Buy Crypto & Bitcoin in New York

We may receive advertising compensation when you click certain products. Before jumping into this page, an important disclosure.

Note: Binance, Kucoin, Kraken, MoonPay, Crypto.com and many other crypto exchanges do NOT allow New York residents. We've listed exchanges below that allow New York residents.

GeminiGemini

Gemini is a New York-based Bitcoin exchange, open to residents of the United States, UK, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. Deposits can be made via wire transfer, SEPA or ACH transfer.

Get $20 of free BTC after trading $100 or more within 30 days.

Visit Gemini's Website

Pros
  • Trustworthy and regulated exchange
  • Instant deposit lets you buy coins quickly (but not withdraw them)
  • Some of the lowest fees in the US and Canada
Cons
  • Somewhat confusing to use for new buyers
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Ease of Use
Hard
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Privacy
Low
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Speed
Slow
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Fees
Low
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Reputation
Trusted
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Limits
High

Bitcoin IRABitcoin IRA

Bitcoin IRA offers a tax-advantaged way to acquire Bitcoin via an IRA.

Visit Bitcoin IRA's Website

Pros
  • Tax-advantaged Bitcoin savings
  • Easy to set up an account
Cons
  • Cannot custody the Bitcoin yourself
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Ease of Use
Average
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Privacy
Low
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Speed
Fast
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Fees
High
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Reputation
Trusted
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Limits
High

CoinbaseCoinbase

Coinbase is one of the largest exchanges, with over 100 million users.

USA users can buy bitcoins and crypto fast and easily using Coinbase's free app or on its website.

Coinbase also offers a free wallet for its users.

Eligible US residents (excluding Hawaii) who successfully create an account and purchase crypto will receive $5 in Bitcoin (BTC) added to their Coinbase portfolio. Visit Coinbase's Website

Pros
  • Trusted exchange with 100 million+ users
  • Based in the USA; with a free wallet included
  • App available on Apple App Store & Play Store
Cons
  • Easy to use but fees can be high
  • Coinbase may track how and where you spend your bitcoins
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Ease of Use
Easy
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Privacy
Low
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Speed
Average
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Fees
Average
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Reputation
Trusted
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Limits
High

BitstampBitstamp

Bitstamp is one of the world's largest and most well-known Bitcoin & crypto exchanges. Deposits can be made through bank transfer, SEPA transfer, international bank wire, and now even credit cards.

Pros
  • One of the longest-running Bitcoin exchanges
  • Very low 0.25% fee, falling to 0.1% with sufficient trading volume
  • Good range of deposit and withdrawal options
Cons
  • Has been hacked before, users should not store funds on the exchange for any period of time
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Ease of Use
Hard
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Privacy
Low
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Speed
Slow
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Fees
Average
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Reputation
Trusted
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Limits
High

Coinbase Advanced TraderCoinbase Advanced Trader

Coinbase Pro is a trusted Bitcoin exchange located in the US. It also has a Bitlicense, meaning it can operate and serve customers in New York.

New York residents can buy bitcoin fast on Coinbase Pro using bank account or wire transfer. Coinbase Pro has some of the lowest fees among US and New York Bitcoin exchanges. Visit Coinbase Advanced Trader's Website

Pros
  • Some of the lowest fees available for US and EU customers
  • Possible to buy bitcoins for 0% fees
Cons
  • The user interface is confusing for first-time buyers
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Ease of Use
Hard
privacy icon
Privacy
Low
speed icon
Speed
Average
fees icon
Fees
Low
reputation icon
Reputation
Trusted
limits icon
Limits
High

Bitcoin ATMsBitcoin ATMs

You can use our Bitcoin ATM map to buy bitcoins with cash. Bitcoin ATMs can be a quick and easy way to buy bitcoins and they're also private. That convenience and privacy, however, comes with a price; most ATMs have fees of 5-10%. View Bitcoin ATMs

Pros
  • Our map makes it super easy to find a Bitcoin ATM near you
Cons
  • Bitcoin ATMs often have 5-10% fees per purchase

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NY Exchange Support


Which Exchanges Support New York Residents?

Exchange Available to New York Residents?
Gemini
Coinbase
Kucoin
Binance
Crypto.com
Voyager
Webull
Kraken
Bittrex

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Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency Trading in New York


New York can lay a convincing claim to be the center of world finance. Certainly, the city is the undisputed capital of American banking and business.(1)

 new york

With the face of finance changing so rapidly over the last two decades, you may think that the New York establishment would be open to new ideas, new technologies, and new forms of money.

New York was an early haven for Bitcoin enthusiasts and innovators, such as Charlie Shrem's startup BitInstant which was founded in Brooklyn in 2012.(2)

Yet the aggressive approach that New York's financial regulators have taken makes things difficult for many New Yorkers looking to get into crypto.

