Like any aspiring author, I was thrilled to see another contest - especially after taking #5 in the previous contest for ChangeNOW which is a DEX I absolutely love and continue to use daily.
So I say to Igor: Count me in!
Below there is a pictorial walkthrough of the ETH to Statera (STA) using Uniswap v2 and MetaMask, though this is not the only method, exchange, or wallet you can use. My reasoning for choosing this particular method is included throughout the article.
Feel free to scroll down for the pictures & walkthrough as this has a bit of a TLDR at the top!
Well, I'd like to go over my experience as I used up a large portion of my day reviewing Statera Project (STA) and cropping pictures for a pictorial walkthrough which I had all but abandoned until a Statera Project admin reached out to me to point out an error I had in understanding the ETH gas fees associated with Statera Token (STA).
I spent some time speaking with the folks in their Telegram channel and I was not disappointed. Unlike Atomic Wallet's circus of a Telegram channel, they offered plenty of suggestions, alternatives, and were not hostile in any way when I ran into things I did not like; there were even other PUBLISH0X members/authors around to help - best of luck to those who enter the contest!
Why I nearly abandoned my Statera Project investment & the contest, AT FIRST, anyways - I'll tell you, so you know it was based on false pretenses:
Ethereum gas fees are at an all-time high. Even with an adjusted slippage rate on Uniswap, I was looking at a 900%+ markup in gas fees alone to convert a very small amount of Ethereum into STA.
By doing it the proper way, I was able to reduce the volume of the gas fees per the total transaction amount dramatically and could have done so even further on a larger budget.
The lowest I saw out of multiple options within a tiny-investment range was $3.60 USD in ETH to exchange a mere $0.40c USD value of Ethereum (ETH) into Statera. 360 / 40 = 9. So, clearly, you do not want to be investing in STA if $4 USD in ETH gas is a problem for you.
However, I made a fatal error in thinking the gas was scaled with the token. It isn't. It's the same fee regardless of how much you buy; this slipped by in conversation and led to a temporary misunderstanding, but a Statera admin reached out to me quickly after my original post and clued me in. This again shows how excellent their community/admin support is; they have a faster response time than my local police.
Helped me save face and save money all in one quick message on Telegram... Thanks, Souvlaki!
Maybe I'll start mining ETH just to help with the gas costs, it wouldn't be the first time. I am extremely excited about Ethereum 2.0 and I am ecstatic that ETH is now on Publish0x!
There is a time factor in entering a contest for authors, as well. Publish0x authors do not get paid hourly. Regardless of winning #1, #5 or #14, I would have made the same 10 DAI based on the rules of the last contest. You can see how this affects the "go for gold" attitude. However, As Igor stated in the comments below, this is not set in stone and will likely be adjusted to meet the community consensus on what is best for how to pay winners; it's a democratic decision.
I could have made the same amount in less time in the last contest. Good posts make $5 USD+ on their own - I had one this last week. This type of prize scale does not inspire me to do my best work, simply to do my work better than most; although I tend to want to polish things regardless - the mind of a perfectionist is always in pain.
This reminds me of that scene in Office Space where Ron Livingston tells his bosses that the current work ethic of the office is to only work just hard enough not to get fired. As a result, he's quickly acknowledged as management material despite acting carelessly at work and pulling no-shows. No meme, that would probably happen IRL in certain contexts.
Time spent cropping and labeling images, taking notes, and conversing with others involved in the project is money out of my pocket. Time IS money, and I am on the clock.
My impression of Statera Project is excellent, however, they picked a controversial time to make a name for themselves as their ERC-20 token isn't even in the top #2,500 yet (Currently #2,519) and people must be actively cautious with cryptocurrencies no matter their popularity, age, or prospects. This goes for ALL cryptocurrencies; anything invested could become forfeit.
However, the FOMO behind this token could very well be true. You could invest some extra Ethereum gas, get some STA at a really low price, and watch it sky-rocket. I figure, why not - they have a strong community and I am always preaching about the importance of social support. The prospects are extremely high even if you are a pump and dump kind of guy.
I even considered using the initial 0.0011 ETH I put into METAMASK just to complete the exchange process, and HODL a single token.
But, at that ETH gas rate, given that Uniswap v2 requires you to use whole integers for STA (Whole numbers, like 1, 2, 3, instead of 1.1, 2.2, 3.3 in decimals) or the exchange will not process on Uniswap - information I was happy to receive via their Telegram. I was extremely confused as to why my screen kept refreshing without any notification, I could not even buy a single token because the gas would have been more than the ETH I sent over at $0.06c+ USD per token.
