Get bitcoin

You only need this step if you want to lock bitcoin. Signing already made you a member, and there is no deadline.

Do you already have bitcoin in a wallet you control?

A wallet you control is one where you hold the recovery words. An exchange account is not one.

Yes. Take me to Lock
No. I need help buying some
Buying bitcoin is not instant anywhere

Expect to prove who you are and to wait for a bank transfer. In some countries you wait again before you can move the bitcoin out. How long depends on where you live and who you buy from.

Where are you? Nothing you tap here is sent to us or stored.

I am in the UK

One way that works from a UK bank account. It uses an app called Strike. Strike is an option, not the option. We are not paid for mentioning it and there is no referral link. It is here because one of us used it and wrote the steps down. Any other way of buying bitcoin works just as well.

This is not part of the fund and it is not advice. Menu names were right in November 2026 and may have changed. Strike's fees and limits are on its own site: check them before you start.

  1. Open a Strike account. You will need ID and a short quiz about bitcoin, so allow a day or so.
  2. Switch on auto-buy. Open the Cash tab, tap Deposit, then "Let's go". Strike shows you bank details to pay into. Switch on Auto-buy bitcoin, and everything you send in turns into bitcoin automatically.
  3. Set up a monthly transfer from your bank. In your banking app, set a standing order to those details for the day after payday. It has to come from a bank account in your own name.
  4. Turn on auto-withdrawal. On the Bitcoin tab, scroll to "Discover more" and tap Auto-withdraw bitcoin. Switch it on, then set Thresholds. "Trigger at" is the amount that makes it send, and Strike's minimum is 0.001 BTC. Set it to 0.002 BTC or more, because a lock needs at least 200,000 sats to count. (A sat is the smallest unit of bitcoin. 0.002 BTC is 200,000 sats.) Under Manage addresses, add the address of your own wallet. Strike shows delivery within 24 hours with no fee. A new address can take a few days to go live, so set this up before your first deposit.
  5. Lock when it arrives. One withdrawal, one lock. Then go to Lock.

Which address? The one for the wallet you will lock from. If you will lock with a Ledger on this site, that is the address you signed the declaration with.

I am somewhere else

We cannot name a service for every country. Rules, fees and waiting times differ everywhere. This is the shape of it wherever you are:

  1. Find somewhere to buy bitcoin that serves your country and lets you withdraw to your own wallet. Not all do, so check before you pay in.
  2. Expect to prove who you are. Almost every service asks.
  3. Buy, then withdraw to your own wallet. Use the wallet you will lock from. If you will lock with a Ledger on this site, that is the address you signed the declaration with. Send a small amount first and check it arrives.
  4. Lock when it arrives. Then go to Lock.
How much should I lock at once?

Fewer, bigger locks beat lots of small ones. Each lock costs about the same in network fees whatever its size, so twelve small locks cost far more than four bigger ones. Waiting a few weeks for the pile to grow costs you nothing.

A lock under 200,000 sats is valid, but it is not counted towards the fund's total.

Keeping it safe, and tax

Never type your recovery words into a website or give them to anyone. The fund will never ask for them. If you lose them, your bitcoin is gone and nobody can bring it back.

In many countries buying, sending or spending bitcoin has tax or reporting rules. They differ, and finding out yours is up to you.