Looking to buy AMP in the UK?
Check out this quick post for an overview of the cheapest places (that I know of) to directly buy it with GBP.
Summary: Buy AMP With GBP in the UK
Here’s a quick overview of some popular places where you can buy AMP directly with GBP in the UK.
| Provider | Payment Method | Fees |
|---|---|---|
| CoinJar | UK Bank Transfer | 1.00% |
| CoinJar | Credit & Debit Card | 2.00% |
| Gemini | UK Bank Transfer | 1.99% (if > £150) |
| Coinbase | UK Bank Transfer | 2.00% (if > £200) |
| Crypto.com App | UK Bank Transfer | Variable |
| Crypto.com App | Credit & Debit Card | 2.99%+ |
How to Buy AMP UK
1. CoinJar
CoinJar is currently the cheapest place I know about where you can buy AMP directly with GBP.
CoinJar now supports 57 cryptocurrencies – on top of AMP, this includes Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Chainlink (LINK).
You can deposit GBP into CoinJar with a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments), or instantly make a purchase with a credit or debit card.
Either way, the fees are quite competitive. If you buy AMP with GBP you deposited with a UK bank transfer, you’ll be charged 1% in fees. If you choose to use a credit or debit card, then you’ll be charged a higher fee of 2%.
- Create a CoinJar account (< 10 minutes).
- Deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments).
- Buy AMP using the GBP in your CoinJar account.
- It’ll be credited instantly to your AMP wallet.
CoinJar is also registered with the FCA as a cryptoasset firm. This is something that all crypto-related firms with offices in the UK were trying to get sorted back in 2022.
2. Gemini
Gemini supports more than 40 cryptocurrencies in the UK – which includes AMP, Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and more.
You can get GBP into Gemini via a UK bank transfer (Faster Payments, CHAPS, SWIFT) or with a debit card.
Although using a debit card makes buying cryptocurrencies instantaneous on Gemini, it works out much more expensive. If you stick with using a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments), then you should only pay around 1.99% in fees.
However, this only applies if you’re spending more than £150 in one go. If you buy less than that, then you will end up paying higher fees (see here for details).
- Create a Gemini account (via the web, or its mobile app).
- Deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments).
- Buy AMP using the GBP that’s now in your account.
- It’ll be credited instantly to your AMP wallet.
Like CoinJar, Gemini is one of only a dozen or so other places in the UK that’s registered with the FCA as a cryptoasset firm. They’re also an authorised Electronic Money Institution (EMI).
3. Crypto.com App
The Crypto.com app allows you to buy AMP and more than 250 other cryptocurrencies.
You can deposit GBP using a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments) into the Crypto.com app, or buy AMP using a credit or debit card.
You shouldn’t be charged anything to deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer, but I’ve found that it can take a few hours for the money to appear in your account. On the other hand, using a credit or debit card is instantaneous.
But the thing about using the Crypto.com app is that the fees that you’re going to be charged aren’t that clear.
Although there are no explicit fees when buying with GBP that you’ve deposited into your account, the exchange rate you’re quoted isn’t as low as you’d find elsewhere. This changes all the time.
If you choose to use a credit or debit card, you’ll also be charged an extra 2.99% in fees (as a UK resident).
- Download the Crypto.com app on your mobile (no web interface available).
- Deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments).
- Buy AMP using the GBP that’s now in your Crypto.com GBP wallet.
- It’ll be credited instantly to your AMP wallet.
Crypto.com has a lot to offer besides just buying crypto, and have recently announced that it had more than 10 million users around the world.
Download Crypto.com AppCrypto.com Review
What is AMP?
AMP is the native token for the Flexa Network, a decentralized system for collateralizing the transfer of assets such as cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, and even physical property. This network uses smart contracts that help facilitate collateralization without the need for the oversight of a central authority.
The New York-based Flexa Network was launched in 2019 by Tyler Spaulding, Zachary Kilgore, Daniel McCabe, and Trevor Filter. ConsenSys, a blockchain technology solutions company, helped Flexa with the development of AMP tokens in 2020. The mission of Flexa is to offer “the fastest, most fraud-proof payments network in the world”.
There are many potential use cases for the Flexa Network, but its primary purpose is to make it easier for merchants and consumers to exchange funds at the point-of-sale (POS). Current POS technology isn’t set up for wide-scale crypto payment adoption. Flexa hopes to change that so that buying goods and services using crypto as easy as possible.
How it works is simple:
Anyone looking to make a payment first needs to download the Flexa app, which is called SPEDN (iOS and Android available). You can then load your SPEDN app with the crypto of your choice.
When you want to make a payment with your SPEDN app, your app will create a unique barcode that an eligible merchant can scan to process your transaction. Flexa will then deduct crypto from your account to pay for the transaction and instantly transfer it to the merchant in the crypto or fiat of their choice.
The fact that Flexa allows for crypto payments isn’t exactly revolutionary. But what is interesting is that it allows for instant transaction authorisation – regardless of network congestion. It does so by using staked AMP tokens, which serve as crowdsourced collateral.
AMP tokens collateralize your payment while it’s still pending on the network to ensure that a merchant gets their money immediately. These tokens also serve as collateral against the risk of chargeback fraud or any other payment issue. If there’s ever a problem with a payment after the fact, Flexa will reimburse the merchant to prevent financial loss.
Here’s a video that explains how the Flexa Network operates:
If you want more insight into how AMP tokens operate within the Flexa Network, check out this video:
AMP is a utility token within the Flexa Network. You don’t need to hold any AMP to use the SPEDN app. However, AMP tokens are critical to the functioning of the Flexa Network because they serve as collateral for all transactions.
Therefore, the primary benefit of holding AMP is to get staking rewards. All staked AMP tokens get locked into a smart contract where they can serve as collateral against fraud in all transactions in the network.
Whenever a merchant accepts payment via the Flexa Network, they must pay the network a 1% fee. The funds from these fees are then used to buy up AMP tokens on exchanges. Then, the newly purchased AMP is distributed to anyone with staked AMP.
Keep in mind that staking AMP is not risk-free. If something goes wrong with a transaction, a small amount of staked AMP needs to be liquidated and given to the merchant involved in the sale as a reimbursement. This doesn’t happen very often, but it is possible to lose your staked AMP if widespread fraud impacts the Flexa Network.
Best AMP Wallets
AMP is an ERC-20 token, so it’s easy to manage on lots of popular mult-crypto wallets.
There’s no official AMP wallet though. But if you want to stake your tokens, your best bet is to use a wallet that has a direct integration with the Flexa Network app (called Flexa Capacity).
These wallets include:
- MetaMask
- Coinbase Wallet
- Rainbow
- Trust Wallet
- Argent
Flexa Capacity doesn’t currently support any WalletConnect, so you don’t have any other wallet options if you want to stake your AMP.
However, if you’re only interested in buying AMP and storing the keys to your tokens, you can use nearly any ERC-20-supported wallet.
If you want to use a hardware wallet, you can also use any ERC-20-supported device to store the keys to your AMP. Both the Trezor One and Trezor Model T are excellent hardware wallets for storing the keys to AMP tokens. Trezor Suite, the Trezor wallet interface, also supports AMP, so you can manage your tokens directly in your wallet.
The Ledger Nano S and Nano X are also both compatible with AMP. However, the Ledger wallet interface, Ledger Live, doesn’t support AMP.
So, you would need to connect your Ledger device to MetaMask or another similar platform to manage your tokens. MetaMask is the ideal choice in this situation, especially if you want to stake your AMP directly from a Ledger device. This is because MetaMask has a direct integration with the Flexa Capacity staking platform.
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