With holidays around the corner, you’re probably in the middle of planning Christmas gift ideas for your loved ones.
Sure, you could give them your favourite new book, a pair of Lululemon pants or even the latest iPhone. But if you want to stand out from the crowd, give something special and of long-lasting value, then you may want to consider gifting them cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
The last two years have been tough on many people. Between the pandemic, the “great resignation” of jobs and growing inflation (4.4% in September, 4.7% in October), Canadians are feeling the pinch on their savings account.
That’s why gifting bitcoin may be a great idea. After all, bitcoin has grown 300% since the start of the year while the S&P 500 grew 103% since March 2020. Not to mention the fact bitcoin has had a 200% annual compound growth rate over the last ten years. This means a little bit of bitcoin today could eventually go a long way tomorrow (by that we mean in a few years!).
For example, if you had spent $100 buying bitcoin for your friend instead of getting them shoes, gift baskets or concert tickets two years ago, that bitcoin gift would now be worth around $1,400. Talk about a gift that keeps on giving.
In 2019, Bitcoin was worth only around $5,000 CAD, and today it’s well over $70,000 CAD (at time of writing). With that in mind, here’s a quick guide on how you can give the gift of bitcoin during the holidays.
Buying bitcoin in Canada
To give away bitcoin (BTC), you must first buy bitcoin yourself. In Canada, you can buy bitcoin with a publicly-owned, fully regulated crypto trading platform like Netcoins.
Being fully regulated means that everything from how Netcoins operates, to how they store customers’ funds and the fees they charge are vetted and approved by Canadian regulators.
To buy BTC, your first step will be to create a Netcoins account, get verified and deposit Canadian dollars via e-transfers (or online billing and crypto deposits).
Once the funds are in your account, click “BUY”, choose “Bitcoin” and enter the amount of bitcoin you wish to purchase. Because you can buy bitcoin in fractions, you can buy as little as $10!
If you’re not keen on buying bitcoin, you can also buy ether, XRP, or other cryptocurrencies on the Netcoins platform. The best part? Netcoins offers 0% funding fees.
Now that you have some bitcoin, your next step is to send bitcoin to your friend. Here are two options.
Sending and gifting bitcoin to friends and family
Option 1: Buy bitcoin and send it to their bitcoin wallet
Assuming your friend has a bitcoin hardware wallet (similar to a USB drive device), you could buy bitcoin and send it directly to their wallet.
To do this, log into your Netcoins account, click on “Withdraw” then “Send crypto.” Select “Bitcoin”, enter the amount you’d like to send and add your friend’s wallet address (which they will need to provide you with).
Click send and wait between a few seconds or minutes for the transfer to be complete.
Option 2: Buy bitcoin and send to their Netcoins account
If your friend is new to crypto, they probably don’t have a bitcoin wallet. They may prefer to store their bitcoin within the Netcoins platform until they find their footing in the crypto world - and that’s alright.
To receive bitcoin, they will need to create a Netcoins account. Once the account is open and verified, they’ll click “FUND”, then “Deposit Crypto”. This is where they can collect their Netcoins wallet address and give to you. You’ll then use this address to send their bitcoin to.
While sending bitcoin to their Netcoins address can be a good temporary option, Netcoins advises people to pull their bitcoin from crypto exchanges or brokerages and send it to a bitcoin hardware wallet instead. This way the recipient’s bitcoin is more secure and in their full ownership.
That’s it-it’s that simple. With the holidays coming up, now may be a great time to buy bitcoin or buy ether for your friends and family. Visit Netcoins.ca to get started.
Netcoins trades under: (CSE: BIGG) (OTCQX: BBKCF) (WKN: A2PS9W).
Download the Netcoins mobile app from the Google Play or Apple Store.