The BitLicense - a license only issued to government-approved firms - means that all exchanges and cryptocurrency service providers operating in the state are highly regulated. It could be argued that this protects New Yorkers from shady operators, or that it drives them to seek out other, less regulated providers.(3)

The introduction of the BitLicense was met with applause by some sections of the crypto community - such as Gemini's Winklevoss twins - and resignation by others such as ShapeShift, Bitfinex, and Kraken, the latter of which called it "a creature so foul, so cruel that not even Kraken possesses the courage or strength to face its nasty, big, pointy teeth." No other U.S. state has taken such a proactive approach to the creation and tightening of laws regarding cryptocurrencies and digital assets.(4)

Notwithstanding this official ambivalence to the number one cryptocurrency, other organizations in the state have been getting in on the action. Greenridge Generation is a natural gas power plant located in upstate New York, near Dresden in the Finger Lakes region. In March 2020, the company announced that it had finished its Bitcoin mining farm. 7,000 mining rigs - powered by energy generated on site in excess of customer demand - push the facility to mine about 5.5 BTC per day (pre-2020 halving). This requires about 14 megawatts of the plant's 106 megawatt maximum output.(5)

Shortly after going online, Greenridge announced that it had sold 30% of its hash power to private investors: mostly hedge funds and family offices.(6) Buyers benefit by gaining exposure to (generally) profitable Bitcoin mining without having to purchase and set up their own equipment. Greenridge benefits by locking in certain prices and having a source of upfront revenue to drive their operations.

Despite the restrictions of the BitLicense, if you're looking to buy Bitcoin the safest and easiest way to do so is still via an exchange.

No matter where you buy your Bitcoin, you're going to need to store it somewhere. Exchange wallets are notorious for hacks, and there are much more secure options out there that suit a range of needs, from easy to use software wallets to top of the line hardware wallets.

The short answer is: yes.

As long as a company holds a valid BitLicense while doing business in New York or with New Yorkers then they are perfectly within the law to provide cryptocurrency services. This is exactly what the BitLicense was created for.

The first crypto company to receive a BitLicense was Circle - the company you may know as being in charge of the USDC stablecoin.(7)

Since then, an additional 24 firms have received approval from the (NYDFS), including well-known exchanges such as Gemini and Coinbase, as well as XRP II, Ripple's legal entity.

Some exchanges, however, Bitfinex and Shapeshift included, decided to terminate their New York-based operations rather than applying for a BitLicense.

Criticisms were leveled at the heavy-handed approach to regulation that the NYDFS was taking and the lengthy application process for a BitLicense. Many feared that these two factors in combination would kill the grassroots growth that made Bitcoin truly decentralized.

While the NYDFS has signaled that it may be open to relaxing the terms of the BitLicense in order to draw talent and capital to the state, the regulations are still in full force for the time being.


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Bitcoin Mining in New York


With the 2022 elections completed, Gov. Kathy Hochul’s is still holding off on signing a bill that will put a two-year hold on issuing and renewing air permits for cryptocurrency mining operations essentially putting a mining moratorium into effect in the state of NY.(8)

In September 2021, a Suffolk County Center IT supervisor named Christopher Naples was charged with theft and misconduct for setting up 46 mining computers at the facility. The machines were hidden under the floorboards and it’s estimated that about $6,000 of electricity was stolen. Naples is facing up to 15 years in jail for the mining operation. It is still unknown how much crypto was mined during the time the machines were operating.(9)

It is never a good idea to steal electricity to mine cryptocurrency. A better and safer way is to make a purchase through an exchange, like those outlined above.


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Exchange Hacks and Crypto Scams in New York


Despite the aggressive approach that the New York Attorney General has taken to crypto regulation and prosecution, some shady people have still attempted to make a quick buck off naive investors.

Perhaps the biggest (alleged) crypto scam related to New York is the most popular stablecoin: Tether (USDT). The New York Attorney General, Letitia James, has brought a suit against Hong Kong-based iFinex Inc. - the operator of Bitfinex and the owner of Tether - alleging that the company printed up to $850 million in Tether to cover unreported losses.(10)

This could have been a hack of Bitfinex, who would have then decided to hide the intrusion and payout customer withdrawals by creating new Tether.

Tether, which claims though has never definitively proven to be backed 1:1 by U.S. dollars, denies the allegations and is disputing them in court.

On a smaller scale, there have been a number of people charged in New York for Bitcoin scams.

One man was arrested at JFK airport on his way back from Ukraine, where police found him in possession of thousands of ill-gotten credit card numbers. The DoJ alleges that Vitalii Antonenko earned more than $140,000 in BTC from selling these card numbers over a period of six years.(11)

Antonenko used SQL injection attacks to scour the internet for websites with vulnerabilities that were likely to expose sensitive information, from where he obtained the credit card numbers. Police were alerted after seeing a large volume of BTC exchanging hands on a third-party website for well below the market rate.

