SIMPLE BITCOIN BEGINNERS GUIDE

[jgm63]

Written Nov 2019.

I can't advise how "safe" this guide is in terms of your anonymity.
Bitcoin can be more or less anonymous depending on how it's used.
Some approaches are discussed which may improve anonymity, but no guarantees can be given.
There are various analytic methods that may link bitcoin addresses with people, so it may be wise to assume non-anonymity.
You therefore have to weigh up the risks by considering local laws, researching what happened in other cases, etc.
You can try to improve anonymity (discussed below), but should assume you might not be anonymous, and consider the possible outcomes.

There are "safer" ways to use bitcoin than those in this guide, but they tend to require more effort (sometimes prohibitively so for some people).
This guide is for people who want something simple and easy, and are willing to accept the calculated risk (discussed above).

The exact buttons / button names, etc, on websites / programs, may change over time, so you may not be able to follow this guide "to the letter", and may have to "read between the lines".

This guide is based on using "coinbase". An alternative would be to buy bitcoins on "LocalCoinSwap", which can improve anonymity, however some people might find that to be too involved. "LocalBitcoins" was previously another option, but now requires personal ID. If "LocalCoinSwap" does the same, then it may cease to be a worthwhile alternative.


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Create a coinbase account
============================
This account won't be anonymous.
It will be created in your name. You'll need to upload ID photos, eg :
1) front of driving licence
2) rear of driving licence
You'll also have to give a phone number which can receive text messages (for authentication codes).
There may be a time lag while your ID is verified, although it can be near instant.


============================
Buy bitcoin
============================
Before we can send bitcoin to a seller, we must first buy it.

Login to coinbase and use the "Trade" button (top right corner)

Because bitcoin has transfer fees, you should add 2% on to the amount you are buying.
The 2% figure is just a "guess" since I haven't researched the fees in detail (you may be able to get away with a smaller amount).
e.g. If the seller asks you to send 200 USD worth of bitcoin, then buy 204 USD worth,
or if the seller asks you to send 0.1 bitcoin, then buy 0.102 bitcoin

You can enter the amount in your currency, such as GBP or USD etc.
Alternatively you can click the "BTC" button on the right, and enter a bitcoin amount.
In this case, it will usually be less than 1, since 1 BTC is about 7000 USD (at time of writing - it constantly changes), so check you have a zero, then a decimal point, eg "0.1", which would be about 700 USD at time of writing.

note : *Don't* buy "Bitcoin Cash" (BCH), you want "Bitcoin" (BTC)

Once you've entered the amount, click "Preview purchase".
Check everything seems okay, then click "Buy now".
Once the payment goes through you should see a "purchase successful" page.

There may be limits on how many bitcoin you can buy per week, so in some cases you might have to buy some, wait, then buy some more.

============================
Bitcoin addresses
============================
A "bitcoin address" is essentially the same idea as a bank account number, except it consists of letters and numbers, and is much longer.
e.g. an address looks something like : bc1qar0srrr7xfkvy5l643lydnw9re59gtzzwf5mdq
You should use copy/paste where possible (typing manually will be tiresome).
"Address" will be used to mean "bitcoin address" in the rest of this document.

When buying from a seller, you'll need to ask them the address they want the payment sent to.

*IMPORTANT* Ask the seller if they can create a brand new address exclusively for the payment you are making. "Clued up" sellers often do this already, so don't be shy to ask as it shouldn't be difficult to do. This improves anonymity.

It will also help if the seller has a good awareness of privacy, and performs some type of "coin mixing", or uses "wasabi wallet" and the "CoinJoin" feature, etc, so this could be a criteria in choosing who to buy from if multiple sellers were available.

============================
Method and anonymity
============================
Method 1 is simpler, but less anonymous.
Method 2 is better (more anonymous), but slightly more complex, and people who aren't good with technology may struggle a bit.
For both methods, anonymity is improved if the seller creates a new address exclusively for your payment (as mentioned above).
If you use method 1, and the seller doesn't create a new address, then that's the least anonymous case.
The highest anonymity (in terms of this guide), would be method 2, plus a "CoinJoin", plus the seller creating a new address.

=====================================
METHOD 1 ( SIMPLE, LESS ANONYMOUS )
=====================================
For this method, we send from your coinbase account straight to the seller's receiving address.
As mentioned, anonymity is improved if the seller creates a new address exclusively for your payment (see "Bitcoin addresses" above).

