How to Buy Litecoin in New Zealand

Much like other financial assets, you can acquire Litecoinin a variety of ways - from exchanges, from over-the-counter brokers, or in private trades. When you buy Litecoin from an exchange or broker, they should allow funding using bank transfer, debit/credit card or e-wallets like PayPal or POLI. Once you have completed the purchase, they will deliver the coins to a Litecoin (LTC) wallet which either you provide, or they provide.

Top Tip - Protect Your Holdings Immediately

• Once you have purchased your Litecoins from an exchange, it's always a good idea to transfer some or all of them to a wallet you control.
• Exchanges are incredibly vulnerable to hacks and attacks. The infamous New Zealand-based exchange Cryptopia is likely still fresh in everyone's mind. In this scandal, attackers took more than US$17 million in Ethereum and ERC-20 tokens in early 2019.
• Unfortunately, there are dozens of stories like this, and that's why Litecoin owners need to take steps to protect their holdings. Even though Litecoin trades at a fraction of Bitcoin, cyber criminals don't miss opportunities when there are security deficiencies.

For the average investor, the main characteristics to look for in a platform for buying LTC are as follows:

1. Funding methods
Check if the company has convenient funding methods that are familiar to you. Some companies engaged in cryptocurrency trading may struggle with opening bank accounts or partnering with licensed payment processing companies, which means out of necessity they cooperate with payment institutions with a higher risk appetite.

2. Fees
Familiar yourself with all of the applicable fees. Some companies impose transaction or conversion fees to cover what's charged to them by payment processors. For example, free is perfect, one per cent is fair, two per cent is high, and anything more is unreasonable.

Besides charging for making fiat deposits, some companies charge for withdrawing cryptocurrencies to external wallets. Withdrawal fees vary depending on the coin. Fees could be as high as 0.0005 BTC.

All exchanges and brokers make their money from transaction fees when users buy or sell cryptocurrencies, and again, they can vary widely. Some platforms charge 0.5% and some charge 0.1% or less, depending on your trading volume. Some exchanges adopt a maker-taker model, where they charge less when limit-orders are used instead of market-orders.

3. Reputation
Look for an established company with an active user base. The more users a company serves hints at greater liquidity on the platform, making it easier to buy and sell Litecoin. There are many options in the market today which have been operating reliably for years.

4. Compliance
Decentralised finance advocates might disagree with this point; however, an important characteristic of a legitimate venue for buying Litecoin is if the company requires ID verification before providing services. Companies engaged in trading cryptocurrencies face endless scrutiny from banks and payment providers due to the relative anonymity involved and perceived risks of facilitating money laundering and terrorist financing. Therefore, robust KYC (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti-Money Laundering) procedures should be in place.

5. Liquidity
It's important to know you have the ability to sell your Litecoin quickly and easily, should you want to liquidate them. Also, check how your sale will be settled, how long it will take, and if any transfer fees should be expected. Litecoin is volatile - if you decide you want your money out, getting it out quickly is essential.

6. Range of products
If you're interested in buying other cryptocurrencies, you may want to review what else is offered. Most large exchanges and brokers offer numerous cryptocurrencies and digital assets. The features of the platform might also be of interest, depending on your Litecoin investment strategy. If you want to make a couple of purchases, you probably want a simple application which doesn't require learning how to use some advanced trading software. However, if you're looking to trade Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies more actively, then a sophisticated trading platform will be more compelling.

There are several options for buying Litecoin in New Zealand - our list below includes the most trusted and popular methods.
Disclaimer - the inclusion of any Litecoin exchange or broker below is not an endorsement or a promotion. Our list is for information purposes only.

Easy Crypto is another example of a popular destination to buy and sell Litecoin and a series of other cryptocurrencies in New Zealand. Easy Crypto has also adopted the non-custodial route and requires users who buy cryptocurrencies from them to have a private wallet to receive the settlement of their purchase. Moreover, the company has gone to great lengths to guide users on keeping their cryptocurrencies safe, with recommendations on hardware wallets, and plenty of user guides on each recommended model.
 
Payment methods: POLI instant pay, or local NZ bank transfer
Fees: All fees are included in the spread, which is why the bid and offer prices might look higher than other platforms. The fees are around 0.70% to 0.90%.
Minimum order size: NZ$100 for Litecoin
Settlement: Private wallet
Coins available: 109, including Litecoin
Learn more: ​Easy Crypto

Important - in May 2022, BitPrime halted operations after adverse crypto markets led to liquidity issues. We understand BitPrime is looking to re-launch via a crowd-supported campaign and will update this review when its future is more certain.

