Litecoin is one of the most established cryptocurrencies in the market today, having been created not long after Bitcoin in 2009. While Bitcoin is undoubtedly king, some would argue Litecoin is the queen, having proved its longevity for several years longer than other big hitters like Ethereum and Ripple.

If you’re wanting to learn how to buy Litecoin in NZ with NZD, this guide will show you how.

What is Litecoin?

Litecoin was created by developer Charlie Lee back in 2009 to be “the silver to Bitcoin’s gold”.

What Litecoin aimed to offer was a peer to peer currency just like Bitcoin, but faster and cheaper, with lower fees and faster confirmation times.

Litecoin has certainly achieved this, as the Litecoin chain has continued strongly for over a decade without compromise. If you’ve ever sent Litecoin before, you’ll also know it’s exceptionally fast and cheap. It is now managed by the Litecoin Foundation.

Litecoin remains one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world by market cap and is a standard inclusion in most diversified cryptocurrency portfolios.

The Best Place To Buy Litecoin in New Zealand

To purchase Litecoin in New Zealand, you will need to make use of a broking service.

There are many broking services to choose from (we list our recommendations on this page) but to purchase Litecoin we are going to recommend using EasyCrypto.

The reason we like EasyCrypto:

• Fair prices and fees
• Can pay with a simple bank deposit or Poli
• Easy verification process
• Registered NZ Financial Services Provider
• NZ owned and operated

How To Buy Litecoin with Easy Crypto – Step by Step

The first thing you need to do is set up your EasyCrypto account. This is no different to setting up any other online account such as an email address or Paypal account.

To start, head to the EasyCrypto homepage and click Create Account.

You can either sign up with your social profiles, or just sign up regularly with an email address.

After you’ve done that, you’re ready to make your first purchase.

Creating an order

On the EasyCrypto homepage, you should see a “Quick Buy/Sell” box.

Simply choose LTC (this is the shortcode for Litecoin) from the drop down box and enter the amount you want to purchase.

In this example, I will be purchasing $100 NZD worth of LTC.

The next page you will be taken to is the order page.

On this page, you will need to enter your Litecoin address. This is where EasyCrypto will be sending your coins to.

If you do not have an address, don’t worry. Just click the “I don’t have a Litecoin address” link at the bottom of the page. I’ve circled it in the screenshot above.

EasyCrypto will then give you very simple instructions for creating your first Litecoin wallet. This is not difficult and will only take a couple of minutes.

Alternatively, you can just set one up yourself on your phone in just a couple of minutes by downloading a wallet app on your phone. Our recommendation for new users is the Coinbase Wallet.

If you need help creating your own wallet, I have a step-by-step guide to setting up your Coinbase Wallet below. Just click the green box to expand.

how to create your own litecoin wallet in 2 minutes (click to expand)

First thing you want to do is download a wallet app.

In this example, we will be using the wallet we recommend to all new users which is the Coinbase Wallet.

You can download it here for iOS, and here for Android.

Once you’ve downloaded and installed the wallet on your phone or tablet, you should get a screen like this:

Tap Create a New Wallet. You then get asked to create a username: 

The username is not that important – choose whatever you like.

You’ll then be given an option to protect your wallet with a PIN or fingerprint: 

Choose at least one – it’s a good layer of protection in case you lose your phone (you still need to back up your wallet, which I’ll walk you through as well in just a sec).

Then you’ll finally be brought to your wallet. 

You can see in my wallet, there are no assets for a total of $0. Let’s change that!

Tap the Receive button. 

You’ll be asked to choose which coin you want to receive. In this case, we want to receive Litecoin, so type that in the search bar:

Make sure you choose the asset Litecoin with the code LTC, as shown in the screenshot above.

Once you select Litecoin, this should bring up your Litecoin address:

You can see above the Litecoin address for my wallet is ltc1qc7luwe3uhu59n7rmjc5n5nxdjxsymque67r8w4

Yours should look similar to that.

If it sounds complicated, try to think of it like a regular bank account number from ASB or ANZ. It’s the same concept – just a unique set of numbers that represents your account.

Tap on “Copy/share address” and that will copy your address to your clipboard. Then simply paste it into EasyCrypto to complete your order:

Important: Always double and triple check your address!!! Some people ask, do I really need to check every letter? YES! Check every single letter. If you enter the wrong address, your coins will go somewhere else and they will be unrecoverable. Always check your addresses.

The final thing you need to do is backup your wallet. This is the most important step, and ironically, the step most people like to skip. If you skip this step, you are at a very real risk of losing all your coins, so please do it now.

First, click the Settings cogwheel at the bottom of your wallet and then click on Recovery Phrase:

You will then be shown a screen of 12 words, with the option to back them up to Google Drive, or back them up manually.

I highly recommend backing them up manually, as it is best practice to store your backup words offline.

Write these 12 words down on a piece of paper. Make sure you spell them correctly, and write them in the correct order. These words will give anyone who has them full access to your wallet. Keep them in a safe place, preferably in a locked safe or somewhere very secure.

You’re now the owner of a safe and secure crypto wallet! You’ve also probably noticed, you can use this same wallet to receive hundreds of other coins, such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Chainlink, XRP and so on. Have fun!

This is also one of the things we really like about EasyCrypto. They encourage you to have your own wallet, rather than some other services that keep your coins in their custody.

Why is this good?

As we’ve seen many times, such as with the Cryptopia hack, keeping your coins on exchanges and brokerages is not safe, and there is a good chance you will lose your assets if the custodian isn’t reputable. When you own your own wallet, you have full control and custody and should never lose your assets if you manage them properly.

You can learn more about wallets here.

ID Verification

If it’s your first purchase with EasyCrypto, you’ll need to first verify your identity. This is a legal requirement to comply with New Zealand’s anti money laundering laws. It’s the same reason you need to provide identification when opening a bank account.

It’s a simple process and should only take one or two minutes. Most people can verify instantly using the OriginID system, otherwise, you simply upload some documents.

First thing they’ll ask for are basic details like name and date of birth:

They will also ask you about your source of funds (although they won’t ask for proof, don’t worry). Just choose whichever option best applies to you. It shouldn’t affect your investment.

Next you’ll need to provide a government issued ID. Drivers license or passport will both be fine.

Once that’s done, it’s time to finish your purchase.

You can either pay by bank transfer, Account2Account or POLi.

If paying by bank transfer, you’ll be given some bank details and a reference code to include in your payment:

If paying by bank transfer, it will probably take around 24-48 hours for your order to be delivered depending on your bank.

If you chose POLi or Account2Account, your order should action almost immediately.

Luckily, things move much faster in crypto, so once EasyCrypto sends your coins they will arrive in just a few minutes.

And that’s it! Follow the above guide and you should have your first load of Litecoin in the next 24-48 hours.

GET STARTED WITH EASYCRYPTO BY CLICKING HERE

Remember, investing in cryptocurrencies is risky. All investment contains risk. Before you invest anything, do your own research and educate yourself on the cryptocurrency space and understand what you are investing in.

Stay safe and good luck!

This is not financial advice. I am not your financial advisor. Always do your own research and consult your own professionals before investing.