How to Buy Aeternity (AE) in 3 Simple Steps
Aeternity is an open-source development platform for building advanced blockchain applications that millions of users can use. The protocol offers support for many blockchain features such as state channels, oracles, a naming system, as well as secure, functional, and highly efficient smart contract language (Sophia) and virtual machine (FATE). The protocol seeks to eliminate the inefficiency within the crypto market by increasing the scalability of smart contracts and dApps.
This guide will focus on how to buy Aeternity (AE) tokens on various exchanges and using brokers and determining if it’s a worthy investment.
Where to Buy Aeternity?
As with other digital currencies, Aeternity is a new class of assets whose classification is not precise yet. For the time being, jurisdictions such as the US and a few European countries classify cryptocurrency as intangible assets in the same vein as securities. Perhaps the classification arises from the fact that you can buy and hold Aeternity and earn income, or you can trade the tokens on an online cryptocurrency broker.
The paragraph above helps to set the stage for the discussion of where to buy Aeternity. Buying and owning Aeternity (AE) are two different things. First, let us see what owning Aeternity means.
For starters, ownership implies control over something. If one says that one owns Aeternity, then one means that he/she can decide to spend the AE tokens, move them from one wallet to another, and exchange them for either other cryptocurrencies or fiat currency. You can buy Aeternity on crypto exchanges available online.
Purchasing and holding Aeternity has some exciting upsides. For example, you stand to gain substantial value if the price of the AE tokens shoots up. Having control of the coins also enables you to access the Aeternity blockchain and transact easily with fellow peers.
But there are downsides to owning Aeternity. These coins need cryptocurrency wallets for storage. The technology behind crypto wallets could be too technical for some people. If so, the chances of losing the coins to malicious actors are high. Secondly, it is not easy to find the preferred crypto wallet because providers are many, and each one claims to offer the best product in the market. As such, you bear the burden of due diligence, which is time-consuming and burdensome.
The alternative to buying and holding Aeternity is trading the cryptocurrency. Trading (or buying, as we referred to it earlier) means you stake an indirect claim to the tokens but without taking physical delivery. You can trade AE tokens on an online crypto broker. The brokerages link their clients to the cryptocurrency market, but they set arbitrary prices. They offer an opportunity for clients to trade the gyrations of the Aeternity token price. You can trade the underlying price of AE through contract for differences (CFDs).
CFDs trading could be an ideal alternative for investors who do not wish to fumble with Aeternity wallets. Also, the instrument allows traders to get in and out of the cryptocurrency market as many times as they want in a day. This way, you can generate small profits many times in a day.
The only research you need to do when trading Aeternity CFDs is market analysis. Insights from the analysis should point you in the right direction before taking a position in the market. One could argue that trading Aeternity involves less hustle as opposed to buying and holding the crypto.
How to Buy Aeternity with a Broker
If this is your first time in the cryptoverse, you will encounter numerous brokers vying for your money. Basically, the brokers are looking for income, and you are the source. So, some brokers will try to hoodwink you, but you won’t do the machinations if you know that the right Broker offers quality services and the charges are explainable. It helps to note that the smaller the costs you encounter, the higher the chances of earning a good income.
1. Register with the Broker
Online crypto brokerages attend to thousands of clients, and they need to be able to identify each user correctly. For this reason, the first thing to do before starting to trade is to create an account. Account creation begins at the registration window. Please realise that different brokers collect specific information at the registration window.
For example, Forex.com has three separate windows for different categories of customers to register. You need to come knowing the type of trader you are or going to be. If you are a beginner trader and on a tight budget, then the Standard Account is for you.
Let us say you decide to go with the Standard Account. When you click on the “Open A Forex.com Account” button, a tall window will pop up. Here, you will populate information such as your full name, country of residence, date of birth, email address, phone number (primary and secondary), username and password.
Some platforms like eToro do not go into details when asking for information at the registration window. You only need to provide a verifiable email address, a username, and a password. Alternatively, eToro permits signup using Facebook or Google.
