Where to Buy Bitcoin Oregon

Oregon has very clear laws when it comes to buying and selling bitcoin. It is one of the most progressive and pro-crypto among US States.

A snapshot of Oregon Cryptocurrency Market:

Clear cryptocurrency money transmitter act that must require exchanges to be licensed
It is legal to buy and sell bitcoin on an exchange in Oregon
Bitcoin ATMs are available for buying and selling bitcoin
You must be at least 18 years old to sign up and buy bitcoin on an exchange
The safest cryptocurrency exchanges are licensed in Oregon

If you want to buy bitcoin in Oregon, you will encounter very little issues when compared to other states. Buying bitcoin is easily transacted through the numerous cryptocurrency exchanges that are licensed in Oregon. In addition many convenience, grocery stores and other businesses have bitcoin kiosks and ATMs installed so that bitcoin can be exchanged for withdrawal of cash.

Bitcoin can also be obtained through the process of mining. In Oregon, several local companies have established data mining centers which involves the use of computer hardware, energy and ideally a cooling system.

The earning of bitcoin through the sale of goods or provision of sevices is also permitted, with Federal IRS taxes that may be applicable.

Oregon is a liberal state the encourages the use of bitcoin. In our guide, we discuss the how and where to buy bitcoin, assessing and choosing the best Oregon exchange, how to choose a wallet, and the legality of bitcoin in the State.

Top 5 Oregon Bitcoin Exchanges

Overview of Oregon Bitcoin Exchanges

Choosing an Oregon bitcoin exchange requires assessing various attributes. These attributes are common among all exchanges, but their importance to you may differ to someone. Your bitcoin strategy, maybe to buy and hold. Or it may be to trade often. A strategy will determine which exchange is best for you to use.

The most common attribute considered are fees. Fees have an impact to your bottomline, and therefore it makes sense to rank this at the top of considerations. This should be balanced with Customer Support which mostly correlates with KYC requirements. KYC can be a lengthy process, if there is inadequate customer support. Other attritbutes such as security, liquidity, payment options is also important in deciding which exchange to use.

We outline the attributes and discus further their importance.

🔒 Safety and Security

Balance your safety and security

Global and local exchanges have insurance to protect their customers against the event of a hack. In the past, exchanges have lost millions of dollars of bitcoin, because hackers have been able to infiltrate the platform and steal from hot wallets. Nowadays, platform security has improved with Kentucky and Federal legislation enforcing strict IT controls. Even though tremendous improvements have been made to platform security, insurance adds that extra layer of protection to the exchange.

However, insurance does not protect the individual customer. This is where security for the individual should be considered when selecting an exchange. Examples of individual user security includes 2FA (2 Factor Authentication), white listing approved IP addresses and limits to withdrawals. Individual security is paramount because if any issues arise, the responsibility of loss falls with the individual and not with the exchange.

Safety and security is paramount for individual protection.

📞 Customer Support

You will need it

New bitcoin buyers in Oregon may be surprised to read how important Customer Support is. Shouldn’t it be easy to open an account and start buying bitcoin? Well, yes and no, because it depends if you are opening a personal account vs business account, and the features of the exchange platform.

Firstly, KYC can be an onerous process. KYC is a mandatory requirement that all exchanges must perform in Oregon. This involves asking new customers to provide sufficient document to identify who they are, their sources of income and ultimate beneficiary of any gains and losses of trading. For personal accounts, KYC is relatively easy. Hence most exchanges would prefer to accept personal accounts, because the overhead is low. For business accounts, the KYC process can be complicated, slow and laborious. Exchanges do NOT want to provide an excessive amount of Customer Support for business accounts, because it hurts their profits. Unfortunately, for buyers of bitcoin who want to open a business account for a company, trust, partnership or any complex structure, you will need to find an exchange that can support you and often it is at an exchange with higher trading fees.

Secondly, an exchange rich in features for sophisticated investing, maybe confusing to use. Customer Support will be needed to assist with platform issues, how to use, or even just general trading questions.

The quality of Customer Support should be balance directly against the fees.

💳 Payment Methods

Ease of Payment and Rewards

In Oregon the most common method of deposting and withdrawing is though wire transfers and ACH. Credit cards such as VISA and Mastercard can also be used, but with limits. There are a few exchanges which extend payment methods to e-wallet transfers which includes PayPal, ApplePay and Google Pay.