Login to coinbase and go to the main page (click "coinbase", top left corner).
Scroll down to the "Your Portfolio" section.
Click on "Bitcoin".
Click the "Send" button (right hand side)
Enter the seller's bitcoin address in the "recipient" box

There are 2 amount boxes you can click in
Click the left box to state the amount in your currency, such as GBP or USD etc.
or click the right box to state the amount in bitcoin.
If you find you don't have enough, then you may need to return to the "buy bitcoin" step earlier.

Click continue
A verification code will be texted to your phone, which you'll need to enter in the relevant box
Click "Confirm"
You should see a "send complete" message.
Go back to the main page (click "coinbase", top left corner).
Scroll down to "Recent activity" (bottom right)
Click on the "Sent Bitcoin" item
Click "View transaction"
This should open a webpage in a new tab, showing details of the transaction
That page provides proof that the money was sent, so you should keep a note of the URL.

==========================================================
METHOD 2 ( MORE ANONYMOUS BUT SLIGHTLY MORE COMPLEX )
==========================================================
This method is intended for more technology literate people.
Due to writing time constraints it is described in outline only.
You will therefore have to do some legwork/research in figuring out how to use wasabi wallet.

For this method, we create a new bitcoin address in your own wallet.
This new address is not explicitly linked to your id, so could potentially belong to anyone.
We then send from your coinbase account to the new bitcoin address, and then from there, onto to the seller's receiving address.
So we have sent from coinbase (which is linked to your id), to "some address" that is not explicitly linked to any particular id, to the seller's address.

The steps are :

Download and install "Wasabi wallet", then run it.
Create a wallet
Make sure you safely record the "mnemonic words" and your password. If you lose those, you risk losing your money.
Generate a receive address
Send money from coinbase to the wasabi wallet receive address, by following the "METHOD 1" steps, but using the wasabi receive address instead of the seller's address.

To improve anonymity, you could do a "CoinJoin" within wasabi wallet.
Note, however, that this requires a minimum amount of money ( currently about 0.1 bitcoin, which is around 700 USD at time of writing ). It also takes time, eg 1 or 2 hours.

As mentioned, anonymity is also improved if the seller creates a new address exclusively for your payment (see "Bitcoin addresses" above).

Send money from wasabi wallet to the seller's bitcoin address.
In the "History" tab, you should see the transaction id.

You should be able to lookup that transaction id at https://www.blockchain.com/explorer
( enter the id in the search box, and click "Search" ), providing proof that the money was sent.

 

[realjunes]

This is an excellent piece of work, jgm63. I feel like I have a chance of understanding when my brain would otherwise say "REJECT". I will paste this into my word processor, print it out, and then work on it step by step, as soon as I figure out what to buy. Thanks for your work here.

 

[jgm63]

The guide above in its current form is probably not really secure enough for dark net use.
If you're intending to buy on the dark net then you should buy XMR (monero) to anonymise.
I might add a post to cover that in a few days time... (no promises)

 

[Sensei]

Great job. Very pedagogical. Thanks.

 

[jgm63]

To further increase anonymity, you should use monero (XMR).
I intend to write a guide for this.
But the general idea is something like :

1 Setup a coinbase account and buy BTC on coinbase
2 Setup a bitcoin wallet, eg wasabi or electrum (optional, but good idea)
3 If you carried out step 2, then transfer BTC from coinbase to bitcoin wallet

4 Setup an XMR wallet using "mymonero" (There are more "ideal" ways to create XMR wallets but they are more complex and it takes a long time for the synchronise process to complete)

5 Use morphtoken to buy XMR using BTC :
> send BTC to morphtoken from coinbase (or from your BTC wallet if you set one up)
> morphtoken will send XMR to your XMR wallet

6 If the vendor accepts monero, then pay the vendor from your XMR wallet

7 If the vendor doesn't accept monero, then use "xmr.to" to send BTC to the marketplace / seller :
> send XMR to xmr.to from your XMR wallet
> xmr.to will send BTC to the marketplace / seller

In general, leave time gaps of at least 2 or 3 hours between each step.
You also want to vary the amounts of money being transferred.
You can do this by taking the final amount to be sent to the marketplace / seller, and adding say 10 to 15%.
You would then buy that increased amount in step 1 within coinbase.
Then when performing the transfer for step 3, reduce the amount being transferred by 2 or 3%.
And so on, reducing the amount at each step.

