This tutorial is a quick start guide to buying MIOTA, the native cryptocurrency in the IOTA ecosystem. It delves into what IOTA is, why an investor would want to invest in the digital asset and how to buy the tokens through a regulated cryptocurrency exchange, one of the most common ways to do so.
INTRODUCTION
MIOTA is a prominent digital currency asset currently among the top fifty most valuable cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation.
Interested investors can easily buy, store and trade it on some of the major cryptocurrency exchanges.
However, there are risks in using trading platforms to buy MIOTA. As an investor, you should make certain considerations to ensure you protect your investments, avoid risks and possibly earn some attractive returns.
In the sections that follow, this guide delves into how to buy MIOTA. The process involves choosing a reliable and trustworthy cryptocurrency exchange, funding your account and then making the purchase.
You will discover what to look for when choosing a trading platform: the risks inherent in choosing between the various exchanges and how to avoid them.
Finally, the guide will describe a simple step-by-step process to buy MIOTA through a centralised crypto exchange. The tutorial introduces Uphold, which is a highly regulated multi-asset brokerage platform.
WHAT IS IOTA (MIOTA)?
MIOTA is a digital currency that uses ‘Tangle’, a decentralised acyclic graph (DAG) technology on which the IOTA project is based. Unlike other cryptocurrencies that are created on a blockchain, IOTA’s Tangle is not a blockchain. Instead, it is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) created to circumvent the drawbacks of more conventional blockchains like Bitcoin.
Created in 2015 to help bring the “Internet of Things” to reality, IOTA was designed with scalability in mind. With typical blockchains, transactions are aggregated into multiple data sets, which are then linked to valuable data sets to form a blockchain, known as a blockchain.
Tangle gets rid of the sequential nature of blockchains by opting to use parallel processing whereby each transaction is validated by referencing two previously verified transactions. Multiple transactions can be verified simultaneously, leading to an infinitely scalable structure. The larger the
IOTA has several advantages over blockchains such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, which include:
It is much more scalable;
The patented Tangle technology is more energy efficient and therefore more environmentally friendly;
Transaction fees on IOTA are currently zero.
WHY INVEST IN IOTA
Although transactions on the IOTA network are free, investors can find value in native MIOTA tokens in a few other ways. These include:
Make payments: the digital economy of the “Internet of Things” or what is sometimes referred to as the “machine economy” that IOTA seeks to enable with its protocol will involve autonomous exchanges of services and products between various devices. MIOTA, being IOTA’s native digital asset, will be instrumental in facilitating payments for such transactions;
Staking: part of IOTA’s core developers are working on the release of Assembly, which is a new protocol that is set to introduce smart contract capability into IOTA’s DLT. With this release, staking has been enabled in Assembly, allowing MIOTA holders to stake their tokens and receive ASMB tokens as a reward. ASMB tokens are designed to be used as native digital assets on the Assembly platform once it launches;
Speculation: cryptocurrencies, including MIOTA tokens, are highly volatile assets and their volatility offers investors the opportunity to profit.
WHERE TO BUY IOTA TOKENS (MIOTA)
There are two types of platforms where you can buy MIOTA tokens:
Centralised exchanges (CEX);
Decentralised exchanges (DEX).
Centralised exchanges are platforms that are controlled by a particular company, and decisions about the governance of the exchange are made by a single person, group or entity. Decentralised exchanges distribute the decision-making activity among a broader set of individuals or entities, thus ensuring that no single party is responsible for the governance of the platform.
CEX platforms have perceived advantages over their DEX counterparts, including:
They adhere to regulatory provisions such as KYC (know your customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) laws;
They generally offer better customer service;
Users generally have access to better and more intuitive user interfaces with CEX platforms over their DEX counterparts;
CEXes tend to process transactions faster than DEXes.
For this tutorial, we will describe how to buy IOTA (MIOTA) through Uphold, a fully regulated, highly secure and easy-to-use multi-asset brokerage platform. It allows users to buy, sell and trade US-based stocks, precious metals such as gold and silver, various national currencies, environmental assets and more than 80 different cryptocurrencies. MIOTA is one of the digital currencies you can access through Uphold.