2. Verify your Identity (KYC Process)
The know-your-customer (KYC) process originates from the banking sector, where banks ask for information from prospective clients for identification. In the same vein, prospective clients for Aeternity brokers need to declare their identity via KYC. The brokers accept specific documents to prove your identity. For example, documents required for proof of residence are bank statements, a valid driving license, a utility bill, or registration certificates issued by the local government.
KYC might appear burdensome to some traders, but it is necessary. Aeternity brokers rely on the process to prevent misuse of their services. Also, identity ascertainment creates a safe environment for other users to operate. Increased adoption of the KYC process is laudable as it has reduced fraud cases in the cryptocurrency community.
3. Deposit Funds with your Preferred Payment Method
Your account will be inactive until you transfer the minimum amount of funds required to make trades. Every Broker lists the payment methods that it supports. Interestingly, all payment methods claim to offer unrivalled security, speed and cost-effectiveness. We believe that you should take such words with a pinch of salt.
It is not enough for a payment service provider to say that their services are the best. Instead, you should prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. But how can anyone achieve such a feat? The best approach is to research all the available payment methods. Thankfully, there is Google to help you in this endeavour. Precisely, determine the security measures that each option implements, their charges and the transaction speeds. Then, compare all the options based on the three metrics. The one that comes on top should be your choice.
4. Open a Position to Long/Short Aeternity
When you make an order on a broker’s platform, you ask to take a position on one side of the market; the market has a buy-side and a sell-side.
When you choose to sell Aeternity, it means you are pessimistic about the future value of the cryptocurrency. In cryptoverse parlance, this strategy refers to shorting Aeternity or short Aeternity. Contrariwise, taking a position on the market’s buy-side indicates confidence in the token’s future price. Because this strategy tends to play out for an extended period–typically a few days to years–traders call it a long position, hence long Aeternity.
It helps to keep the information in mind when opening a position. Fortunately, some Aeternity brokers provide means by which less competent traders can copy their expert fellows. It means you might not need to trouble yourself with researching extended and short-position trading.
For example, Pepperstone offers three types of copy trading or social trading services. DupliTrade and MetaTrader Trading Signals are pieces of software that you install on your trading platform. The other one is Myfxbook, and this service does not require software installation.
5. Close your Position
Every expert crypto trader will tell you that risk management is as critical as market entry. Closing a position is a crucial technique that you could use to manage risks, notwithstanding that the method is also proper when you wish to earn from a profitable position.
You could close a position through the manual or the automatic route. Both approaches are essential in the risk management machinery. The automated way entails using tools such as stop loss, take profit, and trailing orders (trailing stop loss and trailing take profit). These orders execute when the market touches the trigger price. They are instrumental in the situation where volatility is too high for a human trader to handle.
Sometimes you might feel you have had enough, whether the market is going in your direction or the other way. Let us say you are winning, and you think that the pips are enough. In this case, you could close the position and take the available profit. This is the manual way of closing your position.
How to Buy Aeternity with an Exchange
While Aeternity brokers aim to link traders to the cryptocurrency market, crypto exchanges are the market itself. The interaction on the exchanges is more direct, and investors access the market price of Aeternity. However, as with Aeternity brokers, many exchanges exist, and each one is vying for your attention. How do you pick the right one?
Selecting a suitable exchange is crucial to the success of your crypto investing journey. The proper Aeternity exchange employs industry-standard encryptions to secure user information and their funds. Also, a good exchange lets you enjoy as much of your income as possible by limiting the costs you incur to the lower side. You get the best deal when the exchange’s regulatory status is in order, on top of the already mentioned factors.
1. Set up an Aeternity Wallet
Aeternity exchanges deliver the actual tokens when fulfilling your buy order. But these tokens are not physical coins that you can store in a piggy bank or under your mattress. Instead, Aeternity tokens are a string of random numbers generated in a blockchain network.
Storage of the coins requires a unique solution called an Aeternity wallet. Please, ensure that you have the wallet ready before placing a buy order. Setting up the wallet is especially critical when you wish to store the Aeternity crypto by yourself. But what should you do if you do not have sufficient knowledge about wallets? The best approach is to search for information online. However, we will discuss the wallets here for your benefit.
