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How to buy NEO online
This beginner’s guide to Neo takes you through a step-by-step guide to buying or trading the coins, compares the best platforms to get them from, and looks at whether the coin can live up to the hype.
Compare where to buy Neo, and open an account
You can get cryptocurrency now by creating an account with any of the brokers in the table below. These are some of the best crypto trading platforms available today and make it very easy for beginners to get started.
How to buy Neo online – a step-by-step guide
Step 1. Find an exchange
A cryptocurrency exchange offers the widest range of ways to buy NEO right now. An exchange is a platform where you buy and sell coins from other people, so you normally get the best price. Two of the top exchanges where you can find NEO are:
- Binance: Binance is the largest exchange platform in the world. You can buy a huge range of cryptocurrencies, and there is both a ‘lite’ version of the site available for beginners and an avalanche of learning material. Join Binance now >
- KuCoin: KuCoin is another beginner-friendly exchange. It prioritises small volume trading and has lots of helpful advice and tutorials, so it’s ideal for someone just getting started in cryptocurrency. Sign up for KuCoin >
Step 2. Sign up and fund your account
Before you can buy anything, you have to set up an account on the exchange. Be prepared to supply some contact details, like your email address and phone number, along with a form of photo ID to verify your identity.
In terms of funding, it’s usually best to deposit money through a bank transfer. That’s the cheapest method, followed by a credit or debit card. However, it’s possible that the exchange you choose won’t accept fiat currency (like USD or GBP) at all, in which case you need to have a cryptocurrency wallet so you can link that to the account instead.
Step 3. Purchase
To buy Neo, you need to search for its coin symbol which is, simply enough, NEO. Then you’ll see a list of different pairs, such as NEO/BTC and NEO/USDT. Those represent the different ways to pay for it, which in this example are Bitcoin and Tether, respectively.
One thing you may also notice is the lack of regular currencies like GBP and USD that you can use in a swap for Neo. That’s fairly common for small cryptocurrencies and easy to get around; just your money to buy Bitcoin first. Then choose the relevant pair (NEO/BTC in this case), enter the amount you want to spend, and execute the trade. The coins will show up in the wallet section of your account once the purchase goes through.
Step 4. (Optional) Get a suitable wallet
The final step is to decide whether to keep your money in the exchange account or move it into a dedicated cryptocurrency wallet. Wallets are similar to banking apps, which protect your coins behind a password and let you manage your money from there. It’s not necessary to get a wallet, but they are a bit more secure than leaving the money on an exchange. Here are two of the top wallets around:
- CoolWallet: CoolWallet stores your coins on a physical device but lets you access them through an app on your phone. You have to pay a few pounds for the device but otherwise the service is free. Join CoolWallet now >
- Ledger Nano S: The Ledger Nano S is a more robust piece of hardware that’s more like a USB stick. Again, you have to pay for the stick itself but that’s the only cost, and then you access your coins by plugging the device into your computer. Get the Ledger Nano S now >
How to trade Neo – a step-by-step guide
Step 1. Find a CFD broker
To trade Neo you need to find a broker that lets you use CFDs (contracts for difference). Brokers offer a fixed buy and sell price for each coin that may be a little above the market rate, but they are significantly easier for beginners to use than exchanges.
A broker is the best way to go if you’re planning to make lots of trades in order to speculate on small changes in price. They offer free trading (normally) on all the leading cryptocurrencies. Two of the top CFD brokers that allow this kind of trading are:
- eToro: eToro is one of the most popular brokers around and it lets you trade CFDs on all major asset classes. That means you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies, along with stocks, forex, commodities, indices and more. Join eToro today >
- Capital.com: Another CFD broker that offers thousands of CFDs on major asset classes, Capital.com also employs artificial intelligence to help you improve your trading skills. Find out how and sign up for Capital.com now >
Step 2. Create an account and deposit money
Like with exchanges, you need to create an account before you can do anything. Set up the account by providing some contact details and a form of ID, then fund it via a bank transfer or card payment. There are other forms of payment available too, such as PayPal, but this can vary between platforms so you should check first if it’s something you want to use.
Step 3. Learn how to perform technical analysis
The route to successful trading lies in technical analysis. You need to understand how to read price charts, identify specific trends and patterns, and then use that information to shape your trading decisions.
