How to buy Bitcoin in Toronto

As the price of Bitcoin continues to skyrocket many are starting to notice and are wondering how they too can get in on the latest investment sensation.

The simplest answer is you can either go online to a Bitcoin exchange like Coinsquare or buy directly at one of the many Bitcoin ATMs around Toronto.

One such local startup that offers both online and ATM options is Coinberry. They currently have two ATMs in the city, one at Riverdale Trading Company in Riverside and the other next to Cold Tea in Kensington Market.

These are unusual locations for ATMs to be sure, a result of what a company spokesperson says is where they had friends who were willing to accommodate them.

Buying Bitcoin from ATMs is simpler than online but also more expensive because there is a built in transaction fee - similar to an ATM fee is you're not using your own bank.

You simply deposit cash in order to make the transaction, after which you have the option to store Bitcoin in your own hardware wallet or have it stored by Coinberry itself.

At the Blockchain Impact conference that took place in Toronto on Friday, most Bitcoin evangelists agreed that storing Bitcoin in a hardware wallet like Exodus or Trezor was the best approach.

In the past year alone, there have been a number of reported cases where Bitcoin exchanges have been hacked or compromised. There's no regulation and no insurance against theft or loss so if you choose to store your Bitcoin at an exchange and they get hacked you're out of luck.

Suzanne Ennis of Canadian-based Coinsquare tried to re-assure the Blockchain Impact crowd that storing Bitcoin with them was safe because 95% of their coins are in cold storage, meaning they're kept offline as a security precaution against hackers.

But other experts cautioned that even this isn't failsafe as rogue employees could breach internal security measures.

Regardless of the buying and storing method you choose, conventional wisdom seems to be buyer beware.

"If you don't know what you're doing you could lose all your money by sending it somewhere you're not supposed to," cautioned one expert. "Don't invest too much."