Bitcoin’s rising value has captured everyone’s attention, but it’s not the only cryptocurrency. Bitcoin Cash, Dogecoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and Monero are just some of the other cryptocurrencies. If you want to buy any of these in India, you may find that it is not easy to buy directly. A quick search turned up only lesser-known and dubious websites selling Ethereum in India – something you generally want to avoid.
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However, there is a reliable way to buy Ethereum or any other cryptocurrency in India, which basically involves buying Bitcoin and then converting it to the cryptocurrency of your choice. To do this, first you need to buy Bitcoin in India and then convert it. We used this method to buy Litecoin in India, but it works for almost every other cryptocurrency.
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- First, you need a wallet for the cryptocurrency of your choice. You can visit the official website of Ethereum or Litecoin or other currencies to find download links.
- After downloading this wallet on your computer or phone, you need to set it up. This involves setting two passwords, one of which is a series of up to 24 characters. Copy the receiving address for your cryptocurrency.
- Next, you need to use a cryptocurrency converter such as ShapeShift.
- Choose Bitcoin as the input currency and the output currency is obviously what you want. In our case, the output currency is Litecoin.
- The address you copied in step 3 above needs to be pasted into the deposit address field on ShapeShift.
- You can copy the receiving address from your Bitcoin wallet and paste it into the Bitcoin Refund Address field in ShapeShift. If the transaction fails, the money will be quickly returned to your Bitcoin wallet.
- Check now I agree to the termsclick Start trading.
- ShapeShift will now provide you with a new deposit address. Copy this content and return to your Bitcoin wallet. Now send the Bitcoin amount to this address.
- Switch back to ShapeShift and wait. Once ShapeShift receives your Bitcoin, it quickly converts it into the cryptocurrency of your choice.
Note that ShapeShift also has mobile apps, and while the process remains the same, the steps are slightly different if you want to use those apps to convert crypto there. It’s also important to note that ShapeShift charges a conversion fee of approximately 0.5%, and sending Bitcoin to ShapeShift also incurs a mining fee associated with it, which is a fee you must pay for each Bitcoin transaction. That said, this is still the easiest way to buy Ethereum or Litecoin in India.
For more tutorials, head to our how-to section.
Bitcoin is at an all-time high, but should you still invest in it now? We discuss this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast. You can listen via Apple Podcasts or RSS, or just click the play button below to listen to this episode.
