How to Buy Polygon?

Are you ready to invest in Polygon (MATIC) but don’t know how? We’ll break down how to buy Polygon in small, easy steps. Let’s go.

What Is Polygon?

If you already know what Polygon is, you can skip this section and continue reading the next step to learn how to buy Polygon. However, if you aren’t 100% sure you know all about this blockchain solution, read on!

Polygon is a blockchain layer 2 solution for Ethereum. If you are scratching your head wondering what a layer 2 solution is, don’t worry, it’s a simple concept.

As you may already know, the Ethereum blockchain works something like a computer. You can run apps on the blockchain, just like you can on your PC. However, running these apps and using the blockchain to transfer cryptocurrency places quite a strain on the blockchain because its capacity is limited. 

As more people and apps start to use Ethereum, the network traffic increases, heightening the cost of executing actions on the blockchain. This is reflected in Ethereum’s unusually high gas fees.

A layer 2 solution is basically a scalability solution built on top of Ethereum. Ethereum-based projects can use the Polygon network to provide users with a more efficient and scalable solution.

Polygon was launched in 2017 by co-founders Mihailo Bjelic, Jaynti Kanani, Anurag Arjun, and Sandeep Nailwal. Its Proof-of-Stake mechanism was deemed a good potential scalability solution for Ethereum, which still used a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism to verify new blockchain blocks. 

The Polygon network resides in the Ethereum blockchain and is secured by MATIC tokens, the project’s native cryptocurrency. You can use MATIC tokens to pay for transactions on the Polygon network. They’re also used to govern and secure the network.

So basically, we can say that Polygon is an Ethereum-adjacent platform. It works on and for the Ethereum blockchain. MATIC, too, is only valuable in relation to its usefulness on the Ethereum network. 

In 2022, the Ethereum blockchain switched to a PoS consensus mechanism, leaving many to wonder whether Polygon and MATIC will remain useful on the blockchain. But it seems that these worries are unfounded, at least for now. Ethereum still needs scalability solutions like Polygon, and it will remain that way for the foreseeable future.

Where Can I Buy Polygon?

So now that you are all caught up on what Polygon and MATIC are all about, it’s time to decide where to buy MATIC. As we said before, MATIC is Polygon’s native token, so you must buy MATIC to invest in Polygon.

MATIC is the 11th largest cryptocurrency in the crypto market, with around 7 billion MATIC tokens in circulation.

Like most other crypto assets, MATIC is regularly sold on crypto exchanges and also by payment solutions providers like MoonPay.

When you buy MATIC on a crypto exchange, you can trade it for other digital assets or withdraw it to a crypto wallet for safekeeping. Many exchanges also allow you to stake your MATIC for profits.

MATIC prices are usually uniform, though each crypto exchange operates its own MATIC markets. So, you can buy MATIC cheaper on some exchanges. However, the difference is usually negligible, and you should consider other metrics when selecting an exchange.

What are those metrics? Well, there are around a thousand crypto exchanges online, and most of them are outright scams. Even some more popular crypto exchanges are known for their predatory actions against customers. Therefore, when picking an exchange, the first rule is to make sure you avoid scams.

Of course, reputation is just the baseline for picking an exchange. Other important metrics include fees, extra features, available payment methods, and, of course, your particular trading needs and expectations.

Does it sound like a lot? No worries! We already narrowed down the options for you! Let’s go.

How to Buy Polygon

Now we get to the intricacies of buying MATIC — where to buy it, how to pay for it, and where to store it.

Where to Buy Polygon?

So after our dire warning about predatory exchanges, you might wonder which platform you can trust with your money and crypto. There is no straight answer to this quandary because almost all exchanges deal with regulatory inspection, though at very different levels. But you have more than a couple of options to start. 

Coinbase, for example, is usually regarded as a good beginner’s exchange due to its veteran status and reputation for regulatory compliance. Since it’s a public company, it’s more concerned with upholding a good reputation than some famous competitors like HTX or Poloniex.

Another good option is Kraken, a platform focused on security above all others. The company is famous for its paranoid approach to asset security and offers a decent “easy buy” feature for your first MATIC purchase. 

If you are based outside the US, the crypto giant Binance is also a popular option, thanks to its low fees and multiple useful features. However, if you are in the US, you may want to avoid Binance US for the moment, as the exchange is in serious hot water with law enforcement due to many alleged crimes, including money laundering and fraud.

Of course, you can check out our most popular 21 crypto exchanges guide to get a complete picture of your options. And if you have trouble deciding between Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken, we have a few comparison reviews to help you decide.

Keep in mind that you can also trade digital assets on decentralized exchanges like Sushiswap or Uniswap for lower fees. However, these exchanges don’t support fiat payments. They’re strictly for crypto-to-crypto trades. So, once you get yourself some MATIC, you can trade it for other digital assets on one of these platforms.

How to Buy Polygon

So, you picked an exchange and opened an account. What’s next?

Luckily, in most cases, all you need to do is to click the highlighted “Buy Crypto” button on the home page, and you will be redirected to the basic buy feature.

Almost all crypto exchanges offer this simple one-click purchase option nowadays, and you don’t even have to deposit to the platform to use it. Just select MATIC as receiving currency and hit “Buy.” 

At that point, you’ll either have to choose a payment processor like Moonpay, Banxa, or Simplex or, in some cases, be asked to add a debit/credit card to your account. Once you’re done adding the payment method, your order can be processed immediately.

