How to Buy Waves and Best Places to Buy
Waves is not a popular cryptocurrency. As a result there are a limited amount of places where you can buy Waves. At the moment there are only a couple of different options. However within those options you have some other choices.
Best Exchanges to Buy Waves
Kraken
Kraken exchange is one of the easiest way to buy Waves for two reasons. Firstly because Kraken has both an exchange and trading area. The exchange area interface is simplified and hence fantastic for beginners. Trading platforms are more complex to use.
Secondly you are able to pay using fiat like USD, EUR, GBP etc. Other exchanges do not allow you to buy Waves with fiat. However you do have the option to buy Waves using crypto on Kraken as well.
Kraken THE MOST SECURE EXCHANGE
Binance
Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. It too has a simplified area where you can easily buy Waves. However it does not support fiat to Waves transactions. You will have to buy Bitcoin first and then exchange it for Waves. That is unless you already have Bitcoin and would like to sell it to buy Waves.
Binance
Huobi Global
Huobi Global is another popular exchange with large trading volumes and good liquidity. Similarly to most other platforms, you cannot buy or sell Waves using fiat on Huobi Global. You will need to buy either Bitcoin, Ethereum or Tether first and exchange it to buy Waves.
Huobi Global
How to Buy Waves From an Exchange
All exchanges have the same process to sign up and buy Waves. What you will need to do is:
1. Sign Up
You will need to supply your email and create a password. The exchange will require you to verify your email address. So they will send an email to you and you will need to click it to confirm. This is relatively straight forward and like any other website platform.
From here the exchange will guide you on what you should do to continue the process of signing up. Most exchanges are regulated so they need to follow strict KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures. All this means is that you will need to submit proof of identification.
The exchange will ask you for a government identity document. Additionally they may ask you for proof of address. If you plan to buy Waves or any other crypto in large amounts they may want more proof of identification. This may sound tedious, but you can easily scan or submit pictures from your mobile phone.
The only thing you have to make sure is that all the information you submit is accurate. Your information should match on all the documents. Otherwise the exchange will take longer to approve your account.
Once you submitted all the documents the exchange will review them. Exchanges do not all take the same amount of time to review and approve clients. Some are instant while others take longer.
They will let you know if they need more information or whether everything is approved via email.
2. Deposit
Once your account has been approved you can move on to buy Waves. In the case of Waves not all exchanges allow you to buy Waves with fiat. So you will most likely need Bitcoin. If you do not already have Bitcoin or do not want to sell it, you will still need to deposit fiat.
Usually most exchanges will offer the basic payment methods for fiat deposits. This means either credit card and bank transfer. Sometimes they offer additional fiat payment methods.
However bank transfer is usually the most cost effective way to buy Waves or you can use crypto. For fiat payments, exchanges charge clients additional fees for the convenience of instant payment.
Bank transfer is slow. The first payment always takes time to execute regardless of where your bank is located. However some countries have more efficient procedures in place. So successive transfers will be almost instant. Unfortunately this is not the case for banks in other countries, but it is still better than paying additional fees.
For crypto deposits you need to be aware what crypto pairs are available to exchange to Waves. Otherwise you may be restricted from buying Waves.
There is usually always a Bitcoin pair. However we advise you check beforehand. You can check the information of the exchanges listed above for more detail. Crypto deposits do not take as long as bank transfers. For Bitcoin specifically usually it takes around 10-30 minutes.
To make a deposit you will either need to press the ‘Buy’ button or ‘Deposit’. It would depend on the platform. In Kraken’s case for example you should navigate to ‘Funding’. An exchange might have more than one place where you can get to the depositing section. You will have all the options available for crypto or fiat here.
3. Buy Waves
Buying Waves on an exchange is the quickest part from the whole process. Once you have deposited fiat or cryptocurrency you will need to go to the exchange section to buy Waves. Usually there will be a button or link in the top navigation saying ‘Buy’ or something similar.
You will need to click that button. In Kraken’s case the button is ‘Buy Crypto’ and is highlighted on the menu bar.