Our course on short term trading covers all the basics of this strategy and is a must-read for anyone who wants to make money this way. At the very least, you should read up on support and resistance levels, as these are two of the most basic trading indicators. By picking out points of resistance you can learn when to buy or sell coins.
Step 4. Decide whether to go long or short
With CFDs you can either buy a coin, which is known as going ‘long’, or sell it (going ‘short). This means that you can predict price moves in either direction, depending on how you expect the market to move. Use your own price analysis and research, along with the latest news, to influence which way you decide to go.
Step 5. Start trading
All that’s left is to actually make the trade. Search for Neo while you’re logged into your broker account and select either the ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ option at the fixed price. Then enter how much money you want to spend, and execute the trade.
Before you do so, you have the option to put stop-loss or limit orders in place. These are essentially planned trades that only execute if the price hits the level you specify. They’re a good way to prevent big losses in case the market were to suddenly collapse or to lock in profit as the price rises.
Should I invest in Neo?
Before you invest in a cryptocurrency like this you should consider the overall state of the market and whether it’s broadly rising or suffering through a fall. Altcoins generally perform well in the good times but are the first hit when the tide turns.
One of the extra factors to consider with Neo is its links to China. The Chinese government has never really embraced cryptocurrency and has been known to suddenly clamp down on industries at the drop of a hat. That might make this a more volatile cryptocurrency than other, similar, projects.
Overall, the best way to approach altcoins is to start with a small amount of money and avoid being too exposed to any one coin. As you learn more about the market and how it fluctuates, and become more familiar with the different cryptocurrencies available, you can increase the size of your investment over time.
Still undecided?
If you still need some more information before making a decision, we can help. Below is a summary of Neo’s main pros and cons, followed by some more tips on when to invest and what its future prospects look like.
Pros
- Neo has been around since 2016, making it one of the more established coins around
- It has powerful backers in China and is one of the leading cryptocurrencies there
- It regularly improves the technology behind Neo to make it more competitive
Cons
Finally, here are three more questions to help you decide whether to invest in Neo.
1. Is now a good time to buy Neo?
That depends on whether you want to buy and hold it for the long term, or trade it quickly to take advantage of short term fluctuations in price. For the former course, it’s usually better to dive in sooner rather than later, although you should wait for relatively calm market conditions before you do so.
For short term traders, the right time is dictated by your technical analysis. Wait for the right moment, when the charts suggest a breakout or some resistance might be imminent, and then buy (or sell) Neo accordingly. Our team of analysts regularly take a look at popular cryptocurrencies and you can use their advice to help you.
NEO price analysis: A correction or end of the rally?
Is NEO price going up or down? Here’s my price prediction for January
NEO price analysis: A correction or end of the rally?
2. What problem does Neo solve, and what are its investment prospects?
Neo is intended to be a more advanced version of Ethereum. That means it offers many of the same benefits, such as the ability to create applications that use blockchain technology, such as decentralised exchanges, but with a few additional features as well.
One of the biggest selling points is that developers can code in a language they understand, such as C# or Python, rather than having to use one specified by the platform. They can create smart contracts that allow for complicated information to be kept secure and transferred between people very easily.
The issue is that there is so much competition. Obviously, Ethereum itself is one competitor, but there are also the likes of Polkadot and Cardano, as well as Lisk, which also lets developers write in simple code. Whether all of these platforms can succeed is an open question and one that only becomes clearer in time. Use the latest news below to follow the battle for supremacy.
Neo N3 MainNet goes live: should you invest in NEO in Q3 2021?
Amid ongoing Chinese restrictions of crypto, is it wise to buy NEO and TRON?
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3. Do you want to hold Neo for the long term?
There are times when this is the right approach, and others when it’s best to get in and out quickly to take advantage of a volatile market. Here are a couple of final points to consider, depending on what you’re looking to do.
Considerations for a long term investment strategy
The most important thing for a long term investor is to find an exchange platform and get Neo from there. That way, you’ll get the best price and find the most ways to pay for it. Then you should think about signing up for a wallet and storing your coins there.
Considerations for a short term trading strategy
A short term approach means finding a CFD broker and learning how to read price charts. You should also prioritise the broker with the lowest fees, as you want to make lots of trades and high trading fees can really eat into your profits.
Fact-checking & 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.
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