How Do I Buy Bitcoin (BTC) on Coinbase and Send It to an Exchange?

Coinbase is a US (San Francisco, CA) based digital currency broker that was founded by Brian Armstrong in 2012. They have raised over $2 million from Venture Capital firms, such as Andreesen Horowitz. Coinbase allows you to link your debit card, credit card, and/or bank account to their website and purchase Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC). It is a cryptocurrency broker, but also operates an exchange for these coins, called GDAX (Global Digital Asset Exchange). 

Creating a Coinbase Account

1. Visit www.coinbase.com and click “Sign Up” in the top right hand corner:
2. Enter your Name, Password, and Location, verify you’re “not a robot,” agree to the terms of service, and click “Create Account”:
3. You will need to then check the email you signed up with for a message from them and a link to verify your account:
4. After you click on the link in your email, it will ask you to confirm your location and enter your phone number. This will set up Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) via text message. This not the safest method for 2FA, so read here to update that setting:
5. You will receive a text message to your phone with a code to enter to verify your number. Check your text messages and enter that code:
6. Once you enter the correct code, you will land on your logged in dashboard:

Buying Bitcoin (Ethereum or Litecoin)

1. Navigate to the “Buy/Sell” tab of your dashboard to set up your preferred method of payment:
2. Once set up, you will be able to purchase the coin of your choice:

Sending Bitcoin (Ethereum or Litecoin) from Coinbase 

To send coins to an exchange to purchase coins that are not listed on Coinbase or to secure them in a Hardware or Software Wallet (note that new users may have to wait as much as a week after purchase for the coins to be available in your Coinbase wallet):

1. Once logged in to Coinbase, navigate to the “Accounts” tab and click the “Send” button of the coin you are looking to send:
2. Then enter the address that you want to send the coins to and the amount you want to send (this address will be provided to you by the exchange or wallet that will be receiving them). Make sure that Coinbase puts a green check mark next to the address to confirm that it is a proper address for that coin:
3. Click “Continue” to confirm the transaction with your 2 Factor Authentication (2FA):
4. The transaction will then be confirmed by Coinbase (it may take some time for it to be confirmed on the Blockchain and be received on the other end).