If you have an American Express (AMEX) credit card, you might be wondering if you can use it to buy bitcoin.
If that’s the case, you’re in the right place.
The short answer is that you can’t use American Express to buy bitcoin (as of 2023).
Read on if you want to know why.
And if you want to know how to buy bitcoin with other cards, I’ll talk about that in the end.
Most people who want to buy bitcoin use online crypto exchanges, but as of 2023, there are no exchanges that accept American Express credit cards.
This wasn’t always the case, so there are many other lists online that tell you which exchanges supposedly accept American Express.
All of these are out of date.
We did find some exchanges that say they take credit cards, but they don’t list which cards specifically they accept. You might think that means American Express is accepted.
But none of these exchanges serve people in the US.
And American Express only issue cards to eligible users with a valid social security number(1)(2).
So…none of these exchanges will take American Express.
Since peer-to-peer platforms let users sell bitcoin to other users, you might think you could use any credit card you have on hand.
But you need a merchant account with the credit card company in order to accept credit cards.
Since most people who use peer-to-peer platforms for personal use don’t have any reason to have a merchant account with American Express, this isn’t even an option.
Because of problems with charge backs, Bitcoin ATMs almost never accept credit cards(3).
So why do some online exchanges take cards? Because they can keep the bitcoin you bought until the charge on your credit card clears.
The whole point of a Bitcoin ATM is to get bitcoins RIGHT NOW. That means the owner of the ATM can’t wait until the charge is settled.
Because of this, Bitcoin ATMs will only take cash or debit cards.
As far as we know, there is no OTC desk that will let you pay with American Express.
In fact, we couldn’t find any OTC desk that accepts credit cards of any kind.
From what we can tell, you won’t be able to use an American Express card to buy bitcoin in 2023.
Still, you can use a Visa or MasterCard to buy bitcoin at many exchanges.
BuyBitcoinWorldWide writers are subject-matter experts and base their articles on firsthand information, like interviews with experts, white papers or original studies and experience. We also use trusted research and studies from other well-known sources. You can learn more about our editorial guidelines.
