Coinbase’s Advanced Trade terminal is the cheapest way that I’ve found to buy Shiba Inu (SHIB) directly with GBP in the UK. But while it’s the lowest cost route, it’s not beginner friendly.
A more beginner-friendly alternative is CoinJar, which has a simple and easy-to-use web interface and mobile app. However, you will be charged slightly higher fees.
Read on if you want to know more.
Intro: Best Ways to Buy Shiba Inu in the UK
Looking to buy Shiba Inu (SHIB) with GBP via a UK bank transfer?
These are the cheapest places I could find:
| Provider | Payment Method | Trading Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Coinbase (Advanced) | UK Bank Transfer | Up to 0.6% |
| CoinJar | UK Bank Transfer | 1% |
| Gemini | UK Bank Transfer | 1.99% (if > £150) |
| Coinbase (Simple) | UK Bank Transfer | 2.00% (if > £200) |
| Crypto.com App | UK Bank Transfer | Variable |
And if you’re looking to buy Shiba Inu (SHIB) with a debit card, these are the cheapest places I know of:
| Provider | Payment Method | Trading Fees |
|---|---|---|
| CoinJar | Debit Card | 2% |
| Crypto.com App | Debit Card | 2.99%+ |
| Gemini | Debit Card | 5.48% (if > £150) |
How to Buy SHIB in the UK
1. Coinbase
Coinbase’s Advanced Trade terminal works out as one of the cheapest ways (that I can find) to buy Shiba Inu (SHIB) directly with GBP in the UK.
You’ll be charged a maximum of 0.6% in trading fees when using this Advanced dashboard.
This is on the higher end of fees charged by popular cryptocurrency exchanges. However, it’s the only one that allows you to deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer and buy Shiba Inu directly with GBP. You’ll have to faff around a little in other places, which means you end up paying slightly more in fees.
Coinbase process UK bank transfers via Faster Payments (FPS). This means that transfers should be credited quickly to your account (in my experience, it takes less than a minute or two).
Coinbase’s Advanced Trade dashboard currently has these SHIB trading pairs:
- SHIB/USD
- SHIB/EUR
- SHIB/GBP
- SHIB/USDT
But FYI: you will not be able to access the SHIB/USD market if you’re a UK resident.
The downside? This advanced interface isn’t beginner-friendly. If you’d prefer simplicity and ease of use over getting the lowest possible fees, then I think you’d be better off going elsewhere.
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2. CoinJar
You can also buy Shiba Inu (SHIB) directly with GBP in the UK using CoinJar’s web platform or mobile app.
Unlike Coinbase, CoinJar’s interface is much more beginner friendly.
And you don’t pay an insane premium for the convenience it offers either. You’ll be charged a fixed 1% fee if you use GBP deposited into your CoinJar account, or 2% if you want to buy Shiba Inu (SHIB) directly with a UK debit card.
You can deposit GBP with a UK bank transfer (via Faster Payments) and, just like Coinbase, it’ll be credited within minutes.
In addition to Shiba Inu (SHIB), you can buy a multitude of other cryptocurrencies on CoinJar too. This includes big names like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), as well as trending tokens like Axie Infinity (AXS) and Chiliz (CHZ).
3. Gemini
Gemini is a well-known name in the cryptocurrency space, but it’s not the most affordable place where you can buy Shiba Inu (SHIB) in the UK.
You’ll be charged at least a 1.49% transaction fee, but you’ll also be charged a ‘convenience fee’ of 0.5%. However, you’ll be charged a higher transaction fee than this if you buy less than £150 at one time.
I’m not a fan of this fee structure, as it penalises you if you just want to dip your toe in with £25 or £50 worth of something new.
Like Coinbase and CoinJar, you can deposit GBP into Gemini using a UK bank transfer for free. But although it’s processed via Faster Payments, I’ve found that it takes much longer to be credited to your account.
