How and Where to Buy UNUS SED LEO (LEO) – Detailed Guide
- What is LEO?
- Step 1: Register on Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange
- Step 2: Buy BTC with fiat money
- Step 3: Transfer BTC to an Altcoin Exchange
- Step 4: Deposit BTC to exchange
- Step 5: Trade LEO
- Last Step: Store LEO securely in hardware wallets
- Other useful tools for trading LEO
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Latest News for LEO
- LEO Price Prediction and Price Movement
What is LEO?
What Is UNUS SED LEO (LEO)?
UNUS SED LEO is a utility token that’s used across the iFinex ecosystem. The unusual name is based on a Latin citation from one of Aesop’s fables.
The cryptocurrency allows Bitfinex users to save money on trading fees. The extent of the discount depends on how much LEO that the customer has in their account — and the savings on offer are spread across three tiers. There are fluctuations depending on whether a trading pair is crypto-to-crypto, or crypto-to stablecoin.
UNUS SED LEO launched in May 2019 — and unlike many other cryptocurrencies out there, it is not designed to exist forever.
Who Are the Founders of UNUS SED LEO?
UNUS SED LEO was founded by iFinex after Crypto Capital, the company that processed its payments, saw part of its funds seized by the government. IFinex is the parent company of Bitfinex, which warned that it may not be possible to recover these funds. To cover the financial shortfall, it decided to launch the LEO token.
To make good the money lost, iFinex unveiled plans to gradually buy back the token from investors until none are left circulating in the marketplace. A transparency initiative was also launched so the crypto community could monitor the initiative’s progress, and ensure it was meeting stated targets.
What Makes UNUS SED LEO Unique?
A token burn mechanism means iFinex is committed to buying back UNUS SED LEO from the market on a monthly basis. The amount that’s purchased and burned is equal to at least 27% of the revenues generated by iFinex — and tokens are also purchased at the market rate. In a news release at the time, the company said: “The burn mechanism will continue until 100% of tokens have been redeemed.”
Whereas some cryptocurrencies just launch on a single blockchain, LEO tokens were issued on two blockchains. While 64% of the original supply was on Ethereum, the remaining 36% could be found on EOS.
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How Many UNUS SED LEO (LEO) Coins Are There in Circulation?
As we mentioned, the circulating supply of LEO tokens is designed to diminish over time. Originally, the total supply was set at 1 billion.
LEO was sold for $1 apiece on a 1:1 basis with the Tether stablecoin, meaning that a total of $1 billion was raised over a 10-day period.
There were 660 million ERC-20 tokens at launch, as well as 340 million EOS-based tokens — and Bitfinex allows conversions between the two chains to be made with ease.
At the time, the company described the dual protocol launch as “unique” — and vowed that it would empower the Bitfinex community.
How Is the UNUS SED LEO Network Secured?
These tokens are based on Ethereum and EOS respectively. A dashboard has been released by Bitfinex that offers up-to-minute information on the current supply, and how many LEO tokens have been burned. Bar charts compare LEO burns on a daily basis.
Where Can You Buy UNUS SED LEO?
UNUS SED LEO is available on Bitfinex, Gate.io, OKEx and others. Common trading pairs connect LEO with the U.S. dollar, the USDT stablecoin, Bitcoin and Ethereum. You can find out more about how to convert fiat currencies into Bitcoin here.
LEO was first tradable on 21st May, 2019. It has a total supply of 985,239,504. As of right now LEO has a market capitalization of USD $7,230,063,738.66. The current price of LEO is $7.34 and is ranked 25 out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies on Coinmarketcap and has recently surged 50.15 percent at the time of writing.
LEO has been listed on a number of crypto exchanges, unlike other main cryptocurrencies, it cannot be directly purchased with fiats money. However, You can still easily buy this coin by first buying Bitcoin from any fiat-to-crypto exchanges and then transfer to the exchange that offers to trade this coin, in this guide article we will walk you through in detail the steps to buy LEO.