Of course other exchanges may look slightly different. Exchanges that are more like trading platforms will look vastly different. If you are a beginner it is best to stick to easier platforms like Kraken.
On default the page will be set to buy Bitcoin. You will need to select to buy Waves from the drop down menu like is shown in the image below. On the other hand if you want to convert one crypto to Waves you can select the ‘Convert’ tab. That is just above the fiat amount.
You then need to set the amount of Waves you want to buy. In this case there is an available balance of 100 euro so the full amount is being used. Once you input the value the button below saying ‘Preview buy’ will become clickable. It will allow you to preview the transaction.
You should click to move on. After that the platform will show you how many Wave crypto you are buying, the price and fees. You will then need to agree to confirm your order by clicking the ‘Buy now’ button. The platform will confirm your purchase.
Other Places Where to Buy Waves
Another place where you can buy waves is by using a crypto card service. However not all crypto card companies support Waves.
Crypto card companies supply credit cards supported by Visa or Mastercard. They support both fiat and crypto and usually are debit cards. You can use them not just to buy Waves and other cryptos, but pay using crypto.
This is because they give you the flexibility to pay using the crypto cards anywhere around the world. To clarify that would mean in any physical store or store online where they accept cards. Including those that do not accept crypto payments.
They come with an application that you can download on desktop or mobile. You can deposit your currency or cryptocurrency onto the application. After that you can manage your funds and buy Waves directly from the app.
Here are a couple of cards that support Waves:
Wirex
Wirex have been around towards the beginning of cryptocurrency. They supply their clients with a Mastercard. It automatically exchanges your crypto to fiat when you go to make a payment.
Wirex are constantly trying to increase the amount of supported cryptocurrencies on their platform. Which might be good for you to know as perhaps you might want to keep other cryptocurrencies on the app.
Wirex
0% fees on exchange
3.1 million registered users
Free standard accounts give 0.5% CryptobackTM on your purchases.
Crypto.com
Crypto.com has also been around for a while and supply a Visa card. It is also an exchange that offers other crypto related services. Their best feature is that they have insurance coverage just in case of a hack. To clarify not many companies have this sort of protection. It is quite unique and helps to safeguard client funds.
Moreover they are an overall good company. They have overall good customer service and support 250+ cryptocurrencies. Sign up to Crypto.com
Crypto.com
Up to 8% cashback on purchases
Up to 14% p.a. interest on crypto assets
20+ fiat currencies supported.
How to Buy Waves From a Crypto Card
Signing up for a crypto card is the same as signing up for an exchange. Of course Crypto.com is already an exchange. However Wirex is a dedicated crypto payment service.
You can have a look at how to buy waves from an exchange further up and follow the process. The way you buy Waves from the app of a crypto card is exactly the same.
The platforms are similar, except the wording might be slightly different. Usually they are pretty intuitive and easy to figure out. You can have a look at other crypto cards or the Wirex review here.
Where to Store Waves
The best practice when it comes to storing cryptocurrency is by using a hardware wallet. This is mainly for security reasons because there are a lot of exchanges being hacked. Unfortunately there are no hardware wallets that currently support Waves.
The wallets that are available are not as secure as hardware wallets. However they will have to do for now until there is wider support for Waves.
For the time being you can use Waves Keeper which is a browser extension. Here are the links: Waves Keeper Google Chrome and Waves Firefox extension.
What is good about Waves Keeper is that it allows you to hold your private keys. It also allows you to interact with Waves web services and Dapps. Here is brief video on how to set it up.
About Waves
Although Waves is called a cryptocurrency, it is more of a crypto commodity like Ethereum. This is because its platform is made to allow businesses to create their own blockchain on Waves. Similarly to a raw material that is used as a basis for other things to be made from it.
Waves is part of the DeFi space. The Waves blockchain is able to interact with other blockchains and not just its own ecosystem.
You have the option to access the DeFi space for investing purposes. Like this you can earn interest on your crypto instead of leaving it sitting idle in your wallet. However to get the best interest you may need to check which cryptos would give you the most returns.
Additionally you can get access to other DeFi services. To access the DeFi space you can sign up to the Waves exchange.