Now, unfortunately, this ease-of-use doesn’t come for free. Exchanges charge extravagant fees and prices for the easy-buy feature, but you can’t deny its usefulness.

If you are just beginning your crypto adventure and looking to buy MATIC for a couple of dollars, we recommend this option.

However, if you plan to make a huge purchase or just avoid fees in general, you have another option. Most crypto exchanges offer a USD/USDT or USD/USDC market. All you have to do is deposit to the platform for free via your bank account, then go to the “Spot Market.”

The spot market is where all the trading fun happens. You can exchange digital assets on the market at the best prices for the lowest fees. Your exchange may not have a USD/MATIC market, but it most definitely has a stablecoin (like USDT or USDC) market for MATIC.

So, what do you do? First, make a cash deposit. Second, in the spot market, convert your cash to a stablecoin. Then, trade your stablecoin for MATIC, and you are done!

The spot market is a bit more complicated than the easy-buy and usually has a more complex interface but don’t let that scary view color your decisions. Spend a couple of minutes studying the interface, and you’ll know how to proceed.

How to Store Polygon

So now that you’re done buying it, you are finished, no? No, not quite. Of course, you can leave your MATIC on the exchange wallet where you bought it, but this isn’t a good long-term storing strategy.

Why? Well, basically, when you leave your crypto on an exchange wallet, your crypto may disappear if the exchange owner dies under mysterious circumstances, which happens more often than you may think), disappears overnight in mysterious circumstances, or becomes an alleged fraud under mysterious circumstances US authorities are trying to uncover. 

Thus, you have crypto Redditors’ cringe, yet nonetheless true motto: Not your keys, not your coins. And if you are not familiar with the motto, it basically means: don’t leave your crypto in an exchange-controlled wallet.

So where should you put your funds, then? Let’s see your other options.

Custodial Exchange Wallets

OK, we just said it isn’t the best idea to leave your crypto assets in an exchange wallet…so what gives?

Well, while it is true that this can be a risky move, there’s some merit to an exchange wallet: Most people prefer it if they are trading actively and want to be able to execute quick, instant trades without waiting. For example, If you are an arbitrage trader, making profits from buying and selling crypto on exchanges rapidly to capitalize on price differences, you don’t really have a lot of time to move your assets on and off the exchange.

Also, most crypto exchanges offer staking opportunities. If you let the exchange keep your assets, you may earn a small revenue or interest on your crypto.

Finally, it’s also the easiest way to store crypto. With all other options, you’re responsible for your crypto wallet, and that’s a lot for most users. We’ll get into this more later on, but basically, all crypto wallets have a password, known as a private key, which is the only way to access your funds. You lose the key, and you lose everything.

In an age when the average user can’t remember their email passwords half the time, this is not an ideal setup. Also, you’re not supposed to write your wallet key anywhere on your phone or computer because it can be easily stolen. So, no notes app saves for this one. And if you lose it, you can’t call the blockchain to demand a new password. Your assets are just gone: bye, Arrivederci, Sayonara!

So, keeping in mind these facts, it’s little wonder most people keep their cryptocurrencies in an exchange wallet. But there is a compromise you can make. You can keep a portion of your assets on an exchange wallet for trading, staking, and safekeeping while keeping the rest under your control in a safer environment. This way, you won’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Let’s have a look at the other baskets now.

Software MATIC Wallets

With software wallets, the first and obvious choice is Polygon’s own wallet product. You can download it, set it up, and use it to view your balance and transfer assets. But there’s one caveat. This software is MATIC-specific, so you can’t really store or trade any other digital assets here, including other Ethereum tokens.

It’s kind of a bummer, as it’s a very impractical solution for most retail users who are generally looking to store multiple coins for easy trading. If you had to download and operate a software wallet for every asset you wanted to trade, well, either your patience or your computer would snap at some point.

You see, native wallets (like the one we linked above) are mostly for dedicated users and validators of crypto blockchains. If you want to actively use Polygon, you may go ahead and download it. But if your plans are more on the lines of storing and trading, you don’t have to deal with that.

One alternative is the non-custodial Coinbase wallet, which you can download from the Coinbase website. This is different from the Coinbase exchange wallet because the wallet and the keys are for you and no one else. Or, even better, you can use a multicurrency software wallet that works in tandem with a hardware wallet. Exodus is a software wallet that offers hardware support.

If you don’t know what a hardware wallet is, buckle up!

MATIC Hard Wallets

Last but not least, we have the holy grail of crypto wallets — hardware wallets like Ledger, OneKey, and Trezor wallets.

A hardware wallet is basically a hard drive with a wallet program on it. The key can’t be stolen by hackers because the drive isn’t connected to the internet. You can usually secure the drive with an additional password so it is useless to thieves, and if you lose it, you can access a backup via a “recovery phrase.”

Sounds good, yes? In fact, it gets even better: you can pair hardware wallets with software wallets to make instant trades and buy and sell crypto on your mobile devices. Some hard wallets even allow you to swap assets within the wallet interface. 

But like most useful things in the crypto realm, these are not exactly cheap. A basic Trezor model, for example, starts at around 70 USD, and more advanced hardware wallets can cost hundreds of dollars. So it’s not a very profitable investment unless you are going to buy hundreds of dollars worth of crypto.

So if you are a beginner, maybe hold off on buying a hardware wallet just yet. If you find yourself making big crypto purchases, then it may be time to move to a hardware wallet to store your investments in the long term.