Step 1: Register on Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange
You will have to first buy one of the major cryptocurrencies, in this case, Bitcoin (BTC). In this article we will walk you through in details two of the most commonly-used fiat-to-crypto exchanges, Uphold.com and Coinbase. Both exchanges have their own fee policies and other features that we will go through in detail. It is recommended that you try both of them and figure out the one that suits you best.
Select Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange for details:
- UpHold
Being one of the most popular and convenient fiat-to-crypto exchanges, UpHold has the following advantages:
- Easy to buy and trade among multiple assets, more than 50 and still adding
- Currently more than 7M users worldwide
- You can apply for UpHold Debit card where you can spend the crypto assets on your account like a normal debit card! (US only but will be in the UK later)
- Easy to use mobile app where you can withdraw fund to a bank or any other altcoin exchanges easily
- No hidden fees and any other account fees
- There are limited buy/sell orders for more advanced users
- You can easily set up recurring deposits for Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) if you intend to hold cryptos long term
- USDT, which is one of the most popular USD-backed stablecoins (basically a crypto that is backed by real fiat money so they are less volatile and can be treated almost as the fiat money it's pegged with) is available, this is more convenient if the altcoin you intend to buy has only USDT trading pairs on the altcoin exchange so you don't have to go through another currency conversion while you buy the altcoin.
Type your email and click 'Next'. Make sure you provide your real name as UpHold will need it for account and identity verification. Choose a strong password so that your account isn't vulnerable to hackers.
You will receive a confirmation email. Open it and click on the link within. You will then be required to provide a valid mobile number to set up two-factor authentication (2FA), it is an extra layer to the security of your account and it is highly recommended that you keep this feature turned on.
Follow the next step to finish your identity verification. These steps are a bit daunting especially when you are waiting to buy an asset but just like any other financial institutions, UpHold is regulated in most countries such as the US, the UK and the EU. You can take this as a trade-off to using a trusted platform to make your first crypto purchase. Good news is that the whole so-called Know-Your-Customers (KYC) process is now fully automated and it shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to finish.
Step 2: Buy BTC with fiat money
Once you finished the KYC process. You will be asked to add a payment method. Here you can either choose to provide a credit/debit card or use a bank transfer. You may be charged higher fees depending on your credit card company and the volatile prices when using cards but you will also make an instant purchase. While a bank transfer will be cheaper but slower, depending on the country of your residence, some countries will offer instant cash deposit with low fees.
Now you are all set, on the 'Transact' screen under the 'From' field, select your fiat currency, and then on the 'To' field choose Bitcoin, click preview to review your transaction and the click confirm if everything looks good... and congrats! You've just made your first crypto purchase.
Step 3: Transfer BTC to an Altcoin Exchange
Select altcoin exchanges:
- Gate.io
- ProBit
- Bitfinex
But we are not done yet, since LEO is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that LEO can be traded, here we will use Gate.io as our exchange. Gate.io is a popular exchange to trade altcoins and it has a large number of tradable altcoins pairs. Use the link below to register your new account.
Gate.io is an American cryptocurrency exchange that launched 2017. As the exchange is American, US-investors can of course trade here and we recommend US traders to sign up on this exchange. The exchange is available both in English and Chinese (the latter being very helpful for Chinese investors). Gate.io’s main selling factor is their wide selection of trading pairs. You can find most of the new altcoins here. Gate.io also demonstrates an impressive trading volume. It is almost every day one of the top 20 exchanges with the highest trading volume. The trading volume amounts to approx. USD 100 million on a daily basis. The top 10 trading pairs on Gate.io in terms of trading volume usually have USDT (Tether) as one part of the pair. So, to summarize the foregoing, Gate.io’s vast number of trading pairs and its extraordinary liquidity are both very impressive aspects of this exchange.
After going through a similar process as we've done before with UpHold, you will be advised to set up 2FA authentication as well, finish it as it adds extra security to your account.
Step 4: Deposit BTC to exchange
Depends on the policies of the exchange you might be required to go through another KYC process, this should usually take you from 30 minutes to possibly a few days maximum. Though the process should be straight-forward and easy to follow. Once you're done with it you should have full access to your exchange wallet.
