Bulgaria is on its way to become one of the friendliest bitcoin countries in the world and here we show you how easy it is to buy, sell and accept bitcoin payments in the country. You simply use the site https://crypto.bg, which needs no registration, only 5 clicks and you got what you want – at the tiniest of spreads (about 2-3%) possible.
How to buy bitcoin in Bulgaria?
You have two options: to pay via debit/credit card on an ATM or in cash at one of thousands of cash desks.
Buy Bitcoin with credit/debit card on any ATM
You just need to visit https://crypto.bg, enter the amount you want to buy, your bitcoin address and then you get two codes: a merchant code (60,000) and a 10-digit payment code. With these codes – on any ATM – you choose the B-Pay option, follow the instructions, and seconds later the bitcoins will hit your wallet. It is that simple!
Fine print:
- your card must be issued by a Bulgarian bank;
- United Bulgarian Bank ATM’s do not count – but they are rare anyways.
The only inconvenience of this method is that you have to pay the 1.2% fee charged by ePay for the use of the BPay service. The good news is that you can easily save it by paying in cash at one of more than 2500 cash desks across the country.
Buy bitcoin with cash
Just choose the EasyPay button when making the order at https://crypto.bg:
You also get two codes as above. which you present at any of the cash desks of EasyPay. You can see an up-to-date map of these desks here: Map of EasyPay Desks – they are available at most bigger super markets, metro stations and some banks.
Sell Bitcoin for Leva
As a foreigner most probably you want to turn your bitcoins into the national currency – Bulgarian leva – at the best possible exchange rate. You can do this again through – you guessed it – https://crypto.bg. You enter the site, choose the English option at the top right, choose bitcoin, then sell, then the amount you want to sell for and then you need to specify how you want to collect your money:
If you won’t stay long in Bulgaria, you better choose the second (more expensive) option – the cash desks of EasyPay we described above. You enter your names and social number in the respective fields in Crypto.bg, then send the coins to them and an hour later you can visit any of the cash desks and present your ID card or passport. There you go with you cash minutes later :)
If you decide to visit Bulgaria more regularly (and there are plenty reasons to do it :)), you will be better off if you open a free online account with ePay: the Bulgarian version of PayPal. There you get an account number which you enter at the order screen of https://crypto.bg. After the first confirmation in the block chain, they send you the money free of any fees directly to your online account with ePay. You can then transfer it to your (Bulgarian) bank account for 0.8 BGN flat fee or use it to shop online at most Bulgarian online sites. Many offline shops also offer ePay as a payment option.
Accepting Bitcoin Payments in Bulgaria
If you are one of the many foreign entrepreneurs in Bulgaria (read why this is a very good idea by a fellow Dutch), you might be interested to accept bitcoins for your products or services here. Contact https://crypto.bg and you can use their merchant services to let your customers pay bitcoins and you will receive leva (or usd/eur) for 0% commission (yes, zero, no typo :)). Besides, they will show your accountant how to book the bitcoin transactions in a proper manner.
You can read the Guide and the F.A.Q. section in English at https://crypto.bg and call them, should you have further questions.
