I created this guide for newbies that explains how to buy IOTA.

Coinbase and Bitfinex (Alternative exchange) Step 1: Join CoinbaseFirstly you will need to create an account to Coinbase. You can use this link to join which will give you and myself $10 bonus each if your first deposit is above $100.After you have registered (it’s very easy) you need to do your first deposit and buy either Bitcoin or Ethereum. Yes, Bitcoin or Ethereum. This is because there’s no exchange at this point which allows you to deposit money using your debit/credit card and buy IOTA. Thus you need to buy Ethereum/Bitcoin and then transfer these to another provider (I’ll talk about later on) and buy IOTA. Many people suggest that BTC has higher fees so buying Ethereum instead is preferable. I’ve tried both BTC and ETH and more or less I had to pay the same fees. The rest of the guide uses the Bitcoin case, but you can buy Ethereum if you prefer. It’s exactly the same steps (wherever I refer to Bitcoin, just pretend it says Ethereum).Click the Buy/Sell menu item on Coinbase, select Bitcoin, then enter your card details, the amount you like to deposit and click the Buy Bitcoin Instantly button. Congratulations!Step 2: Join an exchange (Non-US): BitfinexThen you will need to join Bitfinex, an exchange market which allows you to buy IOTA using the Bitcoin you just bought in Coinbase.After you have created an account in Bitfinex (it’s easy), you need to generate a link that will allow you to send the Bitcoins you bought from Coinbase, to Bitfinex. Go to Deposit on the top right corner, then select Bitcoin from the list and then click to generate a key for you Exchange wallet. (If you have bought Ethereum then do the same for Ethereum instead.)Step 3: Send Bitcoin from Coinbase to BitfinexGo back to Coinbase and click the Accounts menu item. Then click the Send button below the BTC Wallet (of course go to ETH Wallet if you have bought Ethereum) and then paste the weird alphanumeric string that Bitfinex generated for you (not the one on the screenshot — that’s mine. Your own!). Click send. This is the tricky part. As you may have heard Bitcoin needs time to confirm transactions so it might take up to an hour (or more) to have your Bitcoins moved to Bitfinex. You will receive an email from Bitfinex saying that your Bitcoins have arrived. You can go and check your Bitfinex wallet (it shows 0 for me because I have no Bitcoins):Step 4: Buy IOTAWhen your Bitcoins have arrived to Bitfinex you’re ready to buy your IOTA. Go to Trading on the top menu, then navigate to IOTA and select IOTA/BTC (IOTA/ETH if you are in the Ethereum case) from the submenu:Then click on green dot labelled as “1” in the following screenshot (this will load the latest exchange price), then click the green dot labelled as “2” in the screenshot (this will calculate how many IOTA you can buy with the Bitcoins you have in the current price) and finally click the Exchange Buy button (labelled as “3”). You will see a confirmation message and a line will be drawn on the diagram declaring the price you have asked. Bare in mind that Bitfinex might require some time to do the exchange. You have the price locked though, so, don’t worry, it’s just a technical issue. After a few seconds or minutes you will see the IOTAs stored in your wallet. Welcome to IOTA!