One of the cheapest ways to buy Compound (COMP) in the UK is with Coinbase‘s Advanced Trade dashboard. This is a cryptocurrency exchange that allows UK residents to deposit GBP with a simple UK basic transfer and pay low fees whenever you trade (max 0.6%).
But there are alternative ways to buy Compound (COMP) that you might prefer.
Check out this quick guide for more information.
Where is the Best Place to Buy Compound (COMP)?
Here are some of the best places where you can buy Compound (COMP) in the UK with various payment methods.
| Provider | Payment Method | Fees (Approx.) |
|---|---|---|
| Coinbase (Advanced) | 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% |
Coinbase Advanced has trading fees that are less than 1%. Unfortunately, you can’t buy Compound (COMP) directly with GBP on it.
This means that you’ll need to:
- Deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer.
- Buy Bitcoin (BTC) with GBP.
- Exchange Bitcoin (BTC) for Compound (COMP).
This means you’ll have to pay the trading fees on these exchanges TWICE. It’s also a little more inconvenient.
If you don’t want this extra faff, then an alternative way to buy Compound (COMP) in the UK is with CoinJar. This allows you to buy a growing number of cryptocurrencies, including Compound (COMP), directly with GBP quickly and easily – without getting ripped off.
Keep reading to find out more.
How to Buy Compound (COMP) in the UK
1. Coinbase
Coinbase is a cryptocurrency platform where you can buy Compound (COMP) in the UK.
With this option, you’ll be able to buy Compound (COMP) at the real exchange rate without paying more than 0.6% in fees. But to get those low fees, you’ll have to enable the Advanced version of Coinbase:
- Select Trade in the left sidebar.
- When the page reloads, select the Advanced tab at the top of the page.
- You can toggle between the Simple and Advanced modes by coming back to this spot.
But – like on other popular crypto exchanges – you’re not able to buy Compound (COMP) directly with GBP on Coinbase Advanced. The only available trading pairs are:
- COMP / USD
- COMP / BTC
This means you’ll need to make two trades on Coinbase to buy Compound (COMP). This effectively increases the amount you’re paying in fees to about 1.2% if you take this route.
- Create a Coinbase account. You’ll need to verify your identity and address to comply with KYC regulations.
- Send GBP (with a UK bank transfer) to Coinbase. My initial deposit took a while, but thereafter I’ve had GBP credited in just a few minutes.
- Enable the Advanced Trade UI (Instructions above).
- Buy Bitcoin (BTC) with GBP on the GBP/BTC spot market (real exchange rate, max 0.6% fees).
- Buy Compound (COMP) with the Bitcoin (BTC) you’ve just bought on the COMP/BTC spot market (real exchange rate, max 0.6% fees).
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2. CoinJar
Instead of providing you with a complex trading interface, CoinJar have focused on making it as simple, quick, and easy as possible to buy cryptocurrencies like Compound (COMP).
You can access it via your browser, or download their easy-to-use mobile app.
There’s a fixed fee of 1% when you buy any cryptocurrency on CoinJar. The exchange rate you’re offered is pulled from the CoinJar Exchange, which is sometimes higher than in other places (but less than 0.5% when I’ve checked).
You can deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer. It supports Faster Payments though, so I’ve found that my deposits are credited within just minutes. But FYI, your first transfer might take a little longer.
- Create a CoinJar account. It doesn’t usually take long to get verified.
- Deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer into your GBP wallet on CoinJar.
- Buy Compound (COMP) with your GBP wallet balance. No messing around.
Alternatively, you can buy Compound (COMP) using a debit or credit card on CoinJar. This is a bit more convenient, but you’ll pay twice as much (2%) in fees.
What is Compound (COMP)?
Compound (COMP) is the ERC-20 governance and utility token of the Compound protocol. Both the token and the protocol are officially called Compound, but for simplicity’s sake, I’ll call the token COMP.
The Compound protocol is a decentralised finance (DeFi) software that lets investors lend and borrow digital assets without the need for a centralised authority, like a bank. It was founded in 2017 by Geoffrey Hayes and Robert Leshner, but the protocol’s whitepaper wasn’t released until 2019.
Compound’s core purpose is to serve as a lending pool where anyone can deposit assets into the pool for borrowers to use. Borrowers need to both put up collateral for their loans and pay interest to lenders in exchange for access to their funds.