 

[Time]

Good job.

 

[Emily123]

it just let me buy $300 a week . How can I remove this limitation?

 

[jgm63]

it just let me buy $300 a week . How can I remove this limitation?

I think you can setup different payment methods, eg either direct bank transfer or card payment.
Different limits may apply to the different methods.
It may take time for those limits to get increased.
I think the bank transfer allows larger amounts, but it can take quite a few days for the transfer to "clear", before you can then buy your bitcoin.
If you can wait then perhaps just do that....
Card payments I think work faster, but have much lower limits until you get those limits increased.
You may need to raise a support ticket to get those limits increased.
You can also phone their customer services, and pick a menu option that reaches a human (you may need to experiment to figure out which option that is - perhaps the "can't login to my account", or similar)

 

[Emily123]

I think you can setup different payment methods, eg either direct bank transfer or card payment.
Different limits may apply to the different methods.
It may take time for those limits to get increased.
I think the bank transfer allows larger amounts, but it can take quite a few days for the transfer to "clear", before you can then buy your bitcoin.
If you can wait then perhaps just do that....
Card payments I think work faster, but have much lower limits until you get those limits increased.
You may need to raise a support ticket to get those limits increased.
You can also phone their customer services, and pick a menu option that reaches a human (you may need to experiment to figure out which option that is - perhaps the "can't login to my account", or similar)

Thanks . Credit card is the only payment option for me . it does not let adding a banck account

 

[jgm63]

Thanks . Credit card is the only payment option for me . it does not let adding a banck account

hmm, are you sure ?
In account settings / linked accounts tab, is there a "link new account" button ?

In general, you should also check the "account levels" tab to get an idea of what limits are in place.

Then contact their support as needed via phone, or raising tickets (currently they don't seem to have live support chat, which is a bit behind the times, but anyhow).

 

[faust]

hmm, are you sure ?
In account settings / linked accounts tab, is there a "link new account" button ?

In general, you should also check the "account levels" tab to get an idea of what limits are in place.

Then contact their support as needed via phone, or raising tickets (currently they don't seem to have live support chat, which is a bit behind the times, but anyhow).

Have you ever used Tales OS and Electrum Bitcoin Wallet as suggested by PePH 2019 December?

 

[jgm63]

Have you ever used Tales OS and Electrum Bitcoin Wallet as suggested by PePH 2019 December?

It takes quite a while to explain the various nuances of these things.
I'll try to do a write up at some point.
Some people don't bother with tails, and just use tor.
Using tails gives better security, but takes significantly more effort (and may be a bit "too much" for less computer literate people or people with limited stamina).
Using a bitcoin wallet is generally a good idea, since it adds another "checkpoint", which improves anonymity.
You could use wasabi or electrum.

 

[faust]

It takes quite a while to explain the various nuances of these things.
I'll try to do a write up at some point.
Some people don't bother with tails, and just use tor.
Using tails gives better security, but takes significantly more effort (and may be a bit "too much" for less computer literate people or people with limited stamina).
Using a bitcoin wallet is generally a good idea, since it adds another "checkpoint", which improves anonymity.
You could use wasabi or electrum.

I heard some distributives of Linux may be a horror for people who only used Windows/MacOS, so expecting some issues with Tales as well.

 

[jgm63]

I heard some distributives of Linux may be a horror for people who only used Windows/MacOS, so expecting some issues with Tales as well.

If you're fairly or semi computer literate and you have the mental stamina to persevere a bit, and do some googling and read some things, etc, then you can get the hang of tails if you have the motivation to do so. For some people it will be too energy consuming unless someone shows them step by step exactly what to do, which is not always possible, eg some older people may find it a "step too far" for their concentration / patience / energy levels (unless they have someone helping them with it at every step).

 

[Terminally ill]

What about a bitcoin ATM?I am not sure how those work. I am very computer illiterate, but isnt that an option?

 

[jgm63]

What about a bitcoin ATM?I am not sure how those work. I am very computer illiterate, but isnt that an option?

Haven't really done any research on those...

 

[jgm63]

COINBASE VS COINMAMA
Coinbase and coinmama both allow you to buy bitcoin, to send to a vendor who accepts it.

Coinbase may be unsuitable if you're in a "rush", and need to signup, purchase bitcoin, and spend them, all on the same day, for amounts over 100 or 200 USD. For that case, coinmama may be better (explanation below).