When selecting an exchange, you may want to consider the payment options of an exchange. Though some may be limited, you can easily transfer your funds to enable an accepted payment methods. Just beaware, that different payment methods will incur different fees and each will have different processing times.

🪙 Bitcoin and Supported Cryptocurrencies

Ability to diversify and exchange

Bitcoin has proven to be reliable and effective as a method of payment. Due to bitcoin being the most popular digital currency, it is regarded as the safest investment. This however does not mean that you should put all your money into bitcoin. Diversification is a common strategy by investors to spread risk. Spreading risk across several cryptocurrencies, in theory, removes the dependency on bitcoin. Accordingly, choosing an exchange that supports other cryptocurrencies besides bitcoin is important.

🏷 Coupons and Discounts

Refer a Friend and other Perks

Based on their common purpose, coupons and discounts are intended to create a win-win situation by attracting more and more clients to start trading with them. For a good cryptocurrency exchange, these offers work as a marketing tool where they can reach maximum number of people and expect to get at least 50% responses within no time. traders are rest assured of getting discounts or reductions in transaction fees.

💰 Fees

Trading, Deposit, Withdrawal fees need to be considered with the Spreads

Fees are the first attribute that many buyers of bitcoin consider. Some exchanges have a complex fee structures that can be quite confusing. Others, which in our opinion, declare that they charge zero fees is misleading. While prima facie that may be true, they deliberately widen the trading spreads and take their earnings through them. There is no exchange that has true zero fees, they must earning an income some how.

Low fees are often sought after by bitcoin buyers, because it clearly impacts the bottom line. The percentage earnings from bitcoin appreciating is offset by the trading fees (which are also a percentage). Therefore a trader that signs up to a low fee exchange will have better returns that a high one, irrespective of any other attributes.

Of course, the other attributes that we will discuss do not represent investment risk, but relate to operational, safety and execution. Different risks but still must be balanced against trading fees.

⚙️ Platform Reliability

Smooth glitch free applications and online trading platforms

With any IT software, especially an online bitcoin exchange, there will always be maintenance required to the hardware and upgrades to the software. Sometimes, IT maintenance will place the exchange offline, to allow for these changes to be made. During an offline period, you will not be able to buy or sell bitcoin. Often the downtime period is very short and does not impact customers. Some exchanges however have had their exchange offline for up to a week. These exchanges are generally the smaller ones that are not global and service a small customer base.

📈 Liquidity

Quick transactions with high liquidity

An exchange that has many buyers and sellers can generate liquidity. The facilitating of buying and selling can only be as fast as those who are on the exchange, hence, if an exchange is small, you may find that fulfilling your buy or sell order may take a while. In theory a larger exchange is faster.

Liquidity is not bound to cryptocurrency exchanges alone. The same attribute can be considered for the stock exchange, forex and any other market with buyers and sellers.

Choosing an exchange with high liquidity will enable you to complete buying and selling quicker. This is especially important if you intend to be buying and selling often.

Setting Up an Account

To buy bitcoin from an exchange, you will need to set up an account. The process varies slightly between each of the exchange platforms, but ultimately you will need to go through a KYC (Know-Your-Client) process.

A KYC process is a mandatory requirement by all licensed exchanges in Mississippi. They need to perform this verification, to prevent money laundering and to meet AML (Anti-Money Laundering) international regulations.

The KYC will normally ask for your person details, proof of identity in the form of utility bills, drivers license or passport and social security number. Some exchanges may ask for more information.

Once your KYC has been processed your account will be activated. Now send whatever amount of money into it that matches how much fiat currency you’re willing to spend on bitcoin.

Send your US dollars through a payment method such as a bank transfer and then sit back and wait until it arrives in your exchange wallet — which could take several days depending on how busy they are.

Oregon Bitcoin Exchange Reviews

Considering the above criteria, we review several bitcoin exchanges for Oregon in alphbetical order.

Binance.US

Binance.US is one of the most popular exchanges in Oregon. Many see Binance.US as an offshoot of Binance (International), but in fact, the two companies are stand alone. Binance.US however, does utilize the IT platform and experience of Binance, and it clearly shows with their ability to provide a quality service with low trading fees.

The Binance.US platform is one of the best. It is reliable, easy to use and is most suitable for the personal account trader. The KYC process is fast, and will get you up and running in a very short period of time. On the other hand, Business account setups do take longer, and in some cases have extended one month. This is not the norm, but take note that business accounts can be lengthy and will need customer service.

