145
This quick-ish post is focused towards newbies and meant to help everyone to lower transfer/funding costs. No bad jokes, puns, or poorly designed meme/cover photos- well, maybe not.
I use several centralized exchanges for different reasons be it coin choice, security, or convenience. Since I am based in the US it can sometimes be difficult to get ahold of a little bag of those smaller gems without paying outrageous gas, transaction, or exchange fees.
KuCoin for Gems
I use KUCOIN for a lot of my lesser known small and microcaps, because they have a huge coin choice. They have all the large caps too, but that isn't my primary use. They partner with Publish so we can push our earned AMPL over, so I see no reason to support them as well; now please add FARM Ku! KCS, their native token, has also seen incredible value appreciation this year and pays a consistent divi.
One reservation I have with KuCoin is that it is based in Hong Kong. I do not link my bank account (nor have I tried) because I am skeptical that my US bank will allow any transfers. This does not mean that I don't trust KuCoin will properly secure my assets; in the past they refunded their customers when their system was hacked. They are a legitimate exchange with a ton of features and coin choice, which is one reason I use their platform. It's just that many US Banks will deny transactions or close accounts if they don't agree with how you use your fiat. If you have the ability to link your banking information and choose to do so- that will probably be the cheapest option.
KuCoin has many other payment options available (a few listed below) to fund your account, but I have found that the best option for me is to transfer assets directly from my Binance.US account. I fund that account directly through ACH so there is no initial charge from BINANCE to place fiat on that exchange. So choose whatever exchange you prefer that allows a cheap or free on-ramp of your fiat.
Don't use CC/Debit
I would recommend NOT using the credit/debit card option as the processing fees are fairly outrageous. As a test today I looked to see what it would cost for me to purchase $500 in USDT. Simplex was the "best" offer and it would cost $55 USD.
What to Transfer
Once your fiat is on your exchange you have several options to trade into. Check the withdrawalfees website to see what your preferred exchange will charge for transferring out your desired assets.
Today I chose to use the Algorand network to move assets to KuCoin. The cost was $.01 for me to transfer $500 USD worth of ALGO compared to a $55 processing fee for the integrated CC/Debit option or around $20 to move USDT directly. There are cheaper options such as XLM, but I chose ALGO because there are no memos involved and one less item of complexity.
Next, transfer those assets directly into your KuCoin trading account. My ALGO deposit arrived in about 30 seconds.
Trading Pairs
Once you successfully make the deposit into your trading account you can swap into USDT or any other available trading pair you choose. I went directly into USDT, which cost ~$0.50 USD because my microgem only has USDT, BTC, or ETH pairs. So make sure you are aware of what trading pairs are available for the asset you wish to purchase.
Finally, trade into that project you have been coveting, which could cost you another $0.50 USD or so.
Total Transfer Cost
.01 + .50 + .50 = $1.51
Transfer and transaction costs can eat up your bag quickly if you let them, especially if you are working with a smaller amount of funds. Yes, this method is a bit more complicated but it will save you mucho dinero in the long run.
Thank you for reading and following.
I own positions in KCS and FARM. Follow me on Torum or Twitter.
