How To Buy XDC Network (XDC) (2024)

Forbes Advisor has provided this content for educational reasons only and not to help you decide whether or not to invest in cryptocurrency. Should you decide to invest in cryptocurrency or in any other investment, you should always obtain appropriate financial advice and only invest what you can afford to lose.

XDC Network (previously XinFin) is a hybrid public and private blockchain designed to provide transparent and efficient financial services to its users, globally.

Some users spend XDC, the network’s native coin, to consume the services it hosts.

XDC Network, which is a fork of Ethereum, uses a variant of the proof of stake consensus mechanism to validate blocks of transactions, called delegated proof of stake. 

Unlike proof of stake – where validators are chosen according to their stakes in the network – delegated proof of stake sees users democratically elect validators.

Currently trading at £0.02, down from an all time high of £0.12, XDC is available from a number of crypto exchanges. Here’s how to buy XDC Network.

1. Choosing a crypto exchange

Unlike Bitcoin, Ethereum or many other altcoins, XDC is only available from a limited number of crypto exchanges. Each has different fees and features to weigh up. All have featured in our pick of the best crypto exchanges.

Once an investor has decided which exchange is the best fit for them, they’ll need to create an account. This typically involves sharing some personal details and, increasingly, passing a quick identity verification test. This might entail uploading a selfie or following a series of on-screen prompts in front of theirwebcam or smartphone camera.

After the investor has signed up, they’ll need to credit their account with some fiat currency (Sterling) in order to buy XDC.

2. Choosing a payment method

When funding an account, the investor will have options of how to pay. Direct bank transfer is likely the cheapest and simplest way to credit an account, but a credit and debit card are also options.

Credit and debit card transactions on crypto exchanges typically carry a 3% fee. Credit Card companies may also treat the former as a cash advance, which means they’ll likely charge more in interest than they would with a normal purchase, plus any additional charges.

Regardless of the investor’s method of purchasing crypto, taking on debt to invest in what is an incredibly volatile and unpredictable market is a high risk.

Many banks now have daily limits on how much they will allow investors to spend with a crypto exchange.

And, even if an investor wanted to buy a single XDC token for £0.02, they may find the exchange enforces a minimum deposit of around £10.

3. Buying XDC

With the investor’s account credited, they can navigate to the XDC page within their exchange’s website or app and enter how much they’d like to spend. The investor should check the trade preview is what they’re expecting and then execute the trade.

The investor will now see their account credited with XDC.

4. Storing your XDC

Once the investor has executed the trade, they’ll have the option to keep their private and public keys in the wallet provided by the exchange or to move them elsewhere.

They can’t make a trade without their public and private keys, so they need to be stored somewhere secure.

Exchange-hosted wallets can be convenient because the investor only needs to remember their login details for their exchange. They’re also offered for free, generally.

Another benefit is that if the investor forgets their login credentials they can follow the exchange’s ‘forgot your password’ process to regain access to their keys.

One of the drawbacks is that these kinds of ‘hot wallets’ are a prime target for cybercriminals who can – and have – compromised people’s accounts and stolen their assets.

Alternatively an investorcan choose a third-party wallet provider to distance their exchange account from their keys. This will mean paying a fee to a separate provider and having another set of login credentials to remember. Wallet providers are, however, also a target for hackers.

The final option is an offline hardware or ‘cold’ wallet. These storage devices hold an investor’s private and public keys and aren’t automatically connected to the web, making them potentially safer from criminals. However, once plugged into a web-connected device, the  security provided by the ‘air gap’ between the device and the criminal is closed and is potentially vulnerable.

Hardware wallets also come with a price tag and, ifan investor were to forget their wallet’s ‘seed phrase’ (a string of random words used to access a wallet), they’d unlikely get support to regain access to their keys thanthey would from a hot wallet provider.

Cryptocurrency is unregulated in the UK. The UK regulator, the Financial Conduct Authority, has repeatedly warned investors that they risk losing all their money if they buy cryptocurrency, with no possibility of compensation.