Buy Bitcoin in China

Buying Bitcoin in China: A Step by Step Guide for 2023

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 Buy Bitcoin in China in 5 Steps:

  • Choose a Payment Method
  • Register at Paxful
  • Choose a Bitcoin Seller
  • Send a Bitcoin Trade Request
  • Make a Payment
  • Check Your Bitcoin Wallet

1. Choose a Payment Method

Can I buy Bitcoins in China with CNY? Yes, you can. First, you need to have a way to pay electronically for the Bitcoins, be it bank transfer, Alipay, or WeChat wallet. If you want to use WeChat Wallet, but don’t know how to set that up, check my guide on How to use WeChat Pay.

2. Register at Local Bitcoins

Next, you can ​go to Paxful and check the listings. Just a quick note: If you’re in mainland China, you’re going to need a VPN to register. There is a captcha on the sign-in page you can't check without one. Check out my guide on the Best VPN for China

paxful

Update May 2023: Local Bitcoins is no longer in service when it comes to buying BTC in China. At this time the best choices is to buy Bitcoin with Alipay or WeChat Pay on Paxful. See details below.

After you register and verify your email, you’ll see “Quick Buy” selected at the top of the main page. Change the currency to in the box to CNY. Now you’ll see all the people (in the Mainland (CN Country), Hong Kong, or neighboring countries) who want to sell. In the middle column, you can see what kind of payment they accept:

Choose Currency

bitcoin buying currency

You’ll find that if you purchase larger amounts, say over 10,000 RMB worth, you’ll get better rates. I recommend testing it out first by buying and transferring about 500 RMB, just to build your confidence.

Different Regions, Different Rates

Go here to check the Bitcoin price in China. Some people get worried when they see how much they’re paying over the market rate on Bitcoin while using this platform. Take notice that every region has a different rate. To see China’s rate, run a search on Google, “BTC to CNY”.

You’ll notice that all of the prices on Local Bitcoins are much higher than that. To get some perspective, you must also look at the rates on the sellers’ page. You’ll find that they’re not only are people selling at well above the market rate, they’re also buying back at higher prices.

If you want to check the price of 1 BTC to CNY, click here and change the drop down menu.

3. Choose a Seller

After deciding on a Bitcoin seller and making sure you have a way to pay them, make sure that you check their ratings. By clicking on the name of a trader, you can take a look at their history and how many coins they’ve traded. Everyone you do business with should have a 100% feedback rating before you buy:

bitcoin buyers feedback score

Now that you're confident the seller is trustworthy, go back to the previous page and click the “Buy” button at the end of the row. 

hit the "buy" button

Decide on How Much You Want to Buy

Enter how much money you want to spend on Bitcoin into the CNY field.

how much you want to buy
How Much is One Bitcoin?

Some people in China ask, "How much to buy a Bitcoin?" The answer is: How much do you want to spend? You can buy ANY amount of Bitcoin, even $5 worth. Many people are scared away by the prospect of buying when they see the price of one coin and think, “I can’t afford that.” You don’t have to buy a whole coin! You can buy any fraction. If you want to, you can buy 300 RMB worth! 

4. Send Trade Request

After you hit the “Send trade request" button to buy, a notification will be sent to the seller that someone wants to buy. In the next window, the seller will provide payment details. Each time they send you a message, you should get a email directed to the address you used to register.

It’s time to pay the seller. If you want to use WeChat Pay, you can add their ID into the contacts field and hit transfer to send the CNY. If you're paying via Alipay, you need to tap the "Transfer Button, then "To Alipay Account." Then, enter the sellers's details:

use wechat
use alipay

5. Make a Payment

As soon as you’ve made the transfer and the seller accepts it, make sure you hit the button on the site to report that the seller has received payment. At that point, the seller is obligated to release the Bitcoin to your account.

After the seller releases, and you see your Bitcoin number in the upper right, make sure to thank them. Give them a trusted ranking. If you’ve had difficulty with any of these steps, either leave a comment below, or send me a message for help. I’m happy to help.

Sometimes after receiving your coins, the wallet in the upper right won't automatically update. If you refresh the screen, it should show your correct balance.

Part 2: Sending Bitcoin Home

I've been using Bitcoin to transfer money out of China for a while now. These steps will differ depending on your country of residence. I am an American, so what I tend to do is send the money back to my Coinbase account connected to my U.S. Bank Account.

But you don’t have to. You can also simply turn around and sell your bitcoin for the currency of your choice through any of the other payment methods included in the LocalBitcoins drop-down menu.

Don't Use Paypal

I DON’T recommend selling through Paypal. It’s too easy for someone to ask for a chargeback and scam you out of the money while keeping your Bitcoin. Transferring to Coinbase and selling is much safer.

