So what’s the best way to get Cardano (ADA) in the UK?
One of the cheapest ways to buy Cardano (ADA) in the UK is through Coinbase’s Advanced interface. Using this cryptocurrency exchange, you’ll be able to buy Cardano (ADA) at the real exchange rate without paying high fees (max 0.6%).
However, Coinbase’s Advanced interface isn’t a beginner-friendly way to buy Cardano (ADA).
If that’s what you’re looking for, then there are some alternative options you should know about (like CoinJar).
Whatever route you’re looking to take, I’ll outline the best places to buy Cardano (ADA) in the UK in this post.
Summary: Best Places to Buy Cardano (ADA) in the UK
Let’s just get straight to the point: where are the best places to buy Cardano (ADA) in the UK?
The table below summarises the best places to buy Cardano (ADA) in the UK with various payment methods.
| Provider | Payment Method | Fees (Approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Coinbase (Advanced) | UK Bank Transfer | < 1% |
| Kraken | UK Bank Transfer | < 1% |
| CoinJar | UK Bank Transfer | 1% |
| CoinJar | Credit & Debit Card | 2% |
| Crypto.com | UK Bank Transfer | Variable |
| Crypto.com | Credit & Debit Card | 2.99%+ |
| BC Bitcoin | UK Bank Transfer | 5% |
Best Ways to Buy Cardano in the UK
1. Coinbase
In 2023, Coinbase – one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges in the UK – is one of the cheapest places to buy Cardano (ADA) in the UK. It’s been around since June 2021 and is one of the biggest brand names in the cryptocurrency space.
It became possible to deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer in March 2018. This is processed via the Faster Payments (FPS) too, which means that the money you send over to your Coinbase account will be credited quickly (within minutes after your first deposit).
Trading fees are also competitive. They’re volume-based (i.e., the more you trade, the lower you pay), but the maximum you’ll be charged (even if you’re buying small amounts) is 0.6%.
In short?
Here’s what you’d need to do to buy Cardano (ADA) using its Advanced Trade interface:
It’s best to follow along on a desktop computer.
- Create a Coinbase account. You’ll need to verify your identity.
- Deposit GBP using a UK bank transfer into your Coinbase GBP wallet. Your first deposit will take a while to be credited, but thereafter it’s a lot quicker (within minutes for me).
- Switch to the Advanced Trade interface by selecting the ‘Trade’ tab in the left sidebar, then the ‘Advanced’ tab that pops up in the top-left navigation bar.
- Buy Cardano (ADA) with the money you’ve just deposited on the ADA/GBP spot market.
Alternatively, you can buy Cardano (ADA) using Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC), or Ethereum (ETH).
Coinbase’s Advanced Trade interface currently supports 6 Cardano (ADA) trading pairs:
- ADA/USD
- ADA/EUR
- ADA/GBP
- ADA/BTC
- ADA/ETH
- ADA/USDT
On top of Cardano (ADA), you can use Coinbase’s Advanced area to buy dozens of other cryptocurrencies – at the real exchange rate and the same low fees (max 0.6%). This includes cryptocurrencies with smaller market capitalisations like Dash (DASH), Polkadot (DOT), and Aave (AAVE).
Check it out yourself.
Coinbase WebsiteCoinbase Review
2. CoinJar
CoinJar is a simple, easy-to-use platform where you can buy Cardano (ADA) and a growing number of cryptocurrencies (currently 57).
You can buy cryptocurrencies in two ways on CoinJar:
- Buy Cardano (ADA) with GBP deposited using a UK bank transfer (Faster Payments).
- Buy Cardano (ADA) instantly with a credit or debit card.
CoinJar doesn’t charge anything when you deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer, but there is a fixed fee of 1% when buying cryptocurrencies with cash in your account. You’ll pay the same fee when selling cryptocurrencies too.
Using a credit or debit card is the more convenient option (can’t really beat instant, can you?), but you’ll pay a fixed fee of 2% instead. I’ve always thought this was a decent fee considering that alternatives I’ve checked out routinely charge about 4% in fees when buying cryptocurrencies with a card.
