Where to Buy Decentraland (MANA) - Beginner's Guide 2024

How To Buy Decentraland - Step-by-Step Guide

As is the case with brokers, you have to invest some time to select an exchange to buy MANA tokens. The platform you choose should have an excellent reputation such as great security and easily usable by individuals of all skill levels. Below let’s see the steps you need to take to purchase MANA on an exchange of your choice.

1. Set up a MANA Wallet

This has to be the first step you need to take since you will be dealing with the actual asset. Wallets allow you to hold private keys that offer access to your tokens on their network. When it comes to cryptocurrency wallets, you have two options; hardware and software wallets.

Software wallets are applications that allow you to hold your private keys that can be used to access your coins on your PC or smartphone.

In contrast, hardware wallets are physical devices that resemble USB flash drives that allow users to store their private keys offline using applications. They are more secure than software wallets since they aren’t connected to the internet most of the time.

However, the wallet you choose will depend on how often you need to access your coins and the amount you hold. Software wallets are easily accessible and convenient for trading cryptocurrency and regular transactions, whereas hardware wallets such as Ledger Nano are convenient for long-term holders and those who own many tokens.

2. Choose and Join an Exchange that Sells MANA

Based on your research, go ahead and join the exchange of your choice. This involves visiting the exchange’s official website and signing up by entering your name, email address, phone number and setting a strong password.

Then proceed to verify your account to be allowed to use the exchange. The process resembles what you will experience on brokers. This has been explained in the section above.

3. Choose Your Payment Methods to Buy MANA

Top platforms will offer a variety of payment modes to buy MANA tokens. Select the mode you feel most comfortable with and proceed to make the purchase. Remember, various modes will attract different fees. And the speed at which the transaction will be processed will differ.

4. Place an Order to Buy MANA

Go to the buy tab and select MANA and then proceed to purchase the token using any of the payment modes supported on the platform of your choice.

For example, on Binance, you need to click on the coin symbol, select the appropriate pair and then enter the amount you would like to spend or the number of coins you would like to purchase, enter the necessary details, and complete the process.

5. Safely Storing Your MANA in a Wallet

Once the tokens reflect on your account balance, it’s time to safely store them by transferring them to the wallet you acquired at the start of this process. If you intend to use the tokens often, you can go for software wallets. On the other hand, if you intend to hold onto them for long, go for hardware wallets.

Should you Buy or Trade MANA?

The answer to this question lies in your investment strategy, whether it’s long-term or short-term. Buying and holding MANA tokens is associated with a long-term investment.

It is easier than trading the asset, especially for beginners, since there isn’t much required to buy and hold the asset other than signing up on an exchange, making the purchase, and transferring the tokens to a private wallet.

On the other hand, if you choose to trade, which is associated with short-term investing, you have to educate yourself on how to go about it; otherwise, you will likely lose your money.

You need to be aware of the many moving parts to make trading profitable, such as conducting technical and fundamental analysis. Also, you have to watch out for events that are likely to influence the asset’s price and adjust your trading strategy accordingly.

MANA: Long Vs Short Term Investments

There are two ways to invest in MANA; as a short-term or long-term investor. Short-term investors will use active trading strategies to make regular profits from the MANA market.

These include day trading, trend trading, swing trading, and scalping. These strategies vary in the number of days you let the trade play out, but it’s mostly within a day and a few weeks or months.

It can be highly profitable if you know what you are doing since the crypto market is highly volatile, offering opportunities to profit every day. However, you need to educate yourself on conducting technical and fundamental analysis to predict the market with a higher degree of accuracy.

Also, learn risk management to protect your investment. Investing in a reputable trading course should help you here. Also, you can use brokers to make the most of the volatile MANA price.

There are a few ways to protect your investment as a short-term investor. For example, suppose you expect the price of MANA to drop. In that case, you can borrow the token using a broker and sell it immediately and then wait for the price to drop significantly before repurchasing the coins and repaying your debt.

What you get to keep is the price difference since the coins will be a lot cheaper. This strategy is known as shorting and works well in a bear market. It’s more of a short-term investment strategy and will take weeks and even months.

If you want to minimise the risks of handling a volatile asset such as MANA, you can hedge your positions. This involves opening trading positions in opposite directions to cover the losses that might arise from another position.

For this purpose, you can use CFDs, shorting, and futures to hedge your MANA investment. By doing this, you can secure your capital by guaranteeing your initial trading position doesn’t result in financial losses. You also get to manage your risk and maximize your profit potential with limited downside.

On the other hand, the long-term investment, just like the name, involves buying MANA and holding onto the token for an extended period which can be years.

