Where & How to Buy Zcash (ZEC) for Beginners in 2025

Use our step-by-step guide to learn how and where to buy Zcash on 5+ highly rated crypto platforms.
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Updated on Oct 10, 2024
Reading time 3 minutes

Zcash coins are available buy via a cryptocurrency exchange, which functions similar to a stock trading platform. It takes just a few minutes to buy Zcash this way. Follow our quick step guide below.

How to buy Zcash quickly in 3 steps

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To buy Zcash 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 12 crypto platforms for users based in

eToro review
4.6
eToro
Min. Deposit $100
Fees 1%
No. assets 50+
Demo account Yes

eToro review

51% of retail CFD accounts lose money. Your capital is at risk.

Coinbase review
4.2
Coinbase
Min. Deposit $10
Fees Up to 0.6%
No. assets 150+
Demo account No

Coinbase review

Kraken review
4.0
Kraken
Min. Deposit $10
Fees 0.10% – 0.26%
No. assets 200+
Demo account Yes

Kraken review

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 Zcash token

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

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

Where to buy ZEC easily

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

Here are the top five places to buy Zcash, 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. KuCoin: Best social trading altcoin exchange
  5. OKX: Best for futures and margin trading

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

Best exchanges to buy Zcash (ZEC), reviewed

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We found 12 crypto platforms for users based in

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

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4.5
Ratings

$100

Min. deposit

0% commission

Fees

50

No. assets

Yes

Demo account

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

Fees & Costs

Pros & Cons

51% of retail CFD accounts lose money. Your capital is at risk.

2. 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 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

Fees & Costs

Pros & Cons

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

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4
Ratings

$10

Min. deposit

0.10% – 0.26% (volume dependent)

Fees

200

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

Fees & Costs

Pros & Cons

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

Pros & Cons

5. OKX. Best for futures and margin trading

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4
Ratings

$-

Min. deposit

Fees

No. assets

No

Demo account

Overview

We love OKX because it’s an adaptable and flexible exchange, with an app that’s available in three different versions depending on how you trade. Choose from the beginner-friendly Lite version, Web3 option for NFT traders, or the Pro version for a plethora of trading tools. 

From an app or desktop you can trade 350+ crypto coins on one of the world’s top crypto exchanges. You can fund your account easily, through a variety of simple payment methods, and a sliding scale of fees that means you can access discounts by holding the OKB token or trading high volumes.

The fees: Regular users pay a 0.1% fee on spot crypto trades. OKB crypto holders are entitled to a discount, up to 0.02% off for holding more than 2,000 coins. High volume traders are also entitled to a discount, with the cheapest fees available for traders with a 30 day trading volume above $10,000,000,000.

Highlights

Pros & Cons

How to trade ZEC

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

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

In this example, you buy and sell Zcash, 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.

What is the best way to pay for Zcash (ZEC)?

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The simplest way to buy Zcash 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 ZEC.

  • Buy Zcash 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 Zcash 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.

How do I store Zcash (ZEC)?

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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 Zcash 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 Zcash wallets to use are MetaMask and the Ledger Nano S.

Is now a good time to buy Zcash?

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The answer depends on the current price and your own investment goals. Put simply, buying Zcash, selling Zcash, and trading ZEC 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 Zcash.
  • 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 ZEC, then a good time to purchase Zcash 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 Zcash and selling it the next day probably isn’t why you’re here either.

How has Zcash (ZEC) performed this year?

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The current Zcash price today is $70.73, which is -98.81% versus its all time high of $5,941.80, which it reached on 29 October 2016. ZEC is +116.57% this year, with a 52 week high of $78.95 and a 52 week low of $15.97. 

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

Is Zcash (ZEC) a good investment?

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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 Zcash and its token to help you decide whether to invest in ZEC.

  • Zcash is an alternative to Bitcoin and allows for complete anonymity. Unlike Bitcoin, which records the details of each transaction on its public ledger, Zcash allows users to keep their identity completely secret by enabling them to perform transactions without revealing their addresses, transaction amounts, or other identifying information.
  • Zcash is arguably more true to its ideals compared to other cryptos. Bitcoin was initially marketed as a decentralised and anonymous currency, but it has become more centralised and transactions can be traced. Zcash, on the other hand, places a strong emphasis on privacy and anonymity and has implemented advanced cryptography to ensure this.
  • Zcash can be used as a form of payment. Zcash can be used to purchase goods and services from a few merchants that accept it as a form of payment. The Moon app allows anyone to spend Zcash anywhere that accepts Visa by converting Zcash into fiat currency.
  • It encrypts each transaction. Zcash uses zero-knowledge proofs to encrypt the details of each transaction, making it impossible for anyone to trace the details of the transaction.
  • Zcash’s anonymity can be attractive to crypto enthusiasts. The anonymity provided by Zcash makes it an attractive option for people who value privacy and want to keep their financial information and activities private. This can include cryptocurrency enthusiasts and anyone who wants to stay anonymous online.
  • Cryptocurrency regulations may hurt Zcash. Its anonymity can also be associated with illegal activities, which may negatively impact its reputation and result in increased regulation in the future. This could work against Zcash in the long term if there is a crackdown on anonymous cryptocurrencies.
  • Zcash faces competition from coins like Monero and Dash. Zcash is just one of many coins that prioritise privacy and anonymity. Other coins like Monero and Dash have been around for longer and were created to be more secretive than Bitcoin. This competition could make it more challenging for Zcash to gain widespread adoption.

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

Pros

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  • Zcash prioritises anonymity and keeping your transactions secret
  • Its otherwise very similar to Bitcoin, with the same security
  • You can spend it with participating merchants already
  • Some of its tech is already used by JP Morgan Chase

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 Zcash (ZEC)?

02

What do I need to buy ZEC?

03

Is Zcash on Coinbase?

04

Is Zcash on Binance?

05

Is Zcash on eToro?

06

What is the best wallet to store ZEC?


Sources & references

James Knight

James Knight

Editor of Education

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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. His main focus is on improving financial literacy among casual investors. He has been with Invezz since the start of 2021 and has been...