Long story short, this is not an investment for people who cannot part with $4 USD worth of ETH on top of the STA token costs due to Ethereum going crazy right now!
In other words, I had to send over more Ethereum to MetaMask to make an exchange. Now, I didn't send a lot at first - it was only for a demonstration - a transaction I ended up repeating to make this walkthrough possible:
As you can see, there is nothing you can even do with 0.0011 ETH on Uniswap due to the Ethereum gas fees being so ridiculously high right now.
The 1.03% slippage tolerance was recommended by their Telegram, for those who go through with this process. The original rate was over 1,000% without modifying it in the Uniswap settings - but have no fear; their community has the answers.
One of which you may be asking is: Why 1.03%? Well, this is an important buffer because 1% of every STA transaction is automatically burned.
In fact, if you go through this process, I recommend being in their Telegram while you do it so you can ask questions!
I felt I was taking an exponential risk by paying the ETH gas fee; not reaching for exponential gains from a tiny price point. However, there is a flip side to this: Regardless of the amount of Statera Tokens you purchase, the ETH gas fee will remain the same - similar to BNB and AWC.
For this reason, I recommend if you do invest, you should put down enough money to greatly reduce the volume of the gas fees compared to your investment output! Otherwise, it's a rip-off due to Ethereum gas fees being through the roof lately, which is in its own way a good thing - Ethereum is performing in a flat-out amazing fashion lately. One must not forget that STA runs, in part, on Ethereum!
I have always promised my followers honesty. This was not the easiest project/token to review as there are a lot of options and angles to consider, from exchanges to wallets to my ETH fee confusion. There is no one size fits all recipe for exchanging this token at this moment in time.
The first attempt I made at exchanging ETH for STA sent me down a direction thinking the scaling on Ethereum gas was endless and would result in a disaster for an investment.
Laughable Spoiler: It's not!
Despite my immediate reluctance and a hasty article, their Telegram support is excellent and an admin contacted me letting me know this is not the case. In fact, you can see all records of Statera Token (STA) trades/exchanges and their associated gas fees on this website.
Now that I had the knowledge necessary to not make a piss-poor purchase decision, it was time to obtain some STA!
I opted to use Uniswap v2 which is Statera Project's most suggested exchange. I was forced to opt for MetaMask today due to having a mobile phone on the fritz; however, they do support Trust Wallet and I will be using that in the future.
The first step is going to their site and connecting it to a wallet, Uniswap v2 offers a few options but since my mobile phone is down I went with MetaMask. However, in theory, this will work the same with all wallets except for the initial handshake between the exchange and the wallet. Despite other wallets having better reviews and a user interface, MetaMask is quite safe:
From here you will either link your pre-existing MetaMask account (a couple of clicks) or download the Metamask plugin for Brave/Chrome/iOS. I did both for the sake of a pictorial walkthrough.
For those who already have MetaMask - follow the below steps, if not - continue with the next steps to get MetaMask installed:
Hit connect:
You'll need to activate Statera Token (STA) inside MetaMask, just as users had to do for Loopring (LRC), DAI, and Basic Attention Token (BAT) for Publish0x withdrawals in the past, click on "Add Token" and proceed:
Adding a custom token is quite simple, you click on the custom token panel and enter the token contract address which is 0xa7DE087329BFcda5639247F96140f9DAbe3DeED1 as found on Etherscan here:
Now MetaMask recognizes STA and it will show up in your balance after your exchange:
Uniswap will recognize whether your browser has an available MetaMask wallet to connect to, and if it doesn't you will be directed to download and install it here:
You'll be directed to a Google app install page; this works on both Chrome and BRAVE just as well:
The install process is easy and there isn't much you'll need to do in terms of getting both Uniswap and MetaMask to recognize Statera Token (STA). As with any decent wallet, you will be given (and tested) on a 12-word backup phrase. You can download a text file with yours in a single click in the bottom right-hand corner:
You'll need to enter the 12 words in the proper order to confirm the creation of your wallet:
Once completed, your wallet will be created. I highly recommend you follow the tips below to secure your funds:
Now you need to connect Uniswap to your MetaMask wallet which it will recognize. Sometimes you need to restart your browser first:
Confirmed:
Now simply create a passphrase and you're ready to make an exchange upon connecting the wallet with the exchange:
You'll be prompted to allow the connection via MetaMask, and asked for your passphrase:
Now that you are back to Uniswap, you need to make sure it recognizes Statera Token (STA):
