app for Bitcoin?
The safest Bitcoin app is a service that allows you to move your bitcoin off the platform to a private hardware wallet. Only you must have access to that wallet and hold the private key.
What is the best Bitcoin app for beginners?
General-purpose apps like Revolut or Cash App are usually good for onboarding beginners at their first experience with purchasing bitcoin. Relai, a bitcoin-only app, is also a very straightforward app with low fees.
Where is the best place to buy Bitcoin?
Bitcoin Magazine always recommends decentralized P2P exchanges or bitcoin-only exchanges, but ultimately the best you can do to secure your assets is to move them out of exchanges right after the purchase.
Is Paypal a good option to buy Bitcoin?
PayPal launched its crypto service in late 2020, offering customers the ability to buy, hold and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Although they provide the option to buy Bitcoin, there are far better options available to buy and then secure your BTC.
Summary:
We’ve come a long way from Mt. Gox being the only reputable exchange in the market. Today, we experience the creation of new exchanges on a regular basis, even though some are perhaps too large.
The dramatic events of 2022, with the collapse of giant crypto services like FTX and Celsius, will teach everyone the most important lesson of all: move your coins out of exchanges and always self-custody after purchase.
Especially for considerable amounts, bitcoin should only be stored in hardware wallets or multisig noncustodial wallets. Services with a single point of failure (centralized) are always at risk of losing your assets, as has happened multiple times in the short history of cryptocurrencies.
