IOTA is still a fairly new coin. As such, it doesnt trade on a lot of exchanges yet. There are indications, however, that this will change in the future. We carefully reviewed and tested all available platforms where you can buy IOTA for USD (or another cryptocurrency), and compiled our list of the best options.
What Is IOTA?
But before showing you the list of those few exchanges where you can buy iota coin, let’s focus on what IOTA is to prevent any confusions later. It is designed for use in the internet of things, enabling secure sales and trading data streams, with no need of transaction fees and miners to maintain to operations. Unlike many other coins, IOTA cryptocurrency does not use the blockchain. Instead, it uses a new system of its own devising called the tangle, which is both scalable and lightweight, and allows to transfer exact amounts of resources on demand and settle transactions without charging fees. The Tangle ledger is a blockless, distributed ledger that functions as a self-regulating, decentralized peer-to-peer network that enables participants to settle transactions with zero fees, making it an attractive resource for nearly anyone.
Trading units:
All exchanges currently use MIOTA.
Where to buy IOTA cryptocurrency?
You can currently trade IOTA against the following major crypto coins: BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH and LTC. So if you live in the US and still do not own any of those listed above, the first thing you need to do is to buy one of them. Coinbase is a very trustworthy exchange, and is one of the most simple ways to buy Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin. This is where you need to start:
- Register for Coinbase (if you aren’t already). You’ll need to verify your email, phone number, and bank account.
- Purchase ETH/BTC or any other crypto that works for buying IOTA.
Once you get the bitcoins from Coinbase, you can use the following exchanges to convert the bitcoins to IOTA.
Binance is a sophisticated international multi-language cryptocurrency exchange. And it would be handy if you had any prior experience trading cryptocurrencies. And it offers only a 0.1% trading fee.
- Go to Binance and sign up for an account and verify your email.
- Once youve logged in to your account, follow these steps. If you are using Bitcoin or a different cryptocurrency instead of Ethereum, follow these same steps, but click Bitcoin (or whichever other coin) whenever I say Ethereum. Start by depositing the Ethereum that you bought at Coinbase.
- Click the Deposit button next to Ethereum, shown in the image below.
- Now send the Ethereum that you bought at Coinbase to the Ethereum deposit address provided by Binance. Once the deposit appears in your Binance account (give it 60-90 minutes), were ready to start trading!
- Move your mouse over the EXCHANGE tab in the upper left corner, and then click Basic.
- Navigate to the Ethereum/IOTA trading pair. To do that, follow the instructions in the screenshot below
- Place a Market Order. In other words, instead of saying you want to buy your IOTA at a specific price, you instead tell Binance to buy a certain quantity of IOTA for you at the best price right now.
- Move your coins to the IOTA wallet.
Its highly recommended to move all of your cryptocurrency back to a hardware wallet or an offline wallet which is not kept online. Currently, the only Iota wallet is the wallet provided by the Iota Foundation.
CoinSpot is an Australian platform and one of the options for Americans to buy IOTA coin at the moment. CoinSpot charges a 1% transaction fee, but its much easier to use than Binance. It is recommended for traders who are just getting started with cryptocurrency.
Opening an account at CoinSpot requires nothing but an email address, with no need for messy scanned passport photos or anything like that.
Once youve created your account, follow these three steps. If you are using Litecoin or a different cryptocurrency instead of Bitcoin, follow these same steps, but click Litecoin (or whichever other coin) whenever I say Bitcoin.
- Send Bitcoin from your Coinbase account to CoinSpot,
- Go to the Sell menu
- Sell your bitcoin in exchange for MIOTA
The payment is easily completed online in minutes by POLi Payments a business from Australia Post and after payment is complete the coins will be sent to your CoinSpot online wallet immediately.
Some people may worry that you need to go through CoinSpots validation process in order to trade on their exchange. In reality, it is only necessary to validate your account if you want to trade bitcoin for Australian dollars. You will be depositing Bitcoin/Litecoin, trading it for IOTA, and then withdrawing IOTA, so no validation is required.
How to buy IOTA with USD?
IOTA was introduced as an Initial Coin Offering (ICO) in 2016. After the ICO, IOTA was mainly exchanged on the Slack channel through an administrator which acted as the broker. This was the only way to buy this coin at the time.
In June 2017, IOTA was listed on Bitfinex, which became the first digital asset exchange to list IOTA coin. Since then, the IOTA Foundation has been reporting heavy interest in many different exchange which we hope to soon list IOTA. Unfortunately, Bitfinex does not operate in the US anymore.
If you do not already own Bitcoin or Ethereum and would like to purchase IOTA using USD, it might be complicated and risky. But not impossible! Exrates supports many “traditional” fiat currencies: USD, EUR, CNY, IDR, NGN, TRY, AED. So, some clients of Exrates can by cryptocurrencies directly with cash in their local currency, or cash out their coins. This is where you can buy IOTA for USD.
Exrates
Exrates is an exchange that offers trading in wide range of digital coins, and also accepts a lot of fiat currencies. Apart from the 2-factor authentication, Exrates uses a financial password to confirm financial transactions, which is indicated during registration and provides protection against unauthorized actions in the account.
Exrates is listed on the Coinmarketcap site, but there are some negative reviews posted on the internet concerning this Armenian based platform.
You can sign up for free by simply visiting the webpage. Registration is quick and easy, and all you have to do is to supply your personal details along with some legal id’s. The process should take less than 10 minutes.
After your registration is complete, you will get a free guide on how to start trading on the Exrates.
Summary
Although IOTA isnt supported by many exchanges yet, the technology is promising and we are excited to see the future of IOTA. The IOTA Foundation has been working with many exchanges in hopes of getting listed. Many exchanges are updating their systems and working hard to integrate the Tangle on their exchange. A few new exchanges have confirmed to be listing IOTA on their exchange. We will continually update this as more exchanges integrate Iota.
Read also: 8 IOTA Exchanges to Buy, Sell or Trade MIOTA Coin