In this simple ‘How To Buy Ethereum (ETH) guide, we will present you with reasons why you should consider investing in Ethereum and explain the differences between Ethereum and Bitcoins. Also, find a step-by-step guide on how to buy Ethereum with popular payment methods.
Ethereum is ranked second on the top 100 cryptocurrencies list – based on market capitalization. Although it was designed to be used in facilitating transactions within the Ethereum network, its use as a store of value and a medium of exchange has soared. Currently, ETH is traded on almost all the popular crypto trading platforms.
Start by selecting a crypto trading platform from where you would like to buy cryptocurrencies. This can be an exchange, a crypto brokerage, or even a peer-to-peer crypto trading platform. Create a user/crypto trading account on the platform.
Deposit cash into the crypto trading account you just created. Look at the payment methods supported by the crypto exchange/brokerage and use one to deposit funds into the account.
Buy Ethereum from the platform. In the case of an exchange, you can buy Ethereum from the open markets or by placing a limit order on the order book. In the case of a brokerage, you buy Ethereum directly from the broker or from your peers in a peer-to-peer trading platform.
There are different ways in which you can invest in the Ethereum cryptocurrency. Here are the three of the most popular ETH investment strategies worth exploring.
As the name suggests the buy-and-hold investment strategy involves buying Ethereum tokens today and holding on to them for the longest time possible. It is premised on the belief Ethereum token prices will continually rise and eventually hit unimaginable heights. You are, therefore, buying today and holding on to the coins until the day they hit the unimaginable height. It is a long-term investment strategy, it is considered relatively safe, it is beginner-friendly, and it is a good source of passive income.
You could also choose to invest in Ethereum CFDs where you don’t get to own the ETH tokens. Rather, you get to place bets against crypto exchanges/brokerages on the future price action of the ETH tokens, You win if you get the bet right and lose if it goes against your price prediction.
The unique thing about buying ETH CFDs is that since you don’t get to own actual ETH tokens, you wouldn’t need to invest in a crypto wallet. Secondly, it lets you interact with leverage (borrowed funds) which means that you can open significantly large ETH CFD trades with relatively low trading capital. But it is also highly risky because just as leverage amplifies your profits if you win, it also amplifies your losses when you lose and may expose you to negative account balances.
Day trading is short-term investing strategy that involves opening and closing multiple ETH trades throughout the day. Typically, a day trader will open an ETH trade and close it after a few seconds, minutes, or hours if it is profitable or immediately it starts losing him money. Plus, as the name suggests, the trader will only buy and sell during the day and will not leave any ETH trade open at the end of his trading session.
It is a highly lucrative investment strategy. However, day trading ETH requires access to highly advanced – often premium – trading and analysis tools, calls for deep crypto trading experience and demands significant investment capital. And all these make it not-so-beginner-friendly.
At the moment, you can buy Ethereum with eWallets (Skrill, Neteller) on both the big name and relatively new crypto trading platforms. Most ETH investors also like eWallets because the deposit and withdrawal process is easy and straightforward, transaction processing is fast, and transaction fees are rather low.
On eToro, for instance, you won’t be charged a deposit fee for funding your trade account using eWallets. The minimum deposit is $200 and the maximum is set at $10,000. The only downside to this is that most e-Wallets are only available in select countries.
Cards have morphed into the most convenient payment settlement tools and you can now buy Ethereum with a credit card or a debit card. Like eWallets, cards are preferred by most crypto traders and investors because of their convenience.
They are readily accessible, transaction processing is fast, and they carry relatively low transaction fees. When buying Ethereum with a credit card or a debit card on eToro, for instance, the transaction is processed instantaneously. Plus, you can deposit as little as $200 or as much as $10000. Plus, the broker doesn’t charge deposit processing fees.
You can also buy Ethereum with PayPal on the most popular crypto trading platforms, including eToro. The broker is one of the few international crypto trading platforms that support PayPal deposits and withdrawals. It doesn’t charge a processing fee for PayPal deposits, transactions are almost instantaneous, and you can buy Ethereum valued at between $200 and $10000.