Crypto wallets store the private keys that give you access to your digital currency. Another key called a public address or the wallet address lets you receive coins from other senders. Please think of the wallet address as a bank account and the private keys as the secret number that unlocks the wallet.
Cryptoverse categorises crypto wallets based on their nature, i.e., hardware or software wallets. Also, the wallets are either hot or cold wallets. Hardware wallets store the private keys on a tangible device. Conversely, software wallets store the private keys on a PC or an internet-enabled mobile phone. The word hot describes a crypto wallet, whether hardware or software, whose access is only possible over the internet. Contrarily, cold wallets are accessible without an internet connection.
2. Choose and Join an Exchange that sells Aeternity
Many popular exchanges offer buy/sell services for Aeternity. They include Coinmama, CEX, Huobi Global, Bithumb and many more. It is essential to mention that each of the exchanges packs unique and exciting features. As such, you might want to do some due diligence to be sure which one fits your liking.
Besides the difference in features, the exchanges also differ on the registration process, especially the KYC process. We believe the safest exchange has the most stringent but reasonable KYC process. The suitability of the avenue increases when you can confirm its regulatory status.
3. Choose Your Payment Methods to Buy Aeternity
Satisfied with your choice of an exchange that sells Aeternity? Now, it is time to select the avenue for paying for the cryptocurrency. Different routes exist, but bank transfers, debit and credit cards, and online payment service providers like Skrill are the most popular.
For example, some exchanges allow users to attach their bank accounts to the platform for the secure and expeditious transfer of funds. Given the reluctance by some banks to process crypto-related transactions, the institution’s representatives are likely to call you for confirmation.
If bank transfers do not work in your location, you could try using debit/credit cards. So far, this avenue boasts the fastest transaction speeds. Using these cards on some trading platforms leads to the instant settlement of the transactions.
Online payment service providers also have their benefits; they require the least amount of energy to activate the funding process. However, the entities face the highest risk because their security situation is more inferior to banks.
4. Place an Order to Buy AE
It is now time to purchase Aeternity, now that your account is active and funded. Before you place the order, it is crucial to know that the purchasing process might slightly differ depending on how you wish to pay for the AE tokens. The process might be a bit complicated if you want to pay for the transaction using another cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin.
A typical AE buying process begins with visiting the exchange’s “Buy/Sell” tab for those using fiat currency. Next, the exchange will ask you to select the specific currency to pay for the coins from a list of fiat currencies. What follows is choosing Aeternity in a drop-down list of supported cryptocurrencies. The last step in the order placement process is selecting the payment method. This step is unnecessary if you have already loaded funds into your account with the exchange.
Some exchanges will not proceed with the purchase order until you pass the 2FA (two-factor authentication) step. We believe that such exchanges care about your security.
It helps to note that most crypto exchanges, such as Binance, do not support buying AE with fiat currency. Instead, you buy another cryptocurrency first, usually Bitcoin. With Bitcoin in your wallet, you can now buy Aeternity without much hassle. The entire purchasing process does not change.
5. Safely Storing Your Aeternity in a Wallet
Congratulations, you are a proud owner of Aeternity cryptocurrency! What next? Some exchanges offer custody services, meaning they can store the AE coins for you at a small fee. Storing the tokens with the exchange is ideal for investors who wish to trade the crypto for short-term profit.
But if you aim to keep the crypto for a long time, you should store them in a private wallet. Thankfully, transferring crypto from an exchange to your wallet is fast and straightforward. On the exchange’s website, go to the “Send” tab; this might differ depending on the exchange. Specific prompts will appear to guide you through the transaction. However, it is essential to know that you will need to provide the wallet address of the destination. Therefore, be sure you know your wallet’s public address.
Should you Buy or Trade Aeternity?
Do you intend to hold the AE tokens for a month or more and sell if the price rises? Then your investment strategy is long-term. In such a case, you should buy Aeternity. But if you intend to trade Aeternity, then AE CFDs should be your target.
Long-term investors should buy AE from exchanges. The exchanges offer the Aeternity tokens at the market price, which is competitive. Contrarily, professional brokers are ideal for investors who prefer a short-lived exposure to Aeternity.