We assume for both that you sign up, upload ID (eg driving licence, etc), and wait to be verified / approved, which usually happens fairly quickly, but could take a few hours.

Coinbase

You can setup different payment methods, eg direct bank transfer or card payment.
Bitcoin bought using a card payment can be spent immediately, however coinbase often gives fairly low weekly purchasing limits for card purchases, eg 100 or 200 USD per week. The weekly card purchase limit may increase over time, but that doesn't help the "rush" scenario we're discussing.
When you buy bitcoin using a bank transfer, you can buy larger amounts, but it can take several days to clear before the purchased bitcoin can be spent (eg 3 to 5 days, but sometimes 7 to 10 days).
If you have time to plan ahead and buy the bitcoin using the bank transfer and then wait several days before spending them, then coinbase should be a suitable choice, and bank transfer is the payment method to use (unless the purchase is small).
If the purchase is small (less than the card payment weekly limit), then just buy using the card payment (avoiding any bank clearing delay), and complete your purchase by spending the bitcoin immediately (if you wish). e.g. vendor sells cheese for 80 USD. You signup and see your coinbase weekly card buying limit is 100 USD. You buy your bitcoin via card payment, and spend them (send bitcoin to cheese vendor) all on the same day.

note : "spending" means sending the bitcoin to any bitcoin addresses outside of coinbase, eg to a vendor's wallet or your own bitcoin wallet, etc. The weekly card purchase limit may vary for different people / regions, and may depend on which ID types you've uploaded, so you could try signing up, and seeing what limit they give you (may get a decent limit, allowing immediate purchase and spend for higher amounts, without needing coinmama).

Coinmama

Unlike coinbase, coinmama has no "built in" website wallet, so you must setup your own "external" wallet, such as electrum or wasabi. This may not be ideal for less computer literate people who want the simplest method possible.
When you buy bitcoin on coinmama, they are sent to your external wallet, and you can spend them immediately from there by sending them on to the vendor.
A key difference is the coinmama limits for buying bitcoin using a card payment appear to be much higher than those of coinbase, eg coinmama allows 5000 USD per day, assuming you have uploaded the required ID. This means that higher amounts can be bought and spent without any delay.
e.g. vendor sells gold for 2000 USD. You signup and see your coinmama daily card buying limit is 5000 USD. You buy your bitcoin via card payment, and spend them (send bitcoin to gold vendor) all on the same day.

Note, however, that coinmama has *higher fees* so you will pay more for the same amount of bitcoin, so the ability to handle larger amounts without delay comes at a price. Also note, coinmama require you to take a "selfie" photo that includes the ID you already uploaded and a piece of paper on which you've handwritten "Coinmama" and the date, and upload that during signup, so you'll have to endure that to take advantage of the speed gains

SUMMARY / TLDR
For less computer literate people, coinbase may be the better choice, provided you're making smaller purchases, or can plan ahead and wait for the bank transfer bitcoin purchase to clear for larger purchases. For the smaller purchases, use the "card payment" method to avoid the bank clearing delay. Use the bank transfer payment method for the larger purchases, but be prepared to wait. Coinbase gives better value than coinmama due to lower fees.
If you're making a larger purchase but want to get everything done on the same day, then coinmama may be the better choice, provided you're comfortable with setting up your own bitcoin wallet, and are willing to pay the higher fees, plus take the "selfie" to register. The reason for this is that coinmama generally has much higher daily/weekly limits for buying bitcoin using a card payment than coinbase.
However, the weekly card purchase limit may vary for different people / regions, and may depend on which ID types you uploaded, so you could try signing up on coinbase, and see what limit they give you (may get a decent limit allowing immediate purchase and spend without needing coinmama).


NOTE : If you're trying to achieve the maximum possible anonymity, then you would use coinmama or coinbase in "step 1" of these notes above :

Spoiler: using monero to increase anonymity

https://sanctioned-suicide.net/threads/simple-bitcoin-beginners-guide.26742/post-570976

However, for some that may be overly complex.
Those looking for the simplest possible method can just follow the "simple beginners guide" given in the first post of this thread, and stick with coinbase.

 

[little_aster]

The real problem is where to spend them. Is it even possible to buy something on the darknet without getting scammed?

