This guide was originally written to purchase Ripple ($XRP), however, the same steps can be taken to purchase any alt-coin.
As crypto-currencies become more main-stream, floods of individual investors become increasingly interested in the possibilities of coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. This article is not to explain what cryptocurrencies are, but rather an in-depth guide on how to purchase those lesser-known, primarily Ripple (XRP), tokens.
When this was written, Ripple ($XRP) currently had the second-largest crypto market capitalization behind Bitcoin. But what makes Ripple so popular? And why is it so hard to purchase if you’re not an institutional investor? Ripple has become a dominant player in everyday transactions and an effective means of transferring assets with over 75 international banks supporting its use. With about 0.85 average transactions per second (exponentially greater than Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin) and a decentralized ledger to promote an inexpensive and secure exchange of assets, it has proven itself to be incredibly powerful. However, it is very confusing to get your hands on a token of XRP due to the lack of support across platforms such as Coinbase. So, here’s the quickest, most inexpensive way to invest in Ripple before it becomes mainstream.
First off, I advise you to first completely read through the article to get a general feeling of the process before blindly following my (or anyone’s) advice.
Create a Coinbase Account (use this link to get $10 of free Bitcoin) if you do not have one already. This will be used to buy/sell Bitcoin which we will need to do initially before purchasing Ripple.
Once your Coinbase Account is created (you may need to verify your account information to increase deposit limits), follow the in-app instructions to fund your account. Once it is set up, you now will buy the equivalent amount of Bitcoin that you would like to buy in Ripple. This should be relatively quick and Bitcoin should be instantly deposited into your account. Be mindful of the transaction fees, however, this process will aim to be the least expensive option of owning Ripple.
Now go to GDAX, which is a more advanced interface/exchange owned by the creators of Coinbase. Sign in with the same credentials as your Coinbase account to access GDAX. Although it may look intimidating, simply navigate to the top-left corner and ensure that BTC/USD is selected. If not, click and scroll to select that crypto-pair. Once selected, click on Deposit → Coinbase Account. This will instantly transfer the desired amount of Bitcoin to GDAX for free. From source, select Bitcoin Wallet, enter the amount of Bitcoin to transfer, then deposit funds. If an issue arises about “Hourly Deposit Limit Reached”, continue to click deposit until it goes through. Normally, it takes about three times to succeed. This step is taken to reduce wallet transfer fees in the next step. Coinbase as a flat rate fee for wallet transfers, however, GDAX does not. This is used to our advantage when transferring Bitcoin to another address to be exchanged for Ripple.
Next, open a new tab and create a Binance account. The process is fairly straightforward and no verification is needed, however, I recommend setting up Google Authenticator for two-factor authentication. Binance is an exchange that we will use to purchase Ripple from Bitcoin. After creating your account, navigate to Funds → Deposits Withdrawals. From here, find the Bitcoin row and click on deposit. This will open a box where you can now copy the address to deposit to. Copy this Bitcoin Address and navigate back to GDAX.
Following the same steps as above to deposit, instead, click withdraw. Click on Bitcoin Address and paste the Binance Address you copied into Destination, ensuring it is the exact same as the one on Binance. To transfer all your Bitcoin, click on Max next to Amount, then withdraw funds. If an issue again arises such as Max Withdraw Limit Reached, click Withdraw until it succeeds.
Usually, this step will take a few hours to show up in your Binance account but once it appears you can track your deposit under Funds → History. The remainder of the process will occur on Binance.
One more step to go to own Ripple!
On Binance, go to Exchange → Basic. Once here, on the right-hand side click on BTC to the right of Favorites and select XRP/BTC. This is the conversion to Ripple from Bitcoin. Once selected, scroll down to Limit Order and use this interface to place an order using the deposited Bitcoin and click Buy. The Transaction should now appear in your funds!
Congratulations! You are now the proud owner of Ripple (XRP)!
Edit: I’ve realized that due to Bitcoin (BTC) Transaction Fees, using Ethereum (ETH) may be a smarter (and quicker) transaction. Binance also supports the transfer of Ethereum to other cryptocurrencies (ETH/XXX [crypto-pairs]) without an initial conversion to Bitcoin, unlike Litecoin.
*Disclaimer: The author has a small stake in cryptocurrencies, however, mainly for educational purposes and not nearly enough to buy a Lamborghini. The links in this article are affiliate links which help to support the author. This article was originally written on Dec. 29, 2017 also by Pierson Marks, published on Medium. *