The safest, fastest, and easiest way to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrency in New Zealand is through a Kiwi crypto retailer like Easy Crypto NZ or Binance.
Recommended for beginners
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Compare all NZ exchangesYes – you can buy cryptocurrency in NZ in minutes through one of New Zealand's various crypto retailers or exchanges, such as Easy Crypto NZ.
Crypto wallets are digital vaults where you store your Bitcoin, Ethereum and other digital assets – acting in a similar way to your NZ bank account.
There are 5 main types of cryptocurrency wallet, such as Hardware wallets like the Trezor and Ledger or software wallets like Exodus.
Learn about your best options in our Best Bitcoin, Ethereum & Crypto Wallets in New Zealand Guide.
New Zealand anti-money laundering laws (AML) require all Kiwis to verify their identities before they can buy and sell cryptocurrency through regulated NZ crypto trading platforms, such as Easy Crypto NZ or Binance.
Alternatives to using regulated services to acquire crypto include crypto mining, buying P2P, airdrops, Crypto ATMs, and decentralized exchanges. You can also get crypto by accepting it as payment for the goods and services you sell, or doing work in exchange for crypto.
To verify an account with an NZ exchange, you need to:
It typically takes less than a day to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and other crypto in NZ – depending on your service of choice. It's possible to sign up with an NZ crypto exchange or retailer like Easy Crypto NZ, verify your account, buy crypto and have it delivered to your personal crypto wallet in less than a day.
Crypto buying speeds vary in three key ways:
If you're unsure on what coins to buy, we'd recommend examining CoinMarketCap to learn about the crypto markets' most popular coins and projects.
We personally believe Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Monero (XMR) are the best cryptocurrencies to start your research with. This is due to their originality, utility, history, use cases and highly active communities. They have been around for many years and have shaped crypto into what it is today.
*Disclaimer – this is not financial advice in any way, shape or form. Always do your own research and seek a diverse range of perspectives when learning about a new project.*
Absolutely – selling crypto in NZ is just as easy as buying it. All NZ services showcased below allow users to sell back crypto 24/7, 365 days a year.
Ready to start your crypto journey? View all NZ exchanges →
Disclaimer: All information, guides and recommendations below are based on our own research, preferences and experiences. You should always do preemptive research on anything you buy and on any financial service you use. None of this is to be interpreted as any form of financial advice.
If you're reading this, there's a good chance you're at the very beginning of your NZ Bitcoin journey – you've set up your crypto wallet to store your assets in, and you're now ready to buy Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies in New Zealand.
In this Cryptocurrency NZ guide, we'll walk you through the ins and outs of buying cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) in NZ.
Enjoy the process, read all the key information, and don't hesitate to ask us for help on our Contact us page. Good luck!
~ Harry Satoshi & Nic Turnbull
Best Way for Beginners to Buy
Easy Crypto NZ is New Zealand's most popular crypto retailer, making it safe, fast, and easy for Kiwis to buy and sell over 110+ cryptocurrencies in minutes – including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Monero, Dogecoin & XRP.
Visit Easy Crypto NZBest Exchange for Advanced Traders
Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, is a highly popular platform for Kiwis interested in crypto trading in NZ. Binance offers over 1400 trading pairs, such as NZD to BTC, with some of the lowest fees in the industry.
Visit Binance NZBest Way to Buy / Sell for Privacy
Warning: The P2P world is a scam cesspit - you're virtually guaranteed to encounter scammers. Imposter scammers frequently pose as admins or other reputable members. This method should only be considered by experienced crypto users.
The NZ P2P Crypto Marketplace was established in 2021 by CNZ's Harry Satoshi to make it easier for Kiwis to discover and communicate with peer-to-peer crypto traders in NZ. It's NZ's best way to locate crypto traders who won't require you to hand over your personal information or perform KYC.
Visit P2P MarketplaceBest Crypto / NZD Payment Processor
Pay it Now – PIN is New Zealand's leading crypto payments service, making it easy for businesses to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum and over 15+ other cryptocurrencies in NZ.
If you're a business owner looking to accept cryptocurrency payments from your customers, PIN provides a seamless integration that allows you to:
Need more help deciding? Contact us for personalized advice →
NZ based crypto retailers like Easy Crypto NZ are the most popular way for kiwis to get their hands on Bitcoin, Ethereum, and 110+ other coins in NZ.