You need to be a true believer in the project. Invest time to research what the project is all about, its problems, and if there is a chance, it will experience higher adoption with time. Once you identify the project is solid, then buy the tokens and transfer them to a private wallet where you get to keep your private keys.

5 Things to Consider if You Want to Buy Decentraland

You’ll need to pay attention to multiple factors before you buy MANA for the first time. In this section we will take you over a few such important considerations, to help you make a secure and safe MANA purchase.

1. Carefully choose your preferred secure payment method

Although cryptocurrency platforms normally provide multiple secure payment options, it’s your location that will determine the exact methods available to you.

There is a cost attached to each mode of payment, and it will have its own transaction speed as well. In the end, your choice of a specific payment option will be based on the level of convenience, cost and speed you require for your transactions.

2. Will you need to set up your own wallet?

Despite the fact that all cryptocurrency trading platforms offer their own respective web wallets where you can store the purchased coins, it is highly recommended that you move your MANA tokens to a separate crypto wallet.

It’s only when you are using a crypto CFD agreement or some other derivative product to invest in MANA that you won’t need to set up a wallet. This is because such financial instruments don’t involve any exchange of crypto coins.

3. Comparing costs

There’s a certain cost or fee involved in transactions conducted on any cryptocurrency network, and the same applies to Decentraland too. You should compare the transaction costs on Decentraland blockchain with other crypto platforms.

MANA, being a type of ERC-20 token, each MANA transaction will involve a certain amount of Gas fee for using the Ethereum blockchain’s resources. Apart from that, transaction fees associated with the trading platform and mode of payment will also need to be factored in.

4. Safety and security

As Decentraland has been developed on the Ethereum blockchain, it automatically inherits all the important security features that have made Ethereum a highly-secure cryptocurrency today. The platform is secured through a huge decentralised network of miners.

At the time of writing, it was gradually transitioning from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake consensus algorithm to secure its network. Even though Ethereum blockchain provides enhanced security for your MANA tokens, any breach on the broker or exchange platform can leave you with significant losses.

5. Can you understand and navigate the platform?

Though purchasing cryptocurrency from a well-known platform can be a smooth affair, it is advisable that you familiarise yourself with the workings of the chosen platform, before placing any orders.

Get acquainted with its inbuilt wallet, the fees you may have to pay and the time taken for transactions. If the platform allows, you can even try executing some dummy transactions, to see its workings in action.

What is the Best Payment Method for Buying Decentraland?

It’s possible to buy Decentraland securely and quickly through multiple payment methods. However, as emphasised earlier, the ones available to you will depend mainly upon your place of residence.

Therefore, always be aware of the offered options, prior to making any buying or investing decision. Let’s take you over some of the commonly used options to pay for MANA purchase in the market.

Buying MANA with PayPal

PayPal has made huge strides in the payment processing market over the past two decades and is widely considered a convenient mode of payment mode for goods and services in many parts of the world.

It’s no surprise that you can easily make crypto purchases, including that of MANA, using PayPal today. Nevertheless, please be aware that PayPal’s transaction fee is higher than other alternatives like bank transfers.

Another notable problem with PayPal is that even though it has become ubiquitous for online payments, it’s not offered by all the trading platforms. You’re more likely to find it at regulated broker portals than exchange websites.

Buying MANA with debit/credit cards

If transaction costs are not so much of a concern for you, and all that you’re looking for is the most convenient way to buy MANA online, using a debit or credit card will be your best bet.

While crypto exchanges may not be too receptive to credit/debit cards, regulated brokers are seen actively accepting it as a valid form of payment. Another pro associated with them is that debit/credit card transactions are processed almost instantaneously.

Buying MANA with bank transfer

The most regularly used option to make crypto purchases, bank transfers are offered at almost all the brokerage and exchange platforms.

The main reason behind their immense popularity is their affordability in terms of fees and the ease with which you can move funds between the trading platform and your bank account.

However, for many, the time taken for completing bank transfers, which can sometimes be several days, is a huge negative.

Buying MANA with cryptocurrency

You may find various cryptocurrency exchanges that will allow you to exchange a coin of your choice with MANA. To purchase MANA this way, you’ll first need to locate an exchange site that provides a workable trading pair for you, for instance, BTC/MANA, ETH/MANA, XRP/MANA or USDT/MANA.

What Fees are Involved in Buying Decentraland?

Whenever you transfer MANA to someone, some charges will come into play. These may vary from platform to platform, and will also depend upon the exact payment method used. Let’s acquaint you with some of the commonly known fees associated with MANA transactions.

Transaction Fees

MANA being an ERC-20 token, any buying and selling of the coin’s ownership will involve a small amount of Gas fees, charged for using the Ethereum blockchain’s resources. Apart from that, you’ll also need to pay transaction fees to the trading platform used for MANA purchases and to the payment facilitator.