BitPrime is a popular New Zealand based platform, registered as an NZ financial services provider, to buy or sell various cryptocurrencies, including Litecoin. The company explicitly differentiates itself from exchanges and brokers by defining itself as a cryptocurrency retailer. What this means is that BitPrime does not act as a wallet, as most other platforms do. When you complete your purchase with BitPrime, you’ll need to nominate an address where your cryptocurrency should be delivered. Under this model, the company does not have the responsibility or risk of being the custodian of clients’ money. To use BitPrime, you’ll need to make your own cryptocurrency wallet first.
 
Payment methods: Bank transfer, POLi and debit/credit card via third-party payment provider Simplex
Fees: Fees depend on the payment method and order size. For card payments, the fee is 5%. For bank transfers below NZ$20,000, the fee is 2.9%, for larger transactions, discounts are available
Minimum order size: NZ$100 for Litecoin
Settlement: Private wallet
Coins available: 89+ different coins, including Litecoin. Almost all coins are able to be sourced through the BitPrime's custom order page.
Learn more: BitPrime

According to average daily turnover, Binance is one of the largest crypto exchange platforms in the world. After launching in 2017, the company established itself globally and is constantly shrouded with more rumours of expansion in a short space of time. Among many other services, such as crypto fixed income products, derivative products, margin trading and more, Binance also offers New Zealanders a gateway to buying Litecoin locally.
 
Payment methods: Debit/credit card via third-party payment provider Simplex
Fees: Card processing fees are 3.5% with a minimum fee of US$10. When withdrawing Litecoin, for example to your private wallet, there is a withdrawal fee of 0.0005 BTC.
Minimum order size: The minimum order size is the equivalent of US$30, which is approximately NZ$46
Settlement: On an account
Coins available: With a bank card, you can buy 18 different cryptocurrencies, including Litecoin​. On the exchange, there are hundreds of coins available to trade once you have an account funded with crypto
Learn more: ​Binance

Litecoin has around 84 million coins in circulation; just like Bitcoin, there is limited supply. Despite having only four times the circulation of Bitcoin, the price is not 4X, 10X or even 50X that of Bitcoin as it's not regarded as a storage of value. Our must-know facts help you understand Litecoin better:

Typically, when you invest money in the financial markets, you do so via a licensed and authorised broker to deal or issue those instruments and act as a custodian for your collateral and your assets. These traditional financial service providers need to meet fitness and proprietary requirements before a license is issued, requisition external auditors annually, submit reports to authorities and meet strict operational and fiduciary responsibilities. For the most part, these checks and balances don’t exist in the cryptocurrency industry, and most companies are left to follow their instincts. Therefore, investors are left to their own devices to keep their digital assets safe from accidents or incidents.

The best way to keep your Litecoin safe is to use one of the popular hardware wallets that the cryptocurrency community has already tried and tested. When it comes to Litecoin, the asset you want to protect is the private key, not the coins themselves. The private key is used for signing transactions and allows anyone who possesses it to transfer Litecoins from the corresponding address.

Without going into great detail concerning the underlying cryptography used to make this all possible, a hardware wallet allows you to create Litecoin transactions without connecting to the internet, therefore significantly protecting the private key. In the hardware wallet, you’re able to create a signature, which according to the Bitcoin developer glossary (which applies to Litecoin) could only have reasonably been created by someone who has the private key.

The signature is essentially a by-product of the public-key and private-key but cannot be used to ascertain what the private key is. Therefore, the signature can be generated offline and used to authorise transactions online.

There is a lot of misinformation about Litecoin - our shortlist of common questions help you understand some of the finer details.

Yes - Litecoin is a legitimate cryptocurrency, just as Bitcoin, Ethereum and hundreds of others are. The number of Litecoin in circulation is significant compared to Bitcoin (84 million vs a maximum 21 million for Bitcoin), which is one of the many reasons the Litecoin price is much lower than other cryptos. However, unlike Ethereum, there is a cap on the number of Litecoins that will ever exist, which means, relatively, there is more control over the supply of Litecoin.

Yes, but there are very few opportunities in New Zealand. However, you can exchange it for other cryptocurrencies or gift it. In the US Litecoin is accepted by some retailers, but very few (if any) ship to New Zealand for the use of Litecoin to be convenient.

Like many things in life, it’s safe, until it isn’t. Online Litecoin​ wallets offer a lot of conveniences, but they come at a cost. When you keep your crypto in an online wallet, there is always a risk that the provider could be compromised. Cybercriminals are always looking for new ways to exploit cryptocurrency users and businesses. The best advice is to take charge and use a private wallet you control. Generally, a trusted online wallet will be secure and provide you with a confirmation of any trades seconds (or minutes) after you buy or sell Litecoin.

Many exchanges allow you to keep your purchased cryptocurrencies in an account on their platform. The idea is to make it convenient for active users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. However, most exchanges also encourage users to keep their coins in private wallets. Its well-known exchanges are the targets of aggressive and sophisticated attacks due to the large amounts of cryptocurrencies under their control. If you’re planning on holding Litecoin for the long term, you should make the necessary arrangements to keep your coins safe.