What’s the Difference Between an Aeternity Exchange and a Broker?
An Aeternity exchange is where peers meet to exchange AE tokens for either fiat currency or another digital currency. On the platform, buyers and sellers of AE trade based on the coin’s market price.
On the contrary, an AE broker merely links clients with the AE market. It means the Broker’s clients do not have direct access to buyers or sellers of the cryptocurrency. Also, the clients cannot access the market price of the AE tokens.
As it is apparent, you buy AE from an exchange, and you get physical delivery of the tokens. Trading AE means wagering the price fluctuation of the token without owning the asset itself. Such services are available through AE brokers.
Aeternity: Long Vs. Short Term Investment
Understanding the difference between buying and trading AE helps distinguish a long-term from a short-term investment strategy. Your investment strategy is long-term if you are buying AE tokens for holding in a private wallet. The aim here could be to keep for one year and then sell when the AE price is significantly high.
A short-term investment strategy is antithetical to the former. It means shorting the cryptocurrency when its price threatens to tank. This investment strategy entails holding a position for a few hours or even a day but not longer.
The short-term investment strategy is ideal for investors who thrive in a highly volatile market. Also, such traders can open and close countless positions in a day, hence earning many small profits. The patient and value-oriented investors prefer the long-term investment strategy. They believe that asset prices eventually rise.
Other Ways to Buy Aeternity
Besides brokers and exchanges, there are many other ways of how to get Aeternity. A good example is the Superhero social platform. Built on the Aeternity blockchain, Superhero enables peers to tip their favourite content creators in AE. The transfers are direct and low-cost.
Alternatively, you could get Aeternity via instant swaps. An instant swap refers to obtaining one cryptocurrency in exchange for another instantly. Platforms such as Jelly Swap support AE swaps, swapping crypto such as Bitcoin for AE tokens.
How about trying AE bounties? The Aeternity team runs regular bounty campaigns, after which they reward winners with AE tokens. A bounty campaign could entail taking up development tasks, creating guides, etc. The team posts instructions for upcoming bounty programs on their blog, so check it out.
Aeternity is an under the radar project and if blockchain technology is to achieve mainstream adoption, then such ventures need to succeed.
5 Things to Consider if you Want to Buy Aeternity
Before you start your journey of buying Aeternity, there are a few things you need to pay attention to, such as the payment modes available, if you need a wallet, the safety and security and if the platform is easy to use. Below is a brief description of each.
1. Carefully Choose Your Preferred Secure Payment Method
The first thing you need to pay attention to is the payment modes available to purchase Aeternity. Is it convenient for you and safe? Most platforms that offer support for this digital asset will have various options to make the purchase, such as bank transfers, credit/debit cards, third-party payment processors, and the use of other cryptocurrencies. It’s up to you to decide which mode is best for you according to the available options. The most common modes to fund your account will be using credit/debit cards and third-party payment processors for brokers. As for exchanges, some of the favorable options might not work depending on your location and your country’s crypto regulations. This might make it hard to fund your account, and the only way to access this digital asset is through peer-to-peer (P2P) exchanges, where you can use your local currency to purchase BTC or ETH before moving it to an exchange that supports Aeternity and swapping the coins.
2. Will you need to set up your own wallet?
Another factor you need to consider is if you will require to set up a crypto wallet to store your coins. If your goal is to buy and hold the tokens for a while or trade them on an exchange, it makes sense to source for a safe private wallet initially before embarking on buying the asset. This is the first step you need to take if you plan to invest in Aeternity for a while. However, if your goal is to trade financial instruments attached to the coin using a broker, you don’t have to worry about acquiring a private wallet.
3. Comparing Costs
Various platforms that offer access to Aeternity will have different charges for buying and selling this digital asset. This is another factor you need to pay attention to since it can impact your bottom line. Especially for traders, fees can accumulate and take a chunk of your profits.
