Best Platforms to Buy Bitcoin with an AMEX

BitPay is a crypto marketplace that allows you to buy Bitcoin with American Express through Sardine or from other providers through a variety of payment methods. It is a fully compliant platform, meaning you need to complete identity verification to buy crypto with AMEX or any other credit card.

Paxful is a peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto marketplace where you can buy Bitcoin and almost any other cryptocurrency using a variety of payment methods. As long as the seller accepts AMEX, you can use it to buy crypto on Paxful.

Buying Bitcoin with an AMEX

If you want to buy Bitcoin with an AMEX, simply follow the steps below. 

Step 1: Download the BitPay App or Visit BitPay.com

The first step to buying Bitcoin with an AMEX is to download the BitPay app for iOS or Android, or visit bitpay.com. You will need to create an account before continuing to step 2.

Step 2: Tap Buy Crypto or Enter Amount

Depending on whether you’re on the BitPay app or their site, you’ll either need to click the Buy Crypto button (app) and enter the amount you want to buy, or simply enter the amount of Bitcoin you want to buy (website).

Step 3: Choose Credit Card as Payment Method

After you’ve picked the crypto you wish to buy and the amount you wish to spend, choose “Credit Card” as your payment method.

Step 4: Choose Sardine from List of Rates

Though BitPay supports multiple crypto marketplaces, the only one that supports American Express is Sardine, meaning you have to choose them as your payment partner. 

Step 5: Complete Transaction on Sardine

To complete your purchase of Bitcoin with your American Express, you’ll be redirected to Sardine’s site. There you will have to enter all your card details and complete the transaction. Your Bitcoin or other crypto assets will be deposited into the wallet address you provide or directly into your BitPay app.

Buying Crypto with an American Express

Much like buying crypto with any other credit card, buying crypto with an American Express card can be a much faster process than doing a bank transfer. As with buying crypto with any other credit card, it can be difficult to find a card issuer that will allow crypto purchase transactions using their card and they will often charge cash advance fees. 

If you are set on buying crypto with a credit card, it is doubly difficult to find an AMEX card issuer that will allow crypto purchases. Although VVisa and Mastercard incur fees, they are better options. More payment providers accept Visa and Mastercard, meaning you’re less likely to have your transactions blocked for using one of those cards instead of an AMEX.

That said, you can buy crypto with an American Express card through platforms like BitPay, as long as you choose Sardine’s offer, as they’re the only payment processor that accepts American Express as a payment method.

Benefits of Buying Crypto with an AMEX

There is essentially zero benefit for you to buy crypto with American Express unless you really like AMEX rewards. There are very few platforms where you can buy crypto with AMEX, even through a site like BitPay, there is literally only one payment provider that accepts AMEX, which is Sardine.

You can buy Bitcoin with American Express faster than if you used a bank transfer, but not any faster than using other credit cards that are more widely accepted by crypto platforms.

Disadvantages to Buying Crypto with an AMEX

Lack of Availability

As already mentioned, there are very few platforms that allow you to buy Bitcoin with American Express. The only crypto on-ramp platform that accepts it is Sardine, and the fees for using an AMEX to buy crypto much are higher than if you used a bank transfer, which negates the speed difference between the two types of deposits. 

Trying to use AMEX through another platform will likely result in your transaction being blocked.

Less Bitcoin Received

The amount of Bitcoin you’ll receive when buying through Sardine with an AMEX is less than if you used almost any other payment method to buy Bitcoin through. This is true for P2P marketplaces as well. This means using an AMEX to buy Bitcoin gets you the least Bitcoin for your money.

Charged a Premium or Higher Fees

The only other places to buy Bitcoins with an American Express are peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplaces like Paxful or LocalCoinSwap, but much like with buying through Sardine, there is a premium placed on buying crypto with your AMEX in this manner. The fees for using Sardine or a P2P platform to use AMEX to buy crypto aren’t worth the effort.