Ethereum (ETH) is the second cryptocurrency by market capitalization, right behind Bitcoin. Whether you need to start investing in cryptocurrencies like ETH to diversify your investment portfolio or want to grab some fresh ETH to get yourself ready to buy the next hottest NFT in the market, you will need to hold some Ether in your wallet. In this guide, we'll discuss everything to do on how to buy Ethereum in simple steps!
Ethereum is a decentralized, open-source blockchain with smart contract functionality. Conceived in 2013 by Russian programmer Vitalik Buterin was launched in July of 2015. Ethereum is the largest and most well-established, open-ended decentralized software platform. Operating on a decentralized computer network (blockchain) enables the deployment of smart and decentralized applications (dapps) to be built and run without needing a third party. Ether (ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform.
We can´t advise you to buy or not to buy, and it is a choice that depends on your needs. If you want to ride the train of cryptocurrencies and start investing in crypto, you need to buy some cryptocurrencies to hold or trade. ETH is just one of them. What makes ETH so unique is that being the second one by market capitalization makes it somehow a secure investment in terms of not being a scam coin. However, as with many other cryptocurrencies, it is a volatile asset that can change its monetary value in just a few hours, making your initial investment go up or down depending on markets movements. Also, it is fair to notice that experts think that ETH still has room to grow.
Back in 2015, a single ETH cost about one dollar. Since then, the Ethereum market has reached an all-time high of more than $4000! That means that if you had invested $100 in Ethereum in 2015, it would now be worth more than $400,000! Awesome right?
Ethereum also hosts the most prominent Decentralized Applications out there. More critical, Dapps run on Ethereum, and their native tokens are also launched on Ethereum, making ETH a cryptocurrency to watch. Worth saying that the recent "bum" in Non-Fungible Tokens (NFT) have brought many eyes (and wallets) to the Ethereum world. Biggest NFT markets like Opensea have diversified their reach regarding blockchains to use when minting NFT collections; however, Ethereum is still the most prominent and wide used by far.
So if you want to diversify your investment portfolio with crypto and want to include ETH or if you want to grab some ETH coins to buy digital assets like NFTs; you´ll need first to hold some ETH in your wallet by buying with fiat money or maybe by exchanging other cryptocurrencies you already have by ETH.
The first piece of advice is that you need to check the place you´ll be buying ETH first more than once. Internet is plenty of sites allowing you to buy ETH and other cryptos; however, there are still scam sites ready to steal your money/crypto as soon as you pay or connect your online crypto wallet. Therefore, you must play it safe and pick reputable platforms.
To make it simpler for you, we can say that you can buy ETH paying with fiat or exchanging it for other cryptos you already have. You can always choose to give it a go to the most common tools in the crypto market, allowing you to get some fresh ETH: exchanges. Using an exchange service like Coinbase or Binance will help you buy (and store) some ETH. Some exchanges allow you to buy ETH with your credit or debit card directly, but others don´t do your research first. Coinmama, CEX.io and Paxful are all exchanges currently accepting credit cards. Although limitations apply, you will find it easy to buy ETH with fiat money. Usually, you will need to pass the KYC process (Know Your Customer), but once finished, you will not need to pass it again, and you will be able then to buy all the ETH you want or need repeatedly.
Make sure you have the following items ready when trying to buy ETH with credit or debit cards:
- Credit or debit card.
- Mobile phone to take a selfie.
- Scanned or photographed images of your passport / national ID card (both sides) / driver’s license (both sides)
By getting ready these three simple items, you´ll make sure not to miss the KYC process, and therefore you will complete your buying flow in the exchange.
Apart from big exchanges, you will also find other services allowing you to "directly" buy ETH with debit/credit cards. This means that you will not need to sign up for the site to buy some ETH. Instead, you will use a direct online form to do that. That is the case with Coingate. You will only need to fill the form giving some info like the amount of ETH you need to buy or how much money you want to spend in exchange for ETH. You will also need to get ready beforehand your ETH wallet address: this will be the place where your ETH will be sent. In exchanges like Coinbase, you already have an ETH wallet ready for you, but when you use this type of "direct buy" place, you will need to open first an ETH wallet and then grab its address and provide this info with your shopping details.
After filling the form, you will also need to provide details on your credit/debit cards and pass KYC. Valid to notice that as you are not registered within the site, you will need to provide cards details and pass KYC with every purchase you make. Given the repetitive steps of this workflow, usually KYC process is simple than those ones used in big exchanges like Binance or Coinbase.
As a final choice, you can also exchange other cryptocurrencies you have for ETH. If you are not so new to the crypto world, you might have already some other cryptos in your wallet, so you can also use big exchanges to "swap" or exchange those cryptos for ETH. Again Binance, Coinbase, Kraken and others allow you to do this by choosing the pair you want to work with (for example, ETH/USDT) and simply exchanging a given amount of USDT for ETH based on the market price at the moment of the exchange.
There are also many online services allowing you to directly exchange one kind of crypto for ETH (or other cryptos). These kinds of services are really fast, and usually, the user performs the exchange completely anonymous as there is no need to pass KYC. However, you´ll need to take care and research first the site before doing any operations as you may lose your funds and get scammed.
Some sites allowing you to directly exchange other cryptos for ETH are FixedFloat, SimpleSwap, Changelly and ALFAcashier. Here you will not need to pass KYC or give any info on credit/debit cards, but still, you will need to give the ETH address where you want your coins to be sent.
Either one of these options is a great way to get started buying Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. All you have to do is go to their websites and proceed as explained here. But if you are worried about using your local currency to buy ETH, we must point that big exchanges like Binance or Coinbase got you covered, allowing you to attach some payment systems like your bank account or PayPal account. This will allow you to send money in your local currency to your new Coinbase or Binance account before buying Ethereum. You still need to confirm your identity for security purposes. Then you will simply need to proceed by depositing your local currency and buying ETH.
Direct exchanges like Coingate also allows you to spend your local currency to buy ETH, and you will also need to confirm your identity before buying as you do in big exchanges.
To avoid scammers and/or scam sites, make sure you are using any of the most popular platforms out there: Binance, Coinbase and Paxful are some of the most renowned exchanges people use every day to do such operations on buying/selling crypto. Also, Coingate is a useful option if you do not want to sign up to use their service as you might need to randomly buy ETH and do not want to trade it often. FixedFloat, Changelly and ALFAcashier are also nice options if you do not want to spend fiat money and want to swap other cryptos you already have for ETH right away.
Anyways, we strongly recommend you do your own research before using any site to purchase ETH. You may ask a friend or do a Google search about it, looking for some honest reviews about exchanges or swap sites you want to use. After all, buying ETH nowadays should be easy as in a breeze. Just you need to make it as sure as you can.
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