Buy Cardano: 3 easy ways to buy ADA

Cardano (ADA) was only released in September 2017. Shortly afterwards, the cryptocurrency entered the top 10 digital currencies and has maintained its ranking ever since.

The market capitalisation of the cryptocurrency ADA is currently just under USD 2 billion, which puts ADA in 10th place among the largest and most important cryptocurrencies.

ADA is the cryptocurrency of the Cardano platform. Cardano is a security-oriented platform for decentralised applications and smart contracts. It is the first project that emerged from a scientific philosophy and has academic research as its basis.

If you are interested in the project and the cryptocurrency, you can bet on the price or buy ADA with euros to profit from the possible development. In this guide, I will show you how to do this and what you need to watch out for.

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Is an investment in Cardano advisable?

Of course you will ask yourself whether you should really put your money into Cardano. But think about something else first. Before you come to a conclusion whether investing in Cardano is the right thing to do or not, clarify the following for yourself. What do you want to achieve with your investment? Of course, the desire for wealth and prosperity is understandable, but the motivation to get rich quickly alone is not a good reason for you to buy Cardano.

You should also be aware that it is no longer easy to rake in big money with Cardano in the shortest possible time. But no reason to despair! Any well-informed and experienced trader can still make attractive returns with Cardano. You don't see yourself as a trader, but rather want to invest in Cardano for the long term? Even then, a definition can make a lot of sense. Especially for the long term, many analysts foresee that the prices will clearly rise again. However, you should be prepared for one thing. Cryptocurrencies like Cardano are still associated with high price volatility. Daily fluctuations in the double-digit range have become less frequent, but they do happen from time to time. When this happens, stay calm and don't panic.

Before you are tempted to invest in Cardano, make sure you do the following. Do some deep soul-searching and ask yourself why you want to invest in Cardano. Also, make sure you know how much you are willing to put down for your investment. Of course, the iron rule of any investment also applies here:

Be aware of your risk tolerance and the goals of your investment. Once you have reached this point, you can begin the responsible work of any investor or trader. Keep an eye on how your investment and the market are doing. In other words, keep an eye on the market, preferably by keeping up to date with our news. There could always be exciting or important new developments and trends that affect your investment in Cardano. The smarter investor reads up and makes the best investment decisions.

How to buy Cardano easily and securely in a few minutes

More and more providers and choices are crowding the crypto market. While this is good for investors, it also means confusion and less of an overview when it comes to the best choices. There are plenty of options to choose from when buying Cardano. However, for a comfortable and easy purchase of Cardano, we recommend that you prefer brokers and exchanges.

There are several reasons for this, which we will discuss in a moment. But brokers and exchanges have their own advantages and features, which we will now use to differentiate them. Please read this section carefully and make sure you understand the features before you invest in Cardano. So let's move on to these differences.

Differences between Cardano CFD brokers and Cardano exchanges

Cardano CFD Broker

Pros

  •    State regulates broker and secures deposits
  •     Wallet at the broker, therefore no own ADA wallet necessary
  •     Trading with leverage effect possible
  •     Different options for deposit and withdrawal
  •     Mobile trading thanks to Android & iOS apps
  •     Use with demo account possible

Cons

  •    Investor only acquires certificate, no real ownership of Cardano
  •     There may be an obligation to make additional payments
  •     Investment involves significant risk

Brokers offer so-called contracts for difference (CFDs) that you can purchase as an investor. You should be aware that with CFDs you are speculating with extremely risky derivatives. Before you decide to buy such an instrument (certificate), you must therefore inform yourself extensively and in the best possible way about the investment.

Also pay attention to the way it works: As an investor, you do not buy a real ADA from a CFD broker. On the other hand, you buy a certificate (CFD) from the CFD broker. If you as a buyer want to purchase a CFD from the broker, you agree to exchange an underlying asset - in this case Cardano. You have the option of purchasing two different types of CFDs: a "long" CFD and a "short" CFD. In trading jargon, "long" always refers to a call option, "short" to a put option. So if you as a buyer buy a "long" CFD, you acquire a Cardano CFD at that time, and the provider (i.e. the broker) receives an agreed amount of money in return, which serves as collateral. At the time of expiry of the Cardano CFD (or at the time of sale, if you decide to sell it), the CFD is "sold back" by the buyer to the provider, so to speak. This involves calculating the difference between the buying and selling price. Depending on the price trend in the relevant period, you may have made a profit (or loss) here. If there was a price increase between the time of purchase and the time of sale, you as an investor have invested profitably. With a "short" CFD, everything is the other way round. If you decided to buy a "short" CFD, you will have made a profit if the CFD price falls during the period in question.

In addition, there is another important detail to consider, namely a possible margin call: The responsible supervisory authority, the BaFin, ruled in 2017 that there could be a margin call for private clients. BUT: unfortunately, this does not mean that such an obligation can never arise. In fact, it could be that you are already subject to margin calls under certain circumstances. To be able to definitely exclude this and not take any unnecessary risks, you absolutely have to check the terms and conditions of your chosen CFD broker thoroughly. Do not take any further steps to buy a Cardano CFD until you have clearly established that you do NOT have a margin call in the event of a loss.