Type in 0xa7DE087329BFcda5639247F96140f9DAbe3DeED1 which is the STA Contract Address which you can confirm here, click Add and click on the token and it will take you back to the exchange:
You will get a generic warning about ERC-20 tokens in general, which simply calls into question the lack of common sense people have in crypto; I can assure you the project & token are legit and this applies to ALL ERC-20 tokens:
From here, we are back to making our first exchange from ETH to STA; I'll quickly note hitting Max is important but you will be modifying the swap amount via STA, and you'll want to change your Slippage Tolerance in the upper-right hand corner of Uniswap settings to 1.03% per Statera Project recommendations which saved me about 10-15% in ETH gas fees & the reason for the 1.03% (or greater) is due to STA burning 1% of every Statera Token transaction:
Now, remember how the Statera Project Telegram community/admins said to use whole numbers? The above is inaccurate for this reason, and a safe way to go about fixing it is simple: Make the 57.0588 STA to 56 even. I would have gone with 57 but due to a quickly changing mid-market price point, 56 was safer:
This is how to properly proceed with the swap/exchange. Hit swap and you'll immediately see the exchange go to work and MetaMask will prompt you to allow the transaction:
And that's it, folks, it only takes a moment for the exchange to process:
As you can see I am now HODL'ing just shy of 56 STA (STA market variance is quick and screenshots don't help!) at 55.44 STA with a current value of $3.45 USD:
The exchange process took a little homework, but once I knew what I was doing it was hassle-free and fast. Cropping pictures is largely to blame, this would have been far, far faster otherwise.
I had similar hopes for Stellar Lumens (XLM) as it has a similarly low price point, but a HODL experiment quickly led me to find I was going to be holding my breath for a long, long time before I saw any real results. I have a far better outlook on this investment due to the pooling options and stability offered by more than one token working in unison; though I must admit any token could skyrocket at any moment, short of a stable-coin.
I recommended the service looks into joining ChangeNOW as they offer the lowest exchange fees (although they would still charge gas fees) because I believe if this token gained easier access and more recognition with a buffered price, it would likely increase their success.
They took that suggestion under advisement and I hope the two services pair together, but they make a valid point that even with ChangeNOW - there is still ETH gas to pay. Fair enough, but it would likely be the cheapest choice, all factors considered. Cross-exchange support with the lowest possible price on a highly popular DEX could not hurt the recognition of the project!
It's important to note there are other ways to obtain Statera, including via credit card through certain exchanges. You are also not limited to using Uniswap for an exchange, it's simply the most recommended. You are also not limited to MetaMask, it was just the wallet I could use while my mobile wallets were unavailable, and may offer help to desktop-only users.
However, since I have no familiarity with any of the other said exchanges, I find it irresponsible to point you in that direction. Statera admins and community members helped me along through this process in MetaMask - but you can use Trust Wallet as well, among others.
The reason I did not use Trust Wallet vs. MetaMask as I am sure some of you are wondering: My mobile phone is down and the other options required a QR linking or similar. I am a bit unhappy about the lack of desktop wallet compatibility, but the reality is that if this token ever does grow exponentially, every wallet will support it, and I made it happen on desktop anyways.
My advice if you plan on investing in Statera (STA): Go to the Statera Project Telegram and ask questions step by step; they are happy to help and are full of information!
I admire their sense of community and their helpfulness to newcomers a great deal. That alone made me change my mind and put some money into this after I ran into some confusion that had me running in the opposite direction.
I hope that speaks loudly as to how quickly my mind can be changed if the people changing it know what they are doing and are not pricks about it!
Atomic Wallet failed on that count, hard. Where AW Failed, Statera Project, and their active community beyond succeeded. Turned me from a critic into a HODL'er right-quick... something that has never happened with any token and myself before.
You can see how I'd say hell no to a 900% Markup, but my calculations were wrong for not factoring a larger purchase. The more you buy, the less the gas matters. I used what was leftover in my COINBASE wallet and I believe I have over 1$ USD in ETH to send back or use for further transactions - including pooling.
This article is not finished & I apologize to any whom liked or tipped my OP; this is the most time I have ever spent on an article since I joined Publish0x.
I'll be back to edit this article for accuracies and demonstrate how to pool STA/ETH tomorrow. :)
Stay healthy & Stay safe!
Questions & comments are always welcome.
-Thomas Wolf
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