Where & How to Buy Polkadot (DOT) for Beginners in 2025

The safest and easiest way to buy Polkadot is through a cryptocurrency exchange, which functions similarly to a stock trading platform. It takes just a few minutes to buy Polkadot this way. Follow our quick step guide below.

How to buy Polkadot quickly in 3 steps

To get Polkadot, 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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Sign up to one of the best crypto platforms to start trading. 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 14 crypto platforms for users based in

Sort by Recommended Minimum Deposit Safest Platforms User Rating

4.2

Coinbase

Min. Deposit $10

Fees Up to 0.6%

No. assets 150+

Demo account No

Visit site

Coinbase review

3.9

Kraken

Min. Deposit $10

Fees 0.10% – 0.26%

No. assets 90+

Demo account Yes

Visit site

Kraken review

4.3

Uphold

Min. Deposit $1

Fees $0.99

No. assets 250+

Demo account Yes

Visit site

Uphold review

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

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 Polkadot token

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

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

The easiest way to buy DOT

The overall best platform to buy Polkadot for beginners is Coinbase .

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

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

Best exchanges to buy Polkadot (DOT), reviewed

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

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4

Ratings

$10

Min. deposit

Up to 0.6%

Fees

200

No. assets

No

Demo account

Overview

We love Coinbase Wallet because it gives you full control over your cryptocurrency holdings with strong security and safety measures in place. The non-custodial wallet supports a wide range of coins including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and various ERC-20 tokens. 

If you’re looking for a solution to manage multiple assets in one place, the Coinbase wallet’s flexibility offers the perfect solution. It uses secure technology to ensure private keys are stored locally on your device and not on centralized servers.

The wallet also uses biometric authentication and encryption to further enhance security. You can also create a recovery phase to back up your wallet. Besides top security, the wallet offers easy integration with decentralized applications (dApps) and decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms. 

The fees: Coinbase wallet does not charge for storing assets. You will need to pay network fees for transactions. These fees will vary depending on the blockchain network used.

Highlights

No. of tradable assets	150+
Min. Deposit	$10
ID verification required	Yes
Free demo account	No
Supported assets	Crypto, NFTs
Mobile trading app	Yes
Web trading platform	Yes
Regulatory bodies	FSA, FCA, NFA

Fees & Costs

Trading fees	Yes
Inactivity fees	No
Rollover/overnight fees	No
Withdrawal fees	Yes
Spreads	Yes
Conversion fees	Yes

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

Read review Visit Coinbase

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

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3.5

Ratings

$10

Min. deposit

0.10% – 0.26% (volume dependent)

Fees

90

No. assets

Yes

Demo account

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

No. of tradable assets	200+
Min. Deposit	£10
ID verification required	Yes
Free demo account	Yes
Supported assets	Crypto, NFTs
Mobile trading app	Yes
Web trading platform	Yes
Regulatory bodies	FSA, AUSTRAC, FCA, MiFID II, FinCEN, FINTRAC

Fees & Costs

Trading fees	Yes
Inactivity fees	No
Rollover/overnight fees	No
Withdrawal fees	No
Spreads	Yes
Conversion fees	Yes

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

Read review Visit Kraken

3. Uphold. Best for building long term wealth

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4

Ratings

€1

Min. deposit

$0.99

Fees

300

No. assets

Yes

Demo account

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

No. of tradable assets	250+
Min. Deposit	$1
ID verification required	Yes
Free demo account	Yes
Supported assets	Crypto, Commodities,
Mobile trading app	Yes
Web trading platform	Yes
Regulatory bodies	FSA, FinCEN

Fees & Costs

Trading fees	No
Inactivity fees	No
Rollover/overnight fees	Yes
Withdrawal fees	No
Spreads	Yes
Conversion fees	Yes

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

Read review Visit

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

4. KuCoin. Best social trading altcoin exchange

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4

Ratings

$-

Min. deposit

…

Fees

–

No. assets

No

Demo account

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

No. of tradable assets
Min. Deposit
ID verification required	No
Free demo account	No
Supported assets
Mobile trading app	No
Web trading platform	No
Regulatory bodies

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.

Read review Visit KuCoin

5. Paybis. Best crypto platform for choice of payment methods

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4

Ratings

€4

Min. deposit

Variable

Fees

90

No. assets

No

Demo account

Overview

We love Paybis because it is one of the simplest crypto platforms to use, making it ideal for both beginners and experienced traders. The intuitive interface makes the process of buying and selling cryptocurrencies smooth, fast, and hassle-free. 