3. Crypto.com
The Crypto.com app is not just a platform where you buy, sell, and store more than 250 cryptocurrencies. You can also:
- Earn up to 12% interest on your cryptocurrency balances.
- Get one of the best crypto debit cards around.
- Buy gift cards and top-up your phone with your crypto balances.
- And more…
You can buy Cardano (ADA) in the UK with the Crypto.com app instantly with a credit or debit card, but you will be charged 2.99% in fees.
You can also deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer into your Crypto.com account too (for free), and then use your GBP wallet balance to buy Cardano (ADA) and any other supported cryptocurrency without paying any explicit fees.
However, regardless of which payment method you use, you will be quoted prices that are above the real exchange rate (i.e., what you’d find a popular exchange). When I’ve recently checked, the prices are consistently 1% more than what they should be.
- Create a Crypto.com account. Verification takes minutes.
- Connect your credit or debit card to your Crypto.com account. This doesn’t take long either.
- Use your connected card to buy Cardano (ADA) at the real exchange rate, without high fees (2.99%).
4. BC Bitcoin
BC Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency broker where you can buy Cardano (ADA) with a UK bank transfer. BC Bitcoin also has great feedback from customers. They currently have a 4.9-star Trustpilot rating, with over 500 reviews.
When I read through the reviews, I found lots of praise for how simple and quick they’ve made the registration and buying experience.
BC Bitcoin allows you to easily and quickly buy loads of cryptocurrencies, including Cardano (ADA). They’ll sell you cryptocurrencies at the market rate but there’s usually a flat fee of 5% for orders under £5000 (with a minimum order value of £250)
BC Bitcoin WebsiteBC Bitcoin Review
What is Cardano (ADA)?
Cardano is a third-generation cryptocurrency designed to offer scalability, sustainability, and interoperability. As of now, it’s one of the most popular cryptocurrencies in circulation and has a market cap of just over £47 billion.
Quick Facts
- Aims to create a global financial operating system.
- Peer reviewed-reviewed blockchain.
- Launched in 2017 by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson.
- 45 billion total supply.
- Low transaction fees.
- Used for building smart contracts and dapps.
One of Cardano’s (ADA) defining features is its proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, which it uses to verify transactions on the blockchain. Advocates of PoS note that it is significantly more energy efficiency than proof of work (PoW) – which is used by popular networks like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
ADA (named after the 19th century mathematician Ada Lovelace) is Cardano’s native token.
It has two primary purposes:
- Used to pay for all transactions on the Cardano network.
- Can be staked by holders to help provide security and stability to the network. Users who stake their ADA are rewarded for doing so. (Head over here for an updated overview of the current staking rewards.)
In the future, ADA will also be used as a governance token – allowing holders to vote on proposed changes to the Cardano ecosystem.
Even though Cardano (ADA) has been around for a while, the network didn’t support smart contracts until September 2021. Besides functioning as a low-cost and energy-efficient blockchain, a big part of Cardano’s mission involves becoming a global financial operating system and has placed special attention on banking the unbanked.
Evidence of this can be seen in their efforts to provide economic identities to people in several African countries. Check out this video to learn more about Cardano’s work in Africa.
To understand how Cardano works and what it can do, take a look at the following video:
Interoperability refers to the ability to share information across different blockchain networks. An example of interoperability would be the transfer of data from the Ethereum (ETH) network to the Cardano (ADA) network without using a third-party intermediary.
Wrapped tokens are one of the most popular solutions for Interoperability at the moment. To learn more about Interoperability, read here.
Best Cardano (ADA) Wallets
The Cardano (ADA) official wallet is Daedalus. This is available on Windows, macOS, and Linux. This is a “full node” wallet, which means that it downloads an entire copy of the blockchain.
If you don’t want to do that, then there are two lightweight wallets called Yoroi and AdaLite. There’s also Atomic Wallet if you want a user-friendly multi-currency wallet that’s available on desktop and mobile.
These are decent options. However, it’s well-recommended across the community to use a hardware wallet to keep your cryptocurrency secure.
Here are the three hardware wallets that support Cardano (ADA):
Any Questions?
Thanks for reading this guide on how to buy Cardano (ADA) in the UK!
Still have a question or concern?
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