4. Safety and security
How safe is the platform you choose to make your purchase? This is another important question you need to ask yourself when starting out. Many people have lost their money by choosing platforms that are straight-up scams or those with inferior security measures to protect user funds. Here you want to go with a platform with a good reputation over the period it has existed. One that employs high levels of security to protect user funds and offers you additional features to protect your accounts, such as using two-factor authentication (2FA), email and SMS notifications.
On the other hand, you want to know how secure is Aeternity as a digital asset. There have been cases of protocols getting hacked and user funds getting stolen. As a digital currency, Aeternity uses cryptography, decentralisation and consensus to secure its network. This stops incidents of 51% attack where bad actors take over half the hashing power on the network and change transactions to their favor. Also, you get to store your coins in private wallets that offer additional security for your investment.
5. Can you understand and navigate the platform?
The other thing you need to consider is how easy it is to navigate the exchange or broker you intend to use to buy Aeternity. Top platforms always try to offer simplistic user interfaces that are easy to use for buyers of all skill levels. This prevents beginners from getting intimidated by the prospect of interacting with various aspects of the platform. It’s good to avoid platforms that you feel you don’t understand how to navigate since if you proceed to purchase your tokens here, there is a chance you could make a mistake and lose your funds. Also, great platforms will have tutorials once you sign up on how to interact with various features offered.
What is the Best Payment Method for Buying Aeternity?
Below let’s go over the many modes of payment available to buy Aeternity. Most of these will be accessible on top platforms, and it’s up to you to choose the one that appears most convenient to you.
Buying Aeternity with Debit/Credit Card This will be the most common mode of purchase you will likely come across on most cryptocurrency exchanges and brokers where you sign up. For exchanges, you will go to the “Buy” tab, where you will select the currency you would like to buy, then enter the amount you would like to spend. Select the payment mode, which in this case is a credit/debit card, enter your details, including your card number, and proceed to complete the transaction.
Brokers will ask you to fund your account before you access financial instruments attached to Aeternity. This means that you will have to go to the account funding process, select a credit/debit card and then enter the amount you intend to use as your capital or even the bare minimum required before proceeding to trade.
Buying Aeternity with Crypto Most exchanges will offer the option to buy one crypto with the other, especially for those that list many coins. To use this mode successfully, you need to open an account on an exchange that supports Aeternity and check the coins you can swap the asset for or the allowed trading pairs. If it’s possible to swap with BTC, then proceed to buy Bitcoin and then convert it to Aeternity. Since the coin isn’t one of the most common tokens, it’s not uncommon to find exchanges that support the token but don’t offer direct purchase using the common modes such as the use of bank transfers and credit cards. This is where you need to get your hands on the readily available tokens before making the swap.
Buying Aeternity Peer-to-Peer Another popular mode you can buy Aeternity is using the Peer-to-Peer (P2P) method. This mode is mostly supported by decentralised exchanges where you negotiate with the seller and agree on the price before you make payment, and they release the tokens to you. The good thing with this mode is you get to trade using your local currency, something that might not be possible using other modes since P2P platforms will support many personalised ways to facilitate transactions. If you can find one that supports Aeternity, you can go for it. Also, where access to crypto assets is highly limited due to regulations and maybe the only way you can make a purchase is using your local currency, which isn’t supported on the top platforms that support the token, you can access a P2P platform to purchase a popular coin such as BTC or ETH before transferring it on an exchange that supports Aeternity and making the swap.
Buying Aeternity Using Third-Party Payment Options The other mode you will find to make the purchase is using third-party payment processors such as PayPal, Skrill and many others. This is as simple as using a credit card, and you need to follow the necessary steps to complete the transaction.
What Fees are Involved in Buying Aeternity?
Below let’s explore some of the fees you are likely to encounter when buying this digital asset.
Transaction Fees Different platforms will charge different fees when it comes to buying and selling Aeternity. You need to pay attention to these fees, especially if you are a trader since they can impact your bottom line. On exchanges, you will experience network fees that are part of the transaction fees.
Deposit Fees These fees will stem from the payment processor you choose to use to fund your account. Exchanges and brokers will not be charging any fees for this activity. Therefore, you have to consider the fees charged by various payment processors and see who charges fair fees or even no fees as long as you don’t compromise on the quality of service you receive.
