Hey there! Have you heard about this cool app called Cash App that lets you instantly buy, sell, and send Bitcoin right from your phone? In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll walk you step-by-step through buying your first (or next) BTC on Cash App. I‘ve been using Cash App for years, so I‘ll make sure to share plenty of tips and analysis for investing in Bitcoin through this popular app.
To start, let‘s take a high-level view of what exactly Cash App is, who uses it, and why it‘s become a leading choice for Bitcoin purchases…
Cash App Overview
Cash App began simply as "Square Cash" – a P2P money transfer service designed by Jack Dorsey‘s financial tech company Square (now Block, Inc). The goal was seamless money movement utilizing linked debit cards and bank accounts.
Soon Cash App expanded into areas like stock brokerage, debit card-based spending, direct deposit paycheck management, and eventually crypto…making it a centralized finance hub.
Here are Cash App‘s key capabilities today:
| Send/Receive Payments | Free bank/debit transfers between $cashtags |
| Stock Investing | Trade stocks and ETFs commission-free |
| Bitcoin Buying | DCA and withdraw BTC to external wallets |
| Cash Card | Spend account balance via linked debit card |
| Direct Deposit | Deposit paychecks/benefits directly into app |
While Cash App captured the social media generation thanks to peer payment use cases, additions like stock and Bitcoin investing provide financial access to those typically excluded from legacy systems.
In fact, 70% of Cash App users are younger than 40 years old according to Square‘s recent shareholder reports. The app empowers the next generation of retail investors and crypto users alike by providing intuitive access to markets – which is exactly why we‘re going to focus on buying Bitcoin via Cash App specifically today!
Now let‘s dive in. Make sure Cash App is downloaded on your device, and let me show you how I purchase BTC in just a few clicks…
Step 1: Fund Your Cash App via Bank Account or External Wallet
The first thing you‘ll want to do is load money into your Cash App account. This balance will allow you to purchase and withdraw Bitcoin seamlessly without having to wait for deposit transfers or bank approvals when you‘re ready to buy or sell BTC.
You have two primary options to fund your Cash App:
- Linked Bank Account or Debit Card – Instantly connect your bank or eligible debit card within Cash App. This will allow you to directly sell Bitcoin for cash outs or fund buys via your checking balance for example. It keeps things simple within one app.
- External Wallet Transfer – Already own some cryptocurrency elsewhere? You can send funds directly to your $cashtag from an external crypto wallet. This allows you to fund Cash App buys with tokens you hold on platforms like Coinbase without conversions to fiat cash through your bank. Keep it all within the crypto ecosystem!
I prefer to keep a nice buffer of my fiat bank balance preloaded in Cash App to deploy whenever I want to quickly take advantage of Bitcoin price movements without delays.
But the external wallet option is game changing if you‘re looking to convert existing crypto holdings into BTC specifically via Cash App without touching traditional finance channels.
Let‘s link our bank account to get started…
Step 2: Test Sends and Receives
Once your account has money available from your linked bank or external wallet transfers, I recommend testing actually sends and receives before purchasing large amounts of Bitcoin.
While Cash App has become extremely reliable over the years, you still want to confirm smooth withdrawals and transactions between the app and your connected bank account prior to investing sums you aren‘t comfortable losing.
To test, try instantly sending $5 back and forth between your bank account and Cash App username:
When prompt two-way functionality is confirmed, you‘re ready for Bitcoin buys!
Step 3: Tap the Bitcoin Tab
As you can see above, Cash App nicely lists all your interconnected accounts and balances in one unified dashboard.
To enter the Bitcoin investing section of the app, tap on your Cash App balance, then swipe until you see the Bitcoin wallet and chart.
Here you‘ll find the current BTC price, quick links to buy/sell/withdraw functionality, historical price charts, and related Bitcoin news headlines scrolling at the bottom to help guide your investing strategy.
For now, let‘s buy!
Step 4: Enter Amount & Buy
With many traditional crypto exchanges still requiring confusing order forms, I love that Cash App keeps Bitcoin purchases dead simple.
To buy BTC, just:
- Tap the Buy BTC button
- Enter the dollar amount you‘d like to trade from your Cash App balance
- Slide the confirmation prompt to complete the purchase
So if you want to invest $100 into Bitcoin, simply type 100, confirm your total BTC receiving amount at the current market conversion rate, and slide to buy!
Optional recurring buys are also available if you wish to dollar cost average into Bitcoin over time. And that‘s it – fractional Satoshis of BTC now securely belong to you!
Step 5: Practice Withdrawing Bitcoin to External Wallet
As you start actively investing in Bitcoin, I do recommend withdrawing to an external wallet you control rather than keeping large sums in any mobile app long term, even one as trusted as Cash App.
Why?
Because when your BTC is in your Cash App account, ultimate custody lies with Cash App / Block, Inc. To truly own Bitcoin in a sovereign manner, you need to control the private keys directly on a wallet platform you control.
| Wallet Control? | Security |
|---|---|
| Cash App | ✅ Secure |
| Hardware Wallet | ✅✅ Most Secure |
Don‘t worry – withdrawing BTC from Cash App into your own wallet only takes a minute!
I like the Trezor Model T hardware wallet combined with the Exodus software wallet for easy integrations. But mobile apps like Edge and Coinomi also work great if you prefer keeping things on your mobile device.
Here‘s how easy Cash App‘s withdraw feature is once you connect an external wallet address:
Boom! You‘re now in full control of your investment and Cash App was just the on-ramp to purchase.
Well that concludes my ultimate guide to buying and safely storing Bitcoin via Cash App! I covered a bunch of best practices based on my years as a longtime user. Let me know if any questions pop up during your Cash App Bitcoin adventures 😀
