How and Where to Buy IOTA (MIOTA) – Detailed Guide

What is MIOTA?

What Is IOTA (MIOTA)?


IOTA is a distributed ledger with one big difference: it isn’t actually a blockchain. Instead, its proprietary technology is known as Tangle, a system of nodes that confirm transactions. The foundation behind this platform says this offers far greater speeds than conventional blockchains — and an ideal footprint for the ever-expanding Internet of Things ecosystem.

To learn more about this project, check out our deep dive of IOTA.

Because there’s no blockchain, there are no miners, and because there are no miners, there are no fees. Many established networks see costs balloon when congestion intensifies, but IOTA aims to provide limitless throughput at minimal expense.

In time, IOTA’s goal is to become the de facto platform for executing transactions between IoT devices. Given how estimates suggest there could be 20.4 billion such devices out there by 2024, this could end up being big business.

The team behind IOTA believe that the potential use cases don’t end here. They believe their distributed ledger could deliver digital identities to all, result in car insurance policies that are based on actual usage, pave the way for cutting-edge smart cities, deliver seamless global trade and prove the authenticity of products.

Originally known as Jinn, a crowdsale for the project was held in September 2014, and the network officially launched in 2016.

Who Are the Founders of IOTA?


IOTA has four co-founders, and their names are Sergey Ivancheglo, Serguei Popov, David Sønstebø and Dominik Schiener.

According to the IOTA Foundation, the initiative has rapidly grown since then — and team members are now based across more than 25 countries.

Sonstebo and Schiener are collectively co-chairmen of the board of directors, while Popov is a board member and the foundation’s director of research.

Ivancheglo resigned from the Berlin-based project back in June 2019 but continues as an unofficial advisor. At the time, he said in a statement: “I no longer believe that the IOTA Foundation is the best setting for me to realize what we set out to create back in 2014 and 2015. I have always done my best work in a less rigid environment. I am looking forward to continuing the work on both hardware and software development of IOTA independently.”

What Makes IOTA Unique?


Well, as we alluded to a little earlier, the fact that it’s effectively a blockchainless blockchain is rather unusual to say the least.

Tangle’s more technical name is the Directed Acyclic Graph — and as Sønstebø explained in a blog post back in 2015, this technology aims to retain blockchain’s ability to execute secure transactions. The only difference is that it does away with the notion of blocks.

He also wrote: “IOTA should not be considered an alternative coin (altcoin) to existing cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, rather it is an extension of the growing blockchain ecosystem. It’s meant to work in synergy with these other platforms to form cohesion and symbiotic relationships. IOTA is designed to provide one solution that no other crypto does: efficient, secure, lightweight, real-time micro-transactions without fees.”

New transactions are validated by approving two previous transactions from another node — and this is a novel approach because it means that the network’s size and speed will be directly related to how many people are using the platform.

And whereas some cryptocurrencies are run as a business, the IOTA Foundation says it is firmly not for profit — adding that it has the sole goal of making the network as prosperous as possible.

Finally, IOTA has distinguished itself from many other crypto rivals by establishing high-profile partnerships with the carmaker Volkswagen, and helping the city of Taipei to pursue smart projects.

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How Many IOTA (MIOTA) Coins Are There In Circulation?


MIOTA has a maximum supply of 2,779,530,283 tokens — and all of them are in circulation.

When the crowdsale was held, this digital asset was billed as a utility token that could be used for payment across its network, rather than a profit-sharing coin.

An incredibly precise 999,999,999 were sold during the 2015 crowdsale, and this generated revenue of 1,337 BTC for the foundation. Given that Bitcoin was only worth about $325 at the time, this could have resulted in a substantial windfall for the team in later years.

It is worth noting that the supply of MIOTA did increase in later years, with the team arguing that a greater level of supply would make the token suitable for the “tiny nano transactions” that we’ll likely see through IoT devices.

The IOTA Foundation launched in October 2017, and at the time, it owned approximately 5% of the tokens that are in circulation, and these were donated by the community. It said “the majority of these funds will go towards building an army of developers and researchers.”

How Is the IOTA Network Secured?


Given how the IOTA network isn’t a blockchain, you may not think that it would have much need for a consensus mechanism. However, to help keep the network secure, a relatively straightforward Proof-of-Work puzzle is included in the process of validating a transaction.

There have been security concerns surrounding IOTA. In the past, researchers have claimed they have found vulnerabilities in the project’s code.

Where Can You Buy IOTA (MIOTA)?


MIOTA is available on multiple exchanges — many people choose to buy MIOTA on Binance, Bitfinex, and OKEx. According to the project, a range of trading pairs are available, linking the token with Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, and fiat currencies including the Japanese yen, euro, pound, and dollar. Learn more about fiat on-ramps here."