If this is your first time making a crypto deposit, the screen here may look a bit scary. But don't worry, it's basically simpler than making a bank transfer. At the box on the right, you will see a string of random numbers saying 'BTC address', this is a unique public address of your BTC wallet at Gate.io and you can receive BTC by giving this address to the person to send you the funds. Since we are now transferring our previously bought BTC on UpHold to this wallet, click on 'Copy Address' or right-click on the full address and click copy to grab this address to your clipboard.
Now head back to UpHold, go to the Transact screen and click on BTC on the "From" field, choose the amount you wan to send and on the "To" field choose BTC under "Crypto Network", then click "Preview withdraw".
On the next screen, paste the wallet address from your clipboard, for security consideration you should always check if both addresses are matching. It is known that there are certain computer malware that would alter the content in your clipboard into another wallet address and you will be essentially sending funds to another person.
After reviewing, click 'Confirm' to proceed, you should receive a confirmation email instantly, click on the confirmation link in the email and your coins are on the way to Gate.io!
Now go back to Gate.io and head to your exchange wallets, don't worry if you haven't seen your deposit here. It is probably still being verified in the blockchain network and it should take a few minutes for your coins to arrive. Depending on the network traffic condition of the Bitcoin network, during busy times it may take even longer.
You should receive a confirmation notification from Gate.io once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase LEO!
Step 5: Trade LEO
Go back to Gate.io, then go to 'Exchange'. Boom! What a view! The constantly flicking figures might be a bit scary, but relax, let's get our heads around this.
In the right column there is a search bar, now make sure "BTC" is selected as we are trading BTC to altcoin pair. Click on it and type in "LEO", you should see LEO/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of LEO/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy LEO", inside of the box, choose the "Market" tab here as that is the most straight-forward type of buying orders. You can either type in your amount or choose what portion of your deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy LEO". Voila! You have finally bought LEO!
But we are not done yet, since LEO is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that LEO can be traded, here we will use ProBit as our exchange. ProBit is a popular exchange to trade altcoins and it has a large number of tradable altcoins pairs. Use the link below to register your new account.
ProBit is a cryptocurrency exchange incorporated in Seychelles (ProBit Global) and South Korea (ProBit Korea) and accepting traders from all over the world. The exchange offers a wide selection of altcoins, DeFi tokens, staking events, low-fee trading and other popular crypto services that are accessible via quick and straightforward email registration. Korean users can participate in fiat trading too, though the platform supports South Korean Won (KRW) trading only. Besides, all fiat traders must verify their identity; however, that is not a requirement for international crypto-to-crypto traders. Overall, the platform has a great design, laudable security measures, and a professional team, that makes it one of the better altcoin exchanges worldwide.We have been unable to find any information that US investors should not trade on this trading platform. However, if you are a US investor, you should still always analyze whether your home state is impeding your foreign crypto trade. Sometimes the exchange has opened its doors despite your home state prohibiting you from trading.
After going through a similar process as we've done before with UpHold, you will be advised to set up 2FA authentication as well, finish it as it adds extra security to your account.
Step 4: Deposit BTC to exchange
Depends on the policies of the exchange you might be required to go through another KYC process, this should usually take you from 30 minutes to possibly a few days maximum. Though the process should be straight-forward and easy to follow. Once you're done with it you should have full access to your exchange wallet.
If this is your first time making a crypto deposit, the screen here may look a bit scary. But don't worry, it's basically simpler than making a bank transfer. At the box on the right, you will see a string of random numbers saying 'BTC address', this is a unique public address of your BTC wallet at ProBit and you can receive BTC by giving this address to the person to send you the funds. Since we are now transferring our previously bought BTC on UpHold to this wallet, click on 'Copy Address' or right-click on the full address and click copy to grab this address to your clipboard.
Now head back to UpHold, go to the Transact screen and click on BTC on the "From" field, choose the amount you wan to send and on the "To" field choose BTC under "Crypto Network", then click "Preview withdraw".