Binance.US supports a good range of cryptocurrencies, including it’s own native coin BNB. Yes, there are some traders that want to diversify from bitcoin with some exotic coins that may not be available, but that is the minority. Overall, you will find a healthy range of cryptocurrencies that you can diversify your exposure into.

The Binance.US platform is downloadable on a mobile app – Android or iOS, but its functionality is not as powerful as the desktop version. Still it is effective to trade when on the move.

Binance.US is a good choice for beginners or personal account holders. It’s fast, intutive, highly liquid with narrow spreads. You will get the most bang for your buck on this platform.

Money Transmitter License: 1906829
Cryptocurrencies: 64
Mobile App: iOS and Android
Fees: 0.1% – 0.5%
Payment Methods: Debit Card, ACH, Wire Transfer

BlockFi

** Update: Feb 2022 – BlockFi has been issued a penalty by the SEC for infringing on issuing and operating financial services products without the appropriate approval. As a result, we do not recommend using BlockFi.

BlockFi is not as well known as other exchanges. Its core business is lending bitcoin through the acceptance of deposits (much like a bank). Its trading platform as an exchange is still maturing and can only accept one payment method. Fees are included in the spread, which makes it difficult to determine the actual fee to customers.

If you just want to get started with buying bitcoin, then perhaps give BlockFi a miss. But if you want to borrow and lend bitcoin, BlockFi is a good choice.

Money Transmitter License: Approved
Payment Methods: ACH
Mobile App: iOS and Android
Fees: embedded in the spread

CEX.IO

With over 4 millions customers reaching over 20 countries, CEX.IO is a big exchange that both new starters and experienced buyers of bitcoin are attracted to. Excellent customer support, with reasonable trading fees and high liquidity. CEX.IO supports over 100 cryptocurrencies, which ranks as one of the highest.

The layout and design is intuitive, but probably best for the sophisticated investor with many options. That doesn’t mean that as a beginner it’s not good, it’s just that you may find it overcrowded. CEX.IO has been in the market for over a decade, developing a reputatin of being safe and secure.

Choose CEX.IO if you are an experienced trader.

Money Transmitter License: MTX-30237
Cryptocurrencies: 100+
Mobile App: iOS and Android
Fees: 0.15% – 0.25% + deposit and withdrawal fees
Payment Methods: Debit Card, Credit Card, ACH, Wire Transfer

Coinbase

Coinbase is a well known all rounder bitcoin exchange. It is competitive with low trading fees, although it can be difficult to determine due to it’s complex fee structure. Being listed on the NASDAQ, you can be assured that Coinbase is safe and secure to use. Part of the personal security that it offers to customers is the ability to whitelist IP addresses and put limits and timeframes on withdrawals. At nearly 100 support currencies, Coinbase ranks higher than Binance.US. Lastly, Coinbase is a highly liquid exchange with narrow spreads. Completing a buy and sell order of bitcoin is fast and efficient.

Money Transmitter License: MTX-30192
Cryptocurrencies: 96
Mobile App: iOS and Android
Fees: 0.5% – 4.5%
Payment Methods: Debit Card, Credit Card, ACH, Wire Transfer

Coinmama

We like Coinmama for its simple and easy to use layout. Very intuitive for beginners, hence the need for Customer Support isn’t as important as other exchanges. In addition to bitcoin, there are other coins that you can select. Trading is confined to simple outright buy and sell, there is no margin lending, stop losses and other hyrbids to consider.

The platform is stable, but only Android is downable for mobile apps. Coinmama does not hold a Kentucky license per se, but trades through a third party provider.

Money Transmitter License: N/A – operates via third party
Cryptocurrencies: 96
Mobile App: iOS and Android
Fees: 0.5% – 4.5%
Payment Methods: Debit Card, Credit Card, ACH, Wire Transfer

Crypto.com (CDC)

One exchange that is shaking up the market in Oregon is Crypto.com. Employing the services of Matt Damon and LeBron James, the marketing budget is huge. Crypto.com has also purchased the naming rights of what was previously known as the Staples Center, L.A.’s stadium.

Pushing for a flashy image, Crypto.com provides customers with a card that is metal. That’s right, a heavy metallic card that is shiny and bright to buy things with bitcoin. It’s not often said, but customers are drawn to pulling out their metal card rather than the boring plastic credit and debit cards.

Pretentious? Maybe. But behind the glamour Crypto.com does offer a fantastic service. The trading fees are very low, comparable to Binance.US, FTX.US and Coinbase. It’s mobile app is strong and reliable in both iOS and Android versions.