 

[ViroMajor]

Good education on this thread ! Nice

The most anonymous simple way to get some Monero is to use the site LocalMonero (behind security measures, like Tail/Tor/VPN/Protonmail) which has Peer2Peer ads. You'll be able to select between multiple payment methods to trade from, including cash on the street, cash by mail & bank/wire transfers, in that order for the smartest ones to go without revealing your identity. There will be a premium to pay above the market price, which could range from 10% to 100% depending on luck

Another way is to use the software Bisq which is a decentralized exchange. For the neophyte, it is quite more complicated to setup, you'll have to rely on some video tutorials. Afterwards, it permits to pay Monero sellers with your bank account through a direct transfer, like you'd be used sending money to family or for a normal purchase. No verification documents will be required to post, unlike with a regular exchange (Coinbase/CoinMama), just like with LocalMonero by the way

Lastly, there are some rare Monero ATMs, which you could locate from the help of this map https://coinatmradar.com/
However, depending on the amount & ATM profile, it may ask for an ID scan. Bear also in mind, some ATM may have a camera filming you

 

[jgm63]

If you don't have a "state issued" photo id (eg driving licence / passport), then you may still be able to buy bitcoin by signing up to "paxful".
It seems to act as a marketplace where you put in a buy order, and a number of offers appear from sellers who can sell you the required bitcoin.
The fees seem quite high, but if you don't have a photo id, then it might get you out of a tight spot....
I'll post more when I find out more about it....

LocalCoinSwap may be another option, although I haven't looked into it much yet...

 

[autumnal]

If you don't have a "state issued" photo id (eg driving licence / passport), then you may still be able to buy bitcoin by signing up to "paxful".
It seems to act as a marketplace where you put in a buy order, and a number of offers appear from sellers who can sell you the required bitcoin.
The fees seem quite high, but if you don't have a photo id, then it might get you out of a tight spot....
I'll post more when I find out more about it....

LocalCoinSwap may be another option, although I haven't looked into it much yet...

+1 for Paxful not requiring photo ID to sign up. Some individual traders on it may require it, but many don't.

 

[max6802]

I can't advise how "safe" this guide is in terms of your anonymity.

There is no anonymity with cryptocurrency if you are trading them because all those websites to trade on require ID, well at least once you want to withdraw your money. Also make sure to "tax" it just in case the government is at your door.

 

[jgm63]

There is no anonymity with cryptocurrency if you are trading them because all those websites to trade on require ID, well at least once you want to withdraw your money. Also make sure to "tax" it just in case the government is at your door.

Well, I discuss some ways in which anonymity can he helped, such as ensuring the vendor makes a new bitcoin address specific to your transaction.
Plus I made another post above on this thread, that discusses using "monero", which should help anonymity considerably. I may write a more detailed version at some point....

 

[faraway_beach]

I don't travel well, but tomorrow I am going somewhere close to a bitcoin ATM, so I want to take this opportunity. I have downloaded Electrum from the play store, and I'm met with several choices to make before I even create a wallet. Do I want Segwit or legacy?

 

[AlreadyGone]

Thank you for the guide. Bookmarked.

 

[autumnal]

I don't travel well, but tomorrow I am going somewhere close to a bitcoin ATM, so I want to take this opportunity. I have downloaded Electrum from the play store, and I'm met with several choices to make before I even create a wallet. Do I want Segwit or legacy?

I'm fairly new to Bitcoin too, but as I understand it Segwit and Legacy are simply different ways of referring to the same wallet address. But the OP will be able to confirm this.

 

[jgm63]

[ some further notes ]

Some marketplaces (or vendors) allow you to generate a fresh BTC deposit address for each deposit/purchase.
In that instance, it may be acceptable (though not ideal) to deposit directly from coinbase to the marketplace/vendor if you are not very tech savvy and need the simplest method possible. This is "method 1" in the main guide above.

If the vendor or marketplace doesn't allow a "fresh" BTC address to be created specifically for your purchase, or if you are more tech savvy, then you should create your own bitcoin wallet, by following "method 2" in the guide above. You could use wasabi or electrum wallets (or any other reputable bitcoin wallet). In general, method 2 should always be preferred over method 1, provided you are computer literate enough.

