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Where & How to Buy Chainlink (LINK) for Beginners in 2024

Use our step-by-step guide to learn how and where to buy Chainlink on 5+ highly rated crypto platforms.
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Updated:  Jul 22, 2024
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Chainlink coins are available buy via a cryptocurrency exchange, which functions similar to a stock trading platform. It takes just a few minutes to buy Chainlink this way. Follow our quick step guide below.

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To buy Chainlink you need a smartphone or a computer and an internet connection. It takes 10-15 minutes the first time and you should have some photo ID to hand. Here’s how to do it.

Step 1. Sign up to a crypto platform

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We’ve ranked eToro as the best crypto platform to get started with. Alternatively, there are several other options to select from below. Anyway, create an account and supply a copy of your photo ID for verification.

We found 15 crypto platforms for users based in

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Most popular
1
Min. Deposit
–
Best offer
User Score
9.9
Up to $240 bonus!
Build a diversified portfolio with crypto, stocks, and ETFs — all in one place.
Trade on the world’s leading social trading and investing platform
Start Trading
Payment Methods:
Bank Transfer, Debit Card, PayPal, Credit Card, Wire Transfer
Full Regulations:
CySEC, FCA

Cryptocurrency is offered by eToro USA LLC (“the MSB”) (NMLS: 1769299) and is not FDIC or SIPC insured. Investing involves risk, and content is provided for educational purposes only, does not imply a recommendation, and is not a guarantee of future performance. Invezz.com is not an affiliate and may be compensated if you access certain products or services offered by the MSB.

2
Min. Deposit
–
Best offer
User Score
9.8
Coinbase offers an extensive selection of cryptocurrencies, allowing users to diversify their portfolios.
Supports users from over 100 countries including the US and Canada
Employs robust security measures, including cold storage, to safeguard users’ crypto holdings.
Start Trading
Payment Methods:
Bank Transfer, Debit Card, Wire Transfer, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Bank Transfer: SEPA, Interac e-Transer
Full Regulations:

Cryptocurrency is not regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority and is not subject to protection under the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme or within the scope of jurisdiction of the UK Financial Ombudsman Service. Investing in cryptocurrency comes with risk and cryptocurrency may gain in value, or lose some or all value. Capital gains tax may be applicable to profits from cryptocurrency sales.

3
Min. Deposit
–
Best offer
User Score
9.6
Offers maximum flexibility for crypto trading strategies.
Responsive customer support through various channels, including live chat, email, and a comprehensive help center.
Wide range of trading options, including spot trading, margin trading, and futures contracts.
Start Trading
Payment Methods:
Bank Transfer, Debit Card, Credit Card, Wire Transfer, Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Discover, Bank Transfer: SEPA
Full Regulations:

Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong.

Step 2. Make a deposit

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Add funds via a card payment, bank transfer or an alternative payment method. You can start with as little as $100 on most services.

Step 3. Buy Chainlink token

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Locate the search box and type LINK. Once you locate the coin trading page, enter how much money you want to spend and hit ‘trade now’.

Now you own Chainlink tokens! Not a big deal, right?

Where to buy LINK easily

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The overall best platform to buy Chainlink for beginners is eToro .

Here are the top five places to buy Chainlink, ranked according to their simplicity for beginners, fees, customer reviews, and safety ratings.

  1. eToro: Best for beginners, copy-trading & demo-account
  2. Coinbase: Best secure trading platform for all types of trader
  3. Kraken: Best for simple, global cryptocurrency trading from your phone
  4. Uphold: Best for building long term wealth
  5. KuCoin: Best social trading altcoin exchange

Read more about how we rate, rank and review platforms.

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We found 15 crypto platforms for users based in

1. eToro. Best for beginners, copy-trading & demo-account

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1%

Fees

$…

Minimum deposit

1500

No. assets

Yes

Demo/virtual account

Pros & Cons

Great for beginners, simple to set up and get started Competitive, industry-leading commissions Popular ‘Copy Portfolios’ function lets you follow top traders Excellent customer service, with live chat support provided
Comparatively high fees for withdrawals and account inactivity Does not integrate with the MetaTrader platform High spreads on some assets

Overview

We love eToro because it’s a crypto trading platform built with beginners and casual traders in mind. The platform combines an interactive, social trading experience with an easy-to-use interface, making it ideal for novice traders.

