British Pound Sterling to Bitcoin exchange rates aren't all the same.
The total cost you are charged by your bank or foreign exchange provider consists of a margin from the interbank mid-rate plus fees.
These margins and fees vary significantly for International Money Transfers and Travel Money transactions as shown below.
When determining the best time to make a foreign exchange transaction, in this case the GBP vs BTC, you should pay attention to the recent market trends for both currencies.
British Pound Sterling (GBP)
By some margin, the pound was the worst-performing major currency in the second quarter. It slipped in late June to multi-month lows against a number of important currencies, including the Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, euro, Canadian dollar and Swiss franc.
Pound valuations will continue to fluctuate based on No-deal, Deal and Remain probabilities. No-deal prospects may increase if, as is widely expected, ardent Brexiteer Boris Johnson becomes the UK’s next prime minister. However, some banks argue that Johnson’s appointment would make little difference to no-deal or remain probabilities.
The pound is unlikely to receive much in the way of meaningful respite until November, analysts say, when hopefully the UK-EU Brexit arrangement, or lack thereof, is known (Boris Johnson insists that the UK will not seek any further Article 50 extensions beyond the October-31 deadline).
The pound would be doing far worse if it weren't receiving some support from the Bank of England which, surprisingly, is the only major central bank still considering higher interest rates in 2019.
Sentiment towards cryptocurrencies has really picked up in 2019 and bitcoin is thriving. Rates just shy of $11,000 on June-22 (the day of this report) marked a spectacular recovery from rates closer to $3,000 earlier this year. Between mid-February and June-21, bitcoin gained value in 15 weeks from 18.
Cryptocurrency experts suggested in June that the imminent arrival of Facebook’s own coin, Libra, added legitimacy to the crypto space, thereby assisting widespread acceptance and adoption of cryptos as payment vehicles and boosting market sentiment.
Rather than disappear, as some prominent financial experts had predicted, Libra’s arrival confirmed that “[bitcoin] will remain an ever-important asset that hundreds of millions of people will hold,” one analyst said, before adding: “You can bet bitcoin is going to break 15k!”
Why can't I just get the GBP/BTC market rate I see online or in the media?
The mid-rate is the rate you will see quoted online or the news. It is actually just the half-way point (hence mid-rate) between
the last rate at which the GBP / BTC was traded (bought or sold) in the international markets.
All foreign exchange providers charge a fee for providing their service and this fee is usually contained within the exchange rate margin (or difference to the mid-rate).
Some providers such as Transferwise will quote you the mid-rate (or close to) and charge a separate percentage fee.
Getting a good market rate is mainly about timing however the transaction margin
you end up being charged can be considerably reduced by around a few percent (of total amount being exchanged) for
travel money and possibly over 5% to 6% when sending money.
The exact potential savings depends on the currencies being exchanged and the amount you are transferring and if you are willing to shop around.
