How and Where to Buy Monero (XMR) – Detailed Guide
- What is XMR?
- 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 XMR
- Last Step: Store XMR securely in hardware wallets
- Other useful tools for trading XMR
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Latest News for XMR
- XMR Price Prediction and Price Movement
What is XMR?
What Is Monero (XMR)?
Monero was launched in 2014, and its goal is simple: to allow transactions to take place privately and with anonymity. Even though it’s commonly thought that BTC can conceal a person’s identity, it’s often easy to trace payments back to their original source because blockchains are transparent. On the other hand, XMR is designed to obscure senders and recipients alike through the use of advanced cryptography.
The team behind Monero say privacy and security are their biggest priorities, with ease of use and efficiency coming second. It aims to provide protection to all users — irrespective of how technologically competent they are.
Overall, XMR aims to allow payments to be made quickly and inexpensively without fear of censorship.
Who Are the Founders of Monero?
Seven developers were initially involved in creating Monero — five of whom decided to remain anonymous. There have been rumors that XMR was also invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, the inventor of Bitcoin.
XMR’s origins can be traced back to Bytecoin, a privacy-focused and decentralized cryptocurrency that was launched in 2012. Two years later, a member of the Bitcointalk forum — only known as thankful_for_today — forked BCN’s codebase, and Monero was born. They had suggested “controversial changes” to Bytecoin that others in the community disagreed with and decided to take matters into their own hands.
It’s believed that hundreds of developers have contributed to XMR over the years.
What Makes Monero Private?
Users shouldn't view all privacy cryptocurrencies as interchangeable or equivalent services because they don't all achieve privacy in the same way. For instance, XMR should be considered a technology that, when used properly, obscures user data on the blockchain, making it harder to identify its users.
What Gives Monero Value?
The secrecy and anonymity offered by Monero are what most users find valuable. It gives people the freedom to conduct cryptocurrency transactions anytime they want for any purpose without being concerned about being watched by the government, hackers or other outside parties. XMR coins cannot be traced, thus they cannot be blacklisted by businesses for alleged illicit connections.
Investors who think that demand for privacy will rise in the future, raising the price and total market cap of XMR, may find value in Monero in addition to its use as a medium of exchange.
Mining on Monero
Monero uses a Proof-of-Work algorithm, RandomX, to validate transactions. The method was introduced in November 2019 to replace the former algorithm CryptoNightR. Both were designed to be ASIC-resistant.
Monero can be mined somewhat efficiently on consumer-grade hardware, such as x86, x86-64, ARM and GPUs, a design decision that was based on Monero's opposition to mining centralization that ASIC mining creates. However, it has also resulted in Monero's popularity among malware-based non-consensual miners.<sup> </sup>
In October of 2021, the Monero project introduced P2Pool, a mining pool running on a sidechain that gives participants full control of their node as with solo mining configurations.
What Makes Monero Unique?
There are several things that make Monero unique. One of the project’s biggest aims is achieving the greatest level of decentralization possible, meaning that a user doesn’t need to trust anyone else on the network.
Privacy is achieved through a few distinctive features. Whereas each Bitcoin in circulation has its own serial number, meaning that cryptocurrency usage can be monitored, XMR is completely fungible. By default, details about senders, recipients and the amount of crypto being transferred are obscured — and Monero advocates says this offers an upper hand over rival privacy coins such as Zcash, which are “selectively transparent.”
Obfuscation is achieved through the use of ring signatures. Here, past transaction outputs are picked from the blockchain and act as decoys, meaning that outside observers can’t tell who signed it. If Ian was sending 200 XMR to Susan, this amount could also be split into random chunks to add a further level of difficulty.
To ensure that transactions cannot be linked to one another, stealth addresses are created for every single transaction that are only used once.
All of these distinctive features have led to XMR being increasingly used for illicit transactions instead of Bitcoin — especially on darknet markets. Governments around the world, especially the U.S., have also offered hundreds of thousands of dollars to anyone who can crack Monero’s code.
Related Pages:
Find out about Zcash, another privacy coin
All you need to know about the basics of crypto
What is a ring signature?
CoinMarketCap Blog: Interviews with top crypto influencers
How Many Monero (XMR) Coins Are There in Circulation?
Monero is slightly unusual as a token sale wasn’t held for XMR — and no tokens were premined either. At the time of writing, the circulating supply of XMR stands at 18,188,773.23.
This cryptocurrency is designed to be resistant to application-specific integrated circuits, which are commonly used for mining new Bitcoin. In theory, this means that it can be possible to mine XMR using everyday computing equipment.
Overall, there will eventually be a total of 18.4 million XMR in circulation — and this cap is expected to be reached on May 31, 2022. After this, miners will be incentivized using “tail emissions,” with a small amount of XMR being fed into the system every 60 seconds as a reward. It is believed this approach is more effective than relying on transaction fees.
How Is the Monero Network Secured?
One of Monero’s main goals has to prevent centralization — and this network uses a consensus mechanism called CryptoNight, which is based on proof-of-work. This prevents large mining farms from becoming a dominant force.
Where Can You Buy Monero (XMR)?
Because of its nature as a privacy coin, XMR isn’t listed on some major exchanges. For example, although you can buy XMR on Binance, it isn’t supported by Coinbase. As a result, you may need to convert your fiat into Bitcoin and go through a smaller trading platform. This guide helps explain how you can convert fiat currencies into crypto with ease. As it’s use grows there has been increased interest in the XMR to AUD and XMR to EUR price pairs.