Cryptocurrency retailers are non-custodial brokerage services that source cryptocurrencies from various exchanges and sell them directly to the customer at a small fee. (Standard retailer fee is between 0.5% – 2.5%). They essentially act as middlemen, sourcing coins from many different exchanges at the lowest rates possible to stay competitive. The key benefits of buying crypto in NZ through a local retailer include having access to local customer support and reputation.
NZ Crypto exchanges like Binance and Kiwi Coin are live exchanges where you can buy, sell, and exchange crypto with other traders in real time.
Exchanges are typically custodial, meaning in order to use the exchange you must deposit your crypto / NZD / USD into an account within your exchange. This differs from crypto retailers like Easy Crypto NZ who are almost always non-custodial. (They never hold your coins / orders sent directly to your personal wallet.) Crypto exchanges come with both benefits and drawbacks, as there's potential to save considerable value that would otherwise be spent on gas fees.
However, exchanges also pose considerable risks. There's a saying that goes "not your keys, not your coins', referring to the importance of being in control of the private keys associated with your funds. Ultimately, the person with the private keys controls what happens with the crypto, so if you are not the person holding them, you are entrusting a third party to hold your coins. This poses risk as exchanges can be hacked – such as the FTX, Cryptopia, and Mt Gox hacks.
At the end of the day, it is up to you as an individual to decide how to manage your crypto. We recommend storing your crypto in a secure self-managed wallet.
Buying and selling crypto person to person (P2P) is the act of buying, selling, or exchanging cryptocurrency directly between 2 users, without the use of an exchange, retailer, or third party to facilitate the transaction process. It's the way of buying crypto in NZ without having to provide your KYC/personal data.
Since 2016, New Zealand AML law has required all NZ crypto services who fall under the VASP classification to collect and provide information on their users to the NZ Govt, including details such as names, wallet addresses, order history, device information, IP addresses and more. P2P traders are those who prefer not to do so.
Warning: New Zealand is home to the NZ P2P Crypto Marketplace; a group of over 2,000 Kiwis interested in meeting P2P crypto buyers and sellers across NZ. Before you make your first trade, it is critical you learn the basics of P2P, the risks involved and the standard protocols Kiwis use to trade. Scammers are rampant in the NZ P2P crypto trading scene, and it's virtually guaranteed you will encounter them. Scam is real, keep your eyes peeled. You have been warned!
Crypto mining is the process of providing computational support to the crypto networks in reward for newly minted coins. You run specialized mining software on your hardware, processing transactions and adding them to blockchain.
By running a crypto mining rig, you can earn cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Cardano passively; sent safely, directly and privately to your crypto wallet of choice. Mining rigs (more or less) act as civilian money printing machines, with the primary costs being the overhead hardware expenses for your rig and ongoing electricity prices.
A cryptocurrency airdrop happens when a blockchain project deploys free crypto tokens to their community, usually after meeting specified criteria, for the purpose of marketing and stimulating the circulation of a project's native coin within it's userbase and beyond.
Crypto airdrop farming is the deliberate pursuit of exploring and engaging with platforms and project eco-systems who are expected, presumed or likely to deploy an airdrop in the coming future. An airdrop farmer is interested in mass farming crypto airdrops for profit. By far one of the greatest ways to accumulate crypto while exploring the DeFi ecosystem.
Jobs that pay in cryptocurrency have been increasing in popularity and availability over the past 5 years. This is attributed to both the rise in crypto adoption and the sudden rise in working remotely due to the covid-19 pandemic.
Stable-coins and crypto in general have broken down many of the barriers that typically held people back from working from a distance for a company abroad. You no longer need to set up bank accounts in different countries – you can now work either here in NZ or internationally and get receive salary or remuneration in digital currency.
Seek, LinkedIn, the CNZ Facebook and Discord are a good start.
Getting started with crypto is easy, and within just a few hours you should be able to wrap your head around the fundamentals – equipping you with the knowledge required to safely store and buy Bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrency in New Zealand.
The best place to start with crypto is by understanding Bitcoin (BTC) – the world's first and largest cryptocurrency by market value. Bitcoin was created in 2008 by a pseudonymous developer going by the name Satoshi Nakamoto, which we still don't know the real identity of till this very day. Bitcoin (BTC) is the golden standard within the crypto movement, setting the bar with it's scarce supply, perfect network uptime and recognized adoption and utility.
