How to quickly buy bitcoin, ether and other altcoins in Japan

If you are here, congratulations! You are way ahead of majority of people who are still unaware of this fascinating new world of cryptocurrency. The technology behind Bitcoin and others is going to make a huge impact on the society in the coming years and its a great time to invest since the revolution has just begun!

The fastest way to own cryptocurrency (Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, etc.), irrespective of your location, is by registering yourself on a cryptocurrency exchange and transfering money to the exchange to buy coins. The process is pretty straightforward and goes like this:

1) Create an account on a cryptocurrency (virtual currency) exchange

2) Verify your identity by uploading relevant documents

3) Link your bank account (Optional: Depends on exchange)

The entire process takes about 15 min and the verification process just 1 business day (max 2).

Quick info: A cryptocurrency exchange is a place where cryptocurrency is bought and sold. It is just like a stock exchange, except that instead of stocks, you can buy and sell cryptocurrency.

You can register yourself on any cryptocurrency exchange in the world, though it is convenient to register on the exchange which is in the same country as you are currently staying or your native country (because you can easily transfer money to and from your bank account).

In Japan, the best exchanges when it comes to English support are:

• Bitflyer
• Coincheck

Both have an excellent website and a smartphone app. I started with Bitflyer and currently I use both, since they offer different set of coins on their platforms. I'll discuss Bitflyer here. The procedure for Coincheck is similar.

HOW TO SETUP YOUR BITFYER ACCOUNT

1) Go to the Bitflyer website. To display the webpage in English, hover over thesymbol on the top right section of the webpage and click the  symbol.

2) Sign up using your email (or your Facebook account). You'll get a keyword on your email (in case of Facebook sign up, on the email connected to it). Enter that to confirm your registration.

3) After confirmation, follow the steps and when asked for a password for your account, use a strong password (bitflyer helps you!). This is VERY IMPORTANT from a SECURITY point of view, as hacking attempts are constantly on the rise.

4) After logging in, follow the bitflyer guide to enter your personal details and upload your identification documents. Valid IDs are as follows:

• Driver's licence
• Passport (issued by Japanese govt.)
• My number card (personal number card)
• Residence Card
• Health insurance card
• Pension books

A detailed list of valid IDs as well as upload instructions are available here.

Before doing the above 2 procedures (entering personal details and ID upload), your account class will be 'Wallet class'. After the above procedures are verified, your account class will be upgraded to 'Trade Class' following which you will be eligible to buy/sell cryptocurrencies.

5) The final step is to link your bank account. You can do that by clicking on Settings -> bitflyer Account Information -> Add bank account information.  Remember that it has to be your own bank account. Bitflyer will not accept funds from any other person's account.

HOW TO FUND YOUR BITFLYER ACCOUNT (WITH JPY)

1) Go to the 'Account Funding' section on the website. There you can see a Mitsui Sumitomo bank account. You can transfer whatever JPY amount you wish to invest to this bank account and it will be reflected in your bitflyer account where you can use it to buy cryptocurrency.

NOTE: It takes some time for the amount to reflect in your bitflyer account (max 1 business day). If it doesn't show up within 2 business days, I recommend contacting their team via email or phone. Usually if there is any issue with the transfer, you'll get an email along with a notification in your  bitflyer account citing the reason and how to resolve it.

2) Once you see the amount in your bitflyer account, you can buy/sell using the left side menu on the website.

To buy bitcoin
- Click on 'Buy / Sell Bitcoin'
- Enter how many coins you want to buy in the Amount field (the reference total cost in JPY is displayed next to it)
- Click the 'Buy Coins' button and click 'Submit Order' within 6 seconds, else the price changes.

To buy Ether, Litecoin, etc.
- Click on 'Buy / Sell Altcoins'
- On the top, you can see a list of different coins (Ether, Litecoin, etc.) that are available to trade

- Select the one you wish to buy.
- Enter the number of coins in the Amount field (the reference total cost in JPY is displayed next to it)
- Click the 'Buy Coins' button and click 'Submit Order' within 6 seconds, else the price changes.

Congratulations! You now own cryptocurrency! You can check your portfolio (assets) on the Home section of the website.

HOW TO PROPERLY SECURE YOUR BITFLYER ACCOUNT (VERY IMPORTANT)

Since the hacking attacks are on the rise these days, especially in the cryptocurrency world, it is very important to follow security guidelines put forth by the exchanges. Bitflyer highly recommends turning on the following security settings:

• Two-Factor Authentication
• 4 digit PIN code

Quick info: Two-Factor Authentication means that in addition to requiring your bitflyer account password, you'll need one more password/code from a different source like email, SMS or an Authenticator app to confirm the transactions.

Enabling Two-Factor Authentication

1) Click on Settings -> Security Settings

2) Click Enable Two-Factor Authentication for  all the options. In 'How to obtain an authentication code', I highly recommend using the Authentication app option since it is the least risky to hack into. Check all boxes in 'When to use' and click Next.

3) Download the Google Authenticator app (Android, iOS) and tap '+'. Select 'Scan barcode' and scan the barcode which appears on the screen. You'll see a code appear on your Google Authenticator app. Enter that code and click on 'Enable Two-Factor Authentication' to finish the setup.

Thats all you have to do. You are now a proud owner of cryptocurrency!

Additionally, I would recommend installing the bitflyer app (Android, iOS). You can track your asset value on-the-go and even buy/sell coins at the click of a button.

Next up:

Right now, our coins are on the exchange. It is generally not recommended to keep your coins on an exchange if you don't plan on trading, since exchanges are usually the target of hackers. It is better to install a wallet app, or a wallet software and transfer the coins to these to ensure that you don't lose your coins, even if the exchange gets hacked. I'll describe how to do that in another post.

But don't worry, bitflyer is a secure and well-recognised exchange in the country and they take great care to protect their customers' assets. Even if they do get hacked, they have insurance for your coins, so you'll ideally get your money back.

I hope this post has been simple enough for you to understand and quickly get your hands on cryptocurrency. Please feel free to comment and let me know in case you face any trouble.

Happy investing!