The cheapest way to buy Maker (MKR) in the UK is with Coinbase‘s Advanced Trade dashboard. It’s free to deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer (Faster Payments) and you’ll pay trading fees of up to 0.6% whenever you buy or sell cryptocurrencies like Maker (MKR) using it.
But where else can you buy Maker (MKR) in the UK?
Check out this quick post to learn about some of your best options.
Best Ways to Buy Maker (MKR)
1. Coinbase
Coinbase is a popular cryptocurrency exchange available to UK residents which allows you to buy Maker (MKR).
You can deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer into Coinbase (which is free). I’ve found these deposits are credited within minutes (after my initial deposit).
You’ll pay up to 0.6% in fees whenever you buy or sell Maker (MKR) or any other supported cryptocurrency. However, this is only through Coinbase’s Advanced Trade interface. If you use their standard interface, then you’ll pay higher fees (at least 2%).
However, you can’t buy Maker (MKR) directly with GBP through Coinbase’s Advanced dashboard. Instead, you’ll need to:
- Head over to the BTC/GBP market and buy Bitcoin (BTC) with GBP.
- Buy Maker (MKR) on the MKR/BTC market with the Bitcoin (BTC) you’ve just bought.
This doubles the trading fees: meaning that you’ll probably be charged up to 1% in fees to go through this process.
Check out my Coinbase review or head over to the Coinbase website to learn more.
2. CoinJar
With CoinJar, you can buy Maker (MKR) in the UK directly with GBP.
It’s also much simple, easier, and beginner-friendly than Coinbase’s Advanced dashboard – which is made more for traders and enthusiasts. In particular, I think CoinJar’s mobile app is great.
You can deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer into CoinJar. Like on Coinbase, I’ve found that my deposits are being credited within just minutes (but my initial transfer did take longer than this).
You’ll pay a fixed fee of 1%, but the exchange rate you’re quoted will be pulled from CoinJar exchange (their own cryptocurrency exchange). Prices vary day-to-day, but I’ve recently found that the prices are extremely close to the real exchange rate.
You can also instantly buy cryptocurrencies like Maker (MKR) with a debit card on CoinJar. However, you’ll pay a fixed fee of 2% if you use this payment method.
Check out my CoinJar review or head straight over to the CoinJar website to learn more.
What is Maker (MKR)?
Maker (MKR) is the ERC-20 governance token for the MakerDAO ecosystem. It also serves as a recapitalization source within the Maker protocol to help keep MakerDAO’s other major token, DAI, at a stable price.
Both MakerDAO and the Maker (MKR) token were initially established in 2015 but they became fully operational in 2017. MakerDAO is a decentralised autonomous organisation that was founded by Rune Christensen, a Danish entrepreneur.
However, as MakerDAO is designed to be autonomous and decentralised, all decisions made by the organisation are done via vote from holders of Maker (MKR) tokens. Investors are given one governance vote on any proposed changes or updates to the Maker Protocol for each token that they hold.
But Maker (MKR) isn’t just a governance token. In addition to providing governance votes, Maker (MKR) also helps to maintain the price of DAI, a stablecoin with a soft peg to the US dollar.
When Maker (MKR) first launched, there were 1 million tokens in circulation. However, Maker (MKR) tokens are designed to be created and destroyed according to market conditions. This happens to prevent rapid fluctuation to the price of DAI, which is theoretically backed by collateral and debt held on the Maker Protocol.
When there are too many DAI tokens in circulation, Maker (MKR) tokens are destroyed to prevent DAI prices from falling by incentivizing the MakerDAO community. Conversely, when there’s a deficit of DAI in circulation, Maker (MKR) tokens are created to stop DAI prices from rising by taking advantage of the effects of supply and demand.
For more information, check out this quick video that explains how Maker (MKR) operates within the greater MakerDAO ecosystem:
There are a number of benefits to holding Maker (MKR) tokens in your portfolio because the token plays so many roles in the MakerDAO ecosystem.
The first benefit to holding Maker (MKR) is that it gives you governance votes in proposed changes to MakerDAO. Since MakerDAO is one of the largest DAOs in the world, proponents believe that the value of Maker (MKR) will rise in the future as more investors jockey for voting rights on the platform.
According to some supporters, the fact that Maker (MKR) tokens help stabilise the price of DAI will also help increase the value of MKR in the future.
In this line of thinking, as more people and DeFi (decentralised finance) systems adopt DAI, the more important it will be to keep DAI’s price stable. As a result, the value of Maker (MKR), which is sometimes burned to maintain DAI’s price, will also increase.
There are other uses for Maker (MKR), including supplying it to liquidity pools on Uniswap or Sushiswap. However, unlike DAI, Maker (MKR) isn’t designed to operate within the wider world of DeFi, so you won’t find many platforms that offer interest on MKR. But Maker (MKR) does play an essential role in maintaining DAI’s soft peg to the US dollar.
Best Maker (MKR) Wallets
You can store the private keys to your Maker (MKR) tokens in nearly any wallet that supports ERC-20 tokens. There are dozens of software and hardware wallets out there that are compatible with MKR.
If you just want to buy Maker (MKR) on an exchange and store the keys to your tokens in a wallet for safekeeping, you can use any ERC-20-compatible wallet, such as Exodus Wallet.
However, if you want to use your Maker (MKR) tokens to get governance votes within MakerDAO, consider using a wallet that’s compatible with the Maker Governance platform.
Currently, the Maker Governance platform supports the following wallets:
- MetaMask: This is a non-custodial software wallet that’s available as a browser extension and a mobile app. It’s one of the most popular ERC-20 wallets because it offers easy access to a wide range of DApps (decentralised apps).
- Coinbase Wallet: Although it was created by the team at Coinbase, Coinbase Wallet is a fully non-custodial software wallet that supports all ERC-20 tokens, plus other top coins like Bitcoin (BTC). It’s now available as both a mobile app and a browser extension, too, for easy DApp browsing.
Both MetaMask and Coinbase Wallet have direct integrations with the Maker Governance platform through their browser extensions. If you want to use a different wallet to connect your Maker (MKR) tokens to the platform, you can also use WalletConnect.
WalletConnect is a third-party software that makes it easy for DApps and supported wallets to communicate. Popular Maker (MKR)-compatible wallets supported by WalletConnect include Atomic Wallet and Trust Wallet.
The Maker Governance platform has a direct integration with both Trezor and Ledger hardware wallets. Popular hardware wallets that you can use to manage the keys to your Maker (MKR) include:
Through WalletConnect, you can also connect any Maker (MKR) tokens that you manage on a CoolWallet S to the Maker Governance platform. WalletConnect also supports other up-and-coming hardware wallets from manufacturers like Ellipal and SecuX.
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