In 2019, a man was charged by the Department of Homeland Security and prosecutors for the Southern District of New York for wire fraud, after he ran a crypto scam defrauding investors of their money under false pretenses, a charge which carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. Asa Saint Clair allegedly enticed people to invest in IGOBIT by World Sports Alliance, an intergovernmental organization which promoted international development through sports. The problem is that none of the money ever went to IGOBIT. Instead, it went to international flights, dinners at New York restaurants, and personal online shopping.(12)


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FAQ


Where Can I Find a Bitcoin ATM in New York?

The best way to find a Bitcoin ATM in New York is to use our Bitcoin ATM finder tool.

Here, you can filter by any of the most popular cryptocurrencies and find ATMs that support buying, selling, or both.

What Can I Buy With Bitcoin in New York City?

CoinMap lists hundreds of brick and mortar businesses in New York that accept Bitcoin as payment, from clothing retailers to bars, restaurants, and nightclubs.

With the number of online stores that accept Bitcoin increasing by the day, you shouldn't have any problem finding somewhere to spend your BTC.

You can buy Xbox games and Windows Phone applications on the Microsoft store with Bitcoin, or shop all of Overstock.com's products knowing that you can check out with Bitcoin thanks to their partnership with Coinbase.

What is the New York Bitlicense? Who Created It?

The BitLicense is essentially a seal of approval from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), certifying that the recipient is authorized to provide cryptocurrency services in the state of New York.

How Much is the Tax for Capital Gains on Bitcoin in New York?

Capital gains tax is something to keep in mind whether you're a day-trader or a longer-term investor. Cashing out will incur capital gains tax if the value of your Bitcoin has appreciated since you bought it.

That said, the tax code is notoriously complicated, so finding out which capital gains tax rate applies to your specific situation is not always easy. Combine that with the fact that many accountants are unfamiliar with the ins and outs of cryptocurrency trading, and it can seem like an impenetrable problem.

A range of software has cropped up to address this problem, and with a little bit of effort on your part (mostly just exporting your trade history and importing it into the program) calculating your crypto taxes has never been easier.

Check out our guide to the best cryptocurrency tax calculators out there.

Article Sources

BuyBitcoinWorldWide writers are subject-matter experts and base their articles on firsthand information, like interviews with experts, white papers or original studies and experience. We also use trusted research and studies from other well-known sources. You can learn more about our editorial guidelines.

  1. Wikipedia - New York (U.S. state), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_(state)
  2. Wikipedia - Charlie Shrem, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Shrem
  3. Wikipedia - BitLicense, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BitLicense
  4. Kraken Blog - Farewell, New York, https://blog.kraken.com/news/farewell-new-york
  5. NBC News - Some locals say a bitcoin mining operation is ruining one of the Finger Lakes. Here's how., https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/some-locals-say-bitcoin-mining-operation-ruining-one-finger-lakes-n1272938
  6. Yahoo - New York Power Plant Sells 30% of Its Bitcoin Mining Hashrate to Institutional Buyers, https://www.yahoo.com/video/york-power-plant-sold-30-090000331.html
  7. NY.gov - NYDFS ANNOUNCES APPROVAL OF FIRST BITLICENSE APPLICATION FROM A VIRTUAL CURRENCY FIRM, https://www.dfs.ny.gov/reports_and_publications/press_releases/pr1509221
  8. New York Times - New York Enacts 2-Year Ban on Some Crypto-Mining Operations, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/22/nyregion/crypto-mining-ban-hochul.html
  9. New York Times - County I.T. Supervisor Mined Bitcoin at the Office, Prosecutors Say, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/09/08/nyregion/long-island-bitcoin-mining-arrest.html
  10. The Wall Street Journal - Bitfinex Used Tether Reserves to Mask Missing $850 Million, Probe Says, https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitfinex-used-tether-reserves-to-mask-missing-850-million-probe-finds-11556227031
  11. United States Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts - New York City Man Charged with Hacking, Credit Card Trafficking, and Money Laundering Conspiracies, https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/new-york-city-man-charged-hacking-credit-card-trafficking-and-money-laundering/
  12. United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York - President Of Sham United Nations Affiliate Sentenced To 42 Months In Prison For Cryptocurrency Scheme, https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/president-sham-united-nations-affiliate-sentenced-42-months-prison-cryptocurrency

About the Author

jordan tuwiner

Jordan Tuwiner is the founder of BuyBitcoinWorldwide.com. He studied computer science at Towson University and holds an online degree in trading & cryptocurrency. Jordan has been writing about Bitcoin since 2015. His work has been featured in The Guardian, International Business Times, Forbes, VentureBeat, CoinDesk and many other top Bitcoin media outlets.



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