Ideally if you are quite computer literate, you would follow this process for the best anonymity :

Spoiler: using monero to increase anonymity

https://sanctioned-suicide.net/threads/simple-bitcoin-beginners-guide.26742/post-570976

If using monero, there should be no need to use the wasabi "coinjoin" mentioned in "method 2"
Note : If "morphtoken" is blocked in your region, then you may be able to use "changenow.io" instead.
When using morphtoken or changenow, when it asks for your "bitcoin refund address", you can simply give the address of your bitcoin wallet, which you should see if you click the "receive" button / tab (or similar).
(At some point I may consolidate this info into a new write-up)

This may also be helpful if you're in a hurry to place an order :

Spoiler: speeding things up using coinmama

https://sanctioned-suicide.net/threads/simple-bitcoin-beginners-guide.26742/post-573943

 

[enjolras]

There is no anonymity with cryptocurrency if you are trading them because all those websites to trade on require ID, well at least once you want to withdraw your money. Also make sure to "tax" it just in case the government is at your door.

Not even talking about verification, the fiat to crypto regulated exchanges require to link a credit card or bank account to deposit, revealing your identity and activity to parties like relatives or suicide watch who can easily follow a bank statement.
Worse, if LE were to monitor the final seller's crypto address and no obfuscation through Monero or coin mixers was operated in between him and you, you'd be tracked back without effort. H(eck, the FBI has been known to break into Tor for years, when they put up the right ressources)

Achieving anonymity online is a quest more than a goal. Being serious you'd need to be a worrier about every segment of the loop.

When accessing cryptocurrencies, making efforts to stick to purer gateways will not only increase your own protection but most importantly the end business if there is one (illegal)

+1 for Paxful not requiring photo ID to sign up. Some individual traders on it may require it, but many don't.

This is one way, LocalMonero being the equivalent of what LocalBitcoins used to be.
A different route, eBay copycat marketplaces: OpenBazaar permits to cash in Bitcoin payments from selling goods remotely, not revealing personal banking info neither ID.

Purse.io has a service like OpenBazaar (but I think may ask for a phone number after some volume, to verify)
Last useful tip, Purse's most infamous service, as middleman, helps you pay total strangers Bitcoins for them to gift you Amazon items with a discount up to -25%, fees deducted. In concrete, you deposit Bitcoins to Purse as escrow, unknown people to you use their credit card or Amazon balance to buy your wishlist items then send them to your address as presents. Their payment / your escrow is only released after the merchandise is received on your side. This is one of the AAA, not well known, use cases of Bitcoin
I'm advising Purse AGAINST purchasing suicide gear cause you would involve someone, a nobody, who never asked about it... please DON'T ! However, it's a nice way to shop on Amazon for cheaper regarding innocuous items.

 

[jgm63]

Further note on choosing between coinbase and coinmama :

If you signup on coinbase, and add a card as a payment method, you can go to : Settings / Account Levels
and you should see "Card purchases", with your weekly limit stated.

If you want to make your purchase immediately, and that weekly limit is too low, then coinmama may be a better choice, since it usually has higher card purchase limits.

However, with coinmama, note that :
> You'll need to setup your own bitcoin wallet, eg using electrum or wasabi, since coinmama doesn't have a "built-in" wallet. This isn't hard to do, but it might be offputting for less computer literate people.
> You need to take a "selfie" when signing up (details given in full posting above)
> Coinmama has higher fees, so you'll be paying a bit more

Alternatively, you could use coinbase and use the bank transfer payment method, and wait for the bitcoin purchase to clear before the bitcoin can be spent (eg 3 to 5 days, but sometimes 7 to 10 days), provided you are prepared to wait.

 

[Jean4]

Further note on choosing between coinbase and coinmama :

If you signup on coinbase, and add a card as a payment method, you can go to : Settings / Account Levels
and you should see "Card purchases", with your weekly limit stated.

If you want to make your purchase immediately, and that weekly limit is too low, then coinmama may be a better choice, since it usually has higher card purchase limits.

However, with coinmama, note that :
> You'll need to setup your own bitcoin wallet, eg using electrum or wasabi, since coinmama doesn't have a "built-in" wallet. This isn't hard to do, but it might be offputting for less computer literate people.
> You need to take a "selfie" when signing up (details given in full posting above)
> Coinmama has higher fees, so you'll be paying a bit more

Alternatively, you could use coinbase and use the bank transfer payment method, and wait for the bitcoin purchase to clear before the bitcoin can be spent (eg 3 to 5 days, but sometimes 7 to 10 days), provided you are prepared to wait.

Thank you Cecil's friend