Buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with Apple Pay

6 min readJul 9, 2021

Popular Bitcoin exchanges are starting to open up to the increasingly-popular Apple Pay payment method. In this post, I’ll be reviewing some of the best options users currently have for buying Bitcoin with Apple Pay.

What is Apple Pay?

Apple Pay is Apple’s iOS native payment service and digital wallet. Apple Pay improves on traditional payment methods in many ways, especially when it comes to security.

Your card number is never shared with the merchant you’re purchasing from. Neither does Apple keep track of your transactions, meaning your purchases can’t be used to build a profile that can then be sold to advertisers — as MasterCard, Amex, and potentially many more card providers do.

Not content with merely acting as the middleman for other payment providers, Apple Card is the tech giant’s answer to complicated credit card fee schedules and lack of customer privacy. There are no annual fees, and Apple doesn’t print any number on the physical card. This means that if it falls into the wrong hands, the potential thief would not be able to use your card details to purchase anything — even online, which typically only requires the information immediately visible on the card. It integrates easily with the iOS Wallet app and Apple Pay.

Apple Pay’s software takes advantage of a special chip that all models since the iPhone 6 have built in. This chip, called an embedded Secure Element (eSE), is a specially-designed, tamperproof piece of hardware that can securely host applications and their sensitive data. This can include cryptographic keys, the same keys that secure cryptocurrency wallets. This means that these function a lot like a crypto hardware wallet.

Here’s what I’ll cover:

1. Buy Bitcoin with Apple Pay through Paxful

Pros: No buying fees

Cons: possibility of scam

Apple Pay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Apple Inc. that allows users to make payments in person, in iOS apps, and on the web. It is supported on the iPhone, Apple Watch, iPad, and Mac.

In addition to all the existing services, now you can also use Apple Pay to buy bitcoins on Paxful. Paxful makes the process of purchasing BTC with Apple Pay whole lot simpler. Pay with Apple Pay to have bitcoin in your Paxful wallet in less than an hour.

You can either buy from one of many offers listed by vendors for selling their BTC using Apple Pay or create your own offer to sell your bitcoin in Apple Pay balance. At Paxful, vendors can set their own rates and decide their margins. Select the offer that suits you the most while buying and create offers that have the best chance of converting.

Visit Paxful

How to Use Paxful Create an account and verify your details.
Select Apple Pay as your payment option.
Choose the currency you want the exchange rate to be in

Search for offers, pick a seller and click “Buy”.

Enter the amount that you wish to purchase.
Follow the instructions for payment, then click “Mark as paid”.
The seller will release the Bitcoins to your Paxful wallet.

2. Buy Bitcoin with Apple Pay through LocalBitcoins

Pros: Escrow system, Diverse payment methods, Simple user interface (UI)

Cons: Buyers and sellers are at risk of being scammed

Unlike most exchanges that match buyers and sellers manually, LocalBitcoins allows users to communicate directly. LocalBitcoins is like the Craigslist for buying and selling Bitcoin. Its sellers offer a wide variety of payment options and the built in escrow allows for greater buyer security.

Having said all that, since anyone can become a seller there is a lot more room for scammers on this platform.

Bottom line, LocalBitcoins is a good place to go to buy Bitcoins when you can’t find your requested payment methods anywhere else. However, prices are usually higher on this platform and you have to do your due diligence to avoid getting scammed.

Visit LocalBitcoins

3. Buy Bitcoin with Apple Pay through Exodus Wallet

Pros: Easy to use, purchases can be made in-app

Cons: Maximum purchase limit is low, not available to many countries

Exodus is a multi-currency wallet that supports over a hundred cryptocurrencies. The crypto wallet was originally available only on desktop, but is now also available for iOS and Android mobile platforms as well.

Exodus sets itself apart from other wallets with a design focus on people who have never dabbled with cryptocurrencies. It has an easy-to-use interface and its developers spend a great deal of time and effort polishing the UI to make it more intuitive.

One of Exodus’ most popular features is support for a range of different altcoins, as well as Bitcoin. You can also use the wallet to exchange one cryptocurrency for another without any form of registration.

Remember, however, that Exodus is a light wallet that uses Simplified Payment Verification, which means it doesn’t download complete blockchains and instead uses a series of servers to track wallet balances.

Visit Exodus

1.Go to the Profile tab inside of your Exodus wallet application:

2.Tap on Buy Bitcoin:

3.Move the slider to the amount of Bitcoin you want to buy between $50 to $250:

4.Once you have chosen the amount you want to spend you will see how much BTC underneath the slider you will receive, after confirming the details just tap Pay and confirm it using Apple Pay:

Please note: In the Apple Pay screen you will be able to see the breakdown of the cost and fees involved.

After payment has processed you will see it has been successful:

The Bitcoin will arrive shortly in your wallet!

4. Conclusion: How do I choose which exchange to use?

Since there still aren’t too many options for buying Bitcoins with Apple Pay, it’s quite easy to pick an exchange to use. If you’re in the United States and want to buy large amounts of Bitcoins quickly and securely, Paxful is your best option. Exodus is the best option for US users looking to buy smaller amounts and easier transactions. If you’re anywhere else in the world Paxful works great.