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How to turn mined bitcoin into money

The three ways owners cash out mined bitcoin: a card, a peer to peer sale or an exchange and a bank wire. Who each one fits, and the rules to follow.

Basics

The bitcoin your machines mine is paid to your own wallet. At some point you will want part of it as money: to pay the hosting invoice, to cover living costs, or to move some into your bank. This guide shows the three routes owners use, who each one fits, and the rules that keep your bitcoin safe on the way.

The three routes

1. Spend it with a card while holding BTC. You deposit bitcoin on an exchange that issues a payment card. The bitcoin stays as bitcoin until the moment you pay for something. The exchange then converts only the amount of that purchase. Firsthand Bitcoin recommends Bybit for this. See Bybit Card: spend while holding BTC.

2. Sell peer to peer (P2P) for local currency. You sell your bitcoin to another person through an exchange that locks the bitcoin in escrow until the buyer has paid you by local bank transfer. This is how many owners in Latin America, Africa and Asia receive pesos, naira or other local money. Firsthand Bitcoin recommends Binance for this, outside the United States. See Binance P2P: sell for local currency.

3. Sell on an exchange and wire to a bank. You sell bitcoin for dollars or euros on the exchange's own market, then withdraw the money to your bank account. This is the standard route for US persons and for companies. Firsthand Bitcoin recommends Kraken for this. See Kraken for US LLCs and businesses.

Route	Fits you if	Exchange	Keep in mind
Card	You want to pay daily expenses and keep the rest in BTC	Bybit	The card is offered only in some countries. Not for US residents.
P2P sale	You want local currency in a local bank, outside the US	Binance	You deal with another person. Follow the escrow rules exactly.
Sell and wire	You are a US person or an LLC, or you want dollars in a bank	Kraken	A business account needs company documents. A wire takes one to a few working days.

Good to know: Availability depends on the country you live in, and it changes. Always check the exchange's own list of supported countries before you open an account. Not sure which one fits? Read Which exchange is right for me?.

The same eight steps, whatever the route

Check what you have. Open Earnings to see what your machines have mined, and open your wallet to see what has arrived.
Open an account at the exchange and complete the identity check. Allow a few days for this the first time.
Turn on two-factor sign-in on the exchange account before any bitcoin goes in.
On the exchange, open the deposit screen for BTC, choose the Bitcoin network and copy the deposit address.
From your wallet, send a small test amount to that address and wait until the exchange shows it.
Send the amount you actually want to cash out.
Convert it: pay with the card, sell P2P, or sell for dollars and withdraw to your bank.
Save the records: date, amount of BTC, price and what you received. Your accountant will ask for them.

Steps 4 to 6 are the same for every exchange. The full walkthrough is in Send bitcoin from your wallet to an exchange.

The golden rules

Test with a small amount first. Every new address, every new exchange. A test costs one network fee. A mistake on the full amount can cost all of it.
Check the address and the network. Compare the first six and the last six characters after you paste. Send BTC on the Bitcoin network only, unless the exchange's deposit screen says otherwise.
Never share your seed phrase. No exchange, no support agent and nobody at Firsthand Bitcoin will ever ask for it. Anyone who asks is stealing. See Seed phrase safety.
Never release a P2P sale until the money is in your own bank account, checked in your banking app and not on a screenshot.
Ignore support messages that come to you. Real support does not write first on Telegram, WhatsApp, X or Instagram.
Move only what you plan to cash out. What stays in your own wallet stays under your keys.

Careful: A bitcoin transaction cannot be cancelled or reversed once it is sent. There is no bank to call. The checks above are the only protection, so do them every time.

How long it takes

The first time is the slow one: opening and verifying an account can take from a few minutes to several days. After that, a transfer from your wallet to an exchange usually shows within an hour, a card payment is instant, a P2P sale often closes in under an hour, and a bank wire takes one to a few working days.

A word on tax

In many countries, selling bitcoin or spending it with a card is a taxable event, and mined bitcoin may count as income on the day it arrives. The rules differ by country. Keep the records from step 8 and ask your accountant. Tax records for mined bitcoin shows what to save.

Which exchange is right for me?