On the next screen, paste the wallet address from your clipboard, for security consideration you should always check if both addresses are matching. It is known that there are certain computer malware that would alter the content in your clipboard into another wallet address and you will be essentially sending funds to another person.
After reviewing, click 'Confirm' to proceed, you should receive a confirmation email instantly, click on the confirmation link in the email and your coins are on the way to ProBit!
Now go back to ProBit and head to your exchange wallets, don't worry if you haven't seen your deposit here. It is probably still being verified in the blockchain network and it should take a few minutes for your coins to arrive. Depending on the network traffic condition of the Bitcoin network, during busy times it may take even longer.
You should receive a confirmation notification from ProBit once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase LEO!
Step 5: Trade LEO
Go back to ProBit, then go to 'Exchange'. Boom! What a view! The constantly flicking figures might be a bit scary, but relax, let's get our heads around this.
In the right column there is a search bar, now make sure "BTC" is selected as we are trading BTC to altcoin pair. Click on it and type in "LEO", you should see LEO/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of LEO/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy LEO", inside of the box, choose the "Market" tab here as that is the most straight-forward type of buying orders. You can either type in your amount or choose what portion of your deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy LEO". Voila! You have finally bought LEO!
But we are not done yet, since LEO is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that LEO can be traded, here we will use Bitfinex as our exchange. Bitfinex is a popular exchange to trade altcoins and it has a large number of tradable altcoins pairs. Use the link below to register your new account.
Bitfinex is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange located in British Virgin Islands. There are 150+ coins and 310+ trading pairs on the exchange. Bitfinex is an advanced, veteran cryptocurrency exchange with a haunted past of hacks and allegations. The exchange is well suited for advanced traders and also supplies the option for margin trading and lending. Bitfinex does not accept US customers.Unfortunately for US-investors, this exchange prohibits US-investors from trading on its exchange. So if you are a US-investor and wants to trade here, you’ll have to consider one of the other top crypto exchanges we recommend here instead.
After going through a similar process as we've done before with UpHold, you will be advised to set up 2FA authentication as well, finish it as it adds extra security to your account.
Step 4: Deposit BTC to exchange
Depends on the policies of the exchange you might be required to go through another KYC process, this should usually take you from 30 minutes to possibly a few days maximum. Though the process should be straight-forward and easy to follow. Once you're done with it you should have full access to your exchange wallet.
If this is your first time making a crypto deposit, the screen here may look a bit scary. But don't worry, it's basically simpler than making a bank transfer. At the box on the right, you will see a string of random numbers saying 'BTC address', this is a unique public address of your BTC wallet at Bitfinex and you can receive BTC by giving this address to the person to send you the funds. Since we are now transferring our previously bought BTC on UpHold to this wallet, click on 'Copy Address' or right-click on the full address and click copy to grab this address to your clipboard.
Now head back to UpHold, go to the Transact screen and click on BTC on the "From" field, choose the amount you wan to send and on the "To" field choose BTC under "Crypto Network", then click "Preview withdraw".
On the next screen, paste the wallet address from your clipboard, for security consideration you should always check if both addresses are matching. It is known that there are certain computer malware that would alter the content in your clipboard into another wallet address and you will be essentially sending funds to another person.
After reviewing, click 'Confirm' to proceed, you should receive a confirmation email instantly, click on the confirmation link in the email and your coins are on the way to Bitfinex!
Now go back to Bitfinex and head to your exchange wallets, don't worry if you haven't seen your deposit here. It is probably still being verified in the blockchain network and it should take a few minutes for your coins to arrive. Depending on the network traffic condition of the Bitcoin network, during busy times it may take even longer.
You should receive a confirmation notification from Bitfinex once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase LEO!
Step 5: Trade LEO
Go back to Bitfinex, then go to 'Exchange'. Boom! What a view! The constantly flicking figures might be a bit scary, but relax, let's get our heads around this.