And if you wanted to use a debit card to buy Shiba Inu (SHIB) on Gemini, you’d pay an extra 3.49% in fees, bringing the total you’d be charged to at least 5.48%…
As well as Shiba Inu (SHIB), Gemini support a growing number of other cryptocurrencies – including other memecoins like Dogecoin (DOGE) and Dogelon Mars (ELON).
What is Shiba Inu (SHIB)?
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is an ERC-20 token that was originally created as an Ethereum-based alternative to Dogecoin (DOGE).
Both Shiba Inu (SHIB) and Dogecoin (DOGE) are memecoins that were initially created as jokes – rather than for a serious purpose. However, both SHIB and DOGE are now part of a large collection of dog-themed memecoins that includes Alaska Inu (LAS) and Floki Inu (FLOKI).
Shiba Inu (SHIB) was created by an anonymous developer who goes by the pseudonym Ryoshi. It was launched in August 2020 on the decentralised exchange (DEX) Uniswap and it was first listed on Coinbase, a major centralised exchange, in September 2021.
Here’s a video that does a deep dive into the origins and future projects of Shiba Inu (SHIB):
When it first launched, Shiba Inu (SHIB) wasn’t designed to do much of anything.
According to the token’s whitepaper (which is aptly named a WoofPaper), the token was “an experiment in decentralised spontaneous community building”. Basically, the idea was to use the founder’s love of Shiba Inu dogs and convert that into a digital community that’s completely powered by an ERC-20 memecoin called Shiba Inu (SHIB).
But during its first year of existence, Shiba Inu (SHIB) evolved to power an entire dog-themed digital ecosystem.
In addition to Shiba Inu (SHIB), the SHIB community (called the ShibArmy) and ecosystem now features two other tokens (LEASH and BONE) that are listed on its proprietary DEX, ShibaSwap.
The Shib ecosystem also supports up-and-coming artists through the Shiba Inu Incubator. It also has a US-registered 501(c)3 non-profit, Shiba Inu Rescue Association, that claims to help rescue Shiba Inus around the world (but I couldn’t find much about this).
The token wasn’t originally designed to do anything.
But in the coming years, the community behind Shiba Inu (SHIB) hopes to grow into more than just a memecoin.
According to the token’s whitepaper, the launch of ShibaSwap is the first step in the development of a rewards system for the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
The ecosystem soon hopes to provide opportunities for staking SHIB, LEASH, and BONE tokens so that people can earn rewards on their assets.
Best Shiba Inu (SHIB) Wallets
Shiba Inu (SHIB) is an ERC-20 token that’s widely supported by major hardware and software wallets.
If you just want to buy your SHIB on an exchange and transfer it to a personal software wallet for safekeeping, you can use popular software wallets like Exodus and MyEtherWallet to manage your private keys.
But if you want to use the ShibaSwap exchange and have access to future staking rewards, you’ll have to use a wallet that integrates with the Shiba Inu ecosystem.
The two wallets that directly integrate with ShibaSwap are:
- MetaMask: A popular software wallet, MetaMask can support all ERC-20 tokens, including SHIB, LEASH, and BONE. It’s available as a mobile app and a browser extension, and it’s compatible with a wide range of decentralised apps (DApps).
- Coinbase Wallet. Coinbase Wallet is a non-custodial software wallet that was developed by the team at Coinbase. It can support all ERC-20 tokens, as well as tokens and coins on other top networks, like Bitcoin (BTC). Coinbase Wallet is available as a mobile app and browser extension. It also has a built-in DApp browser and support for NFTs.
ShibaSwap also supports WalletConnect, a third-party software that integrates wallets with DApps. With WalletConnect, you can manage your SHIB on other popular hardware wallets, like Atomic Wallet and Trust Wallet, and connect them to ShibaSwap with ease.
What hardware wallets support Shiba Inu (SHIB)?
Most major ERC-20-compatible hardware wallets can support SHIB tokens.
Popular options include:
However, only Ledger, Ellipal, and CoolWallet devices work with WalletConnect.
You can still store the keys to your SHIB on a Trezor device. But you won’t be able to connect your Trezor to ShibaSwap unless you pair your hardware wallet with MetaMask (or another similar service).