Now that Steem is on Binance, this exchange (through Coinbase/Gdax) is probably the quickest and most efficient way to buy Steem (as far as I know, being located in America). You can transfer money into Coinbase for free but it will take about a week to process. Or you can do a direct wire transfer from your bank, for about 35$ (25$ bank fee and 10$ Coinbase fee) which happens in less than one business day.
You can then free transfer the USD (fiat) into Gdax, and buy either Bitcoin or Etheruem. First check the ETC/USD and BTC/USD rates on Gdax, and the Steem/ETC and Steem/BTC rates on Binance (it will show you the respective rate for Steem in USD too).
After determining which of the two has the best rate overall into Steem, buy that coin on Gdax (using the fiat transferred as described in the first paragraph) and transfer onto Binance. BE SURE to select the right coin Deposit Address on Binanace, especially with Ethereum because those transactions cannot be undone. Bitcoin maybe more forgiving. I’ve made this mistake trying to send BTC to a BNB address but was able to recover it.
Once you’re transition is complete (Etheruem should generally be quicker than Bitcoin) you can use the coins you transferred in to Binance to buy Steem.
This is the best part. Once you’ve bought your Steem, go to withdraw funds. Here you simply type in your steemit account login name, that’s your Steemit wallet! No need to add a memo. Use your authenticator password if you have one, and you’ll then be sent an email with a link to confirm. The Steem should be in your Steemit account within mins if not less!
Being Canadian ... coinbase isn't much use. But thank you for the tips:)
https://medium.com/@stevenpslade/guide-to-buying-ethereum-canada-558c60f28d90
https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@songbird/buying-trading-storing-bitcoin-in-canada
I quickly found these two links. They note Coinbase as a viable option for acquiring BTC & ETH. Hope this helps.
The banks here are very reluctant to aid in bitcoin purchases. It is becoming quite the endeavour on my end,