A bank transfer may be the most convenient method of buying Ethereum on a trading platform, but it is the most accessible. Where all other payments are unavailable, bank transfers reign supreme. Unlike most of the payment methods discussed above, Bank wire is also supported by virtually all crypto trading platforms.
The primary advantage of buying Ethereum, with bank wire, is that it allows for large deposits. On eToro, for instance, you can buy Ethereum worth as little as $500 and with no upper limit with bank wire. Its biggest downside, on the other hand, is that payment processing may be sluggish with funds taking between 3 and 8 business days before they can reflect in your trading account.
Popular trading platforms like eToro will also let you buy Ethereum anonymously (without ID verification). However, the maximum you can deposit into an unverified eToro account is capped at $2250.
Over the years, crypto trading platforms have worked tirelessly in making the crypto investing process as easy to use as possible. They successfully narrowed the investment process to just a few steps and eliminated the bureaucracy surrounding most conventional investments. Today, investing in a crypto investment takes no more than a few minutes. Here is everything you need to start buying your Ethereum on any trading platform.
Trader account: You will first need to register a trading account with a reputable crypto trading platform that lists Ethereum tokens. In most cases, the registration process only requires you to provide the platform with your personal information and proof of identity. It takes less than five minutes to complete the registration but some platforms may take a few days before verifying your identity.
Investment Capital: Deposit funds into the approved crypto trading account. Note that different brokers present you with varied deposit/withdrawal options based on such factors as your country of residence. Choose the payment method and deposit funds into the account.
Ethereum wallet: You will also need an Ethereum wallet to hold the purchased Ethereum tokens. Today, most trading platforms provide users with a free in-exchange wallet. You may, however, choose to use the free mobile and desktop app wallets or the more secure paper and hardware wallets.
There is no standard industry on the amount of money you need in order to start buying Ethereum. The minimum and maximum investment limits are a compound of numerous factors that you can control and others that are out of your control.
In most cases, the minimum trade limit for Ethereum will be determined by your preferred exchange. On the eToro trading platform, for example, the minimum is $25. Most crypto trading platforms either don’t have or maintain relatively high upper limits on the amount of Ethereum you can buy.
But you have to consider some personal factors when buying Ethereum on any crypto exchange. These include your crypto trading experience, your investment goals, disposable income at hand, and risk tolerance. If you are new to crypto trading, we advise that you engage a crypto expert and always ensure that you only invest what you can afford to lose.
You have multiple options when looking to obtain some Ethereum. Let’s have an in-depth look at these options and how you can go about it.
A crypto exchange is an online platform or a digital marketplace that links Ethereum buyers and sellers. It is a for-profit platform that provides Ethereum buyers and sellers with all the resources needed to facilitate a trade. These include charts, market research and analysis tools, free crypto wallets, and even customer support. In return, the exchange imposes a spread on all trades carried out on their platform or a per-transaction fee.
A crypto brokerage, just like an exchange, provides you with a platform for buying and selling Ethereum. It will also provide you with all the amenities required to facilitate the trade. Here, you can only buy Ether from the broker. Therefore, the broker sets both the buying and selling prices for the digital coin.
A peer-to-peer crypto trading platform is a decentralized online marketplace that brings together Ethereum buyers and sellers. Unlike in the case of brokerages and exchanges that serve as the market maker and middleman respectively, P2P platforms allow the buyer to engage the seller directly. Most were born out of the need to link individuals from the same locality where they can meet physically and trade Ethereum and other crypto using their local currency.
Note: In addition to Buying Ethereum with cash or cards on these crypto trading platforms, you can also acquire the product through mining. Mining here refers to the process of awarding computers that process Ethereum-based transactions free ETH.
Ethereum’s popularity has also seen most crypto ATM service providers integrate it into their crypto dispensing machines. Today, you can buy Ethereum at an Ethereum ATM in most major cities across the world. Most of these are shared ATMs that allow you to buy different cryptocurrencies or ETH-only ATMs.
Here is the step-by-step process of buying Ethereum at an Ethereum ATM.