HOW TO BUY IOTA ON UPHOLD (STEP BY STEP)
Create an Uphold account.
The next section will require a fully verified Uphold account. Therefore, you must register if you are using the platform for the first time.
To do that, visit Uphold.com, click on the Register button at the top right of the homepage.
As a fully regulated exchange, Uphold will require you to provide identification information as part of KYC (know your customer) and AML (anti-money laundering) provisions. For a full guide on how to register with Uphold, please see our guide here.
Log in to your account.
After creating your Uphold account, log in with the email and password provided.
Explore the interface.
Once you are logged in, you will notice three columns that make up the Uphold user interface. The first column provides a list of your transaction history and a quick summary of the performance of the assets on your watch list.
The middle column represents the assets in your portfolio. This is where you will check if the IOTA purchase transaction has been successful. The column provides an overview of all the assets in your account and their market performance over the last day, week, month or year.
Finally, there is the transactions column. It is labelled ‘Anything to anything’, which means that users can trade between any of the available assets. For example, you can trade your gold for Bitcoin or silver for some Tesla shares.
It is the last column that will be of particular focus in this tutorial. There are three tabs in this column that allow the user to specify the type of trade they wish to execute.
Transact: this tab provides essential tools for executing a regular buy, sell or trade order;
Repeat: here, you can set up a recurring sell, buy or trade of IOTA or any other asset;
Limit: the last tab allows the user to set up a limit order type where they specify the price at which they wish to execute a trade.
Here’s how to buy IOTA (MIOTA) on Uphold using all three tabs.
1. How to buy IOTA (MIOTA) on the spot using Uphold
Step 1 – Select the [Transact] tab.
Click on the first tab of the transaction form.
Step 2 – Add a payment method.
Tap / click on the [From] field, revealing a list of available options. Scroll down and locate the Banks and Debit Cards section.
Adding either payment method is simple. Click on the most adjacent symbols corresponding to each option as shown below.
To add a debit card, provide the card details on the tracking screen after clicking on the plus symbol.
Click the [Add card] button to return to the home page.
If you wish to make a bank transfer instead, you will first need to specify the default currency of your bank account.
Then choose a deposit method between a bank deposit and making a bank transfer. The former is instant, while the latter takes a few (working) days to set up.
However, bank transfers are appropriate for large deposits, usually larger than $5K. Once you select a deposit method, Uphold will provide the details of your bank account to which it will make a transfer.
Click [Done] to close the bank details screen and return to the initial transaction page.
Step 3 – Select the asset to purchase.
Then click on the [To] field to display the list of compatible assets you can purchase. Use the search box at the top to locate IOTA or scroll down, click on the [Cryptocurrencies] tab to filter the various asset types, then scroll further to locate IOTA.
Select your payment method and purchase asset set up, then provide the amount you wish to purchase. Here there are three options: you can choose to specify how much to deduct from your bank or debit card using the first field of the form. Alternatively, you can use the middle field, which has the same value as the first one, as they represent the same currency.
The last option is to specify how many IOTA coins you want to buy. If you do so, the system will autocomplete the other fields with appropriate figures according to the exchange rate and taking into account the transaction fees.
Step 4 – Confirm the transaction.
Next, click on the [Preview] button at the bottom of the transaction form to load the confirmation screen. Here, verify that all details are correct, including the payment method, transaction amount and receiving asset.
If everything looks correct, confirm the transaction. It is worth noting that if you opted to use bank transfer as your payment method, it may take a few days for the transaction to settle and have your IOTA tokens credited to your account.
2. How to buy IOTA (MIOTA) using the Repeat function in Uphold
Step 1 – Activate the Repeat function.
You will notice the additional panel that is available on the repeat transaction form. To activate the function, tap the [Repeats] tab or the [Never >] link.
In the pop-up dialogue box, select your preferred repeat frequency, which can be daily, weekly or monthly.
Step 2 – Select start and end dates
By default, the day you set up the transaction will be the start date, but you can change this by clicking on the [Starts] tab and selecting a preferred date.
