The options for buying Bitcoin with Amex are fairly limited. However, platforms like Cash App and Rain are still available, allowing users to purchase crypto with the American Express credit card.
If you are looking for cryptocurrency exchanges that accept American Express as a payment method, you’ll likely stumble across many outdated articles that list exchanges that no longer accept American Express. As of October 2024, we were only able to find five options to buy Bitcoin with American Express, platforms that integrate with Sardine, Cash App, LocalCoinSwap, Noones, and Paxful.
In the following sections, we’ll show you how to buy Bitcoin using Amex and highlight some alternatives for purchasing BTC or other cryptocurrencies.
Key Highlights:
- Options to buy Bitcoin with Amex are limited.
- For US residents, your best option is buying Bitcoin CashApp or platforms integrated with Sardine, such as BitPay.
- It’s also possible to buy BTC with Amex on peer-to-peer cryptocurrency marketplaces. However, P2P sellers tend to charge a premium for their services, which will result in you getting less Bitcoin for your money.
Buy Bitcoin with American Express on platforms integrated with Sardine
Sardine provides compliance solutions for fintech (financial technology) companies. Platforms that integrate with Sardine are one of the few available options when it comes to buying Bitcoin with your Amex card.
One such example of a crypto platform is BitPay. It should be noted that out of the available options on BitPay, Sardine is the only on-ramp that supports American Express as a payment method. Using this method, you can buy up to $3,000 worth of cryptocurrency per day, with over 60 different cryptocurrencies supported overall. The purchase will be finalized through the Sardine website.
Buy Bitcoin with American Express using Cash App
Cash App is a popular payment app available in the United States and the United Kingdom. As one of the first mainstream financial apps to support Bitcoin, it allows you to buy Bitcoin using American Express. The platform also supports Visa, MasterCard and Discover.
To get started, create a Cash App account and add funds via your American Express card. Afterwards, head over to the Cash App home screen and select the “Bitcoin” section. Select “Buy BTC” and enter the desired amount you’d like to purchase. To finalize the process, enter your PIN code and select “Confirm”. Additionally, you can also set up a “Custom Order” to buy Bitcoin automatically when its price drops to a specified value.
Note that Bitcoin is actually the only cryptocurrency currently supported by Cash App. If you wish to buy a different cryptocurrency, you can withdraw Bitcoin from your Cash App to your own wallet, and afterwards deposit your Bitcoin to a cryptocurrency exchange, such as KuCoin or Binance, where you can swap it for another cryptocurrency.
Buy Bitcoin with American Express on LocalCoinSwap
LocalCoinSwap is a peer-to-peer crypto marketplace that prioritizes user privacy. It supports trading of various cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, BNB Chain, Celo, and TRON, as well as tokens on these platforms. With its non-custodial design, LocalCoinSwap gives users full control over their crypto assets while using the platform.
Sellers on LocalCoinSwap can accept a broad range of payment methods, with American Express being one of them. In fact, the platform currently accepts more than 300 different payment methods at the time of writing. However, we only found 7 offers where users are selling their Bitcoin and accepting American Express as a payment method. What’s more, they charge a 25% premium at the lowest.
Buy Bitcoin with an American Express card on Noones
Noones is a peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency trading platform where you can buy Bitcoin, Tether, and USD Coin directly from other users. The platform supports various payment methods, including American Express cards. To find offers that accept Amex, simply select “American Express Card” as the payment option, and a list of relevant offers will appear.
Keep in mind that buying Bitcoin with an Amex card on Noones often comes with a significant premium. This is not a limitation of the platform itself, as prices are set by the sellers.
Once you find an offer of interest, clicking on it will provide more details, including the seller’s “offer terms.”
Buy Bitcoin with American Express on Paxful
Another platform where you can buy Bitcoin with an American Express card is Paxful, a P2P (peer-to-peer) cryptocurrency marketplace. On platforms like Paxful, buyers and sellers trade directly, setting their own prices and choosing the payment method.
While P2P marketplaces can be more complicated than traditional exchanges, their advantage is that sellers can accept a wide variety of payment methods, including American Express on Paxful.
If we look at the various listings on the Paxful marketplace and filter for sellers accepting American Express as a payment method, we can see that they charge a hefty premium for their services. In fact, the best offer we found would still require you to pay a 13% premium. This means that compared to the current Bitcoin market rates, you would only be getting arond $0.88 worth of Bitcoin for each $1 you pay. These premiums can be much higher, going up to nearly 80%.
While Paxful is certainly an option when it comes to using Amex for purchasing Bitcoin, the steep premiums you’d have to pay doesn’t make it a viable option for most users.
Alternatives to buying crypto with Amex
If you’re looking to buy Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, the far more common option is to use Visa, Mastercard, or bank transfers, which are all supported by a vast majority of crypto exchanges, such as:
Note that while buying crypto with a credit card is certainly fast and convenient, you will likely be paying additional fees, compared to a normal bank transfer. Ultimately, the decision of convenience versus price comes down to you.
The bottom line
If you are looking to buy Bitcoin with your American Express card, you are limited to a small number of options. For those residing in the United States, you can buy Bitcoin using Cash App. You can also use platforms, such as BitPay that utilize the Sardine on-ramp. Apart from that, you can use P2P marketplaces, though sellers who accept Amex tend to charge a high premium.
If you’re interested in evaluating whether or not a cryptocurrency is worth buying, you can check out our crypto investment analysis. For a more curated approach, consider checking out our list of the best cryptos to buy right now.
