How to Buy Monero (XMR) in UK | Beginner’s Guide

Looking to diversify your cryptocurrency portfolio by adding Monero? If so, there are several ways in which you can buy Monero from the comfort of your home.

In this guide, we show you How to Buy Monero UK in the safest and most convenient way possible.

Once you have bought Monero from Binance – you then need to think about storage. Most traders will withdraw the coins out to a private Monero wallet. With that said, Binance also offers a more convenient web wallet that is backed by its Secure Asset Fund for Users (SAFU).

What is Monero (XMR)?

Launched in 2014 – Monero is a cryptocurrency that focuses on privacy. That is to say, while popular digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) are pseudonymous, Monero (XMR) allows users to send and receive tokens in a completely anonymous manner.

• Like most cryptocurrencies, Monero is a decentralized project.
• In simple terms, this means that no single person or authority has control over the Monero network.
• Perhaps a key feature of Monero is that it a fungible currency. This is no different from traditional pound coins.
• In other words, an individual XMR token cannot be blacklisted or linked to a specific transaction.

In terms of the fundamentals, it takes approximately 20 minutes for a Monero transaction to be fully confirmed by the network. This is slower than Bitcoin – which takes 10 minutes, and much slower than the likes of Ripple, which are pretty much instant. At the time of writing in April 2021 – Monero is a top-25 digital currency with a market valuation of over USD $6 billion .

Why Buy Monero? Monero Analysis

With thousands of cryptocurrencies now in existence, knowing which project to back can be challenging. In the case of Monero, the digital coin is one of the most established crypto assets in the space. Its core feature – privacy, is one of the best in this industry, too.

This is because of the ‘ring signature’ technology the network uses. In Layman’s Terms, this means that the identity and location of both the sender and receiver can not be revealed. In fact, it’s simply not feasible to extract this data – even if the team behind Monero wanted to.

Another reason why you might be looking to buy Monero UK is that the upside on this digital currency is potentially huge. After all, although the cryptocurrency carries a market capitalization of over $6 billion – this is small-fry in comparison to Bitcoin and other top-10 projects.

Monero Price – How Much Does it Cost to Buy Monero?

When Monero was first launched in 2014, it was worth in the region of $2.45 per token. Fast forward to early 2018 and the same digital currency hit all-time highs of over $540. This means that in the space of less than four years, Monero increased in value by over 20,000%.

In other words, had you purchased £500 worth of Monero coins back in 2014 – you would have been able to cash out at over £100,000 when the crypto asset peaked in January 2018. With that being said, Monero then went on a prolonged downward spiral after its peak – hitting lows of $35 in March 2020.

Those, however, that re-entered the market when Monero hit $35 are now looking at sizable gains. Based on current prices – which at the time of writing amounts to $373 – that’s 12-month gains of over 950%.

We should note that although this amounts to approximately £260 per Monero coin – you don’t need to invest this much. On the contrary and like most cryptocurrencies – you only need to purchase a fraction of one Monero. As such, if you want to get started with an investment of just a few pounds – you can do this with an exchange like Binance.

Ways of Buying Monero

There are many ways to buy Monero UK – some more convenient than others. While some prefer the convenience of using a debit/credit card – this can come with unfavorable fees. In other cases, if you already own a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin – you can often exchange this over to Monero at the click of a button.

Nevertheless, in the sections below we explain the most common ways of how to buy Monero UK.

Buy Monero with Debit/Credit Card

If you are looking for the easiest and fastest way to buy Monero UK – the best option on the table is to use a debit or credit card. We should note that very few exchanges allow you to buy XMR tokens this way – as they typically only support deposits in the form of crypto.

With that said, Binance now allows you to buy Monero UK with a Visa/MasterCard – albeit, the fees are somewhat high. Plus, the instant purchase option isn’t available on Monero, so you will first need to make a deposit and then manually purchase the coins.

The specific fee to deposit with your debit/credit is 1.8%. So, a £1,000 deposit will set you back £18. On the flip side, this is cheaper than Coinbase and Coinmama, which charge 3.99% and 5% on debit card deposits – respectively.

The typical process of buying Monero with a debit/credit card at Binance is as follows:

• Open an account with Binance and then upload a copy of your passport or driver’s license
• Elect to make a debit/credit card deposit in GBP
• Once the deposit is processed, you’ll need to obtain Monero by first swapping your GBP balance into USDT (Tether)
• Then, search for XMR/USDT
• Finally, enter the amount of USDT Monero you wish to purchase

As you can see from the above you need to obtain Monero via USDT as there is no direct GBP market.

