Here is my step-to-step guide on how to buy Avax in the U.S. or any other country. Whether you are looking to buy Avax for the first time as an investment or as a way to buy other cryptocurrency tokens on the Avax blockchain, then you are in the right place. I also show you how to buy Avax on Metamask and platforms that will accept credit cards when purchasing Avax.
Avax or Avalanche is a cryptocurrency and blockchain. One of the main reasons that I started using the Avax blockchain was because it was fast and the gas fees for each transaction are very low. One of the main things I look at is how a blockchain like Avax performs when there are a lot of transactions happening at the same time like if a new token is launching. Overall, Avalanche performs pretty well under these circumstances.
In this article we will look at:
- Why would you want to buy Avalanche?
- How to Buy Avax on a Centralized Exchange
- Where else can I buy Avax?
Why Would You Want to Buy Avalanche?
There are two main reasons why I decided to buy Avax:
Avax as a Long-Term Investment
I wanted to invest in the actual crypto itself and either flip it to hopefully make a profit or hold it for the long term as it does fall in the category of blue chip crypto coins which have a potential to go up in value in the upcoming years.
Using Avax on the Avalanche Blockchain
I wanted to use the Avax blockchain and interact with it using a wallet like Metamask or a cold wallet like Ledger. But in order to do anything on the blockchain you need to own Avax. Why? Because every time you make any kind of transaction on the blockchain you pay a transaction fee (i.e. gas fee). If you want to do anything on the Avalanche blockchain you will need to buy Avax.
So then I asked myself, how do I buy Avax if I need Avax to do anything on the blockchain? Sounds like a catch 22 right? Unfortunately you cannot buy Avax on an external wallet like Metamask or Ledger unless you already have Avax in that Wallet. But we will go over that later in this article.
The answer is we have to use a centralized exchange. What is a centralized exchange or a CEX? CEXs are organizations/business that coordinate cryptocurrency trading on a large scale. Think of them like a stock exchange like Nasdaq but for crypto.
How to Buy Avax on a Centralized Exchange?
There are many CEXs that I use and I will list the other ones at the end of this article but the one that I think that is easiest especially if you are new to crypto is Coinbase.com. What I like about Coinbase is that it is really straightforward to use and it is available in the U.S. (United States) along with most other countries.
Let me show you how easy it is to buy Avax on Coinbase:
If you already have an account just click Log in and sign in and you can skip the sections below. If you do not have any account, signing up is really easy. Click on Sign Up on the homepage and choose Individual or Business. It will take longer to sign up as a Business as the application process takes longer to approve.
After you click get started, you will be required to fill out all of your information. It is pretty self explanatory. If you have any issues just contact me and I can walk you through it.
Now that you have created an account, the first thing you need to do is to make sure you have a payment method (bank account or debit card) attached to your account. This is how you will be able to pay for any of your cryptocurrency purchases. After you have purchased your initial crypto you can also trade that crypto for other cryptocurrencies.
Set Up a Payment Method
To set up a payment method in Coinbase, click on your profile picture, then click on settings and then click on payment methods. You will have 4 choices. I use a bank account as it is the recommended method of payment but you can also choose PayPal, Debit Card or Wire transfer.
You can add all payment methods as well and then just choose which one you want to use when you are ready to buy your Avax.
Now that we have our account set up and our payment method set up we are ready to buy some Avax.
Ready to Buy
Click on the Buy/Sell button at the top of the screen. This will bring up a popup where you will have a few choices to make before you can complete your purchase.
You will already be on the Buy section but the default will be Bitcoin. Click on Bitcoin and then a new popup will appear where you can select which crypto you want to buy. In the Search field, type in Avax and then the Avax crypto will appear below the Search field.
Click on Avalanche/Avax and then you will be taken back to the Buy popup. You should not see Avax show up in the field instead of Bitcoin.
You have 2 options on how you want to make the purchase. You can set the amount in fiat which means Dollars, Euros, Pounds, etc. or you can click on the round circle with the two arrows that have AVAX written under it. If you click on that circle then you will have the option to buy a specific number of Avax. For example, you can enter that you want to buy 5 Avax.
I personally always use the first option so I know exactly how much I am buying as the value of Avax can change pretty quickly. Coinbase will have a limit on how much you can buy each day. In the example above, I can buy up to $10,000 a day. There are different ways to get this increased if you find it necessary to spend more but usually $10,000 in plenty. I have never purchased more than that in one day myself.
Next you want to select your payment method. I have my Bank of America account set as my default payment method so that is what appears automatically. If you click on the Pay with field a new popup will appear that will show all of the payment methods you have set up. Just choose the one you want to use.
Coinbase also allows you to make this a one time purchase or a recurring purchase (daily, weekly, etc). I personally only use the One time purchase method.
As soon as you enter the amount of Avax you want to buy, the button at the bottom of the popup will say Preview Buy. Click on that button and you will see a summary of your order.
In this example you will see that I am buying16.799 Avax. The payment method is my Bank of America account. The price per Avax is $29.33 / Avax. Your purchase amount is shown and the Coin base fee is shown as well. Coinbase, along with any other exchange or platform will always charge a fee when you are buying crypto. There are other decentralized exchanges (DEX) where the fees are lower but I will go into that in another article. To use a DEX you already need Avax because that is how you will pay your fees. In this case here we are buying Avax for the first time.
Click on Buy Now and you are all set. Congratulations, you are now the owner of some Avax.
Where Else Can I Go to Buy?
Even though I like to use Coinbase because it is one of the easiest platforms to buy crypto on there are also a number of other Centralized Exchanges that I use. Some of these platforms have a lot more features and capabilities that I will get into detail in other articles.
Here is a list of the top other exchanges that I use:
- Kucoin.com
- Crypto.com
- FTX.com
- Kraken.com