After exploring the different ways to buy Ethereum, we now need to explore alternative ways of getting Ethereum. Most of these do not require you to go through a crypto trading platform and neither do they call for significant initial deposits.
Ethereum, like the Bitcoin blockchain, uses the proof of work consensus mechanism. This implies that computer power contributors also referred to as miners are rewarded with ETH tokens when they verify and confirm transactions on the network. You too could invest in mining hardware and contribute computational power to the ETH network in exchange for ETH tokens.
Ethereum faucets are websites that reward contributors with free ETH tokens when they complete different micro-tasks listed on the site. These tasks range from testing mobile apps, laying video games, watching marketing videos, clicking on affiliate links, completing surveys or puzzles, completing captcha, and more. These tasks take a few minutes and require no special skill.
You may receive Ethereum as a gift or tip from crypto investing friend or acquaintance. Given the popularity of cryptocurrencies, it is now becoming commonplace for acquaintances, colleagues, and friends to gift each other such cryptos as Ethereum. If you are creative or offer different services online, you are also likely to receive donations and tips in form of ETH tokens if you include an ETH wallet address in your tip basket.
Ethereum is increasingly gaining acceptance as a medium of exchange and store of value. If you run a crypto-friendly merchant or offer premium services online, you will often come across individuals looking to pay for goods and services via Ethereum.
Now that you have learned of the most common and some alternative ways of getting Ethereum, let us now turn our focus on what you can do with the recently acquired Ethereum.
Ethereum is one of the most popular crypto-focused topics of discussion on Reddit. There even are multiple subreddits dedicated to Ethereum blockchain and Ethereum investing. Most of these are community-driven and provide a platform where both professional and novice Ethereum investors/traders can congregate and share useful information and tips about digital asset.
They discuss anything related to the altcoin. Right from its position in the crypto market and whether it will eventually overtake Bitcoin as the lead crypto, its future price projections, and even possible threats to the sustainability of the Ethereum ecosystem or the ETH token prices.
At the moment, the hottest topics around Ethereum on Reddit are the upcoming ETH 2.0 upgrade, the Ethereum killers, and ETH’s future price action. Overall, though, most Redditors are confident that Ethereum is a good long-term investment.
Ethereum is as hot of a topic on Quora as it is on Reddit. Numerous individuals flock to the platform daily seeking answers to Ethereum investing or trading issues on the platform. Multiple Quora spaces around the Ethereum topic have cropped up where contributors discuss all matters of Ethereum investing and other dynamics within the Ethereum ecosystem.
At the moment, some of the most asked questions about Ethereum on Quora revolve around its suitability as a long-term investment. Crypto investors and traders want to know which is a better buy between Ethereum and Bitcoin. They are also asking about the price direction that ETH tokens are most likely to take moving forward and what they could be worth in the foreseeable future.
Buying Ethereum with cash or other cryptocurrencies is easy and quite straightforward, regardless of your preferred crypto trading platform. In this guide, we have broken the process and provided you with a step-by-step guide on how to buy ether coins. We have also shared some Ethereum buying tips. Go through each of these and only register a user account with the Ethereum trading platform that appeals to you the most.
Bitcoin and Ethereum are two of the most popular cryptocurrencies in the world. They both have their pros and cons, but at the end of the day, it really comes down to personal preference.
The easiest way to buy 1 Ethereum is to use an online cryptocurrency exchange. The most popular exchanges are the ones listed above. All you need to do is create an account on the exchange, deposit some fiat currency (USD, EUR, GBP, etc.), and then you can start buying and selling cryptocurrencies.
Yes, investing in Ethereum is definitely a good idea according to many experts. The main reason why is because Ethereum is one of the most promising cryptocurrencies in terms of potential and growth. It has already made tremendous strides since it was first introduced, and it looks like it will only continue to grow in popularity and value.
The best way to purchase ETH is to use a regulated exchange. A regulated exchange is a platform on which buyers and sellers trade digital assets like ETH. These exchanges are often more user-friendly than other ways of buying ETH, and they offer built-in security measures to help protect your funds.