In the right column there is a search bar, now make sure "BTC" is selected as we are trading BTC to altcoin pair. Click on it and type in "LEO", you should see LEO/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of LEO/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy LEO", inside of the box, choose the "Market" tab here as that is the most straight-forward type of buying orders. You can either type in your amount or choose what portion of your deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy LEO". Voila! You have finally bought LEO!
Apart from the exchange(s) above, there are a few popular crypto exchanges where they have decent daily trading volumes and a huge user base. This will ensure you will be able to sell your coins at any time and the fees will usually be lower. It is suggested that you also register on these exchanges since once LEO gets listed there it will attract a large amount of trading volumes from the users there, that means you will be having some great trading opportunities!
BitMart
BitMart is a crypto exchange from the Cayman Islands. It became available to the public in March 2018. BitMart has a truly impressive liquidity. At the time of the last update of this review (20 March 2020, right in the middle of the crisis with COVID-19), BitMart’s 24 hour trading volume was USD 1.8 billion. This amount placed BitMart on place no. 24 on Coinmarketcap’s the list of exchanges with the highest 24 hour trading volumes. Needless to say, if you start trading here, you will not have to worry about the order book being thin. Many exchanges does not allow investors from USA as customers. As far as we can tell, BitMart is not one of those exchanges. Any US-investors interested in trading here should in any event form their own opinion on any issues arising from their citizenship or residency.
Huobi
Huobi is originally a Chinese crypto exchange. From what it seems, it has now registered in the Seychelles. This exchange is one of the six exchanges from the Seychelles. The liquidity at Huobi is impressive. The liquidity, together with its customer support that is open 24 hours a day 365 days a year and good security. If you sign up to Huobi using our link below, you will receive a series of welcome bonuses, as follows: 1. USDT 10 when you have registered and verified your profile, 2. USDT 50 when you have deposited/bought 100 USDT worth of tokens via Huobi OTC, and 3. A chance of up to USDT 60 when you have completed a minimum of 100 USDT worth of crypto-to-crypto trading. Huobi does not allow US-investors on its exchange.
Last Step: Store LEO securely in hardware wallets
Ledger Nano S
- Easy to set up and friendly interface
- Can be used on desktops and laptops
- Lightweight and Portable
- Support most blockchains and wide range of (ERC-20/BEP-20) tokens
- Multiple languages available
- Built by a well-established company found in 2014 with great chip security
- Affordable price
Ledger Nano X
- More powerful secure element chip (ST33) than Ledger Nano S
- Can be used on desktop or laptop, or even smartphone and tablet through Bluetooth integration
- Lightweight and Portable with built-in rechargeable battery
- Larger screen
- More storage space than Ledger Nano S
- Support most blockchains and wide range of (ERC-20/BEP-20) tokens
- Multiple languages available
- Built by a well-established company found in 2014 with great chip security
- Affordable price
If you are planning to keep("hodl" as some may say, basically misspelt "hold" which get popularised over time) your LEO for a considerable long time, you may want to explore ways of keeping it safe, although Binance is one of the safest cryptocurrency exchange there had been hacking incidents and funds were lost. Because of the very nature of the wallets in exchanges, they will be always online("Hot Wallets" as we call them), therefore exposing certain aspects of vulnerabilities. The safest way of storing your coins to date is always putting them into a type of "Cold Wallets", where the wallet will only have access to the blockchain(or simply "go online") when you send out funds, reducing the chances of hacking incidents. A paper wallet is a type of free cold wallet, it's basically an offline-generated pair of public and private address and you will have it written somewhere, and keep it safe. However, it is not durable and is susceptible to various hazards.
Hardware wallet here is definitely a better option of cold wallets. They are usually USB-enabled devices that store the key information of your wallet in a more durable way. They are built with military-level security and their firmware are constantly maintained by their manufacturers and thus extremely safe. Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X and are the most popular options in this category, these wallets cost around $50 to $100 depending on the features they are offering. If you are holding your assets these wallets are a good investment in our opinion.
