When you learn about an alternative coin, you need to devote a significant amount of time to learn about the development team behind the cryptocurrency. If you don’t, you’ll quickly find out how fast your your investment can drop in value and have whatever shares your purchased feel like dead weight. While a negative scenario is not always the case, it’s better to do research now rather than pay for it later.
With so many alternative coins available most cryptocurrency investors try to stick to the top currencies on the market. One of the coins presently sitting close to the top is called Dash (DASH).
When compared to other cryptocurrencies, what makes Dash standout?
Those who invest in DASH will see a dramatic increase in the speed of their transactions and the amount in fees they pay for each one. For example, if someone were to send Bitcoins (BTC) to another party, the completed transaction could take roughly 10 minutes. DASH would only take somewhere between four seconds. Additionally, the average transaction cost for BTC hovers around $6, whereas DASH costs $0.4 per transaction. Admittedly this amount will increase as more users invest in the currency as time goes by.
Another unique characteristic available to DASH owners comes from the willingness of the development team to openly respond to the overall community interest through voting. The team does this by presenting a big decision they’d like to make with the currency and provide the community with a voting system. If the community vote in favor of it, the team makes it a reality within a reasonable amount of time. Most cryptocurrency teams have forums designed to received community feedback, but not in this direct of a way.
If DASH sounds like something you’re all for then you’re ready to start asking these questions: how do you buy DASH? What DASH wallets should you download?
Unfortunately the best way to purchase DASH tokens takes a few steps longer than your average cryptocurrency. This process involves you creating a few accounts on different websites, and performing a handful of transfers between these accounts. However, this method should prove the most effective way and prevent you from paying the highest fees as you transfer your funds around. The first step you’ll have to take is go forward and buy Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum. You purchase one of these cryptocurrencies to later exchange for Dash.
Before you can even think about picking up DASH, you need to figure out what type of wallet you want to use. Here’s a small list of the available wallets you can pick from:
Each of the above wallets have a set of features slightly different from the others that make them stand out.
For those looking for a reliable desktop application, the DASH Core wallet was made by the developers to serve the everyday purposes of any Dash user.
A reason people may not immediately want to use the DASH Core desktop wallet is due to the amount of space you’re expected to allocate for the application. Because this was created by the developers, this wallet connects with their blockchain network and your desktop will need to consistently sync with it. However, the program works on a number of operating systems and if you have the hard drive space this application gives you direct control of all your Dash tokens.
In contrast, if you’re constantly on the go then Coinomi may serve you better as you can keep track of your entire wallet from your phone. The download doesn’t take long and you can trade between cryptocurrencies from your smartphone. Because you can exchange different cryptocurrencies on a single account, you can hold multiple varieties from this wallet.
However, Coinomi only works from Android smartphones and iOS users may need to find an alternative mobile program. It’s also important to note you may want to treat the wallet as hot, which means you will want to hold a limited number of funds on this account. Why treat it as hot? If you have all your wallet’s information on your smartphone and you potentially lose it or someone finds a way to hack it, all of your funds become compromised. By holding a majority of your assets on a desktop wallet you can protect a good chunk of your currency while having some to use wherever you go.
Of the three, the Ledger Nano S may feel more reliable to users than the other two. The Ledger Nano S works like a flash drive where you have to plug it into your computer to deposit all of your funds for storage. This means if a hacker wants to gain access to your account they would need to physically handle the device and know your four-digit pin.
This added security comes with the negative of needing to keep track of the device at all times. If you lose the Ledger, you lose all of your funds. Additionally, you need to purchase the device, which is 79.99 €. Because of the price tag many may feel justified in purchasing it if they plan to stay involved in cryptocurrency for a long time.
If none of these seem to fit the way you’d like to handle your cryptocurrency you can pick from the choices highlighted on the Dash website.
When you settle on the wallet you’d like to use, it’s time to start taking steps to purchasing your first DASH tokens!
Creating An Exchange Account
The first step to getting Dash in your new wallet is picking out an exchange website to purchase your ETH or BTC. Here’s a list of a few recommended exchange websites for you to visit:
When you’ve picked your preferred website follow the steps of creating an account. You’ll need to connect an email to this account and once you’ve finished the website will send a message to you to verify yourself with the account. Make sure you verify the account before your proceed.
