How to buy Zilliqa Coin online
This guide introduces you to the Zilliqa platform how it all works. It explains what to look for before you buy ZIL, and the best brokers to use to do so.
Compare where to buy Zilliqa Coin, and open an account
To invest in ZIL straight away, you can use one of these brokers. Otherwise, keep reading to find out about Zilliqa, how it works, and for our step-by-step guide on how to buy ZIL.
What is Zilliqa?
Zilling (ZIL) is a cryptocurrency that powers the Zilliqa platform. Zilliqa works in a similar way to Ethereum, and its ZIL coin is used for peer-to-peer transactions or to reward contributors to the platform.
Zilliqa was the first blockchain with ‘sharding’ technology to become publicly available. Sharding carries out transactions much faster than original blockchains because it divides up the work required.
Although Zilliqa was the first, there are now a lot more platforms that use sharding. The extra competition has prevented ZIL from gaining value to the same extent as other cryptocurrencies. It hit its all-time high of $0.18 in May 2018 but quickly fell from that level, then spent most of 2019 and 2020 below $0.01.
How does Zilliqa work?
ZIL coins are used on the Zilliqa platform to pay for transactions, validate smart contracts, and can be staked to earn interest. ZIL offers a high yield for staking – up to 6% annually – to encourage people to hold on to their coins.
Zilliqa was the first of many platforms to use sharding to make the blockchain scalable. Sharding is a technique of dividing up blocks so they can perform transactions independently and at the same time, before bringing them together again to add a full block onto the end of the blockchain.
With sharding, platforms can process transactions exponentially faster. Zilliqa can perform many thousands of transactions per second, and the extra speed opens up blockchain technology to a whole range of different uses. The Zilliqa platform has already been used for finance, gaming, and advertising applications.
How to buy Zilliqa online – a step-by-step guide
Step 1. Find an exchange to buy Zilliqa
Once you’ve decided to buy ZIL, you need to find an exchange, fund it with either fiat currency or cryptocurrency, and then you can buy Zilliqa. To buy ZIL coin straight away, you can visit either of the exchanges below:
- Binance: One of the biggest names in the cryptocurrency trading space, Binance allows users to trade hundreds of different cryptocurrencies, including Zilliqa. You can open an account right now.
- BitMEX: BitMEX is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency exchange platform that allows for trading using Bitcoin (BTC). You can open a BitMEX account today.
Step 2. Sign up and fund your account
You’ll usually have to sign up and create an account before you start trading. Each exchange is different, but you’ll need to verify your identity with a type of photo ID. This can be a passport or driving licence.
Once you’ve created the account, you just need to fund it then you’re ready to buy ZIL.
Step 3. Buy Zilliqa
Now that your account is created and full of funds, you just need to find Zilliqa and buy it. If you have Bitcoin in your account, that just means finding the ZIL/BTC crypto pair and clicking ‘buy’ to execute the trade.
Step 4. (Optional) Get a suitable wallet
A wallet lets you hold your coins securely. Most exchanges will hold your coins for you, so this step isn’t necessary. You should note that if you use an exchange like Binance it can be better to hold your ZIL there. Binance has a partnership with Zilliqa which means you can earn rewards by using its wallet.
Plenty of other websites offer wallets and here are two more worth considering:
- Ledger Nano S: Ledger has a partnership with Zilliqa and its Nano S device is a hardware wallet similar to a USB stick. It keeps your coins in cold storage, completely offline, and protects them even if you connect to an infected computer. Get the Ledger Nano S now >
- Freewallet: Freewallet is an online wallet that you canuse to access your coins through the browser or on a mobile app. You can hold more than 100 different coins and it comes with an integrated exchange as well. Sign up for Freewallet >
How to trade Zilliqa – a step-by-step guide
Step 1. Find a broker
The top brokers let you trade cryptocurrency as well as stocks, forex, and commodities. Make sure to check your broker offers Zilliqa before signing up, as it can be quite difficult to find one that lets you trade it at the moment. Plus500 and eToro are good places to start looking, as they have been around for a while and are easy to get to grips with.
Step 2. Deposit money
Once you’ve chosen a broker, you’ll need to put some cash down as a deposit. The process is fairly straightforward and minimum deposit requirements are usually pretty low, so you can start with a relatively small bankroll.