Deposit Fees

This is decided by the trading platform and doesn’t have anything to do with the Decentraland network. While exchanges are known to charge a small percentage for deposits made to their accounts, brokers usually waive this charge, to incentivise new signups. The extent of this charge may also be based on the payment option used.

Withdrawal Fees

Brokers and exchanges commonly charge a small fee for withdrawing crypto funds held with them, either in the form of fiat currency or cryptocurrency. The charges may once again vary depending upon the withdrawal method used. Brokers’ withdrawal charges are normally lower compared to what’s charged by the exchange portals.

Safely Storing Your Decentraland

You will require a cryptocurrency wallet to securely store your MANA coins. These wallets come in different varieties but are broadly categorised as hardware or software wallets. Let’s go over some of the commonly-known crypto wallet types for the storage of MANA coins.

Web Wallet

Web wallets are usually built into the broker and exchange portals, making coins stored in them readily available for quick transactions. Although they offer a high level of convenience, there are many risks associated with them too.

Since it’s the broker/exchange platform that will have complete control over the web wallet and the cryptocurrencies stored in it, you can potentially lose your entire crypto holding if the platform goes bankrupt, is liquidated, or gets hacked.

Therefore, it’s best to avoid storing your cryptocurrencies, including MANA, in a web wallet for the long term.

Mobile Wallet

Mobile wallets are created specifically for usage on mobile devices. They too come with a high degree of convenience, as you can use your cryptocurrencies anytime you like, provided you have the mobile phone/device with you.

The fact that they are non-custodial in nature and can be further secured using features such as screen lock codes, two-factor authentication and other security protocols, makes them safer than their web counterparts.

Having said that, none of those security features may matter if your device gets stolen or hacked. MetaMask, Exodus, Atomic, Lumi, Huobi and Dapp are a few of the most popular mobile wallets for MANA storage.

Desktop Wallet

Desktop wallets are supposed to be used in a desktop environment, on a laptop or desktop computer. As evident, they offer less convenience compared to mobile wallets but are relatively harder to crack.

Desktop wallets normally come equipped with advanced-level security protocols and encryption technologies, such as two-factor authentication. Exodus is one of the leading MANA wallets for the desktop environment.

Hardware Wallet

These are the most secure of all the wallet types in the market. As they stay off-line most of the time, they stay immune to computer viruses and other commonly known vulnerabilities often associated with hot mobile and desktop variants.

Hardware wallets are often the size of a small USB drive and can be connected to the Internet anytime needed, by plugging them into an Internet-connected mobile/desktop device, facilitating easy movement of funds. Trezor and Ledger are a couple of widely popular hardware wallets for easy storage of MANA and other cryptocurrencies.

Wallet Combinations

Some of the wallet brands in the market provide both mobile and desktop options, and hence the ability to connect them together, to accomplish a higher degree of convenience, security and special features like staking. For instance, you can effectively connect the Exodus mobile wallet with Trezor hardware wallet to achieve this kind of functionality.

What Other Coins Can I Trade or Use to Buy Decentraland?

Many cryptocurrency exchanges also allow you to buy MANA with Ripple, Ethereum, Tether, Cardano and other altcoins. However, please keep in mind that transacting on exchanges this way may involve additional fees. Therefore, always check the concerned platform’s fee structure prior to signing up, and placing any orders.

What’s the Smallest and Largest Amount of Decentraland I Can Buy?

Whether you’d be able to buy small amounts of MANA, or if you can buy MANA without limit, will depend on the trading platform used, and how much liquidity they’re willing to offer you.

MANA was trading at around $ 0.77 at the time of writing, and hence it may not be feasible to buy small quantities of the coin, considering the Gas fee and other charges involved.

Certain jurisdictions may also impose a limit on the maximum cryptocurrency transactions, capping the MANA buy limit. Therefore, it may be wise to check with the concerned trading platform as well as local regulatory laws, before deciding to buy any specific quantity of Decentraland.

Can I Buy Decentraland Anonymously with no ID? Is it Safe and Legal to Buy Decentraland?

The past few years have seen cryptocurrencies gaining acceptance in most parts of the world. In fact, many countries have declared them as a valid asset class. However, whether it is safe to buy MANA in your region or not, will depend entirely on the crypto laws prevalent in your country.

Please note, although it may be possible to buy MANA anonymously, or buy MANA with no verification, you’ll have to first find a platform that doesn’t require you to submit any KYC-related documents for the purchase of cryptocurrencies.

You can also check out P2P exchanges to potentially buy MANA without ID, in an offline environment, with cash. Having said that, please note, these are not the safest places to make cryptocurrency purchases.