Withdrawal Fees These are fees associated with taking funds from your trading account if you’re a broker or taking your coins from an exchange. They comprise network fees for sending tokens from one wallet to another.
Safely Storing Your Aeternity
Below let’s go over the many options you have when it comes to storing Aeternity. These wallets offer differing levels of security and accessibility, and your choice will be based on your demands. As you will see in the last section, you are not limited to a specific type of wallet and can combine various wallets for better convenience.
Web Wallet These are the most common types of wallets you will come across when dealing with exchanges. They exist as exchange-provided wallets or browser extensions. The latter is safer since you get to store your private keys. However, the problem with this wallet is it’s less secure since it’s always online.
Mobile Wallet These are applications you install on your smartphone that allow you to store your crypto coins and manage your portfolio from the device. They can be from popular exchanges or from companies that specialize in designing such software offering higher levels of security and convenience as you can access your coins on the go. An example of this is Atomic wallet.
Desktop Wallet This is software that you download and install on your PC that offers the users complete control over their wallet since they hold the private keys. This type of wallet functions as an address for the user to send and receive their coins with higher levels of security. They offer convenience for those that want quick access to their Aeternity tokens. An example of this is Atomic wallet.
Hardware Wallet These are physical devices that resemble flash drives. They help store your private keys offline since they are mostly not connected to the internet, and by doing this, they offer the highest level of security. They host applications where you can store various coins, including Aeternity, and are ideal for long-term investors and people with large investments in the token. Ledger and Trezor are good examples of such wallets.
Wallet Combinations Let’s say you are involved with Aeternity in the short term and long term. You can combine two types of wallets that offer convenience when it comes to easy access and managing your portfolio and hold a hardware wallet that lets you safely store the coins you are holding for the long term.
What Other Coins Can I Trade or Use to Buy Aeternity?
On platforms where Aeternity is offered, you will find that it’s possible to buy the token using other paired tokens such as BTC, ETH or even USDT. As discussed earlier, if you don’t find an option to buy Aeternity directly on such a platform, you can purchase any of the tokens that allow you to swap for the tokens.
What’s the Smallest and Largest Amount of Aeternity I Can Buy?
One Aeternity token goes for about twenty cents. Most exchanges will have the minimum amount you can buy when it comes to most tokens since there are fees that need to be covered. This will be like $10, which will get you around 50 AE tokens at the current price. As for brokers, they have the minimum amount you can use to fund your account. This varies with different platforms and can be $100, $200 or $250.
Can I Buy Aeternity Anonymously with no ID? Is it Safe and Legal to Buy Aeternity?
It’s possible to buy Aeternity anonymously without disclosing your personal information using a decentralised exchange. These exchanges allow users to buy and sell tokens from each other in a peer-to-peer manner, but you will have to do your due diligence when it comes to security. Most operate on a reputation basis where users get to rate each other depending on the trading experience. Suppose you are not careful; it’s easy to get scammed. So even though centralised platforms will ask for personal information, which might not be ideal to privacy lovers, they offer a higher level of security for your investment.
Will Buying Aeternity Make Me Money?
There are no guarantees in crypto, just like it’s the case in life. However, the cryptocurrency space has made many individuals wealthy. The people that got in early on various projects have seen their investments multiplied tremendously as these projects have witnessed increased adoption. The same goes for Aeternity, as its blockchain attracts more users expect to see its tokens rise in value.
How to Spend your Aeternity
Aeternity tokens have utility on the protocol’s ecosystem where they are used to pay network fees, reward miners, and even fuel smart contracts and other transactions. It’s possible to spend the tokens at merchant points where they are accepted and buy whatever you wish. Also, since it’s possible to convert your tokens into fiat, you can spend them as you want.
How to Sell your Aeternity
The selling process is as easy as the buying process. It can be done on a centralized exchange where the token is supported where you get to set your price, and the platform will execute the sale once the market hits that price. You can also do it Peer-to-Peer if you find a platform that supports the token. It is easy to sell and close the trade if you are using CFDs as many exchanges provide automatic trading through the use of robots.