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ok, so open yourself an account at uphold.com ( thank me later for it ) this is a gaetway between the FIAT world ( dollar euro yen etc. ) and Crypto, once you are verified you can add your bankaccount and transfer some money to it. Once your U$ arrived you can change it easy to Bitcoin or Ethereum for example. Once you got the Bitcoins send them over to an Exchanger and buy Steem :) I sounds complicated on the begining, but it is not :)

Instead of bank account can I use my PayPal?

You need to buy BTC first as I know. But you can buy BTC with paypal.