ADA stock exchanges

Pros

  •    Investor really gets hold of Cardano
  •     Investor can make first experiences with cryptocurrencies
  •     Large offer of different cryptocurrencies
  •     (partly) trades can be made with leverage effect
  •     (partly) apps for Android & iOS also allow trading from smartphone or tablet
  •     Losses cannot exceed initial investment amount, limited to purchase (no obligation to make additional payments)

Cons

  •    Stock exchange is not audited by the state
  •     Deposits at the exchange are not covered by the state
  •     Frequent and popular target of cyberattacks
  •     Speculative, high-risk investment

With Cardano exchanges, you can acquire Cardano directly as an underlying asset. This means that you do not have a financial instrument in between, but can buy ADA directly and then hold it in safekeeping. However, this also places the responsibility on you to ensure the safekeeping of Cardano yourself. What is the best way to do this? You absolutely need a secure Cardano wallet! Let's start with what is not a secure wallet: you should never store your ADA on an exchange. There is a very simple reason for this: hackers from all over the world are constantly working on hacking crypto exchanges. While they very rarely succeed, when they do, the spoils are often enormous.

According to reports, more than $800 million has been stolen from the wallets of hacked crypto exchanges in 2018 alone. So the sad truth is that even by keeping your ADAs with a Cardano exchange, you could potentially suffer a total loss! You can only safely store your ADAs if you own the wallet in which you hold them. Find out here how to create and secure a Cardano wallet.

Risk: Cryptocurrencies are assets that carry significant risk. You can lose the full amount of your investment. A price drop to zero is possible. When buying ADA directly, the risk of loss is limited to the amount of your investment - if you trade real ADA and not ADA CFDs (i.e. certificates).

In the event of a loss, there is no obligation to make additional contributions.

How real ADA and ADA CFDs differ

The differences between exchanges and brokers naturally mean that there are two different options for investing in ADA:

    If you want to trade "real" ADA, you do so with ADA exchanges.
    If, on the other hand, you want to trade ADA CFDs, i.e. financial instruments linked to the ADA price, you do so with ADA brokers.

It is useful to compare the advantages and disadvantages of the two investment options to get a good overview:

ADA CFD

Pros

  •    Trading at lower fees
  •     government supervision and safeguarding of deposits offers protection in case of hacks
  •     No need for cumbersome configuration of a wallet
  •     Trading with leverage (= leverage effect)

Cons

  •    You do not really own ADA
  •     Fees are relatively high for long-term holdings
  •     High risk: when trading with leverage, you have to make additional payments in the event of losses.

Real ADA

Pros

  •    Acquired real ADA can be stored in one's own wallet
  •     Investor soon becomes an experienced crypto trader
  •     Long-term investors benefit here from lower fees in comparison

Cons

  •    Frequent target of hackers
  •     Investors must manage the wallet keys themselves. If they are lost, this can mean that the cryptocurrencies in the wallet are lost forever.
  •     Only the use of paper or hardware wallets is a secure option.

Step by step guide for buying ADA with eToro

buying ADA with eToro

The premium partner of Eintracht Frankfurt and sponsor of many other companies is the regulated and licensed trading platform eToro. This well-known provider is ideal for buying Cardano. Moreover, eToro offers a nice additional feature with social trading.

step 1

Create an account with eToro

Our buttons will take you to eToro's platform, which you may need to change. Then click on "Register now" to enter your personal details in the next window. Use a secure password and finally accept the terms and conditions to create an account with eToro.

step 2

Deposit money

You will be taken to eToro's homepage. From here, select the "Deposit money" option - you can deposit up to €2,000 without verification. However, sooner or later you should still verify yourself in order to be able to use all functions to the full extent.

Now all you have to do is select your desired method from the payment methods and make the payment afterwards. Your money should then be available.

step 3

Buy Cardano

After you have successfully deposited money, you can start buying Cardano CFD at eToro. Click on "Markets" in the navigation menu and then on "Crypto". Here you will be shown a number of cryptocurrencies and all the necessary details about each one.

To buy the desired Cardano CFD, you need to click on "Buy" and then on "Open Trade".

You have just bought your first Cardano CFD on eToro. We wish you every success with it!

Still haven't opened an account with eToro?

After the purchase

The purchase of ADA is of course only the beginning. Now you should deal with two important issues: how to keep the ADA safe? and how to resell the ADA (ideally at a profit)?.

Keeping the ADA safe

To store Cardano, you need to buy a wallet. At an exchange, you will receive this automatically with your account registration. So you can start buying ADA right away. However, exchange wallets are not suitable for storing ADA for a longer period of time!

