# Do I need to buy Bitcoins first before proceeding?

**URL:** <https://bisq.community/t/do-i-need-to-buy-bitcoins-first-before-proceeding/3267>\
**Category:** Support\
**Created:** [October 26, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://bisq.community/t/do-i-need-to-buy-bitcoins-first-before-proceeding/3267 "2017-10-26T21:48:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Palafox](https://bisq.community/user_avatar/bisq.community/palafox/32/3015_2.png) [@Palafox](https://bisq.community/u/Palafox)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://bisq.community/t/do-i-need-to-buy-bitcoins-first-before-proceeding/3267/1 "2017-10-26T21:48:41Z")

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Dear Community,  
I would like to buy, for example, ZEC from GBP. Do I need to buy BTC from GBP first? Then, simply exchanging BTC for ZEC afterwards? I read the FAQ and was not able to find the info.

Thanks for your support,

Palafox

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**Author:** ![madraba](https://bisq.community/letter_avatar/madraba/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@madraba](https://bisq.community/u/madraba)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 10:06pm UTC](https://bisq.community/t/do-i-need-to-buy-bitcoins-first-before-proceeding/3267/2 "2017-10-26T22:06:24Z")

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I think in order to do any trade you need a “little” bitcoin 0.1 - 0.3 btc.  
Because no matter if you buy or sell you have to put some deposit up, to ensure you will follow the trade in a good way.

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**Author:** ![Palafox](https://bisq.community/user_avatar/bisq.community/palafox/32/3015_2.png) [@Palafox](https://bisq.community/u/Palafox)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://bisq.community/t/do-i-need-to-buy-bitcoins-first-before-proceeding/3267/3 "2017-10-26T22:48:54Z")

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Thanks very much for your reply. From [this topic](https://forum.bisq.io/t/howto-on-handling-fiat-to-purchase-crypto/380) I managed to extract this information:

> You only can trade BTC vs. Fiat or BTC vs. Altcoin. Not Altcoin-Fiat or Altcoin-Altcoin.

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**Author:** ![madraba](https://bisq.community/letter_avatar/madraba/32/5_5575768a8748004e209b776fc1b2916d.png) [@madraba](https://bisq.community/u/madraba)\
**Post date:** [October 26, 2017, 10:53pm UTC](https://bisq.community/t/do-i-need-to-buy-bitcoins-first-before-proceeding/3267/4 "2017-10-26T22:53:35Z")

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I think you are right, because there are only the buttons “Buy BTC” and “Sell BTC”.  
And then you can choose different currencies to buy or sell the BTC for.

So you can buy BTC with ETH and buy BTC with €, but you cannot buy ETH with €.

Somebody should correct me if I am wrong.

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**Author:** ![alexej996](https://bisq.community/user_avatar/bisq.community/alexej996/32/491_2.png) [@alexej996](https://bisq.community/u/alexej996)\
**Post date:** [October 27, 2017, 4:50pm UTC](https://bisq.community/t/do-i-need-to-buy-bitcoins-first-before-proceeding/3267/5 "2017-10-27T16:50:08Z")

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You are correct. All the trading pairs use to have BTC. Some new base currencies, such as Litecoin, were added recently, but they are very rarely used. They are more of a backup due to these forks that have been going on Bitcoin recently. Furthermore, yes, you will need some amount of base currency to use Bisq in the first place as well.