Paybis offers a good selection of coins to buy and sell including popular options like Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as many altcoins. With such a wide range of tokens, you’ll be able to diversify your portfolio and take advantage of market opportunities very quickly. 

One of the best features of Paybis is its selection of payment options. Not only can you buy Bitcoin with a credit or debit card using USD, but you can also choose from several payment apps and digital wallets. 

The fees: How much you will pay will depend on the payment option you use. Paybis provides detailed information on the types of fees applied. You can expect competitive rates, with clear outlines of transaction and network fees, before buying or selling.

Highlights

No. of tradable assets	90
Min. Deposit	$4
ID verification required	Yes
Free demo account	No
Supported assets	Crypto
Mobile trading app	Yes
Web trading platform	Yes
Regulatory bodies	MAS, FinCEN

Fees & Costs

Trading fees	Yes
Inactivity fees	No
Rollover/overnight fees	No
Withdrawal fees	Yes
Spreads	Yes
Conversion fees	No

Pros & Cons

Low fees when buying or selling crypto Easy to navigate interface Excellent customer support functions

Fewer cryptocurrencies compared to other platforms Limited trading tools

Read review Visit Paybis

How to trade DOT

You can trade Polkadot on a cryptocurrency exchange using simple steps. Here’s a quick example that clearly lays out how DOT crypto trading works:

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

In this example, you buy and sell Polkadot, 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 and technical patterns, and understanding markets and margin trading, which you can do right here on Invezz.com.

What is the best way to invest in Polkadot (DOT)?

The simplest way to buy Polkadot 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 DOT.

• Buy Polkadot 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 Polkadot with a 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.

• Buy Polkadot with PayPal. Some crypto brokers accept deposits via PayPal. Not many exchanges offer this option. However, you can find here the best crypto exchanges that accept PayPal.

• 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.

How do I store Polkadot (DOT)?

Most people keep their crypto on the exchange they used to purchase 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 Polkadot 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 Polkadot wallets to use are MetaMask and the Ledger Nano S.

Should I buy Polkadot now?

The answer depends on the current price and your own investment goals. Put simply, purchasing Polkadot, selling Polkadot, and trading DOT are all the exact same process in literal terms. It’s just your personal investing intentions that define 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 Polkadot.

• As a long-term investor: a long-term investor is not concerned if the price is up or down 10% on any given day. Instead, 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 DOT, then a good time to purchase Polkadot is on any significant 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 Polkadot and selling it the next day probably isn’t why you’re here either.

How has Polkadot (DOT) performed this year?

The current Polkadot price today is $4.54, which is -91.74% versus its all time high of $55.00, which it reached on 04 November 2021. DOT is -49.67% this year, with a 52-week high of $11.60 and a 52-week low of $3.65. 

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

Is Polkadot (DOT) a good investment?

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

• Polkadot connects different blockchains. Polkadot is trying to solve the issues that have held blockchain technology back so far. Most notably, these are transaction bottlenecks and the difficulty of sharing data between isolated blockchains. Polkadot perform many transactions simultaneously, can transfer data internally, and build bridges that connect it to external blockchains.
• Demand for DOT may increase if more developers join. If the Polkadot network entices more developers, it could increase demand for the rest of the DOT in circulation. The aim is to have 80% of the DOT in existence locked up within Polkadot, cutting the supply of DOT on the market in the first place. Polkadot has also been able to get the jump on some competition and is doing deals to bring new developers on to start building.
• To build on Polkadot, DOT tokens are required. If a developer wants to build a decentralised app on the Polkadot network, they will need to ‘buy’ or ‘lease’ a slot to build on. They can only pay for this slot using DOT tokens. As the network grows and more apps are built on it, the value of DOT should increase with more usage. 
• DOT tokens can be staked to earn rewards. Staking is the process of locking up some of your coins to earn rewards by validating transactions. You can use a number of different services to stake your DOT tokens to earn passive income, which is especially beneficial to long term holders. Polkadot provides stable APY raning between 10% – 20%. 
• Polkadot still has challenges to overcome. The main one comes in the form of Ethereum 2.0. Many of the problems Polkadot is trying to solve are also being addressed by its bigger-name rival in an update that’s being rolled out over the next couple of years. If Ethereum 2.0 is a success, Polkadot could find it difficult to convince developers to keep working on its own network. 

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

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.

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