The popularity of cryptocurrencies grows each year. Today, digital assets can be bought easily and legally by anyone. This step-by-step guide will help you understand how to buy cryptocurrency and store it on your personal wallet.
How to buy cryptocurrency
There are several ways; the simplest and most convenient is to buy on an exchange. As an example, we’ll use the Binance exchange popular among users in Ukraine and Russia. With Ukrainian hryvnia, WhiteBIT, Kuna, Trustee Wallet, and EXMO also work. The latter also supports the ruble.
Step 1. To fund the exchange from a bank card and exchange it for cryptocurrency, register on Binance and complete the first stage of account verification.
Before funding the account on the exchange, secure the account. On the homepage hover over the account icon in the top-right corner. In the menu, select Security. On the page, choose one or more account protection options. We recommend enabling SMS and Google authentication.
For how to more securely protect your account, read in the рекомендациях от Binance. Торговля на бирже будет доступна только после того, как вы завершите настройку безопасности аккаунта.
Далее перейдите на стартовую страницу биржи.
Шаг 2. В левом верхнем углу нажмите на строку Купить криптовалюту. Биржа предложит сразу несколько вариантов покупки: пополнение с карты, кредитная/дебетовая карта, P2P-торговля и фиатный баланс. Рядом с перечнем выберите валюту, которой будете платить, у нас по умолчанию выбрана гривна.
Чаще всего пользователи выбирают покупку с кредитной/дебетовой карты или P2P-торговлю. Первый вариант — самый простой, поэтому начнем с него.
Purchase using a credit/debit card
В меню Купить криптовалюту выберите пункт Кредитная/дебетовая карта. Выберите фиатную валюту, за которую хотите купить криптовалюту, и введите сумму, которую готовы потратить. Количество криптоактивов к покупке будет автоматически подсчитано и появится на экране. Затем нажмите Добавить новую карту.
Обратите внимание: минимальный лимит на транзакции составляет 450 UAH (в гривне) или 1200 RUB (в рублях).
Далее введите детали карты, которая принадлежит лично вам. Сайт сразу же перенаправит на страницу транзакции банка для введения одноразового пароля. Следуйте инструкциям на экране, чтобы подтвердить платеж. После подтверждения об оплате криптовалюта поступит на биржевой счет.
Важно отметить, что для граждан России прямая покупка с карт Visa/Mastercard недоступна с 9 марта. На Binance P2P также отключены санкционные банки: Сбербанк, Газпромбанк, Альфа-Банк, Открытие, ВТБ, как и перевод с банковской карты (Россия), SBP — Быстрый банковский перевод, Мир. Купить криптовалюту за рубли на Binance все же можно, воспользовавшись платежными шлюзами Advcash и Payeer.
Для жителей Украины в период военного положения существует только одно ограничение — государственный ПриватБанк временно запретил своим клиентам заводить гривны на биржу. Условия быстро меняются, поэтому рекомендуем держать руку на пульсе и следить за новостями. Для этого почаще заходите на сайт ForkLog и подпишитесь на наш Telegram.
P2P-торговля
Традиционные криптовалютные биржи взимают фиксированную комиссию или процент за сделку. Для того, чтобы покупка цифровых активов была выгоднее, воспользуйтесь еще одним безопасным вариантом — Binance P2P.
Нажмите на меню Купить криптовалюту, затем выберите строку P2P-торговля.
Преимущества P2P-торговли:
- Доступ к глобальному рынку покупателей и продавцов криптовалюты в 180 странах.
- Большое количество разных способов оплаты, включая оплату наличными при личной встрече.
- Нулевые торговые комиссии.
Рекомендуем ознакомиться с полным руководством по P2P-торговле.
Выберите удобный вариант покупки. Затем проверьте, поступила ли криптовалюта на ваш аккаунт после покупки. Перейдите в меню Кошелек – Обзор кошелька.
How to secure crypto assets
With the basics of acquiring cryptocurrency covered, we registered on the exchange and bought coins. The next step: learn how and where to store the assets. We recommend reading additional information on security in the article about custodial and non-custodial crypto wallets.
Let’s discuss a non-custodial crypto wallet, and walk through step-by-step how to register, set up, and securely transfer cryptocurrency to it.
Non-custodial wallets are applications that run on a PC, in a browser or on a mobile device. They provide a convenient interface for storing and managing assets, but do not store private keys (access keys to funds).
To access the assets, users must enter a password and/or seed phrase (secret recovery phrase). One of the most popular wallets for Ethereum, ERC-20 tokens and all EVM-compatible networks is MetaMask. We’ll use it as an example for transferring to the USD stablecoin USDT. For Bitcoin, we recommend exploring Trust Wallet and Exodus.