Your next step is to set up a cryptocurrency wallet – a digital account where you store your Bitcoin (BTC) and other cryptocurrencies. Everyone in crypto has at least one crypto wallet, which essentially becomes your self-owned personal crypto bank account. Be very careful during this process, as the process is the highest risk in terms of scams and loss of funds. Always make sure to correctly create and backup your wallet to avoid tears later.
A proper wallet backup is critical to ensure you never lose access to your funds. Most wallets provide a recovery phrase (also called a seed phrase or mnemonic) typically consisting of 12 or 24 words that you must safely store. Write these words down on paper and store them in a secure location. Never share this phrase with anyone, and never store it digitally where it could be hacked.
Warning: If you lose your recovery phrase and your device breaks or is lost, your funds will be permanently lost with no way to recover them.
Now that you have a secure place to store your crypto – the next step is to buy it in New Zealand. Your best options as stated in this guide include Easy Crypto NZ, Binance, and the NZ P2P Crypto Marketplace. Make sure you are using the correct websites and take extreme care and caution doing this.
A crypto portfolio tracker is a tool that provides you with a birds eye view over your crypto holdings, helping you monitor your allocations and NZD value, to help you make more informed investment decisions. These trackers require you to dot in when you purchased your crypto or made a transaction, and the portfolio tracker will take care of calculating your gains and losses for you. Beware however, they can become very, very addictive.
Need more detailed guidance? Contact us for personalized advice →
As there are over 20,000 cryptos in the market, it can be difficult to choose what ones you may want to buy or invest in. At Cryptocurrency NZ, we believe the best place to start researching is Bitcoin, Ethereum and Monero. Our guides below should provide a starting point, before deciding whether to buy or not.
Although there are over 20,000 cryptocurrencies in existence, there's decent chance that 95% of them will not be in active development and usage in 15 years time. The majority of the cryptocurrencies in existence are clones of a handful of other coins, with a few differences in code added in. Especially coins designed to pump & dump - otherwise called 'Shitcoins'.
As of 2023, the IRD estimates 6-10% of New Zealand already own Bitcoin or other digital assets; approximately 300,000 or more Kiwis.
At this point almost everyone has that Bitcoiner mate, and we estimate this number will significantly increase in the coming decades as more Kiwis recognize the benefits of global crypto adoption, crypto technological development, price increases, increased awareness and raw utility.
Today, most New Zealanders are drawn to buying, trading, using or investing in Bitcoin / crypto for the following set of reasons:
As a speculative investment a long or short term punt that the price of Bitcoin will increase in time and generate return.
As a financial instrument to use as a currency / alternative form of money to buy and sell things, like you would with NZD.
As a means to transfer money to family or friends in NZ or overseas, near instantly, cost effectively, and without restriction.
As a protest to the legacy financial system using your money as your vote towards a self-sovereign decentralized future.
To interact with Web3 Bitcoin and Ethereum are the native currencies of the internet, they have thousands of use cases.
A cryptocurrency wallet is a digital account where you store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Wallet is a place where you receive payments in and send transactions out, acting as your heart of operations for interacting with the cryptocurrency world. Cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum aren't stored in banks, but rather in the user's controlled crypto wallet. This puts you in full control of your digital assets, also making you fully responsible for your wallet safe keeping.
This provides crypto users with an unparalleled level of asset security and ownership, all while changing the way millions of people store and transfer value across the globe. Crypto wallets are free to use, safe to operate, and you can have as many wallet accounts as you'd like. Best of all – you don't have to ask anyone for permission to set one up, or use it to send and receive payments. Set up a crypto wallet in NZ and become your own bank in 10 minutes or less.
Used by tens of thousands of Kiwis across NZ, Exodus is a highly popular crypto wallet choice for first time Bitcoin and cryptocurrency users. I have personally used it for upwards of 6 years, and it has never failed me once. Exodus is one of the most used cryptocurrency wallets in the world.
Visit Exodus WebsiteSecurity Note: Get a secure device to operate from.
First, you need a secure device, computer or phone to create a cryptocurrency wallet on. Be aware that existing malware on compromised devices can scrape crypto private keys from your device. You may want to consider buying a fresh device or a crypto hardware wallet.
We recommend running a virus scanner such as MalwareBytes on your computer to help ensure your device is secure before creating a new crypto wallet.