The far-reaching catalog of 100 cryptocurrencies includes big names like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as smaller crypto tokens with high growth potential. Some supported tokens can be seamlessly transferred to the eToro Money crypto wallet for safekeeping.

One feature we particularly appreciate is the ability to interact with eToro’s 35 million users on any asset, market, or portfolio page. If you find traders whose strategies match your risk tolerance, you can copy their portfolios automatically using eToro’s flagship copy trading functionality. eToro crypto’s Smart Portfolios offer a great entry point into digital currencies, an opportunity to learn and potentially benefit from the expertise of more experienced traders.

If you don’t feel comfortable investing your cash straight away, you can use a free demo account, credited with $100,000 virtual dollars. This offers plenty of opportunities to try out a trading strategy that works for you across the 100 crypto tokens available.

Highlights

Visit eToro eToro Review

Cryptocurrency is offered by eToro USA LLC (“the MSB”) (NMLS: 1769299) and is not FDIC or SIPC insured. Investing involves risk, and content is provided for educational purposes only, does not imply a recommendation, and is not a guarantee of future performance. Invezz.com is not an affiliate and may be compensated if you access certain products or services offered by the MSB.

2. Coinbase. Best secure trading platform for all types of trader

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Visit site

Up to 0.6%

Fees

$…

Minimum deposit

4

No. assets

No

Demo/virtual account

Pros & Cons

Simple and easy to use interface Able to buy cryptocurrencies instantly with a credit or debit card Offers great security on its wallet Can use a variety of payment methods
Quite high fees for credit and debit card instant buys Poor customer support

Overview

We love Coinbase because it’s the leading public crypto platform. Coinbase offers more than 170 cryptocurrencies to trade, a secure wallet to store your coins in, and automatic staking rewards on 10+ cryptos through Coinbase Earn.

Coinbase’s user-friendly platform simplifies the buying, selling, and trading processes, making it one of the top crypto exchanges for all levels of trader. But, Coinbase isn’t just an easy to use platform, it’s one of the safest and most secure. 

A public company brings transparency and renown, so you can trust that any money on Coinbase is safe and you’re sharing the platform with over 100 million other users. It stores 98% of customer assets offline in cold storage, minimizing the risk of theft. There is also insurance on all cash balances up to $250,000

The fees: Trading fees start from 0.6% but reduce the higher your trading volume. Bank transfer deposits and withdrawals are free, other payment methods may be charged. There is no fee for wallet-to-wallet crypto transactions but you will have to pay blockchain fees. Coinbase charges a 25% fee for its staking services.

Highlights

Visit Coinbase Coinbase Review

3. Kraken: Best for simple, global cryptocurrency trading from your phone

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Visit site

0.10% – 0.26% (volume dependent)

Fees

$…

Minimum deposit

90

No. assets

Yes

Demo/virtual account

Pros & Cons

Cheap/ free deposits in EUR and cheap deposits for the USA Margin trading and Futures supported Transparency – it was the first exchange to carry out proof of reserves Low fees in comparison to other exchanges
Catered towards professional traders with large trading volumes Slow account verification in comparison to other brokers

Overview

We love Kraken because it’s a beginner-friendly crypto trading platform, one that’s designed to make it quick and convenient to buy and sell crypto on the go. The Kraken mobile app provides access to over 200 cryptocurrencies making it one of the most diverse platforms around. 

With an intuitive interface and many advanced features, the Kraken crypto app is suitable for those just starting, or experienced traders wanting to enhance their trading experience. The Kraken mobile app caters to different trading styles and preferences with spot, margin, and futures all available. 

Kraken’s mobile app also supports up to 5:1 leverage allowing you to amplify your position and potentially increase your returns. With such a wide selection of tokens available and a solid range of features and tools, the Kraken app is one of the top cryptocurrency trading platforms while on the go. 

The fees: Kraken charges a fee of between 0-0.26% on every crypto trade. There are no costs to set up an account and no flat trading fees.