MIOTA was first tradable on 13th Jun, 2017. It has a total supply of 2,779,530,283. As of right now MIOTA has a market capitalization of USD $4,538,626,780.97. The current price of MIOTA is $1.63 and is ranked 35 out of the top 100 cryptocurrencies on Coinmarketcap and has recently surged 44.48 percent at the time of writing.

MIOTA 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 MIOTA.

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.

uphold

Suitable for US traders

Select Fiat-to-Crypto Exchange for details:

MIOTA

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.
Show Details Steps ▾
MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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

MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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:

MIOTA

But we are not done yet, since MIOTA is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that MIOTA 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.

MIOTA

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

MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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!

MIOTA

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 MIOTA!

Step 5: Trade MIOTA

MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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 "MIOTA", you should see MIOTA/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of MIOTA/BTC in the middle of the page.

Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy MIOTA", 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 BTC deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy MIOTA". Voila! You have finally bought MIOTA!

MIOTA

But we are not done yet, since MIOTA is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that MIOTA can be traded, here we will use OKEx as our exchange. OKEx 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.

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.

MIOTA

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

MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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 OKEx 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 OKEx!

MIOTA

Now go back to OKEx 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 OKEx once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase MIOTA!

Step 5: Trade MIOTA

MIOTA

Go back to OKEx, 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.

MIOTA

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 "MIOTA", you should see MIOTA/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of MIOTA/BTC in the middle of the page.

Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy MIOTA", 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 BTC deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy MIOTA". Voila! You have finally bought MIOTA!

MIOTA

But we are not done yet, since MIOTA is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that MIOTA 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.

MIOTA

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

MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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!

MIOTA

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 MIOTA!

Step 5: Trade MIOTA

MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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 "MIOTA", you should see MIOTA/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of MIOTA/BTC in the middle of the page.

Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy MIOTA", 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 BTC deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy MIOTA". Voila! You have finally bought MIOTA!

MIOTA

But we are not done yet, since MIOTA is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that MIOTA can be traded, here we will use Huobi as our exchange. Huobi 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.

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.

MIOTA

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

MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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 Huobi 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 Huobi!

MIOTA

Now go back to Huobi 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 Huobi once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase MIOTA!

Step 5: Trade MIOTA

MIOTA

Go back to Huobi, 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.

MIOTA

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 "MIOTA", you should see MIOTA/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of MIOTA/BTC in the middle of the page.

Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy MIOTA", 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 BTC deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy MIOTA". Voila! You have finally bought MIOTA!

But we are not done yet. We need to convert our BTC into MIOTA. As MIOTA is currently listed on PancakeSwap we will guide you through how to convert your BTC on the platform. Unlike other centralised exchanges the conversion steps will be a little different on PancakeSwap since it is a decentralised exchange (DEX) which does not require you to register an account nor going through any KYC process, however, trading on a DEX requires you to manage your own private key to your altcoin wallet and it is suggested that you take extra care of your wallet private key, because if you lost your keys, it means that you will lost access to your coins forever and no customer support will help you retrieve your assets back. Although if managed properly it is in fact more secure to store your assets in your own private wallet than on exchange wallets. If you are still uncomfortable with using a DEX just yet, check if MIOTA is available on any other traditional centralised exchanges on the tab above. Otherwise let’s follow these steps carefully.

Convert your BTC into BNB on Binance

PancakeSwap is a DEX that is similar to Uniswap/Sushiswap, but instead it runs on Binance Smart Chain (BSC), where you will be able to trade all BEP-20 tokens (as oppose to ERC-20 tokens in the Ethereum blockchain), unlike Ethereum, it greatly reduces the trading(gas) fees while trading on the platform and is gaining popularity recently. PancakeSwap is built on an automated market maker (AMM) system which relies on user-funded liquidity pools and that is why it can work perfectly without a traditional order book from centralised exchanges.

In short, as MIOTA is a BEP-20 token running on Binance Smart Chain, the quickest way to buy it is to transfer your BTC to Binance (or the exchanges listed on the table below for US traders), convert it into BNB, then send it to your own wallet via Binance Smart Chain and swap your BNB for MIOTA on PancakeSwap.

US traders should consider signing up on the exchanges below.

Once you have registered on Binance or the exchanges suggested above, head over to the wallet page and choose the BTC and click deposit. Copy the BTC address and head back to UpHold, withdraw your BTC to this address and wait for it to arrive, this should take around 15-30 minutes depending on usage of the BTC network. Once arrived, trade your BTC to Binance Coin (BNB).

