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Coinbase Pro Coinbase's exchange, Coinbase Pro, is one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in the United States. Users can fund their accounts via bank transfer, SEPA, or bank wire. Coinbase Pro offers good prices and low fees, but their confusing user interface may initially prove difficult to navigate.
BlockFi
Blockfi is a Bitcoin and crypto trading and interest platform. Blockfi allows you to purchase Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin and many other coins.
Blockfi's most popular feature is the ability to earn interest on crypto. This means once you buy, you will start to earn interest on whatever coins you store in Blockfi. You can also deposit crypto you already own and earn interest.
Get up to $250 in free crypto when you make your first purchase.
Bitcoin IRA offers a tax-advantaged way to invest in Bitcoin and Ethereum using your 401k or other retirement savings.
Bitcoin IRA is a US licensed IRA custodian, so you know your crypto or Bitcoin IRA is in full compliance with the Federal Government.
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.
Swan Bitcoin is a dollar cost averaging Bitcoin exchange, where users can set up recurring Bitcoin purchases to be drafted from their bank account or credit card every month or week.
Get $10 in free BTC when you make your first purchase.
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%.
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Texas attracts a range of Bitcoin investors, from retail to institutional. They are drawn to the Lone Star state by its pro-business attitude, zero state income tax, and low energy costs.
This last factor was what convinced Bitmain - the world's largest manufacturer of Bitocoin mining equipment - to open a new mining operation in Rockdale, Texas. In an old Alcoa aluminum smelter now sit three football field lengths of cutting edge technology: ASIC miners that work in sync to validate transactions on the Bitcoin network.
The plant is a boon for the town of Rockdale, with its population of just over five and a half thousand. While it will initially operate at a capacity of 50 MW, Bitmain says that they have plans for the facility to go up to 300 MW.
Institutional investment such as this has shown a real need for clear regulation and support for the Bitcoin industry in Texas, and lawmakers have risen to the task. The Texas Blockchain Council was formed to promote the interests of biotcoin enthusiasts and businesses in the state.
Texas's nearly $2 trillion dollar economy, wealth of local talent, and abundant natural resources make it an ideal candidate for the title of blockchain innovation hotspot.
Texas has a long history of technological innovation and free-thinking entrepreneurs. From the invention of handheld calculators by engineers at Texas Instruments to the development of 3-D printing at UT Austin, Texas has always been on the forefront of technological change. We’ve now set our sights on becoming the jurisdiction of choice for investors, entrepreneurs, and enterprises to build and deploy blockchain technologies applications and other emerging tech innovations.
If you're looking to buy Bitcoin for yourself, the safest and most convenient way is to use an exchange. All of the major Bitcoin exchanges are available in Texas.
You can also use Bitcoin ATMs if you're looking to turn cash into crypto quickly.
Or, if you want to spend the cash in person, LocalBitcoins is a peer-to-peer marketplace that supports many different payment methods, from cash in person to Amazon gift cards.
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.
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Texas has access to many large Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges.
Take a look at our favorites below:
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There are three main types of Bitcoin wallet and all of them are supported in Texas:
The Ledger Nano X is the newest crypto hardware wallet, and is very easy to use. It connects to iOS, Android & desktop computers.
ZenGo is an easy-to-use iOS and Android Bitcoin & crypto wallet. Start within 20 seconds.
Electrum is a Bitcoin-only wallet that has been around since 2011. It's easy to use, but has advanced features.
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The Texas State Securities Board has not been shy in prosecuting operations that it considers to be scamming Texans.
In 2018, the SSB ordered Bitcoin Trading & Cloud Mining Ltd. also known as BTCRUSH, and Forex EA & Bitcoin Investment LLC to cease their activities in the state after failing to provide required information about their financial situation and trading strategies.
In July 2020, the Texas SSB ordered South African company Mirror Trading International (MTI) to cease operations immediately. They accused MTI of being a multilevel marketing scam which did not deliver on its promises of 0.5% daily returns. The SSB specifically accused MTI and four associates of misleading Texans about the directors' work histories and investment backgrounds.
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In addition to Bitmain's 50 MW mining operation in Rockdale, Texas is home to a 100 MW facility in the west of the state. This Bitcoin mine is operated by Layer1 Technology, which raised $50m in seed funding from investors including Peter Thiel.
A third firm, Northern Data based out of Germany, announced plans to build the world's largest mining operation, also in Rockdale. Northern Data claims that they will use 1 whole gigawatt of energy, which is currently almost 10% of the entire network's consumption.
Texas's abundance of natural gas and a recent boom in wind power mean that energy is cheap, which is one of the largest costs that Bitcoin miners must incur. Additionally, Texas's energy market is deregulated, which makes it easier for large customers such as Bitcoin miners to negotiate individual deals with energy suppliers.
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As of March 2021, Binance is not available to any customers living in Texas.
If this ever changes, we will update this page to reflect that change.