Highlights

Visit Kraken Kraken Review

4. Uphold. Best for building long term wealth

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Visit site

$0.99

Fees

$…

Minimum deposit

300

No. assets

Yes

Demo/virtual account

Pros & Cons

Wide range of cryptocurrencies available Zero deposit and withdrawal fees Crypto wallets to store your coins Low minimum deposits and fast account set up
Spreads can be high for some cryptocurrencies Services vary depending on region Customer support is limited

Overview

We love Uphold because it’s a regulated and transparent digital asset platform. Uphold is an excellent platform for discovering important new tokens early, making it ideal for investors looking to get in on the ground floor of emerging cryptocurrencies. 

Uphold offers a broad selection of coins, with over 250 tokens available catering to both seasoned and novice crypto traders. The platform regularly adds new assets allowing users to invest in promising projects before they gain mainstream attention. 

Uphold isn’t just a platform for investing early. One of the main advantages of using Uphold is its transparent and competitive fee structure. The platform does not charge for deposits or withdrawals, and trading fees are clearly stated. You can also trade between different asset classes including fiat currencies. 

The fees: Crypto spreads start from 0.9% and are usually lower than 1.3% for BTC and ETH. Other cryptocurrency spreads are higher. Average spreads on fiat currency are 0.2%. There is a $0.99 fee for transactions under $100 made with the Uphold card.

Highlights

Visit Review

Terms Apply. Cryptoassets are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk.

5. KuCoin. Best social trading altcoin exchange

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Visit site

…

Fees

$…

Minimum deposit

1

No. assets

No

Demo/virtual account

Pros & Cons

Anonymous trading with up to 2 BTC withdrawals/24 hours Wide variety of cryptocurrencies No deposit fees
Low trading volumes not suitable for big traders Doesn’t support U.S. customers You might experience delays and lags during high-traffic times.

Overview

We love KuCoin because it’s a great place for beginners to trade more than 700 altcoins. Kucoin offers a vast range of cryptocurrencies including all the big names like Bitcoin and Ethereum, together with hundreds of altcoins and newly released tokens. 

The exchange gives you multiple ways to trade and invest in crypto, including spot trading, futures trading, margin trading, and staking. This choice allows you to choose the method that best suits your trading strategies and risk tolerance. 

Kucoin is a top platform for both beginners and experienced traders. Its intuitive interface is easy to get to grips with and its advanced trading features mean even high volume traders can make use of it. Kucoin also offers an earn feature, where you can generate passive income through staking and lending, making it one of the best all round crypto exchanges. 

The fees: Trading fees are charged on a sliding scale. Fees are 0.1% on trading volumes below 50 BTC in a 30 day period. Discounts are available if you pay fees in KCS or store more than 1000 KCS in your account.

Highlights

Visit KuCoin KuCoin Review
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You can trade Chainlink on a cryptocurrency exchange using a few simple steps. Here’s a quick example that clearly lays out how LINK crypto trading works:

  1. Monitor the price: For simplicity, let’s say the price of LINK/USDT is $1. You read the price charts and decide that now is a good time to start purchasing LINK.
  2. Open a trade: You trade one USDT for one LINK ($1 USD for 1 LINK).
  3. Continue to monitor the price: The following month, one LINK token is now worth $2, a 100% increase.
  4. Close your trade: You trade your LINK token back to USDT for $2.

In this example, you buy and sell Chainlink, doubling your money (trading). While the steps are simple, executing them in a profitable way is not so easy. You need to spend countless hours learning to trade, reading charts, technical patterns, and understanding markets and margin trading; which you can do right here on Invezz.com.

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The simplest way to buy Chainlink cryptocurrency is with your bank card. However, there are plenty of other options as well. Here are some of the top ways to pay for LINK.

  • Buy Chainlink with a credit card or debit card. Card payments are convenient and instantaneous but you may have to pay a higher fee to make a deposit this way. Binance charges 1.8% for a card deposit and some platforms charge as much as 4%.
  • Buy Chainlink with bank transfer. A bank transfer is usually the cheapest way to buy crypto. Crypto platforms like Crypto.com and Coinbase do not charge for bank transfer deposits, while Binance only charges a $1 fee, and these transactions are more or less instant as they run through the Automated Clearing House (ACH) in the US, Faster Payments System (FPS) in the UK, or Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) in Europe.
  • Alternative payment methods. Crypto brokers often let you pay with other providers or money transfer services, like Neteller, Venmo, or Payoneer. The options vary by broker, though, so check what’s accepted before you sign up.
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Most people keep their crypto on the exchange they used to buy it. If you only plan to hold onto it for a little while then that’s a perfectly acceptable option. If you want to hold it for years or you own a lot of Chainlink then you should move it to a crypto wallet.