For the end date, you have two options: choose a definite date or choose the number of occurrences.
Choose the [Occurrences] tab to specify how many times you want the transaction to recur.
Finally, click [Set] to close the dialogue box and return to the transaction form.
In addition, fill in the payment method, transaction amount and receiving asset as described in the previous section.
Step 3 – Confirm the transaction.
Press [Preview] to proceed to the confirmation page, where you will verify that the details are correct, from the payment method, transaction amount and receiving address to the replay settings.
Confirm and authorise the transaction.
Note: You can only use the replay function in conjunction with the debit card payment method. Make sure your card is funded for each subsequent transaction to avoid cancelled orders.
3. How to set up a limit order to buy IOTA (MIOTA) on Uphold
The last option to buy IOTA on Uphold is to use a limit order whereby the buyer has control over the price at which they execute their transaction.
Step 1 – Select the [Limit] tab.
With the Limit tab selected, you get access to a slightly different transaction form, unlike the other two tabs above.
Here you have the same three form fields: one for specifying a payment method, one for the asset being purchased. The middle one, unlike the previous functions where it served as a convenience feature to show the fiduciary equivalent, here actually serves an irreplaceable purpose.
Note that the middle form field now has a green string symbol showing that it is linked to the fields above or below it. The arrows pointing up and down help to show in which direction the middle is connected.
The connection is significant because it allows the user to set the price of the asset they are buying by specifying how much they want to spend in fiat currency and providing the number of tokens to buy with that amount in the [To] field.
To continue, provide a payment method and select IOTA as the purchase asset as we have done above, then fill in the exact amounts in the appropriate form fields.
Step 2 – Specify the validity of the order.
While the limit order allows one to buy an asset at a favourable price, there is a possibility that the market price may not fall or rise to that prescribed level. The validity setting will ensure that the order is cancelled automatically or manually in the event that the market price does not match the execution price.
To change this setting for our order, touch the [Duration] tab to display three options:
‘Good ’til cancelled’ is the manual option where you specify that you will log in to your account to cancel the pending order;
The ‘Good ’til end of day’ setting automatically cancels the order at midnight;
Good ’til date’ allows the user to specify a certain date beyond which the order will be cancelled. If you choose this option, click on the [Set a date] link to choose a date from the calendar view provided.
Once you set up your limit order transaction, click on the [Preview] tab and confirm the transaction. The order will appear as pending until the execution price is reached.
FINAL THOUGHTS
IOTA is a highly innovative project, and its popularity has made it easy for its investors and community members to purchase it. It is now easy to buy IOTA from among the major cryptocurrency exchanges and store it within some of the most popular crypto wallets.
As we have demonstrated in this tutorial, the process is straightforward. Whenever you choose a trading or brokerage platform to buy IOTA, be sure to consider the many factors we provide here to safeguard your investment.
Tip: Anyone new to the cryptocurrency space can search for all compatible cryptocurrency exchanges to buy IOTA and other asset-related metrics on the largest cryptocurrency market aggregator CoinMarketCap.
Disclaimer: The content of this site should not be considered investment advice. Investing is speculative and digital assets are highly volatile. Your capital is at risk when investing, so only invest what you are willing to lose.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT BUYING IOTA (MIOTA)
What is IOTA (MIOTA)?
IOTA is a decentralised network whose infrastructure is based on Decentralized Acyclic Graph (DAG) technology called ‘Tangle’. The network is designed to facilitate communication and value transfer between Internet of Things (IoT) devices. MIOTA is IOTA’s native platform token.
What is MIOTA used for?
MIOTA coins can be used to serve three main purposes:
Transferring value as a payment method;
Gambling for passive income;
Speculation by digital asset traders.
Why invest in IOTA?
IOTA is a highly innovative project with several advantages, which include:
Being highly scalable;
Its entanglement technology is energy efficient;
Transactions on the IOTA network are currently zero.
Where can I buy IOTA (MIOTA)?
IOTA can be purchased on most major cryptocurrency exchanges, including Uphold, a fully regulated and highly secure platform that we used for our demonstration in this tutorial.