Buy Monero with Bitcoin

The process of buying Monero with Bitcoin is very similar to the step-by-step walkthrough we gave in the section above. That is to say, you will need to deposit Bitcoin into your Binance wallet.

Then, you will need to search for the XRM/BTC market and subsequently – swap your Bitcoin balance for Monero.

Where to Buy Monero in the UK

In this section of our guide – we are going to discuss the best stock brokers to buy cryptocurrency in the UK.

1. Binance – Largest Cryptocurrency Exchange for Trading Volume and Liquidity

If you are looking to buy Monero UK from Binance, you have various options to achieve this goal. Perhaps the most simple is to initially deposit funds into your Binance account with a debit/credit card – which will cost you 1.8% in transaction fees. Bank transfers are also supported and there is no fee attached to this payment type.

Once you have funded your account, you can access Monero through a supported pair. This includes pairs that consist of Bitcoin, Tether, and Ethereum. The trading commission payable when you exchange one of the aforementioned coins with Monero is just 0.1%. Then, you can withdraw your Monero coins to a private hardware wallet.

In terms of the fundamentals, Binance is now the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of trading volume. In fact, a whopping $97 billion of trading activity has gone through the exchange in the past 24 hours alone. If you are looking to diversify your portfolio – Binance also allows you to buy Ethereum, Ripple, Dash, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, and many other popular digital currencies. Finally, Binance is also a good option if you wish to trade crypto derivatives – with the platform supporting Bitcoin futures and options.

Pros

• Largest cryptocurrency exchange UK in terms of trading volume
• Hundreds of cryptocurrency pairs supported
• Trading commission of just 0.1%
• Supports UK debit/credit cards and bank transfers
• Great reputation in the cryptocurrency scene
• Ideal for advanced traders that seek sophisticated tools and features

Cons

• Not great for newbie investors
• A standard charge of 1.8% on debit/credit card deposits

Your Capital is at risk.

How to Buy Monero (XMR) – Complete Step by Step Guide

If you’re ready to buy Monero UK right now but need a little guidance – the step-by-step guide will walk you through the process with ease.

Step 1: Open an Account

Visit the Binance website and begin the account opening process. You will initially be asked to provide an email address and a strong password – nothing else. This will remain the case if you are planning to deposit and withdraw funds in cryptocurrency only. But, if you want to buy Monero UK with a debit/credit card or bank transfer – you’ll need to complete a KYC process first.

Your Capital is at risk.

Step 2: KYC

As noted above, if you wish to deposit funds into your Binance account with a debit/credit card or bank transfer – you will first need to have your identity verified. This is to ensure that the cryptocurrency exchange remains compliant with anti-money laundering regulations.

To do this, you will need to provide a copy of your passport or driver’s license – much like you would with a conventional stock broker or forex trading platform.

If you are using your desktop computer or laptop – Binance will ask you to hold the document in front of your webcam. If the quality of your webcam is insufficient, you might find that Binance cannot verify it. If this is the case, then you will need to download the Binance app and take a picture of the document with your phone’s camera.

Step 3: Deposit Funds

You will be able to deposit funds into your Binance trading account once the exchange has verified your documents. This is usually completed fairly quickly – so expect a confirmation email to arrive within the hour.

Once it does, you can deposit funds with a debit/credit card (1.8% fee) or via a bank transfer (free). If opting for the latter, Binance will show you the account details that the funds need to be sent to.

Step 4: Exchange GBP into USDT

As we briefly covered earlier, there is no Monero pair that includes GBP. As such, you will need to exchange your GBP balance into a supported cryptocurrency. This includes Ethereum and Bitcoin, but Tether (USDT) is the best option as this Monero pair attracts the most liquidity.

Step 5: Buy Monero 

At this stage of the step-by-step guide – you should now have USDT in your Binance account. All you need to do now is exchange your USDT tokens into Monero. For this, you will need to search for XMR/USDT.

Click on the market that loads up and select how many Monero coins you wish to buy. If you want to use your entire balance – select the ‘100%’ button.

Finally, confirm the order and the Monero coins will be added to your Binance wallet.

Conclusion

Monero is a popular top-25 cryptocurrency that has increased in value by almost 1,000% since April 2020. As such, more and more investors in the UK and looking at adding this digital asset to their portfolio. If you are looking to start buying cryptocurrencies right now – FCA-regulated broker Binance is a great option.

Don’t invest in crypto assets unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.

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