How to Buy Bitcoin on Strike (Step-by-Step for First Timers)

You don't need to understand blockchain. You don't need a finance degree. You don't need $10,000. You need a phone and about three minutes.

That's how long it takes to set up your first Bitcoin purchase on Strike. And once it's running, you never have to think about it again.

According to a Harris Poll study, 21% of American adults already own crypto. That's 55 million people. Most of them got in during the last five years. You're not doing anything weird. You're catching up.

But here's the thing: 87% of Americans still think crypto is risky (Gallup, 2025). They're not wrong. Bitcoin is volatile. It goes up and it goes down. Sometimes violently.

That's exactly why you don't dump your life savings in all at once. You use DCA, dollar cost averaging. Small, automatic purchases every week. It's the boring strategy that outperforms almost everything else normal people try.

This guide walks you through every step. Plain English. No jargon. If you can download an app and type a number, you can do this.

Read more: What Is Dollar Cost Averaging? | Bitcoin for Beginners

What Is Strike?

Strike is a mobile app built for one thing: buying Bitcoin. That's it. No altcoins. No meme tokens. No casino of random crypto projects. Just Bitcoin.

You download it, link your bank account, and buy. You can make a one-time purchase or set up recurring buys that run automatically. Weekly. Daily. Even hourly if you want. The app does the work.

Strike has been downloaded over 2 million times and works in 100+ countries. It's built on the Lightning Network, which means transfers happen instantly and cost almost nothing. But you don't need to know any of that. All you need to know is that it's fast, it's cheap, and it works.

Why Strike instead of Coinbase or Robinhood? One word: fees. We'll get into the exact numbers in a minute, but the short version is this. Strike's recurring purchase fees are nearly zero. Coinbase charges 1.49% on every single buy. Over a year of weekly purchases, that difference adds up fast.

How to Buy Bitcoin on Strike in 6 Steps

Here's the whole process. Start to finish, you're looking at about 10 minutes of active time. (Verification can take 1-2 days, but the actual clicking-and-tapping part is quick.)

Step 1: Download the App

Go to the App Store (iPhone) or Google Play (Android) and search for "Strike." It's free. Download it. Open it.

There's no desktop version. Strike is mobile only. That's fine. You'll set this up once and then your phone handles everything automatically.

Step 2: Create Your Account

Tap "Get Started." You'll enter your email address and phone number. Strike sends you a verification code. Type it in. Done.

Pick a username. This is just for the app. Nobody else needs to see it.

Step 3: Verify Your Identity

This is the part that takes a little time. Strike needs to verify who you are. It's required by law for any app that lets you buy financial assets. Every platform does this, not just Strike.

You'll enter your full legal name, date of birth, and the last four digits of your Social Security number. Some accounts also need a photo ID (driver's license or passport).

Verification usually takes a few hours to a couple of days. You'll get a notification when it's approved. In the meantime, you can explore the app.

Step 4: Connect Your Bank

Once verified, link your bank account. Strike uses ACH transfers, the same system your employer uses for direct deposit. Connecting via ACH is free.

You can also use a debit card or Apple Pay, but those carry a 3% fee. Stick with your bank account. No reason to pay extra.

Step 5: Buy Your First Bitcoin

Tap the Bitcoin tab. Tap "Buy." Type in the amount. The minimum for a one-time purchase is just $1. Yes, one dollar.

Strike shows you the current Bitcoin price, the exact amount of Bitcoin you'll receive, and the fee before you confirm. No surprises.

Tap "Confirm." That's it. You own Bitcoin.

At today's prices, a $20 purchase gets you roughly 20,000-25,000 satoshis (sats). A sat is the smallest unit of Bitcoin. Think of them like cents to a dollar, except there are 100 million sats in one Bitcoin. Over time, those sats stack up. That's literally what people mean when they say stacking sats.

Step 6: Set Up Automatic Purchases (This Is the Important Part)

Buying once is fine. Buying automatically, every week, without thinking about it? That's where the real power is. That's dollar cost averaging.

In Strike, go to your Bitcoin settings and tap "Recurring Purchase." Choose your frequency: hourly, daily, every other day, weekly, or monthly. Then set your amount. $5. $10. $20. Whatever you can afford to redirect from the stuff that wasn't building you any wealth anyway.

Here's the best part. After your first week of recurring purchases, Strike waives the trading fee entirely. You only pay a tiny spread of about 0.15%. On a $25 weekly buy, that's less than 4 cents.

How Much Should You Start With?

Whatever you're currently wasting on stuff that gives you nothing back.

Not your rent. Not your grocery money. Not your emergency fund. The other stuff. The spending you wouldn't even notice if it disappeared.

Think about it. That $6 morning coffee, five days a week? That's $30 a week. $130 a month. $1,560 a year. What do you have to show for it at the end of the year? Nothing. The coffee's gone.