If you’d like to buy MANA safely, your best bet would still be a well-regulated crypto broker or exchange portal.

Will Buying Decentraland Make Me Money?

Queries related to the potential profitability of Decentraland are always among the top questions asked on crypto forums. Does buying MANA make you money and can it possibly help you get rich over the long term? Unfortunately, it’s not possible to give a 100% accurate answer to that.

Many variables come into play such as who is buying MANA, and backing the project and the historic price movements are a couple of important indicators of its possible profitability in the long run. Savvy investors often use such indicators to make well-informed predictions of price movements in the crypto market.

If you’re interested in knowing how much it costs to buy MANA or the best price to buy MANA, you should visit our MANA Price Page which contains all the information in this regard.

How to Spend your Decentraland

The best way to spend MANA would be within the Decentraland’s virtual environment. It serves as Decentraland’s fungible token which is burnt in exchange for names, avatar wearables and LAND parcels.

Another way of spending it would be by exchanging it for another cryptocurrency, on an exchange platform. Please note, MANA is quite unlike popular digital currencies like Bitcoin or Litecoin which are commonly used for offline or online retail purchases.

You cannot make conventional purchases of goods and services, using MANA, at online or offline merchant establishments.

How to Sell your Decentraland

The ideal way to sell your MANA tokens would be through a brokerage or exchange platform. Any well-known cryptocurrency exchange or broker will be able to guide you through this process. Please know, exchanges can sometimes be more complex to use for amateur investors, and also charge relatively higher fees.

Any Decentraland investment made via a financial derivative like CFD, would be comparatively easier to sell. It will entail simple closure of the concerned CFD trade, something which can even be accomplished automatically today, with the help of reliable trading bots.

3 Tip to Buy MANA

Below are three things you need to pay attention to when buying MANA. These can make or break your experience.

1. Choose the Right Time and Do Your Own Research on MANA

Timing the market is vital, especially for short-term traders. You don’t want to get in the market after a major rally, and a correction is around the corner. You will have to learn how to conduct technical and fundamental analysis to make informed trading decisions.

If you are a long-term investor, timing the market doesn’t matter since the current or short-term price range will not bother you. You believe the project will grow with time. Therefore, you are more than happy to invest in MANA no matter the price and hold your tokens for the long term.

Still, you need to do your own research to establish if the project is worth the investment.

2. Comparing Costs to Buy MANA

On different platforms that offer access to MANA tokens, there are costs you are likely to incur. These costs come in the form of fees such as transaction fees, deposits, and withdrawal fees.

Transaction fees are associated with network fees for sending tokens and an extra charge for the platform facilitating the buying and selling of MANA. As for deposit fees, these will stem from the payment process you choose to fund your account using.

And the withdrawal fees will vary from one platform to another. Brokers will not charge any deposit and withdraw fees but will take commissions on a given bunch of transactions. They will also charge an inactivity fee if you go for long without using your account.

It’s good to take time to compare the various costs you are likely to encounter using different routes to access MANA and select the path that offers the least costs without compromising the quality of services you receive.

3. Safety and Security When Buying MANA

The safety and security of the platform you choose to buy MANA on should be your top priority. The last thing you want is to lose your investment. It’s advisable to use reputable platforms to buy MANA tokens, be it brokers or exchanges since these employ robust security measures to protect user funds.

Regulators require these platforms to hold security certificates that show they are safe for investors. They conduct regular security measures to test for weaknesses and fix any issues found. Cryptography and encryption are used to guard against hacks.

On a personal level, they will allow the user to safeguard their account by setting a strong password and enabling two-factor authentication (2FA). This can be through Google Authenticator, SMS, or email authentication.

MANA uses cryptography, decentralisation, and consensus mechanism to safeguard its network from bad actors as a digital asset. This helps reduce the chance of a 51% attack.

It’s not only centralized exchanges that offer users the chance to buy MANA but decentralized exchanges that operate peer to peer. Most of these rely on a rating basis based on past user experience.

The higher the rating based on many trades, the more trustworthy the trader is and vice versa. Here you will have to watch out for yourself since the risk is higher to be scammed by anonymous characters.

Other Ways to Acquire MANA

There are a few other ways you can get your hands on MANA, such as the use of decentralized exchanges. These are peer-to-peer platforms that allow users to trade directly without intermediaries and negotiate on the terms of trade before settling the transaction.

Here you have access to local currencies and other localized payment modes, making these platforms ideal for individuals based in areas with strict regulations or less coverage to access crypto assets. Even if you don’t find a platform that specifically handles MANA, you can access any other token such as ETH or BTC and transfer it to an exchange that supports MANA before making the swap.