A crypto exchange is similar to a bank account, in that it means trusting a company to protect your funds for you. A wallet is like your personal wallet, or a safe, where you take responsibility for it yourself. Two of the best Chainlink wallets to use are MetaMask and the Ledger Nano S.

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The answer depends on the current price and your own investment goals. Put simply, buying Chainlink, selling Chainlink, and trading LINK are all the exact same process in literal terms. It’s really just your personal investing intentions that defines whether ‘now’ is a good time to invest or not.

  • If you’re a trader: as a cryptocurrency trader, your goal is to make money trading regularly. What do we mean by regularly? Hourly, daily, weekly. Traders buy and sell a coin quickly to secure their profit (or to avoid a loss). They don’t #HODL a coin long term in the hopes of larger profits. In this sense, any time is a good time to trade Chainlink.
  • As a long-term investor: a long term investor is not concerned if the price is up or down 10% on any given day. Rather, they care that the price of the native token is overall up months or years later, when they’re ready to sell that investment. So if you’re a firm believer in the foundations of LINK, then a good time to purchase Chainlink is on any major dip.

In our experience, most newcomers to the crypto market sit between the two. You don’t want to wait several years for a return, but buying Chainlink and selling it the next day probably isn’t why you’re here either.

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The current Chainlink price today is $10.61, which is -79.93% versus its all time high of $52.88, which it reached on 10 May 2021. LINK is +58.54% this year, with a 52 week high of $22.83 and a 52 week low of $6.63. 

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Regardless, closely following Chainlink price news & analysis will help you decide when to pull the trigger.

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Whether it’s good for you depends on your goals and the fundamentals of the project. Here are some key features of the Chainlink and its token to help you decide whether to invest in LINK.

  • Providing real world data to blockchain projects. The Chainlink network is a data source that supplies real world data to projects that are built on the blockchain. For example, a blockchain app that offers financial assets might need the most up-to-date market data. The more projects like this that exist, the more Chainlink stands to benefit.
  • Decentralised oracle networks. Chainlink provides its data by incentivising people to act as data sources – known as ‘oracles’. These oracles are node operators that translate data from outside of a blockchain into data that can be stored and understood inside a smart contract on a blockchain network. By using lots of oracles, Chainlink ensures the data it provides is accurate. 
  • Expansion outside of the Ethereum network. Initially, Chainlink could only operate on projects built with Ethereum smart contracts. However, since 2020 Chainlink has been on a mission to expand so that it can support smart contracts on other platforms as well.
  • Competition from other data providers. Chainlink isn’t the only project that offers a decentralised data source. Other projects like The Graph provide a way for on-chain apps to receive off-chain data and the challenge is for Chainlink to establish itself as the market leader.

Use this quick summary of pros and cons to compare Chainlink with other, similar projects.

Pros

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  • A way for blockchain projects to access real world data
  • You can earn staking rewards for storing LINK
  • Further rewards on offer for acting as an oracle node
  • Chainlink is an established cryptocurrency that has been around for many years

Cons

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Ultimately, many different factors play into the answer. Cryptocurrency is inherently volatile but you can reduce the risks by investing in quality projects that provide value to the community.

FAQs

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01

Where can I buy Chainlink (LINK)?

02

What do I need to buy LINK?

03

Is Chainlink on Coinbase?

04

Is Chainlink on Binance?

05

Is Chainlink on eToro?

06

What’s the best wallet to store LINK?

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Sources & references

Our editors fact-check all content to ensure compliance with our strict editorial policy. The information in this article is supported by the following reliable sources.

  1. https://chain.link/use-cases
  2. https://chain.link/whitepaper
  3. https://explorer.chain.link/
Risk disclaimer
James Knight
James Knight
Editor of Education
James is the Editor of Education for Invezz, where he covers topics from across the financial world, from the stock market, to cryptocurrency, to macroeconomic markets.... read more.
Prash Raval
Prash Raval
Financial Writer
Prash is a financial writer for Invezz covering FX, the stock market and investing. For over a decade he has traded spot FX full time while... read more.