This kind of lending and borrowing might not sound revolutionary. However, the world of lending and borrowing used to be controlled solely by banks who had the final say over who could borrow money and on what terms. DeFi protocols like Compound remove central authorities like banks from the equation so anyone that can put up the right collateral can get a loan.
Where does COMP come into the picture, you might ask?
Whenever someone borrows or lends crypto on the Compound protocol, the protocol awards them with COMP tokens. These tokens are designed to incentivize people to use the protocol so they’re distributed whenever someone interacts with the network.
The protocol uses complex calculations to determine how much COMP users earn. But the more someone borrows or lends, the more they’ll automatically earn in COMP tokens. Since COMP tokens are governance tokens, each token holder gets voting rights whenever a change is proposed to the Compound protocol.
Here’s a quick video that explains the role of COMP tokens in the Compound protocol:
Since COMP is a governance token for the Compound protocol, the primary benefits of holding the token are to gain voting rights on all proposed changes to Compound. In fact, the Compound protocol purposefully tries to incentivize people to use the software by supplying users with COMP tokens that then let them vote on future protocol upgrades.
Voting rights on a DeFi platform may not sound like a huge deal. But proponents of Compound argue that the value of COMP will rise as the protocol becomes more widely adopted. Since there’s no central authority governing Compound, some people think that the ability to vote on future changes to the protocol will drive prices of COMP higher over time.
Of course, this all depends on how widely Compound is adopted and whether there are other competing DeFi lending and borrowing platforms that investors might be more interested in using. If investors think that they can get better interest terms elsewhere, they may not care for Compound and its COMP governance tokens in the first place.
Best Compound (COMP) Wallets
COMP is an ERC-20 token, so it’s easy to store the keys to your COMP tokens in many hardware and software wallets.
There’s no official COMP wallet, but Compound Finance only supports a select number of wallets on its DApp. If you want to use one wallet for storing the keys to your COMP and the keys to any ERC-20 tokens that you lend on Compound Finance, using a wallet with direct integration with the DApp is often a good idea.
Currently, the Compound Finance DApp supports direct integrations with the following software wallets:
- MetaMask: A super popular software wallet, MetaMask is a browser extension and mobile app that’s designed for use with all ERC-20 tokens, including COMP. You can lend ERC-20 tokens directly from your MetaMask wallet and collect any COMP tokens you earn in your wallet, too. Alternatively, you can send any COMP that you buy on an exchange to a MetaMask wallet.
- Coinbase Wallet: The other software wallet with direct integration to the Compound Finance DApp is Coinbase Wallet. Designed by the team at Coinbase, Coinbase Wallet is a non-custodial software wallet that gives you full control over the private keys to all ERC-20 tokens plus Bitcoin (BTC) and other top coins. It’s available as a mobile app and a browser extension for easy connection to DApps.
The Compound Finance DApp also supports WalletConnect. If you use WalletConnect, you can access Compound using a number of popular software wallets, such as Trust Wallet and Atomic Wallet. Both of these wallets support all ERC-20 tokens so you can use them to supply assets to the Compound protocol or to manage your COMP tokens.
For anyone that would rather use a hardware wallet for managing their COMP tokens, consider the Ledger Nano S and the Nano X.
You can connect your Ledger device directly to the Compound Finance DApp using the DApp’s built-in integration. Any COMP you earn by borrowing or lending on the protocol can also be sent to your Ledger device. Plus, Ledger Live, the Ledger wallet interface, has full support for COMP tokens.
You can use Trezor devices, such as the Trezor Model T or the Trezor One, to store the keys to your COMP, too. Trezor Suite, the Trezor wallet interface, supports COMP tokens, so you can manage your assets right from your wallet interface.
However, you need to use MetaMask or another similar service to connect Trezor devices to the Compound Finance DApp if you want to earn COMP tokens or place governance votes.
If you just want to HODL your COMP tokens, you can do that with your device by using Trezor Suite. But interacting with the Compound DApp requires jumping through a few extra hoops if you use a Trezor device.
Other Crypto Guides
Thanks for checking out this guide to buying Compound (COMP) in the UK!
Want to learn the best place to buy other cryptocurrencies?
Check out these other UK-orientated guides!