Transfer BNB to your own wallet

Here comes the trickiest part of the process, now you need to create your own wallet to hold both BNB and MIOTA, there are several options to create your own wallet, the best option is to use a hardware wallet, such as Ledger Nano S or Ledger Nano X. They are secure hardware that provide various layers of security to protect your assets, you only have to store the seed phrases in a safe place and never put it online (i.e. do NOT upload the seed phrases to any cloud services/storage/email, and also do not take photo of it). If you are planning to stay in the crypto scene for a while, it is highly recommended that you get a hardware wallet.

Alternatively you can create your own wallet, here we will use MetaMask as an example to show you how to set up your wallet.

Add MetaMask extension to Chrome

We recommend using Google Chrome or Brave Browser here. Go to Chrome Web Store and search for MetaMask, make sure the extension is offered by https://metamask.io for safety and then click Add to Chrome.

MetaMask

Proceed with "Get Started" and then click on "create a wallet" in the next screen, read all the instructions on the next screen and then click "Agree"

MetaMask

Next choose a secure password to secure your MetaMask wallet, this password is not your private key or seed phrases, you only need this password to access the Chrome Extension.

MetaMask

Here comes the backup phrase generation step, on the screen you will see a list of random words appearing after you click "reveal secret words", write these words down on a piece of paper and do not ever save them online, anywhere. For extra security you may even consider getting a Cryptosteel Capsule from Ledger to store your phrases securely and physically.

CryptoSteel Capsule Solo

Once you have saved your seed phrases securely, confirm on the next screen by verifying them. And you’re done! Read the tips once more to ensure you’re fully aware of the security issues and click all done, now your wallet is ready. Now click on the MetaMask icon on the extension bar on the browser and unlock your wallet with your password. You should see your initial balance afterwards.

MetaMask

Now you are ready to deposit your BNB to your wallet, head over to PancakeSwap, click "Connect" at the top and choose MetaMask.

PancakeSwap

If this is your first time to connect with MetaMask you should be asked immediately if you would like to add the Binance Smart Chain network to your MetaMask, please do proceed with this step as it is very important that you make sure you are sending your BNB via the right network. After adding the network, switch to the network on MetaMask and you should be able to see your BNB balance on the Binance Smart Chain. Now copy the address to clipboard by clicking on the account name.

MetaMask

Now head back to Binance or whichever exchange you bought BNB. Go to the BNB wallet and select Withdraw, on the recipient address, paste your own wallet address and make sure it is the correct address, then on transfer network, make sure you have selected Binance Smart Chain (BSC) or BEP20 (BSC)

MetaMask

Click submit and follow the verification steps afterwards. After successfully withdrawing your BNB it should arrive very shortly to your own wallet. Now you’re ready to buy MIOTA finally!

Head back to PancakeSwap, select Trade > Exchange on the left sidebar

PancakeSwap

You should see a relatively simpler interface here with basically just two fields, from and to, and a big button saying either "Connect Wallet" or “Swap”.

PancakeSwap

Click on Connect Wallet if you haven’t done so already. Otherwise you should be able to see your BNB balance here at the from field, enter the amount you would like to exchange for MIOTA and then on the to field, choose MIOTA from the dropdown, the corresponding amount of MIOTA should show up immediately. Verify and then proceed with "Swap". In the next screen, confirm the transaction once more by clicking Confirm Swap. Now MetaMask should pop up and ask you if you want to allow PancakeSwap to spend your BNB, click Confirm. Wait for the confirmation screen until it shows "Transaction Submitted", congratulations! You have finally bought MIOTA!! After a short while you should be able to see your MIOTA balance on your MetaMask Wallet.

PancakeSwap
MIOTA

But we are not done yet, since MIOTA is an altcoin we need to transfer our BTC to an exchange that MIOTA can be traded, here we will use Liquid.com as our exchange. Liquid.com 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.

LIQUID is a reliable exchange, with the Japaneses business branch being licensed and regulated by the Japan Financial Services Agency. They have a good track record of staying compliant with laws and regulations, going as far as delisting almost 30 assets this year to do so. US-investors may only trade crypto-to-crypto (and not fiat-to-crypto) here. The primary reason for excluding US-investors from fiat-to-crypto trading is legal.

MIOTA

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

MIOTA

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.

MIOTA

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 Liquid.com 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 Liquid.com!

MIOTA

Now go back to Liquid.com 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 Liquid.com once your BTC has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase MIOTA!

Step 5: Trade MIOTA

MIOTA

Go back to Liquid.com, 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.

MIOTA

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 "MIOTA", you should see MIOTA/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of MIOTA/BTC in the middle of the page.

Below there is a box with a green button that says "Buy MIOTA", 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 BTC deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click "Buy MIOTA". Voila! You have finally bought MIOTA!

Last Step: Store MIOTA securely in hardware wallets

Ledger Nano S

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

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 MIOTA 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I buy MIOTA with cash?

There is no direct way to buy MIOTA 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 MIOTA 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 MIOTA 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 IOTA's fundamentals and current price here.

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