Keep in mind that no one in the United States can ever use Binance.com.
Binance has a special website for US based customers at Binance.us
Due to US regulations, Binance US is more strict about handling KYC and AML of new customers.
This just means that verification may take a little longer than it would on regular Binance.
The biggest difference between Binance US and regular Binance is the coin support as well as some of the features available to users.
Because of this, you shouldn’t just look at the supported coins listed on binance.com and assume Binance US will sell it to you. It’s a good idea to make sure that the Binance US coin support list shows the coin you want to buy.
Yes, Gemini is available in Texas.
Coinmama is available to Texan Bitcoiners.
Kraken - the U.S.'s second largest exchange - is open for business in Texas.
The best way to find a Bitcoin ATM in Texas is to use our Bitcoin ATM finder tool.
You can view the closest Bitcoin ATMs to you, and even view live prices for supported digital assets.
It has not always been easy to find retailers willing to accept Bitcoin outside of some niche industries, and of course the numerous darknet markets that began with the Silk Road and have proliferated since then.
In the last few years, however, more and more stores have been offering payment with crypto. The Microsoft Store supports payment with Bitcoin, and Overstock.com's partnership with Coinbase allows you to pay for any of their products with crypto.
Source: CoinMap.com
Coinmap has a list of brick and mortar retailers that accept Bitcoin for payment. Texas is well served by crypto-friendly businesses. Dallas has the highest concentration, closely followed by Austin, San Antonio, and Houston.
A number of charities accept Bitcoin for donations. Wikileaks and Wikipedia are two of the biggest and best known. The Tor Project accepts Bitcoin donations, as well as the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Some big news recently has massively expanded the number of businesses where you will be soon able to spend your Bitcoin. PayPal announced in October 2020 that customers will be able to buy and sell Bitcoin within their platform. Additionally, you will be able to spend your crypto at all of the 26 million sellers around the world, whether it's paying for your monthly Netflix subscription or shopping on eBay. This feature - which is scheduled to launch in the U.S. in early 2021 - is a giant leap toward mainstream Bitcoin usage and adoption.
Bitcoinmining is the process of using a computer to perform the difficult calculations that secure the network and make Bitcoin a proof of work cryptocurrency.
While in the early days of Bitcoin you could earn sizable amounts of Bitcoin (and many people did) with just a desktop computer, these days the emergence of commercial mining farms with specialized hardware has made that all but impossible. Still, there are software programs you can run on any computer if you wish to see how it works just for curiosity's sake.
If you're looking to start a profitable mining operation, it's essential to calculate your profit factor using the amount of hash rate available to you, the current price of Bitcoin, the power consumption of your operation, and the cost of your electricity.
Note: Some of these are Ethereum miners, see the Algo column
You can use our mining profitability calculator to see if you can be profitable mining in Texas.
With more and more institutions getting into crypto - and especially Bitcoin - you might be wondering if you can custody your own BTC with a bank. It's easy to imagine a future where you can log in to your online banking and simultaneously see that your paycheck has come through while watching the value of your crypto portfolio.
This year alone, there have been big steps in that direction. The state of Wyoming has issued two bank charters, one to Kraken Financial and one to Avanti. These two institutions are now classified as special purpose depository institutions (SPDIs). This designation is not quite a money transmitter license - the Holy Grail of bringing all payment flows in-house - but it does allow the two firms to conduct business that will help them achieve a money transmitter license in future.
For example, Avanti has been granted approval to issue its own stablecoin called Avit. After building up a record of responsible business dealings, the hope is that regulations will evolve to the point where crypto banks can do everything that the major retail banks can do.
It is difficult to state the over-importance of this milestone. This represents the development of an efficient, transparent, responsible nexus between the world of traditional finance and the developing crypto ecosystem. I think this is a historical time and the kind of thing that students of finance and history will look back on as a watershed moment for the development of financial assets.
However, there are no Texan banks that currently offer cryptocurrency wallets or custody to retail investors. You'll need to secure your holdings with one of the many great wallets outlined below.
COMPARISON
There has definitely been a large amount of progress in that direction, though. Every year it gets easier to invest in Bitcoin, and crypto services become more and more beginner friendly. JPMorgan's recent announcement that it will be providing banking services for Coinbase and Gemini is a sign that big things may be just around the corner.
Jordan Tuwiner is the founder of BuyBitcoinWorldwide.com. His work has been featured in The Guardian, International Business Times, Forbes, VentureBeat, CoinDesk and many other top Bitcoin media outlets. His articles are read by millions of people each year looking for the best way to buy Bitcoin and crypto in their country.
He has also written extensively about the history, technology, and business of the crypto world. Jordan is also the creator of some of the internet's most famous Bitcoin pages, including The Quotable Satoshi and Bitcoin Obituaries.
To learn more about Jordan, see his full bio.
Bitcoin IRA
Coinmama
Gemini
Swan Bitcoin
Bitcoin ATMs