Step 3. Decide how you’d like to trade
There are two main ways to trade cryptocurrencies: spread betting or CFDs (contracts for difference). While there are some differences, both methods require you to take a position on whether you think the price of your chosen cryptocurrency will rise or fall over a set period of time. If you’re just starting out, it might be worth doing some research on spreads and CFDs before you jump in.
Step 4. Start trading
Once you’ve put down a deposit, you’ll no doubt be raring to go, but we recommend you set up a demo account with your broker before you start trading for real. It’s easy to win and lose money very quickly when trading, so it makes sense to get a feel for the platform you’ve chosen as well as the ebb and flow of the cryptocurrency market.
In essence, all you need to do is take a position on whether the price of your cryptocurrency will increase or decrease. If you think it will increase, take a long position (buy). If you think it will decrease, take a short position (sell).
You may opt to take advantage of leveraged betting, which is a feature of most trading platforms. Leverage enables you to put down a fraction of your trade’s total value as a type of deposit called a ‘margin’. However, this is a high-risk strategy, so it’s probably not for beginners. Experienced traders understand this and use stop-loss orders to mitigate risk.
Still undecided?
If you aren’t sure whether to buy ZIL yet, don’t worry. We’ve got some more information to help you, starting with a summary of Zilliqa’s pros and cons. After that, you’ll find a few more questions to think about that can help you make a decision.
Pros
- Earn generous interest if you hold onto ZIL for a long time
- A first mover in sharding technology, ahead of many competitors
- The ZIL coin offers low-cost entry into the crypto space
Cons
- A lot of competition to be the platform to solve scalability
- Its dual proof of work/proof of stake system is a little outdated
Finally, here are three more questions to think about before you invest in Zilliqa.
1. Is it a good time to buy Zilliqa?
Whether you should buy Zilliqa now depends on your ultimate goals. If you want to get involved in the platform, there are generous rewards on offer for staking your coins. If you want to buy as an investment or as part of a short term trading strategy, there are a few more things to consider.
You want to think about whether the current ZIL price represents an opportunity, and whether it can outperform the competition. You want to stay on top of things like any controversies that affect Zilliqa – there’s been some problems with transactions being rejected in the past – and all the latest developments. Here is our market analysis to help you:
Zilliqa, VeChain, SushiSwap price analysis roundup
Up or down? Zilliqa (ZIL) price prediction for January
Zilliqa (ZIL) price prediction for November
2. What problem does Zilliqa solve, and what are the coin’s investment prospects?
Zilliqa solves the problem of making blockchain technology scalable while using up less energy. It was one of the first companies to break down the barrier that had prevented the blockchain from being used for more applications.
ZIL’s investment prospects are coloured by the amount of competition it’s up against. Big name crypto leaders like Ethereum are developing their own sharding technology, while Polkadot and Algorand have gone live with their own platforms. Many of those platforms offer returns for holding coins as a way of stabilising the currency and investing in its success. Zilliqa is one of the most generous, and lets you earn rewards for any coins that are held in a wallet, not just on its platform.
Always do your research before buying cryptocurrency. You should dig into the competition and what the different platforms offer if you intend to hold for the long term. You can also track the latest moves in cryptocurrency here:
98% of Zilliqa (ZIL) tokens have been swapped for native $ZIL
Zilliqa (ZIL) team offers a solution for stuck transactions
Zilliqa (ZIL) sees 40% sharp rise in the last weeks of 2020
3. Do you want to hold Zilliqa for the long term?
Whether to buy Zilliqa as a long term investment depends on your goals. It offers more benefits for buying and holding than other cryptocurrencies but hasn’t shown much sign of substantial growth so far. Whereas many of its competitors are new to the scene and only began trading in 2020, ZIL has been available for longer. It held its initial coin offering (ICO) in January 2018, so there is more data to base your decision on.
Considerations for a long term investment strategy
If you think the Zilliqa platform can transform its position as a sharding pioneer into growth, buying ZIL as a long term investment might be a good idea. You should find an exchange and buy ZIL straight away.
Another benefit from investing long term is the ability to earn ZIL as interest on coins that you hold. You can earn ZIL so long as you hold your coins in one of its partner wallets. You can also earn rewards if you hold your coins on the Binance exchange.
Considerations for a short term trading strategy
Trading Zilliqa to benefit from swings in price is another viable strategy. This can be risky, but you can learn about how to use technical analysis to read price charts and try to predict market moves. If you want to trade quickly and often, you should make sure to sign up for a broker that offers low trading fees so you don’t give up too much of your money every time you make a trade.
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