This post describes how to buy Ether in United States Dollars. This process works even if you live in New York. That’s not as easy as it sounds. IMPORTANT UPDATE, MARCH 2017! Shapeshift.io became unavailable in New York State since I wrote the original post. I’m a bit confused because I wrote the original post after Shapeshift announced they were leaving New York. I’m a curious person by nature and decided to look into this further. Less than 5 minutes of research I’ve updated this post to include the workaround. See step 3B for the update. revealed a solution. Update #2 — Coinbase is now approved to trade Ether, even in New York State. Now anyone can establish an account on Coinbase and buy Ether with USD. I should say here that I wrote this article as an academic exploration of how to but Ether with USD. It’s not intended, at all, to be an offer of investment advice, tax advice or anything else remotely related to using Ether as a financial vehicle. I’m simply a blockchain enthusiast. I enjoy challenges and enjoy experimenting with new technologies. I only work with very small amounts of Bitcoin and Ether during my experiments. I live in Brooklyn, New York. A sticker on a mailbox in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, sparked my interest in blockchain. You can blockchain read more about how that happened here. This interest lead me to Ethereum and now Golem. I’m planning to participate in Golem’s crowdfunding process tomorrow. You can r ead more about how I plan to do that here. First I need Ether. This post describes the steps I used to buy Ether in USD. It’s not a straightforward process right now. Living in New York makes it even more complicated. We have here. It’s meant to protect us from devious exchange operators. Apparently the Winkelvoss Twins aren’t devious, since their exchange was the first to receive a Bitlicense. (It’s true, you can look it up!) this thing called the Bitlicense Oh well, moving on… Disclaimer! This post is not intended to convince you to buy Ether with USD. It’s simply to provide information, e.g. if you’re interested in Ethereum and/or have already decided to buy Ether with USD. It is NOT a recommendation or offer of investment advice IN ANY WAY! How Long Does it Take to Buy Ether with USD? The process took me about a month of on-again-off-again trial-and-error to figure out. following these steps. It should take you about a week Two factors contribute to the delay — ID verification when you create an exchange account Purchase account, i.e. credit card or bank account, verification in your exchange account You may not experience this delay if you live outside of New York. The exchange operators here have to comply with the Bitlicense, remember (SMH)? To be on the safe side, I’d still suggest giving yourself a week to establish the process. How to Buy Ether in USD Step 1 — Create an Exchange Account The first step is to create an exchange account. You’ll use this account to buy Bitcoin or Ether with a USD-denominated credit card or bank account. I did a lot of research and decided to use I didn’t want to give my money to the Winkelvoss Twins. That ruled out their exchange. Coinbase. was one of the small number of exchanges operating with a Bitlicense. too. I admire from Union Square Ventures. The fact he’s trusting made me comfortable doing the same. Coinbase Union Square Ventures has invested in Coinbase Fred Wilson Coinbase The initial ID verification process on was frustrating. It seems to be fixed now. Coinbase Step 2 — Add a Purchase Method to your Exchange Account I chose to add a credit card to my account. I’m still experimenting with Ether. This means I’m buying very small amounts of Ether. Using a credit card felt like the easiest and safest way to do this. I wasn’t comfortable linking a bank account to my account. I figured if ever got hacked, I’d have the credit card fraud department to back me up on any fraudulent transactions. My bank would do the same, however I might be out the cash during the resolution period. Coinbase Coinbase Step 3 — Buy Ether Using your USD Account If you DON’T live in New York, you can buy Ether on using the account you added in Step 2. The site makes it pretty easy. Coinbase Coinbase If you DO live in New York, you have to buy Bitcoin (NOT Ether) with the account you added in Step 2. Let me repeat this — If you DO live in New York, you have to buy Bitcoin (NOT Ether) with the account you added in Step 2. The UI/UX could use an update here. You can actually get to a point in the transaction where it looks like you can buy Ether with the account you added in Step 2. Coinbase You’ll add the USD amount, then the corresponding Ether amount WON’T APPEAR. That’s the only indication you’ll receive the purchase of Ether won’t work. I confirmed with support that New York residents can only purchase Bitcoin. Coinbase Congratulations if you don’t live in New York, you’re done! You now have Ether in your wallet. Coinbase (Note that some Ether transactions require you to use a wallet your control, rather than an exchange wallet, like . If that’s the case, you’ll have to setup an Ether wallet. Coinbase I’ve tested the and . Ethereum Mist wallet, Parity myetherwallet is the way to go for me. myetherwallet It creates an Ether wallet for you in a single step. doesn’t have to download the entire blockchain either. This will save you hours if not days, since downloading the entire blockchain takes that long.) myetherwallet We love it here for a lot of reasons, don’t we? Ok, well the Bitlicense may not be one of them. Congratulations if you DO live in New York! Because of the Bitlicense, we have some more work to do here. [For New York Residents Only] Step 3A — Convert Bitcoin to to Ether March 2017 Update — The workaround mentioned above is to install a VPN on your computer. I like to use VPN’s for many reasons. It turns out I had the running on my laptop when I tried to access Shapeshift.io from New York. Magically, Shapeshift appeared, without the New York and North Korea notice :) I was able to exchange Bitcoin from my Coinbase wallet into Ether. The Ether was deposited into my Ether wallet. Cloak VPN So then follow the remaining steps. install a VPN like Cloak, Use to convert your Bitcoin to Ether. To do this — Shapeshift.io Setup your myetherwallet Initiate a Bitcoin to Ether transaction on , following Shapeshift’s instructions. Do this by sending Bitcoin from your Coinbase Bitcoin wallet to the address generates for you Shapeshift.io Shapeshift.io Confirm receipt of your Ether in your myetherwallet Ok, now you’re done, even if you do live in New York! Go out and enjoy everything else New York has to offer :) P.S. If this post was helpful, please consider sending a small Ether contribution to me. I invest a lot of time researching and writing these posts. Your contribution makes more posts like this possible. My Ethereum address is - 0x88f78b27b0eab9cb2f9108808070c7aa1e6a88b8 Or, simply recommend this post to others. That won’t cost you a thing!
![featured image - [Updated] Here’s How to Buy Ether with USD (Even If You Live In New York)](https://hackernoon.imgix.net/fallback-feat.png?auto=format&fit=max&w=2048)