Sending Money to Your Coinbase Account

If you decide to open an account at Coinbase, make sure you follow the necessary procedures described on the site to secure your account. After signing up, it will take a few days before the service is available for use. Here is my referral link to get established at Coinbase:

coinbase

On the Coinbase main page, you’ll see in the upper right a link that says “Get bitcoin address.” You can copy/paste that long string of letters and numbers back into your “Receiving Bitcoins Address” on LocalBitcoins.com.

After clicking the blue button that reads, “Continue,” you’ll get an email notification if the transfer is successful.

After the money is in your Coinbase account, you can either sell it or hold it as an investment by transferring the coin into your Bitcoin vault.

Part 3: Sell Bitcoin - BTC to RMB

Let’s say you’re running low on the cash you need for food other utilities while in China. You can easily buy Bitcoins with a credit card (Check my list of reputable sellers below), transfer the Bitcoin to Local Bitcoins.com and then sell it for RMB to Chinese buyers. Converting BTC to RMB on Local Bitcoins.com is about as simple as buying it.

Here I will explain how to transfer value from Bitcoin to WeChat, or Bitcoin to Alipay.

If you’re already registered on the site, you can hit “Quick Sell” at the top of the main page. After selecting China and RMB, you can take a look at the listings below until you find a rate and a payment system you agree to.

Click "Quick Sell"
selling bitcoin

Click “Sell” and you’ll find a similar menu to the buy one you’ve seen before. Enter the amount of money in Bitcoins and then click the green button. You can send them your contact information, whether you want the buyer to send you payment through WeChat Pay or Alipay.

Quick Sell Currency
selling

After the money is confirmed in your account, all you have to do is hit “Release Bitcoins,” and the money in your LocalBitcoins wallet will be transferred to their account. Give them a trusted rating.

This should be all the information you need to make use of Bitcoin as a foreigner in China. If there are any other details you feel I should clarify or add, please leave a comment below.

Top Chinese Bitcoin Exchanges are Closed

You might have heard in the news, as of 2017, all of the largest private Bitcoin exchanges in China were banned by the Chinese government. The China BTC exchange list included places like OkCoin, Huobi, and BTC China. Not only are there limited ways to do China Bitcoin trades or cryptocurrency trading, mining operations were also closed. Trading essentially can't be done on Chinese platforms in China.

If Chinese buyers want to do Cryptocurrency trading they are forced to go to outside companies or adopt person to person methods. No one knows if a Chinese Bitcoin exchange will reopen in the near future.

This was mostly to crack down on fraud involving ICOs. Since then, the trading of cryptocurrency has come to a halt online. Luckily, there are other ways to acquire cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin if you want them.

It’s important to keep in mind that buying and transferring Bitcoin from individual users is not illegal. Though every China Crypto Exchange has been closed, P2P platforms are still available and useful for acquiring digital assets.

Where to Buy Bitcoins Mining Equipment in China

There are no ASIC miners that I could find on Taobao, so I believe that if you want to get your hands on this kind of equipment, you'll have to order it directly from manufacturers on Alibaba. Read my article for more insights on the endeavor of mining in China

Coinbase in China

If you're wondering how to buy Bitcoins on Coinbase in China, you can't. Coinbase is not available in China. They have also introduced regulations in the US that will make your Coinbase restricted if you do not verify your identity with a state ID of some kind. This is why I advise setting up an account before moving to China, so that you still have a valid ID to access your wallet addresses. 

Can Coinbase be trusted? I wouldn't use their website as a wallet. As a way of exchanging fiat for digital currencies and making bank deposits, I find their services suitable. Remember that if you don't have the keys, you don't own it. 

Paxful Wallet

Buy Paxful Bitcoin instead of using major platforms Local Bitcoins. Paxful is another popular option with high support in Japan to buy if you have trouble accessing LocalBitcoins. The steps you follow and the process to buy and sell in China are the same as those described above.

First you find someone that is making offers in China, make an order. When you send them the funds to buy, they transfer the assets to your accounts. Like LBC, Paxful has suitable security with 2-factor authentication. This is a good way to protect personal information. After setting the authentication with an app, you’ll use a special code to get access.

I recommend liking their pages on facebook to find other Bitcoin customers to buy and trade with. You can read updates about which places are holding trades in the world.

Bitcoin is Unstable

Investing in Bitcoin is highly risky and speculative, and this article is not a recommendation by Based Bachelor to invest in Bitcoin. Since each individual's situation is unique, a qualified professional should always be consulted before making any financial decisions. Based Bachelor makes no representations or warranties as to the accuracy or timeliness of the information contained herein.

Is Buying Bitcoin in China Legal?

While buying bitcoin is essentially legal in China, it is not to be used as a currency. It is not recognized as legal tender, nor does it have the same safety features that protect people from fraud with the Chinese Yuan. So while trading platforms and exchanges have been banned, it is legal for individual citizens to own Bitcoin and must be done on a peer-to-peer basis. 

For more information on this topic, click here.

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