Follow these simple steps to get started with your own wallet
For the desktop application: head to the official Exodus website on your secure laptop or desktop PC and click on 'download for desktop' – https://www.exodus.com/download/
For the mobile application: Head to the official Exodus website and click on the App Store or Google Play links, alternatively you can search for Exodus wallet in your phone/tablet app store. Bewarned, Desktop wallets are generally safer.
A) Head to the Easy Crypto NZ website - www.easycrypto.ai/nz
B) Select your sign up method
C) Provide Easy Crypto NZ with your email address and create a password
D) Click 'Verify account'
Congrats, you've just completed the first step 👏
In New Zealand, all regulated Bitcoin exchanges are required to collect and document their user's data and information, to comply with NZ anti-money laundering laws.
This means whenever you use a regulated NZ Bitcoin exchange to buy and sell Bitcoin, your account and identity need to be verified in order for you to trade on your chosen exchange.
Easy Crypto makes this easy, making it possible to have your account automatically verified in 5 minutes or less.
A) Provide Easy Crypto with your basic details
B) Provide Easy Crypto with your home address
C) Inform Easy Crypto about your source of funds
D) Click 'Automated Verification'
We'd highly recommend going with automatic verification — you can be done in less than 3 minutes!
ECNZ’s automatic system includes a walkthrough guide too. 🙂
Tip:
We believe the best place to start is with Bitcoin (BTC), the oldest, largest and most well known cryptocurrency in the market. Our next steps will show you how to buy Bitcoin, but for other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum Easy Crypto works the same way. 👍
It's now time to create your order to buy your Cryptocurrency.
A) Head back to the Easy Crypto NZ homepage and navigate to the exchange widget
B) Select the cryptocurrency you want to buy. i.e. Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP
C) Select how much NZD worth of Crypto you want to buy, then click ‘Buy‘
Why?
This is so Easy Crypto knows where to send your Bitcoin to once you’ve paid for your order. You can find your Bitcoin address in your Bitcoin wallet.
A) Head to your Bitcoin wallet and copy your Bitcoin wallet address
B) Paste your Bitcoin address into the field, confirm it’s correct then click ‘Next step’
Tip: Always make sure to triple check you’ve provided Easy Crypto with your correct wallet address – Bitcoin transactions are irreversible.
Tip: Never try and type out your Bitcoin wallet address manually, always copy and paste it to guarantee you’re giving Easy Crypto your correct address.
A) Select your payment method – Account2Account, POLI Pay or manual bank transfer
Recommendation: We’d recommend going with Account2Account or POLI Pay, to allow you to pay instantly. As soon as your NZD reaches Easy Crypto’s bank account, your Bitcoin is released and sent to your personal Bitcoin wallet.
B) Follow through with one of Easy Crypto’s payment methods and complete your order.
Easy Crypto’s systems will automatically kick into gear and send your Bitcoin to you in 20 minutes or less. Check back with your wallet shortly, and welcome to the club!
A) Email Verification, go to emails and copy and paste code in the box below
B) Set password for your account, Make sure it is secure!
C) Verify your identity by submitting the following information below
A) Go back to home page and click “Buy now” Button.
B) Select what you want to buy and amount.
A) You can choose your preferred payment method here. To buy with credit/debit card, click [Visa/Mastercard] – [Continue].
B) Enter card details and follow instructions
A) Confirm order and wait, order should be filled within 1 minute.
Need more detailed guidance? Contact us for personalized advice →
See our NZ Cryptocurrency Wallets Guide to learn how to set one up.
Cryptocurrency transactions are irreversible.
You wouldn't tell the world you have gold buried in your backyard, so don't tell the world how much BTC you are stacking.
Crypto markets are known to be notoriously volatile.
Take it with a grain of salt and do your own research.
Make sure you store your crypto in your own wallet, not someone else's!
It's virtually guaranteed you'll make mistakes, so make sure you learn from them and use them to your future advantage.
It's a right of passage. The learning curve can be steep, but once it's passed, it all clicks together.
But consider diversifying into other coins like Ethereum. "You diversify to mitigate risk, and go all in to maximize gain".
Someone with high risk tolerance to stomach the high volatility of crypto investing.
When in doubt follow our NZ Shitcoin Investing Guide here.
Start small, learn by doing, and gradually increase your exposure as you become more comfortable with the technology and market dynamics. Cryptocurrency can be a rewarding journey, but it requires patience, education, and a cautious approach.