How to Buy Altcoins on Coinbase

With the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies in recent years, many different cryptocurrencies have become more popular. For many people that can’t afford to invest in coins like Bitcoin which cost thousands of dollars, buying a different coin for a couple of dollars might be a better investment option.

This is why many people look to buy altcoins. The problem some people encounter when trying to buy altcoins is finding an exchange that sells the one you want. If you are curious about how to buy altcoins on Coinbase, then you should continue reading the information below to learn the steps for doing so. 

What is Coinbase?

For those of you that don’t already know, Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It is used by millions of people every year to buy, sell, and even learn about cryptocurrencies.

Coinbase is a great platform for people who are just getting into cryptocurrency because of its user-friendly interface that is similar to that of stock trading apps, and their Coinbase learn program which pays you in cryptocurrency to learn more about crypto. 

How to Buy Altcoins on Coinbase

Now that you know what Coinbase is, you are ready to learn how to buy altcoins on the platform. There are just a few simple steps you need to take in order to do this. 

However, before listing the steps to buy altcoins, some of you might still be unsure of what an altcoin is. An altcoin is any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. Since Bitcoin is the biggest, most valuable cryptocurrency there is, any coin that you can think of that isn’t Bitcoin is considered an Altcoin. 

Here are the steps for buying Altcoins on Coinbase.

Step 1: Research

The first step you will need to take is to find the altcoin that you want to invest in and do your research on it. Even though you’ll probably only have to pay a few cents or a couple of dollars for one of these altcoins, it is still important that you do your research before you buy.

Thousands of people have lost their money in scams involving altcoins that traded for just a few cents. This is why it is important to do your research before buying any altcoin. 

Step 2: Check Coinbase for Your Altcoin

Your second step will then be to check if the altcoin you are trying to buy is traded in Coinbase. Although Coinbase has hundreds of different altcoins, they do not trade every altcoin that exists for obvious reasons. 

To do this all you need to do is go to the buy/trade option once you are logged into your Coinbase account. Then you will need to type in the ticker symbol for the altcoin you are trying to buy. For example, if you were trying to buy Cardano you would type in ADA. If the altcoin you are looking for is traded on Coinbase then it should pop up when you type in its ticker symbol. 

If the altcoin you are looking for doesn’t show up then that means that it is not traded on Coinbase and you would have to go to a different exchange or give up on buying that altcoin altogether. 

Step 3: Purchase the Altcoin

Once you have found the altcoin you want to buy all you need to do is input the amount of money that you want to spend on the purchase. For example, if you wanted to buy ADA which trades for a hypothetical price of $1 and you wanted to buy 10 of them you would just type in the number 10. 

In order to do this, you would have had to link your bank account to your Coinbase account. To do this you just need to follow the steps that Coinbase gives you when you first open your account. 

What Can You Do With Altcoins?

Now that you know how to buy altcoins, you might be wondering what you can even use them for. Due to the fact that there are thousands of different altcoins, they have many different uses depending on the one you buy.

Obviously, some altcoins have more use to them than others while some of them simply have no uses at all. Here are some examples of things you can do with some altcoins. 

Buy NFTs

The first thing you can do with some altcoins is buy NFTs. You can buy NFTs with altcoins such as Ethereum and Solana. These two cryptocurrencies are the ones that are mainly used for buying and selling NFTs. 

Popular NFT marketplaces such as OpenSea use Ethereum as their form of currency, so if you wanted to buy an NFT from their website you would need to have some Ethereum ready. 

Use them on Platforms

Another thing that you can do with altcoins is use them on platforms or websites. This is mainly true for Ethereum which is the biggest, most valuable altcoin in the market right now. There are many websites that allow you to make payments and buy items using Ethereum. 

For example, there are many games to earn cryptocurrency games that use Ethereum as their currency. You can buy characters and items using Ethereum, and you can also receive Ethereum for performing certain tasks within the game. MintDice is an online gambling platform that eventually plans to add the capability to use Ethereum to play games to their site. 

The cryptocurrency games scene is certainly growing and as a result, more and more games are coming out with their own altcoins to use as the currency for their games as opposed to all of them using Ethereum. 

Hold on to Them

Another thing you can do is hold your altcoins as an investment. At the end of the day, many people choose to invest in altcoins because they are more likely to give them large returns on their investment. 

When you think about it, it is much easier for an altcoin that costs $1 to quadruple in value than for a larger cryptocurrency like Bitcoin to do the same. However, with that being said, investing in altcoins is way riskier than investing in Bitcoin, so you will need to take that risk into consideration when investing in altcoins.