Other useful tools for trading LEO
Encrypted Secure Connection
NordVPN
Because of the very nature of cryptocurrency – decentralised, it means that users are 100% responsible for handling their assets securely. While using hardware wallet allows you to store your cryptos in a safe place, using an encrypted VPN connection while you trade makes it harder for hackers to intercept or eavesdrop your sensitive information. Especially when you are trading on the go or in a public Wifi connection. NordVPN is one of the best paid (note: never use any free VPN services as they may sniff your data in return of free service) VPN services out there and it has been around for almost a decade. It offers military-grade encrypted connection and you can also opt-in to block malicious websites and ads with their CyberSec feature. You can choose to connect to 5000+ servers in 60+ countries base on your current location, which ensures you to always have a smooth and secure connection wherever you are. There is no bandwidth or data limits that means you can also use the service in your everyday routines such as streaming videos or downloading large files. Plus it is among the cheapest VPN services out there (only $3.49 per month).
Surfshark
Surfshark is a much cheaper alternative if you are looking for a secure VPN connection. Although it’s a relatively new company, it has already 3200+ servers distributed in 65 countries. Apart from VPN it also has some other cool features including CleanWeb™, which actively blocks ads, trackers, malware and phishing attempts while you are surfing on your browser. Currently, Surfshark does not have any device limit so you can basically use it on as many devices as you want and even share the service with your friends and family. Use the signup link below to get an 81% discount(that’s a lot!!) at $2.49/month!
Atlas VPN
IT nomads created Atlas VPN after seeing a lack of top-notch service within the free VPNs field. Atlas VPN was designed for everyone to have free access to unrestricted content without any strings attached. Atlas VPN set out to be the first trustworthy free VPN armed with top-notch technology. Furthermore, even though Atlas VPN is the new kid on the block, their blog team’s reports have been covered by well-known outlets such as Forbes, Fox News, Washington Post, TechRadar and many others. Below are some of the feature highlights:
- Strong encryption
- Tracker blocker feature blocks dangerous websites, stops third-party cookies from tracking your browsing habits and prevents behavioural advertising.
- Data Breach Monitor finds out whether your personal data is safe.
- SafeSwap servers allow you to have many rotating IP addresses by connecting to a single server
- Best prices on the VPN market (only $1.39/month!!)
- No-log policy to keep your privacy safe
- Automatic Kill Switch to block your device or apps from accessing the internet if the connection fails
- Unlimited simultaneous connections.
- P2P support
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy LEO with cash?
There is no direct way to buy LEO with cash. However, you can use marketplaces such as LocalBitcoins to first purchase BTC, and finish the rest of the steps by transferring your BTC to respective AltCoin exchanges.
LocalBitcoins is a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange. It is a marketplace where users can buy and sell Bitcoins to and from each other. Users, called traders, create advertisements with the price and the payment method they want to offer. You can choose to buy from sellers from a certain nearby region on the platform. is after all a good place to go to buy Bitcoins when you can't find your desired payment methods anywhere else. But prices are usually higher on this platform and you have to do your due diligence to avoid getting scammed.
Are there any quick ways to buy LEO in Europe?
Yes, in fact, Europe is one of the easiest places to buy cryptos in general. There are even online banks which you can simply open an account and transfer money to exchanges such as Coinbase and Uphold.
Are there any alternative platforms to buy LEO or Bitcoin with credit cards?
Yes. is also a very easy to use platform for buying Bitcoin with credit cards. It is an instant cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to exchange crypto fast and buy it with a bank card. Its user interface is very easy to use and the buying steps are pretty self-explanatory.
Read more on UNUS SED LEO's fundamentals and current price here.
LEO Price Prediction and Price Movement
LEO has been up 124.71 percent over the past three months, together with its relatively large market capitalization, it is likely that LEO may continue its upward movement and we may see some decent growth out of it. However traders are still advised to do thorough research before putting money into this coin as fundamentals do serve a pretty big part in a coin's price actions in the long run.
Please note that this analysis is purely base on LEO's historic price actions and is by no means financial advice. Traders should always do their own research and be extra careful while investing in cryptocurrencies.
Latest News for LEO
