How to Cash Out or Sell Bitcoin for Fiat (USD, EUR, Etc.)

For cryptocurrency newcomers, one of the most common things they want to understand is how to cash out Bitcoin or withdraw from Bitcoins to fiat currency (USD, EUR, Etc.).

Regardless of the reasons, a time may come when you want to turn your Bitcoin into government-issued currency.

So, how exactly can you get fiat cash or dollars for your Bitcoin?

How to Turn Bitcoin into USD or other Fiat Currencies

When it comes to selling your Bitcoin, you essentially have two options. Although they both have their advantages and disadvantages, both suffer from the same challenges, such as a lack of mass user awareness and unclear remediation processes.

Sell Bitcoin Through an Exchange

By far the most popular way of turning Bitcoin into fiat currency is through centralized exchanges such as Coinbase and Gemini.

With sleek user interfaces and KYC (Know Your Customer) processes required as part of account creation, these exchanges will let you link your funding bank account for withdrawal making the process easy and painless.

How to turn Bitcoin into USD through Coinbase

So, you have your Coinbase wallet with your Bitcoin sitting in it and you are ready to send your funds back to your local bank account. Follow these steps:

Navigate to the Buy / Sell section of your wallet

After you are in the sell section of the wallet, you can select the wallet you wish to sell from and the bank account you wish to deposit to.

Decide how much you want to cash out

Enter the amount of USD that you want to get from selling your BTC. When you enter this amount of USD Coinbase will automatically calculate the amount of BTC it would cost to get that corresponding amount of USD.

If you don’t have the amount of Bitcoin in your wallet? Coinbase will notify you and tell you to enter a new amount.

What to Expect After Requesting Cash Out

Confirm the amount you wish to sell, take note of the fees (they will be shown before you sell), and then click “Sell Bitcoin”.

The ACH system used by Coinbase usually takes a few business days to complete after a sell or withdrawal is initiated.

How to turn Bitcoin into USD through Gemini

Another popular option in which users can buy, sell and exchange their Bitcoin into USD is Gemini. Gemini boasts some sleek trading features, and like Coinbase, will help you trade your Bitcon for Cash.

Getting ready to sell your Bitcoin

Head over to the Sell section of Gemini to choose how you want to sell your Bitcoin and the price you are willing to sell your Bitcoin in fiat for. Unlike Coinbase, you first need to trade your Bitcoin for fiat currency, before being able to withdraw it to your bank account.

Get the USD value for your Bitcoin and prepare to withdraw it to your connected bank account

Now it’s time to send the USD that you just got to your connected bank account.

Choose a withdrawal destination that you are familiar with and the amount of USD you want to formally transfer funds into.

Like Coinbase, it will take Gemini a few business days to send you the funds.

That is all it takes. Once you have the bitcoin on an exchange, such as Coinbase and Gemini, you can painlessly sell it.

Turn Your Bitcoin into Physical Cash with Peer-to-Peer Services

For those of you looking to trade your Bitcoin directly for physical cash, a peer-to-peer service may be a better solution, albeit more complicated than using a traditional cryptocurrency exchange.

However, there aren’t any services we’re aware of to recommend. LocalBitcoins was a leading service operating since 2012, but shut down in 2023. People could post their own bids for the buying and selling of Bitcoins to USD or other local fiat currencies.

It shut down for a few notable reason.

First of all, there was no identity verification, a clear thorn in the side of any regulating body.

Prices were also all over the place– there were sometimes great arbitrative opportunities depending on how urgently someone wanted to sell their BTC.

How did LocalBitcoins Work?

Find or Post your Deal: After determining the amount of BTC you want to sell, find a deal that suits your payment method (currency-wise) or post your own listing.

LocalBitcoins gave each user a feedback score similar to eBay where users can get comfortable with the history and number of deals the buyer has completed through local bitcoin.

Initiatng the Trade: Now that users know the buyer, they’d send the details of exactly what they want from them and make sure they are complying with the terms of the trade. These will tell you where and how you will receive your USD payment.

Finish the transaction

Now that all parties have agreed on the transaction and ironed out the specifics in the inbox section of LocalBitcoins, the Bitcoins will be moved from your wallet to the trade escrow. At this point, the buyer will get your payment details (how do you want to get paid for your BTC) and release the USD equivalent in cash over to you in the agreed-upon manner. When you have received the payment, you’d confirm to Localbitcoins.com that the payment has been made and the BTC will be released to the buyer from trade escrow.

And that’s how a direct peer-to-peer trade would typically go down on LocalBitcoins, which doesn’t exist anymore. Will any services spin up to take its place? Time will tell. Regardless, proceed with caution and be sure you are operating in clear legal territory.

Final Thoughts: How to Sell Your BTC for USD

As Bitcoin and cryptocurrency continue to explode in popularity, more and more services are coming online to help users get their hands on Bitcoin or turn their Bitcoin into USD or other fiat currency in a quick and effective way.

Although much of the attention is on how to acquire Bitcoin, it’s important to understand the options you have to withdraw your Bitcoin and what the best ways are to do it.