Lastly, as with Binance.US, there is a Crypto.com native coin (CRO), which can be earned when trading on the platform.

Money Transmitter License: Approved
Cryptocurrencies: 96
Mobile App: iOS and Android
Fees: 0.5% – 4.5%
Payment Methods: Debit Card, Credit Card, ACH, Wire Transfer

eToro

Forex exchange was and still is remains the key business for eToro. However it is looking to branch out into the cryptocurrency market. It’s a natural progression because the functionality is exactly the same. With eToro’s history of trading in currency, the platform has developed into a leading, reliable, user friendly exchange.

eToro says that its trading fees are zero. Which is true. But the catch is that their spreads are wide. So wide that eToro ranks as one of the most expensive platforms to buy bitcoin with.

Getting started with eToro is very fast and simple. The customer support is fantastic, but is limited to only 27 cryptocurrencies to trade with.

Money Transmitter License: Not Required
Cryptocurrencies: 27
Mobile App: iOS and Android
Fees: zero (but huge spreads making eToro more expensive than Binance.US and Coinbase).
Payment Methods: Wire, ACH, PayPal, e-wallets

FTX.US

FTX.US is a cryptocurrency exchange and a NFT trading platform. Alongside Crypto.com, FTX.US is splashing out a big marketing campaign to capture the US market, including Oregon. Huge partnerships have been established with college and professional sports teams around the nation. As a brand ambassador, FTX.US has employed the services of Tom Brady (who is also a significant shareholder of FTX.US).

The FTX.US layout is very sharp, and intuitive to use. But it supports a limited number of cryptocurrencies at only 20. Nevertheless, bitcoin is available and the trading fees are extremely low (in some cases even cheaper than Binance.US).

FTX.US is fast capturing a great market share in the US, increasing its liquidity for its customers and also providing narrower spreads. FTX.US is a great exchange to use if you just want to buy and hold bitcoin.

Money Transmitter License: N/A
Cryptocurrencies: 20
Mobile App: iOS and Android
Fees: 0.4% – 5.0%
Payment Methods: Wire, ACH, PayPal, e-wallets

LocalBitcoins.com – Peer to Peer Exchange

Known for providing an escrow service, this cryptocurrency platform enables clients to find the right buyers for their Bitcoins. Although advertisement is a good option to go with, many have not received the required level of responses. The thing that makes LocalBitcoins different from others is the in-person meeting, which is facilitated and secured by LocalBitcoins have turned out to the fastest platform to acquire Bitcoins within a few minutes.

Oregon Bitcoin ATMs

There is a huge selection of Bitcoin ATM providers in Oregon. The market is very much alive and open, with an ATM located in all of the major cities.

Providers include: BudgetCoinz, BitStop, Bytefederal, DigitalMint, CoinSource, Rockitcoin, CoinFlip, Bitcoin Depot, PureCoin, Bitcoin of America, Coin Cloud, Versa Exchange, National Bitcoin ATM, QuadCoin, ATM Coiners, Coin Genie, Coin Mover, Crypto Dispensers, Cash 2 Bitcoin, GetCoins.

Although bitcoin ATMs offer a lot of convenience, they charge astronomically high fees. Far better to use an online cryptocurrency exchange than to use a bitcoin ATM if you are looking to save.

Oregon Cryptocurrency Tax Ruling and Rates

In the state of Oregon, bitcoin buyers must pay tax on any realized capital gains to the IRS. Any realized capital losses can be carried forward to the next tax year, but this depends on the overall tax assessment of the individual.

The IRS requires buyers of bitcoin to be able to support their trading with form 1099 submmissions. Many of the top bitcoin exchanges have reports that can be downloaded and used for tax lodgements. Some exchanges even have reports that can interface with tax software.

Calculating tax on bitcoin can be extremely complicated. We highly recommend seeing a tax professional when calculating tax in Oregon.

Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Laws and Legislation

The laws in Oregon governing the use and operation of blockchain and bitcoin apply several Acts and legislation. They can be broken down between the Money Transmittion Act (which is a commonly used Act specific for each US State), Blockchain development, State government taxes, Political campaign contributions and other.