To anyone interested in avoiding paying higher fees when you transfer your funds between your future accounts, you will want to create an account with Coinbase. This website provide a more cost effective solution, which is detailed later on.
Purchasing ETH or BTC
With your new account verified you can now type in your preferred payment method and place the appropriate amount of fiat currency you want to use to purchase ETH or BTC. At this point you will want to spend a little time doing some research about Dash and calculate out how much you want to start out with. If you already know this amount, then find out how much ETH or BTC you’re going to need to purchase this value so you can avoid having to make multiple transfers.
Also, don’t jump on ETH or BTC based purely on popularity. Take some time to dig around and view the current market value of both currencies. You want to make sure you’re getting the most for the fiat currency you’re going to use and you don’t want to come up short. The answer of which cryptocurrency you should use to get Dash changes on a daily basis.
When you’ve completed your calculations place the amount of funds from your preferred payment to your account and purchase your chosen cryptocurrency. The website will take a few minutes to confirm this purchase and may require you to refresh your browser a few times.
Creating a Cryptocurrency Account and Transferring Funds
Currently, you should have the amount of ETH or BTC you want on your first account on the exchange website. This next step will have you creating a new account on a different exchange website designed for users to exclusively trade a cryptocurrency for another. Here’s a list of recommended websites for you to choose from:
The means of creating a new account on one of these websites should feel similar to when made your first account and should follow the same steps. Go through the process and, to make it easier, use the same email you used on your previous account as you will need to verify yourself with this website. You will want to make sure your verify the account before your transfer any of your recently purchased cryptocurrency over.
For those who created an account on Coinbase to avoid paying higher transfer fees, you will want to create your second account on Binance. Once you’ve done that, proceed to Gdax.com and use your Coinbase login information to create an account. You can do this because Coinbase owns this website. After you’ve done that, transfer your cryptocurrency over to your Gdax account and use your Gdax account information during the next step, not your Coinbase information.
Upload ETH or BTC To Your New Account
At this stage you should have two accounts at the ready: one account with your ETH or BTC on it and another your just made. Because the second account allows you to purchase Dash, you’re going to need to transfer your cryptocurrency over to this account.
To do this, make sure you have the public key address for your second account. When you have this, go to the website where you created your first account, go to ‘transfer’ and send all of the funds you have on that account to your second one. This process may take a little time to confirm. You will want to sit on one of these websites, preferably the one with the second account, and refresh your browser a few times until the balance reflects the appropriate value.
Exchanging for DASH
By this point you no longer need to worry about the first account your created and instead work entirely from the cryptocurrency exchange website because you’re nearly finished!
On your preferred website go to the cryptocurrency market menu and find DASH. Click on the icon and you should transition to a transfer page detailing the amount of ETH or BTC you’ll need to purchase a single amount of DASH. Adjust the values at this transaction point so that you have the amount of DASH you wanted to purchase. When you have everything settled, confirm the purchase and the transfer should happen within a few minutes. Similar to previous times, you’ll want to refresh your browser a few times to ensure the transaction was successful and your account balance reflects the correct values.
Deposit DASH Into Your Wallet
One last step!
You don’t want your funds sitting on the cryptocurrency exchange website for too long. Move those funds over to your wallet by using the application’s program key address with your exchange account and transferring all of your newly purchased DASH.
Those who frequently operate in the cryptocurrency community do this out of habit. They don’t want their funds remaining idle for too long on an exchange website, due to the security risk. If the website becomes compromised they could potentially lose all of the money tied to their account. During this process, if you have to take a break make sure you don’t wait too long to finish up and get DASH on your wallet.
Well done! You’re now the proud owner of DASH and you can now use your cryptocurrency however you like through your wallet. If you wish to purchase more in the future, you’re going to need to follow the same process, however, you’ve already completed creating all the accounts you need to use so you’ll save time by cutting those parts out. Each time you proceed to purchase more cryptocurrency, plan to spend some time to study the market so you can make the best decisions possible before your confirm any purchase.