MetaMask is a project by ConsenSys. The app is popular: since its launch it has been downloaded more than four million times. With MetaMask, users can send ERC-20 tokens (which operate solely on the Ethereum blockchain), swap, store, or buy NFT tokens.
MetaMask was originally developed for the Ethereum network and the tokens issued on top of it. Now the app supports working across all networks compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). In simple terms, MetaMask uses networks of different standards.
For example, after adding the network BNB Chain (BSC) to your wallet address you can transfer all BEP-20 tokens and pay transaction fees with BNB. This simplifies the app, broadens capabilities. You can switch networks in both the mobile app and the browser extension.
Step-by-step guide to installing MetaMask
Step 1. To begin, go to the official MetaMask site, then click Download now. Choose the browser you use most often. The MetaMask extension is available for Chrome, Firefox and Brave. In this guide we will use Google Chrome as an example, but the same steps apply to other browsers.
Step 2. After you have downloaded the extension, in the top-right corner, near the address bar, the MetaMask logo will appear. Click it—the app will open in a separate window. Follow the on-screen instructions. If you have Russian as default language, the instruction will also be available in Russian.
Click Get Started, then Create Wallet, if you do not yet have a wallet. Choose Import Wallet, if you registered in the app previously.
Step 3. In this step-by-step guide we will go through the registration from the very beginning. So choose Create Wallet. In the next window MetaMask informs us about data collection of interactions with other services. Read the instruction carefully and decide.
After declining or accepting the data collection agreement, proceed to the password setup window. Create a password and remember it, as it will be required for quick access to the wallet. We recommend creating a strong password that contains at least 8 characters. Use uppercase letters, numbers, underscores and other symbols or use a password generator.
Next, read carefully, accept terms of service, and click Create.
Step 4. Note that if you lose your password, the wallet can always be recovered using the seed phrase (recovery secret phrase) generated by the app.
What is the recovery seed phrase? It is a 12-word phrase that is the main key to your wallet and your funds. Move to the next step by clicking Show seed words.
How to store the recovery seed phrase? MetaMask suggests several secure options: store in a password manager, in a bank safe, in a bank vault, or in several secret locations. Choose any suitable option, or better yet several. Never disclose the recovery seed phrase to anyone, not even to MetaMask staff! If someone asks you to disclose the recovery phrase, that person is likely trying to scam you and steal money from the wallet.
Step 5. After you have written down and securely stored the seed phrase, click Next, go to the phrase confirmation page, copying each word in the order it was given. Then click Confirm. The MetaMask wallet is ready to use.
How to top up the wallet
Now you can start using all wallet features. You can top it up in two ways: use a transfer from an exchange or buy the required cryptocurrency directly in the app. This guide will examine the first option in detail.
To top up the balance, simply copy your personal address shown at the top. Ours starts with 0x9d6… You can send Ethereum or any ERC-20 token to this address.
Suppose you want to transfer USDT tokens to the wallet. Let’s consider two options: transferring the token on the ETH network (ERC-20) and on the BSC Smart Chain network (BEP-20).
In the line Contracts is the address you need to copy and transfer to your wallet. For quick addition of the address to MetaMask simply click the app logo, and then click Add Token.
After you add the desired cryptocurrency, in our case USDT, it will appear in the Assets section on the home page.
How to withdraw assets from the exchange to the wallet
Step 1. Suppose you’ve already bought USDT and the asset is stored in the spot wallet. On the exchange go to the Wallet section and select Fiat and Spot. In the menu find the USDT row; we will need the Withdraw option.
Step 2. Go to the Withdraw cryptocurrency tab.
Choose the cryptocurrency. In the withdrawal address paste the wallet address shown in MetaMask. Select the ETH Ethereum network (ERC20). Then specify the withdrawal amount.
Note: the minimum withdrawal amount in the network is 50 USDT, and the fee is 0.8-10 USDT. If you want to transfer USDT tokens for less than 50 USDT, use the wallet transfer on the BSC BEP20 network, whose fee is significantly lower.
We recommend reading the Binance Academy guide on how to connect MetaMask to the BNB Chain. Be careful: before sending funds to the address you must switch the network.
After selecting the appropriate network, click Withdraw and confirm the transfer on the exchange.
To make transfers using MetaMask, you should have a small amount of Ethereum (for the Ethereum network) and BNB (for the BNB Chain network). Take care of this in advance, buy it on the exchange and transfer to the wallet. Transferring Ethereum or another cryptocurrency to pay for network fees can be done as easily as USDT.
Congratulations! You have completed the operation and successfully transferred funds to the wallet. Transactions usually take a couple of minutes; you can check the credit on the MetaMask home page.
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