How to buy Bitcoin with Venmo

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Venmo is a social payment app that lets you send money to individuals and businesses. You can use the app to pay your bills or to split a check with friends as well as to buy, sell, transfer and learn about bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto assets.

With as little as $1, you can purchase some bitcoin (BTC), ether (ETH), litecoin (LTC) or bitcoin cash (BCH) with the app.

If you are just getting started with Bitcoin or crypto more broadly, there are numerous articles and videos that you can use to learn about the asset class. Once you’ve made a purchase, you can also use Venmo to track the price of the crypto in your portfolio.

Venmo is owned by PayPal, and cryptocurrency transactions on Venmo are facilitated by PayPal’s partnership with Paxos Trust Company, a regulated provider of cryptocurrency products and services.

Pros and cons of buying crypto on Venmo

Pros

• Quick and convenient. Venmo makes buying crypto assets relatively painless. In just a few clicks, you can purchase bitcoin or any of four other cryptocurrencies.
• No need to self-custody. If you prefer not to manage the private keys to your crypto – or self-custody your crypto – and want a third party to manage them for you, Venmo is a convenient option. That being said, Venmo now allows you to move your crypto to a non-custodial wallet, as well.
• Enables small purchases. Purchase some crypto with as little as $1.
• Track your portfolio. Venmo automatically updates your cryptocurrency portfolio so that you can easily track your crypto investments.

Cons

• High fees. The fees vary when you purchase crypto through Venmo depending on the dollar amount of the purchase. Fees at all levels of purchases are high compared to most other crypto brokerages and exchanges.
• Limited selection. Venmo only offers five crypto assets.

Venmo crypto fees and costs

Method of transfer	Transfer fees	Transfer times
Standard electronic withdrawal	$0	1–3 business days
Instant transfer electronic withdrawal	1.5% (minimum $0.25 fee, maximum $15 fee)	5+ minutes

Method of deposit	Fees
Transfer from bank account	$0.00
Receive money in your personal Venmo account from Venmo users	$0.00
Receive merchant refund	$0.00
Receive money using direct deposit	$0.00
Adding money using the “cash a check” feature (payroll and government checks)	1.00% (minimum $5 fee)
Adding money using the “cash a check” feature (all other accepted checks)	5.00% (minimum $5 fee)
Receive payments in your business profile or that identified as for goods and services	1.9% + $0.10

Crypto purchase/sale amount	Fees
$1.00–$4.99	$0.49
$5.00–$24.99	$0.99
$25.00–$74.99	$1.99
$75.00–$200.00	$2.49
$200.01–$100	1.80%
>$1000	1.50%

Is Venmo safe?

Yes, Venmo is safe to use. Venmo uses data encryption to protect your personal and financial information. With that said, you may want to opt out of not sharing your crypto purchases publicly via the app’s social feature, which broadcasts your transactions to your friends on the app.

If you click on the “Me” tab at the bottom of the app screen and then click on the settings icon in the top right-hand corner of the screen, you’ll be taken to the app’s settings options. If you click on the “Privacy” tab and then click the “Private” option, you can stop your crypto purchases and sales from being broadcast to friends.

Alternative platforms to buy crypto

Frequently asked questions

• Can I buy Bitcoin on Venmo?

  Yes, you can purchase Bitcoin (BTC) as well as Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on Venmo.

• How does Venmo compare to popular crypto exchanges?

  Venmo only supports four cryptocurrencies:

  • Bitcoin (BTC)
  • Ethereum (ETH)
  • Litecoin (LTC)
  • Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

  Venmo doesn’t support altcoins like Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), Polygon (MATIC), Tron (TRON), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB) or Polkadot (DOT).

  It also doesn’t offer advanced investing and trading features like automated recurring buys or limit orders.

  All US residents, except residents of Hawaii, are allowed to buy, hold and sell the above-mentioned cryptocurrencies. You are not allowed to send, receive or make purchases with crypto yet.

  If you’d like to purchase a wider range of cryptocurrencies or simply get more options for trading and investing, consider a cryptocurrency platform.

• Is Venmo a peer-to-peer payment app?

  Venmo is sometimes referred to as a “peer-to-peer” payment app. This term is a bit misleading, though. Venmo transactions go through Venmo’s centralized database, and Venmo can halt or reverse these transactions. On a true peer-to-peer network like the Bitcoin network, no centralized entity or third party can interfere with transactions.