They have a major disadvantage: it is not you, but the exchange that manages and controls the private key of your wallet. And whoever has the private key has the power over a wallet. Reputable and respected exchanges take all kinds of measures to protect these keys. Nevertheless, it must be clearly stated that a minimal risk can never be completely excluded. If your key is stored and managed by the exchange, it could be stolen. Whoever has the key could steal the coins in your wallet.

    There is only one clear way to prevent these security risks and to really secure your ADA. Here you will find a comprehensive article that shows you exactly how to put your ADA into your own wallet, for which only you manage the keys.

Keeping the ADA safe

Selling ADA

Selling ADA

There may come a time when you want to sell your ADA. In this case, you will have to go through the steps of the buying process in reverse order. In the suboptimal case that you still have your ADA in your wallet at the exchange (we strongly advise you not to do this, see the note on safe storage of ADA), you have the option to sell it again right here.

If you have followed our advice and keep the ADA in your own wallet, you have to do one more step. First transfer the ADA to the exchange where you want to sell it. But don't worry: You can sell your ADA on a different exchange than the one you bought it from. Feel free to choose your preferred provider - a fee comparison will make you smart about where you can sell in the best possible way.

Everything around the topic Cardano & ADA

What is Cardano? What are ADA?

Cardano is a blockchain launched in late 2017 by the team at IOHK around Charles Hoskinson. ADA is the internal cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain. Although Cardano is still very young compared to other blockchains, the digital currency has gained a lot of recognition and fans in a very short time due to its scientific groundwork. That is why it has also risen to the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation within a few weeks. Cardano, unlike other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, is not currently mined by a wide pool of computers, although this is expected to change in the near future. Cardano is particularly valued for its advanced protocol, which offers the ability to execute smart contracts and decentralised apps - dApps.

Is now a good time to buy ADA?

As a budding investor and trader, one naturally wonders whether now is a good time to buy ADA. At the same time, it should be noted that one cannot say per se whether the time is right or wrong. Cryptocurrencies are associated with high volatility and the market is not necessarily easy to predict.

The nice thing, however, is that most analysts predict rising prices, especially in the long term. Ultimately, the question is not so much whether you should buy now, but another much more important one. You should know your motivation and reasons for wanting to buy ADA. In other words: Why do you want to invest in ADA? Don't make an investment until you are clear about why you want to buy, how much you are willing to invest and, of course, how much risk you are willing to take. What is your risk preference? If it is lower, you should start with smaller amounts. Only when you know your goals can you make a decision to invest in ADA with a clear conscience. If you wish, you can of course adjust this at any time.

Can I buy ADA with Sofortüberweisung, credit card, Skrillex or SEPA transfer?

Yes, if you follow our recommendation and open an account with eToro, you can use all these deposit methods. You can choose from these and other options, deposit money into your account and then buy ADA CFDs. If, on the other hand, you want to choose a different broker, you must first find out which methods are available to you here.

Each broker has a different selection of accepted deposit methods. It pays to do your research to make sure you can use your preferred deposit method.

How can I buy ADA without registering?

First of all, you need to register an account with every broker and exchange before you can buy. In this respect, registration cannot be prevented.

Can I buy ADA anonymously?

No, that is not possible. With ADA, the option of mining is not currently available as it is with other cryptocurrencies. At the same time, it should be noted that the transfer and purchase of ADA is anonymous in itself, because you only see wallet addresses that cannot be publicly assigned to people.

But whoever can assign the addresses to their owner is the operator of the exchange or the broker from whom you bought the ADA. And without such an operator it is not possible. Of course, brokers do not share the account data with the public, which is why the allocation has no consequences. However, in exceptional cases it is possible that the legislator forces the broker to disclose this information in individual cases. . Therefore, a completely anonymous procurement or investment in ADA is not possible.

FAQ

What is Cardano?

Cardano is the platform of the cryptocurrency ADA. Cardano uses the Ada token (ADA), which can be used to send and receive digital assets.

How can one buy Cardano or ADA?

You can buy Cardano or ADA on crypto marketplaces. To do this, you first have to open an account and verify it. After successful verification, you can buy ADA with your preferred payment method.

Where can I buy Cardano?

There are two major types of crypto marketplaces where you can buy Cardano. One is exchanges where you can trade ADA directly with other buyers and sellers. On the other hand, they are brokers who are professional traders and sell Cardano from their own inventory.

What should one consider when buying Cardano?

In most marketplaces you have to verify your identity. The verification process can take from a few minutes to several weeks. You also need some kind of digital wallet. You should also not lose sight of the prices and fees that arise when buying Cardano.

About the author

Hi there, my name is Zalman Weinberg. I'm enthusiast with over 7 years of experience in cryptocurrencies and blockchain. Professional Trader providing Blockchain solutions to Startups and Enterprises. Expert in all cryptocurrency exchange APIs (BitMEX, Bittrex, Binance, Bitfinex, Kraken, Poloniex, Gdax etc.). I have also worked with multiple Forex broker APIs.

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