Or maybe it's the $15 a week on lottery tickets. That's $780 a year buying something with worse odds than getting struck by lightning. Maybe it's the streaming services you forgot to cancel. The DoorDash markup you don't think about. The impulse buys from late-night scrolling.

Strike has no minimum on recurring purchases. Technically, you can buy as little as a penny's worth of Bitcoin. So "I don't have enough to invest" isn't a reason. It's an excuse.

The median crypto holder in the U.S. has about $2,000 in total holdings, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (2025). Most people aren't throwing in their whole paycheck. They're redirecting small amounts. $25 here. $50 there. Consistently, over time.

That's the whole playbook. Not "get rich quick." Just "stop being poor slowly." Redirect money you're already spending on nothing. Let it compound. Check back in a few years.

Run the numbers yourself: Use our DCA Calculator to see what your specific weekly amount would be worth.

Why Is Strike Cheaper Than Coinbase?

This matters more than most people realize. Fees eat your returns. A 1-2% fee on every purchase might sound small, but it compounds against you over years of weekly buying.

Here's what it actually costs to DCA $100 per month on each major platform:

Platform	DCA Fee	Spread	Annual Cost on $1,200	Withdraw to Wallet
Strike	~0% (waived)	~0.15%	~$1.80	Free
Cash App	$0 (Auto Invest)	~0%	~$0	Free
Robinhood	$0 commission	0.35-0.85%	~$7.20	Yes
Swan Bitcoin	0.99%	0.25%	~$14.88	Yes
Coinbase	1.49%	~0.5-1%	~$29.88	Yes (network fee)

Read that last line again. Coinbase charges you nearly $30 a year to do the same thing Strike does for under $2. Over five years of DCA-ing $100/month, that's roughly $140 you'd lose to Coinbase fees versus about $9 on Strike.

Fair point about Cash App: they dropped their DCA fees to zero in November 2025, according to Cash App's announcement. That's a great deal too. If you already use Cash App, their Auto Invest feature works. But Strike was built for Bitcoin from the ground up. It's the only thing the app does. And that focus shows.

What Happens After You Buy?

Your Bitcoin sits in your Strike account. It's safe there. Strike is a registered money services business and holds your Bitcoin in custody.

But here's something most beginners don't know: you can move your Bitcoin off of Strike and into your own wallet. For free.

This is called self-custody. It means you hold the keys to your own Bitcoin instead of trusting a company to hold them for you. Strike offers free on-chain Bitcoin withdrawals, which is unusual. Most platforms charge for this.

You can even set up auto-withdrawals. Tell Strike: "Every time my balance hits $100, send it to my wallet automatically." It runs in the background. No extra work.

You don't need to do this on day one. Buy your first Bitcoin. Get comfortable. Set up your weekly purchases. But know that the option exists. When you're ready, it's there.

Want to learn more about wallets and self-custody? We'll cover that in detail soon. For now, the important thing is that Strike gives you a path to true ownership, not just a balance on someone else's screen.

Common Questions First-Timers Ask

Is Strike safe to use?

Strike is a registered Money Services Business regulated by FinCEN. It requires identity verification (KYC) for all users, uses bank-level encryption, and has been operating since 2020. No platform is risk-free, but Strike follows the same regulatory requirements as traditional financial apps. Over 2 million people have downloaded it.

What if Bitcoin drops right after I buy?

It might. Bitcoin is volatile. That's exactly why DCA works better than buying all at once. If the price drops, your next weekly buy gets you more Bitcoin for the same dollar amount. Over time, your average purchase price smooths out. People who started DCA-ing during the 2022 crash, when Bitcoin fell 76%, ended up with some of the best average prices in history.

Can I lose more money than I put in?

No. Unlike some other investments, Bitcoin can't go below zero. The most you can lose is what you invest. If you put in $20 a week, $20 is your maximum risk per week. That's why starting small matters. Only use money you genuinely won't miss.

Do I have to pay taxes on Bitcoin?

Yes. In the U.S., Bitcoin is treated as property by the IRS. You owe taxes when you sell it for a profit. If you're just buying and holding (which is what DCA is), you don't owe anything until you sell. Strike tracks your cost basis for you, which makes tax time simpler. Keep records and talk to a tax professional if you have questions.

Why Strike instead of just using Cash App?

Both are solid options. Cash App eliminated its DCA fees in November 2025, matching Strike's pricing. The difference: Strike is Bitcoin-only. No stocks, no random features, no distractions. It also offers free on-chain withdrawals and auto-withdrawal to your own wallet. If you want the simplest, most Bitcoin-focused experience, Strike is built for that. If you already use Cash App for other things, their Bitcoin feature works too.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Next steps: New to all of this? Start with Bitcoin for Beginners. Already bought your first sats? Learn what a satoshi actually is and why you don't need $100K to own Bitcoin. Ready to see what your weekly buy could grow into? Try our DCA Calculator.

This article is part of the Small Steps, Real Results series on Untaught.

This article is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Bitcoin is a volatile asset that can lose significant value. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Untaught does not hold, move, or manage your money. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.