The Money Transmitter Act – The Oregon Money Transmitter Act defines what types of transactions is to be regulated and licensed. If a particular form of transaction is within the scope of this Act, any entity that prescribes to facilitate and use that payment type must abide by the Money Transmitter Act. In the case of virtual currency i.e. bitcoin, it has yet to be formally included in the Act. However, if the Act does not specifically reference bitcoin, it does not necessarily mean it precludes cryptocurrency.

To capture any ambiguity, the majority of States have included in their Money Transmitter Act, the term “monetary value”. This term is used to capture any transaction that contains value. However, Oregon’s MT Act, excludes the term monetary value, and therefore bitcoin and cryptocurrency regulation is quite vague.

But, the State has issued guidance, that all bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchanges must be licensed and regulated by the Department of Consumer and Business Services.

Oregon Money Transmitter Act

Blockchain Development – The advent of blockchain has spurn some States to investigate further the potential use, while other States have remained indifferent. (And in the case of NY, even discouraged the use of blockchain). Oregon has attempted to push forward with exploring further uses of blockchain.

HB2487 – introduced in 2019 to seek further the application of blockchain within government services and processes.

HB2179 – this bill was introduced with the core platform of electric farming and zero emission trading. Included in this bill, was the exploration and development of blockchain technology for economic and business transactions.

SB703 – this senate bill was introducted to explore the use of blockchain for the health care system in Oregon.

Government taxes and payments – the state treasury is required to collect taxes to maintain the budget and financial security of the State. In order to collected taxes the State and excluded the transfer of bitcoin and cryptocurrency as a permitted payment type.

ORS 291.730 – This bill explicitly refers to the use of cryptocurrency, and precludes it as an acceptable payment method for taxes.

Political Campaign Contributions – Oregon has strict rules governing political campaign donations. Consistent with other excluded payment methods within the government, cryptocurrency donations are not legal in the State.

ORS 260.011 – This legistation explicitly declares cryptocurrency donatioins in the State are illegal.

Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency Wallets

Some exchanges also offer wallets. It’s not necessary for a good exchange to offer a wallet to their clients, though it can be a nice to have for new investors. However, be aware that online wallets offered by exchanges are normally hot wallets. That is, these wallets are connected permanently to the internet. This can be quite risky to use a wallet that is controlled by the exchange and not by yourself.

Hence it’s not necessarily a good thing if an exchange offers a wallet, but it’s a nice to have, if you are looking for an exchange with their own wallet.

Online Wallets: Every crypto-exchange has their own wallet where traders can store their coins or cryptocurrencies for as long as they want. However, there are two types of these wallets that traders have to decide about which wallet they want to use for their trading.
Oregon Hot Wallets: Since the inception of bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies, wallets have been transformed and divided into two forms- desktop and online. Digital wallets are free and can hold any cryptocurrency that traders want. They enable them to get easy access to their cryptocurrencies via mobile devices. They are perfect for beginners who want something easy to start with.
Oregon Cold Wallets: These specifically designed devices work as physical cryptocurrency storage that allow traders to bring their cryptos with them, no matter where they are going. Though, the only considerable thing is their expensive nature with limitations of storing certain cryptocurrencies for future use.

Minimum Legal Age

You need to be at least 18 years old by law to sign up and buy and sell bitcoin on an Oregon cryptocurrency exchange.

Summary

Oregon has a wide selection of bitcoin exchanges to choose from. The best exchanges will depend on your investment strategy. To sign up and create an account at an exchange you will need to complete KYC details and make a deposit.
In addition to exchanges, you can buy bitcoin at ATMs. ATMs are convenient but charge a higher fee than an exchange.
There are other ways of acquiring bitcoin. Mining is very popular, and also the receiving bitcoin for the exchange for goods and services.
Realized capital gains are taxable in the eyes of the IRS. The tax rate is dependents on whether it is short or long term.
The application of sales tax has yet to be determined, hence currently there is no sales tax.
Legally, Oregon residents must be at least 18 years old to buy and sell but coin at an exchange.

How to Lodge a Cryptocurrency Customer Complaint

If you have any customer complaints with cryptocurrency exchanges in Oregon, you should contact them first to resolve any issues.

If unresolved after attempting to discuss with the exchange, contact the Division of Finance and Corporate Securities.

Department of Consumer and Business Services
Division of Finance and Corporate Securities
P.O. Box 14480, 350 Winter St. NE, Suite 410
Salem, Oregon 97309-0405
Telephone: 1-866-814-9710
Email: dcbs.dfcsmail@state.or.us

https://dfr.oregon.gov/help/complaints-licenses/Pages/file-complaint.aspx