How to send Bitcoin to a bank account

Banks don't accept Bitcoin — they accept fiat. Every method below is really "convert BTC to fiat and have the fiat sent to your bank." The only thing that changes is which intermediary handles the conversion and how long they sit in between you and your money.

That choice matters more than people think. A traditional exchange route asks you to deposit BTC, sell, and then wait for a bank wire — usually three to five business days during which the exchange holds your coins. A modern non-custodial off-ramp like Lightning Pay does the swap and payout in one Lightning settlement, measured in seconds.

1. Install Lightning Pay on desktop (Windows, macOS, Linux).
2. Fund with BTC — on-chain or Lightning, doesn't matter; on-chain is auto-swapped into Lightning behind the scenes.
3. Open Withdraw → Bank, choose your country and currency.
4. Enter IBAN, ACH routing+account, Faster Payments sort code, Pix key, UPI VPA, or whatever your country uses.
5. Confirm. Fiat lands via SEPA Instant, FedNow, Faster Payments, Pix, UPI, SPEI or M-Pesa — usually under two minutes door-to-door.

Fee on a typical $1,000 withdrawal is around $15 all-in (0.1% swap + 0.5% network markup + the partner's spread, ~1.5% total). No exchange account, no KYC unless your withdrawal partner requires it at higher amounts.

1. Open an exchange account (Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, Gemini) and complete full KYC.
2. Deposit BTC from your wallet — on-chain transfer, 1–6 confirmations.
3. Sell BTC for fiat in the order book or via instant convert (worse spread).
4. Withdraw fiat via ACH/SEPA/wire to your linked bank.

Total wall-clock time is usually 1–3 days on SEPA Standard or 3–5 days on US ACH. Each step is a separate fee: deposit network fee, trade fee (0.1–1.5%), withdrawal fee ($0–$25). Spread on the sale is the biggest hidden cost.

1. Under $10,000 and you want it today: Lightning Pay direct-to-bank.
2. Over $50,000: OTC desk (River, Kraken OTC) — they will quote a single price and wire same-day.
3. You already have funds parked on an exchange: use the exchange's bank withdrawal; no point bridging out only to pay another fee.
4. You want zero KYC: there is no fully no-KYC bank route — banks themselves do KYC. P2P (Bisq, Robosats) selling to a buyer who then pays you bank-to-bank is the closest workaround.

Some retail banks (Chase, Bank of America, certain UK high-street banks) decline incoming wires from crypto-adjacent partners. If you've never received a wire from a stablecoin or crypto partner before, send a small test amount first ($25). Brazilian Pix and Mexican SPEI almost never have this issue; US ACH almost always works for amounts under $5,000.

Every BTC → fiat conversion is a taxable disposal in the US, UK, EU, AU and most jurisdictions. Cost basis is the price you paid for that specific Bitcoin (FIFO or specific-ID, depending on what you elect). The Lightning Pay Tax Assistant exports a Form 8949 / SA108 / CGT-ready CSV that plugs into TurboTax, Koinly or your accountant's workflow.