How to Buy Litecoins

Buying [litecoin](/what-is-litecoin/) is not any different from purchasing bitcoins: find a Litecoin exchange, convert your local currency to litecoin, and send the litecoins to your wallet.

Finding a Litecoin exchange can be difficult because most exchanges don’t sell litecoin directly. In most cases customers must [first purchase bitcoins](/en/how-buy-bitcoins-online-best-bitcoin-exchange-rate-bitcoin-price/) and then trade for litecoin.

With that said, there are a few exchanges where users can purchase litecoins directly, without buying bitcoins first:

logo Kraken Buy
Kraken is a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange based in Europe. Kraken offers three Litecoin trading pairs: LTCXBT, LTCUSD, and LTCEUR. In addition, Kraken accepts a number of payment methods–SEPA transfer, USD bank wire, GBP SEPA, Interac Online–which makes buying litecoins easy for Europeans, Americans, and Canadians.
logo Snapcard Buy
SnapCard is a US based bitcoin broker. Customers can buy litecoin with a connected US bank account via ACH transfer.
logo LitecoinLocal Buy
LitecoinLocal is similar to LocalBitcoins. Users upload buy/sell ads and can agree on trade terms while using LitecoinLocal as escrow.
logo Bitrush Buy
Bitrush is an exchange for Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum in Belgium and the Netherlands.
## Trading Bitcoins for Litecoins If the options above don’t work, the second easiest way to get litecoins is to exchange bitcoins for litecoin. Many Bitcoin exchanges offer this trading pair:
logo BTC-e Buy
BTC-e has the largest amount LTC/BTC trading volume in the world, with over $250,000 average daily volume. BTC-e offers the best exchange rate and only charges 0.2% per trade.
logo Bitfinex Buy
Bitfinex is the largest USD/BTC trading site in terms of volume, but also features a LTC/BTC pair.
logo Poloniex Buy
An altcoin exchange with $20,000 BTC/LTC daily volume.
logo ShapeShift.io Buy
Convert bitcoins to litecoins in less than a minute.
## Completing your Purchase Leaving your coins on exchange is a risk that has cost Bitcoin users millions of dollars (e.g. Mt. Gox). Once your purchase has been made, send your litecoins to a wallet you control: * **[Electrum-LTC](https://electrum-ltc.org/)** is good choice on desktop computers. * **[Litecoin Wallet](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.schildbach.wallet_ltc&hl=en)** is the most popular Android wallet. * **[Hive Wallet](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/hive-wallet/id906990301?mt=8)** supports Litecoin and Bitcoin. ## Buying Litecoins with PayPal Although not recommended, it’s possible to buy litecoins with PayPal. First you must buy SLL on [VirWox](https://www.virwox.com?r=fbbb7), then trade SLL for bitcoin. Once you have BTC you can use any of the methods above to trade BTC for litecoin.

Written by Melvin Draupnir on January 22, 2016.

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