Great questions raised here. Let me try give some insight:


I've written up a full explanation showing how it is possible to use a visa debit or mastercard to buy bitcoins: https://howtobuybitcoin.io/#Which_is_the_best_payment_method_to_get_bitcoins . You will aslo see that one can buy btc with cash, paypal, and banktransfer (the cheapest but slowest method).


Yes, totally. For small amounts, because it's convenient (but slightly more expensive than bank transfer purchases), most people just find a site to buy bitcoin with paypal: https://howtobuybitcoin.io/#Best_places_to_get_bitcoins_with_PayPal


You know, I get so many questions about why sites do all these verification procedures. Most places have it all done and verified within 48 hours (some faster - Bitstamp for example). There are also places to get bitcoins without ID verification: https://howtobuybitcoin.io/#Why_so_much_identity_verification8230_and_which_sites_don8217t_require_this