How to Sell Bitcoin: A Step-by-Step Guide

Selling bitcoin means swapping it for money, such as dollars, euros or pounds, and getting that money into your bank account, onto a card or into your hand. It is the mirror image of buying, so if you are new to crypto, start with the main guide on how to buy crypto.

This guide covers the main ways to sell, the steps most services follow, what selling costs, how long payment takes, and the tax and scam risks to check first. The basics are the same whether you have held bitcoin for years (HODLing, in crypto slang) or bought it last month. It is general information, not financial or tax advice.

Where can you sell bitcoin?

You can sell bitcoin in four main ways: through a broker, on an exchange’s order book, directly to another person (peer-to-peer, or P2P), or at a Bitcoin ATM that buys bitcoin. They differ in how the price is set, what you pay, which ID checks apply and what can go wrong.

A broker is usually the simplest route: it shows you one price, you confirm, and it pays you out. On an exchange, you trade with other users through an order book, a live list of the prices buyers will pay and sellers will accept. A market order sells straight away at the current market price. A limit order waits until your chosen price is reached, and it may never fill.

Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) mainly swap one crypto for another rather than paying out to a bank account. Peer-to-peer and ATM sales can pay cash, but they carry the most fraud risk.

How do you sell bitcoin step by step?

Most sales follow the same six steps, whichever service you use. Screens differ, so follow the service’s own help pages when something looks different.

You do not need to move your bitcoin to a new wallet before you sell. Every extra transfer costs another network fee and adds another chance to make a mistake. Send straight from the wallet that holds your bitcoin now to the address the service gives you. The guide on how to send Bitcoin to a wallet explains addresses and network checks in detail.

How do you turn bitcoin into cash?

Most people sell bitcoin for money in their bank account, then withdraw cash at an ordinary cash machine. The other routes are a Bitcoin ATM that buys bitcoin or an in-person sale to another person, and both carry more risk.

• Through your bank. Sell through a broker or an exchange, wait for the bank transfer, then withdraw the cash. Your bank’s normal withdrawal limits and fees apply.
• At a Bitcoin ATM. Some Bitcoin ATMs can also buy bitcoin from you and pay out cash, so check that a machine supports selling before you go. It shows you an address, you send the bitcoin, and it pays out once it has received the coins. The operator sets its own rate and fees, so compare them with the market price first. The Bitcoin ATM guide explains how the machines work.
• In person. bitcoin.org warns that meeting a stranger to trade is very risky: you could be robbed, or paid in counterfeit notes. It suggests a peer-to-peer platform with escrow instead of a face-to-face meeting.

For a closer look at the cash-out options, read how to cash out Bitcoin.

How long does it take to get paid?

It depends on two waits: the time your bitcoin takes to reach the service, and the time the payout takes to reach you. A service should show its own estimate before you confirm.

• Getting your bitcoin to the service. If you sell from an exchange balance, there is no transfer to wait for. If you send from your own wallet, the service usually waits for one or more confirmations first. New blocks are added about every 10 minutes on average, but bitcoin.org notes that a confirmation can come much sooner or much later.
• Getting the money to you. Bank transfers, card payouts and cash each work differently. Your bank may also take time to process or check an incoming payment, especially one from abroad.

If your bitcoin arrives after a quote has expired, some services cancel the order or offer a new price. Check the service’s rules before you send, and choose a network fee that suits how busy the network is, so your transaction is not left waiting.

What fees do you pay when you sell bitcoin?

You can pay up to four kinds of cost: the service’s fee, the spread, the Bitcoin network fee and payout costs. Together they decide how much money you actually receive.

• Service fee. The broker, exchange, P2P platform or ATM operator may charge a percentage, a flat amount or both. Read more about fees in crypto.
• Spread. The spread is the gap between the buy price and the sell price at a given moment. Some services build their margin into the price instead of showing a separate fee.
• Network fee. If you send bitcoin from your own wallet, you pay a network fee to the miners who add your transaction to the blockchain. It depends on the transaction’s size in bytes and on demand for block space, not on the amount you send.
• Payout costs. Your bank may charge to receive an international transfer or to convert currency, and cash withdrawals can carry their own fees.

bitcoin.org explains that the network fee is not related to the amount of bitcoin being sent, so sending 0.01 BTC can cost the same as sending 1 BTC. A transaction gets larger, and costs more, when it spends many small amounts you received earlier. While it waits for a miner to pick it up, it sits in the mempool.

To see what your bitcoin is worth at today’s market price before costs, use the Bitcoin calculator. Then compare the net amount each service will pay you, not only the headline price.

Do you pay tax when you sell bitcoin?

Often, yes. In many countries, selling bitcoin for money counts as a disposal, and any gain can be taxed. Rules differ by country, so check the rules where you live.

• United States. The IRS treats digital assets as property, not currency, and selling them for dollars is a taxable event. You report the sales on Form 8949. As of September 2026, brokers report gross proceeds on Form 1099-DA for sales on or after 1 January 2025, and cost basis for certain sales from 1 January 2026. Read crypto tax in the US.
• United Kingdom. HMRC lists selling cryptoassets as a disposal for Capital Gains Tax. If your total gains in a tax year (6 April to 5 April) are above the tax-free allowance, £3,000 as of September 2026, you must report them and pay the tax. Read crypto tax in the UK.

Wherever you live, keep a record of every purchase and sale: the date, the amount, the value in your own currency and the fees. HMRC, for example, says you must keep your own records, because the reports exchanges give you do not track everything you need. For the wider picture, read crypto taxes: what to know before you buy. A qualified tax adviser can help with your own situation.

How do you avoid scams when selling bitcoin?

Treat any payment you cannot verify, and any unexpected request, as a warning sign. The US Federal Trade Commission warns that crypto payments are typically not reversible: once your bitcoin is sent, usually only the person who received it can send it back.

• Fake buyers. In a peer-to-peer trade, a buyer may send a fake payment screenshot or email. Release bitcoin only when the money shows as received in your own bank account, and keep the chat and the payment on the platform.
• Chargeback fraud. A buyer pays with a method that can be reversed, such as a card or an online payment app, receives your bitcoin, then disputes the payment. Some P2P platforms refuse payment methods with easy chargebacks, such as PayPal, Venmo and Cash App.
• Address poisoning. Attackers send tiny transactions from addresses that look like ones you use, hoping you copy the wrong one from your history. Copy the deposit address fresh from the service and check every character.
• Fake exchanges and fake support. bitcoin.org warns about fake exchanges that lure people with unusually good prices, and about fake support staff who ask for your recovery phrase. Genuine support staff never ask for your recovery phrase or private keys.
• Bitcoin ATM pressure. If someone tells you to move money through a Bitcoin ATM to keep it safe, it is a scam. In 2025, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 13,400 complaints involving crypto kiosks, with losses of over $388 million.

Coinmama’s support centre explains how to protect yourself from fraud and how to spot phishing attacks.

Malcolm O'Mahony

Malcolm is a Content Marketing Manager at Coinmama. He's passionate about Web3 and specializes in making complex concepts easy to understand. Crypto since 2017. Coinmama since 2020.

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