How To Buy Cardano: Everything You Need To Know

When Bitcoin values screamed upward in 2017, the term “cryptocurrency” became part of dinner conversation. Dozens of copycat currencies emerged, and the blockchain ceased to be frightening topics for investors and became intriguing. Then, in early 2018, Bitcoin's value fell 50 percent in two weeks and, shortly thereafter, some payment platforms began phasing out their cryptocurrency. But Bitcoin's fall led to the development of blockchain environments like Cardano. Forward-thinking investors are now looking far past the traditional cryptocurrency investments and learning how to buy Cardano.

To understand how to buy Cardano, an investor first must understand what sets the concept of Cardano apart from other cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies. Cardano's creators describe it as “the first [blockchain platform] to evolve out of a scientific philosophy.”

Cardano was created, evolves, and is sustained by a global team of engineers and researchers working in collaboration to create a cryptocurrency that is highly secure and based on an infrastructure that is, as the group describes it, “industrial-strength” in nature. The creators of Cardano cite their methodology, which is based around peer review of all developments, for this strength and flexibility.

In its simplest explanation, Cardano is a blockchain platform, or environment, and ADA is the cryptocurrency used to pay individuals who contribute to that platform. When you hear how to buy Cardano discussed as a concept, the real discussion actually centers around how to build Cardano and then be paid in ADA.

Sometimes, you will see the Cardano cryptocurrency referred to as “Cardano (ADA)” or ADA (Cardano) because ,to obtain ADA, you must contribute in some meaningful way to the Cardano environment. In general, Cardano defines these contributions as:

As the Cardano environment becomes a more attractive place for blockchain developers, the demand for ADA cryptocurrency should increase, attracting more developers and, by extension, increasing the price of the ADA again.

ADA is a traditional cryptocurrency in that it had a long-running initial coin offering (ICO) that began in late 2016 and ended in January 2017. At present, the value of ADA remains relatively low, likely due to an overwhelming number of competitive, high-profile digital currencies on the market and the fact that the highest-profile of them all, Bitcoin, took a truly impressive dive in value over the course of 2018.

However, most analysts agree that 2019 will be a strong year for the Cardano platform and the ADA currency due, in large part, to a growing presence in Asian countries like Japan, where the firm plans to produce and spread ATMs in the over the next 12 months. Analysts predict market cap for ADA could rise to about $40 billion by the end of 2019, which is why so many investors are beginning to demonstrate strong interest in knowing how to buy Cardano.

Probably one of the biggest advantages of owning Cardano (ADA) at present is simply that the barrier to entry is quite low. At time of writing, the cryptocurrency was valued just under $0.03, making it highly affordable and creating the ideal situation for an investor wishing to get in early on what appears to be a promising evolution in blockchain technology.

Because Cardano's blockchain processes may be introduced into just about any other cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, the platform and, by extension, the ADA currency is likely to thrive as long as digital currency and blockchain remain part of the technological environment.

Although ADA is presently resting at a relatively low value, Smartereum analysts predict that it could be worth about $10 by the end of 2019. This would indicate an appreciation rate of about 8,000 percent over the course of the next year for investors who learn how to buy Cardano now, then use that knowledge to acquire it.

In fact, in Japan, ADA is being sold as an “investment to retire on,” and that concept is spreading across Asia. The installation of ADA ATMs will only reinforce this concept and increase the attraction of the digital currency.

For investors who want to buy ADA and invest in the Cardano platform, but are not developers, the purchase process involves multiple steps. Most purchase Bitcoin and then exchange that cryptocurrency for ADA. This can intimidate investors who find the $6,000 (or higher) price tag remaining on Bitcoin to be a bit intimidating. Simply following the three basic steps for how to buy Cardano carefully will leave you with an ADA investment that is ready to build your portfolio and your returns.

ADA uses a highly secure cryptocurrency wallet called a “Daedalus Wallet” for its cryptocurrency transactions. The wallet is intended to grow in strength with the Cardano community, and the developers predict it will “become a universal wallet, blockchain application platform, and an app store” over time. The Daedalus Wallet is the route to redeeming your ADA currency and storing it securely at all times.

To create a Daedalus Wallet, download the right program to work with your computer. There are different versions for Windows and Mac. You will need to decide if you want to allow your wallet to send logs to Cardano and agree to the terms of use. Be patient, since it may take more than half an hour for your wallet to connect to the Cardano blockchain once you have named it, established some basic settings, and agreed to all terms.

When the connection completes, you must then choose the option, “create a new wallet” and activate that wallet. The program will give you a passphrase to write down and then recreate as you review several warnings. Once you have completed the process, your wallet will be “open” and you will receive an address for it. Cardano suggests you write down both the passphrase, which is fully one dozen words in length, and your wallet address, then store both in a secure place.

In order to buy ADA, you must first buy Bitcoin or Ethereum. Most investors researching how to buy Cardano do not realize that this initial purchase is crucial to their eventual ownership of ADA. Because ADA does not trade on any national exchanges, you must purchase a more common cryptocurrency and then trade it for ADA. This does not mean ADA does not have value, only that it is not trading on exchanges at this time.

You will need to set up an account on an exchange that permits the purchase of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or both. Options include:

Be prepared to enter personal information and verify your account by providing:

Once your account on the exchange is ready to go, you will select the “Buy/Sell” option in the exchange and enter the amount of Bitcoin or Ethereum you wish to purchase. Although both currencies are relatively pricey, investors have the option of purchasing fractions of a unit, so you should be able to invest at whatever financial comfort level suits you.

If you already trade in more common cryptocurrencies and have an account on an exchange, you can skip the purchasing step and move straight into exchanging your current holdings for ADA.

Once you have your Bitcoin or Ethereum in hand, your voyage of discovery in learning how to buy Cardano is nearly at an end. Use an exchange platform like Binance to make the trade, funding the Binance account with the digital currency you just purchased. Moving the funds you just bought into this exchange account may take about an hour, so do not be alarmed if there is a wait. Once the account is funded, select “exchanges” in the menu bar and search for one of the following options: “ADA/BTC” to exchange your Bitcoin for ADA or “ETH/ADA” to exchange your Ethereum for ADA.

The exchange platform will ask for your Daedalus Wallet address to facilitate the transfer and, in exchange, will provide you with an address to which you should send your Bitcoin or Ethereum. Once the transfer is complete, the exchange will make the conversion to ADA and the funds should appear in your Daedalus Wallet.

Be sure to use all the funds you loaded into the exchange platform to make your ADA purchase, since leaving cryptocurrency sitting in this type of platform leaves it open to theft and, as with all cryptocurrency, recourse is minimal if someone hacks into your account and steal your digital investment.

For investors seeking reassurance that learning how to buy Cardano is a wise route, the mere fact that ADA may be purchased as well as earned on the platform demonstrates market faith in the currency's potential. In most cases, a cryptocurrency in this stage of development would not be available to investors other than those able to access the currency using technical know-how, much as Bitcoin was only available to those who could mine it or purchase directly from miners for years before it entered the open marketplace.

However, the Daedalus Wallet and other tools associated with making an ADA (Cardano) purchase are not just open for ADA transactions, the academics working on Cardano projects emphasize publicly that the platform's ability to support and enhance multiple cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies will play a critical role in its growth and development. Learning how to buy Cardano now will put investors far ahead of the curve as this blockchain environment continues to expand and grow.