XMR was first tradable on 21st May, 2014. It has a total supply of 18,394,717.32,813,262. As of right now XMR has a market capitalization of USD $2,383,039,985.03. The current price of XMR is $129.55 and is ranked 39 out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies on Coinmarketcap and has recently surged 28.00 percent at the time of writing.
XMR 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 XMR.
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
- BitMart
- KuCoin
- Binance
- Poloniex
- Bitfinex
But we are not done yet, since XMR is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that XMR 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 XMR!
Step 5: Trade XMR
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 "XMR", you should see XMR/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of XMR/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy XMR", 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 XMR". Voila! You have finally bought XMR!
But we are not done yet, since XMR is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that XMR can be traded, here we will use BitMart as our exchange. BitMart 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.
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.
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 BitMart 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 BitMart!
Now go back to BitMart 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 BitMart once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase XMR!
Step 5: Trade XMR
Go back to BitMart, 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 "XMR", you should see XMR/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of XMR/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy XMR", 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 XMR". Voila! You have finally bought XMR!
But we are not done yet, since XMR is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that XMR can be traded, here we will use KuCoin as our exchange. KuCoin 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.
KuCoin is a cryptocurrency exchange based in the Seychelles (previously Hong Kong). Launched in September 2017, KuCoin claims to have 5 million users from over 200 countries and regions. Often known as the People’s Exchange, KuCoin now offers crypto-related services like crypto-to-crypto, fiat-to-crypto, futures trading, staking, lending and so forth. The exchange has one of the world’s most impressive trading pair selections, with more than 250 supported coins and 440 trading pairs. KuCoin was backed by two giant traditional venture capitals when launching - IDG Capital and Matrix Partners. The exchange also announced a USD 20 million round A funding from them at the end of 2018.US-investors are not listed as prohibited from trading. If you are a US-investor, however, you should still always analyse yourself whether your home state imposes any obstacles for your foreign cryptocurrency 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 KuCoin 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 KuCoin!
Now go back to KuCoin 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 KuCoin once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase XMR!
Step 5: Trade XMR
Go back to KuCoin, 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 "XMR", you should see XMR/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of XMR/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy XMR", 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 XMR". Voila! You have finally bought XMR!
But we are not done yet, since XMR is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that XMR can be traded, here we will use Binance as our exchange. Binance 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.
Binance is a popular cryptocurrency exchange which was started in China but then moved their headquarters to the crypto-friendly Island of Malta in the EU. Binance is popular for its crypto to crypto exchange services. Binance exploded onto the scene in the mania of 2017 and has since gone on to become the top crypto exchange in the world. Unfortunately, Binance does not allow US investors so we recommend you to sign up on other exchanges we recommend on this page.
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 Binance 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 Binance!
Now go back to Binance 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 Binance once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase XMR!
Step 5: Trade XMR
Go back to Binance, 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 "XMR", you should see XMR/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of XMR/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy XMR", 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 XMR". Voila! You have finally bought XMR!
But we are not done yet, since XMR is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that XMR can be traded, here we will use Poloniex as our exchange. Poloniex 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.
Poloniex is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange for both experienced and amateur cryptocurrency traders. It offers a range of crypto markets, advanced trade types, as well as margin trading and crypto lending, which makes it a convenient place for traders from all walks of life. Poloniex is a good and very popular exchange that offers very low trading fees, good customer support, easy registration process, multiple cryptocurrencies, and has other amazing features. As Poloniex is a US cryptocurrency exchange, US-investors may of course trade there. But US-investors should in any event do their own independent assessment of any problems arising from their state residency. In particular, investors from the state of New York are often restricted from trading at many cryptocurrency exchanges.
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 Poloniex 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 Poloniex!
Now go back to Poloniex 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 Poloniex once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase XMR!
Step 5: Trade XMR
Go back to Poloniex, 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 "XMR", you should see XMR/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of XMR/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy XMR", 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 XMR". Voila! You have finally bought XMR!
But we are not done yet, since XMR is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that XMR 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 XMR!
Step 5: Trade XMR
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 "XMR", you should see XMR/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of XMR/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy XMR", 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 XMR". Voila! You have finally bought XMR!
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 XMR 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!
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.
OKEx
OKEx is a crypto exchange that was previously based in Hong Kong. According to info provided directly from the exchange to us, it is now based in Malta. Malta is together with Estonia and Gibraltar one of the few countries in Europe that has clear license requirements for crypto exchanges. When Malta issued license requirements for crypto exchanges, a lot of exchanges from other parts of the world actually relocated to Malta. US-investors may not trade on this exchange. So if you are a US-investor and want to trade at OKEx, you’ll have to reconsider your choice of trading venue and choose one of the other top crypto exchanges.
Last Step: Store XMR 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 XMR 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 XMR
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 XMR with cash?
There is no direct way to buy XMR 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 XMR 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 XMR 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.
XMR Price Prediction and Price Movement
We have seen some downward price movements over the past three months as XMR has dropped 21.06 percent. Though with its relatively large market capitalization, XMR maybe in the middle of a long price consolidation phase, in the case of a strong fundamentals, it would be likely that XMR may bounce back heavily and continue its next phase of upward movement. Therefore traders should spend some extra effort in researching XMR's fundamentals and still be cautious while trading this coin.
Please note that this analysis is purely base on XMR'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.