What is Dash?

Dash is one of the fastest growing altcoins in the cryptocurrency market. Often called “digital cash,” Dash has been on a tear in 2017 thanks to its platform’s ability to continuously add new upgrades. In this article, we’ll be discussing how to buy Dash on some of the best Dash exchanges. But if you want a more detailed introduction to Dash or Dash coin, please read here.

How to Buy Dash Coin

The four most common approaches to buy Dash coin is via exchanges or instant exchanges, from individuals, or from ATMs.

Exchanges: These are one of the most popular ways to make any Dash transaction. Exchanges can be broadly sub-divided into two categories: exchanges that accept fiat money (regular currency) and exchanges that accept cryptocurrencies only.

Instant Exchanges: These exchanges perform a similar function to normal exchanges, but there is no login requirement. Though instant exchanges convert one currency to another, they do have a cap on the amount that can be exchanged.




From Individuals: There are a number of sites that facilitate the trading of Dash (usually small volume) between individuals, where users typically make offers or requests (with price) and wait for someone to contact them. It’s almost like eBay. Some of these sites also offer escrow services to ensure a smooth transaction between two unknown parties.

From ATMs: While ATMs accepting card and cash payments in return for cryptos is not new, ATMs dispensing Dash are currently only in New York, Oregon, and Florida. (Source: “How to buy Dash,” Dash Official Documentation, last accessed December 8, 2017.)

But before you settle on a particular exchange, you need to look at various factors on how to select an exchange to suit your individual needs.

Factors to Select the Best Dash Exchange

The factors to select the best Dash exchange are similar to any other cryptocurrency. To give a new trader an idea of what to keep in mind, here is a list of factors to select the best Dash exchange.

Information About the Exchange: Get the basic information, like the name of the founder, the location of the exchange, and the market it focuses on. Knowing about the owner of an exchange—like Tristan D’Agosta of Poloniex, LLC, for example—reflects transparency and builds user confidence. Locations are important, too. While most countries don’t have any laws related to digital currency yet, when the laws do materialize, they could affect the transactions significantly.

Supported Currencies and Liquidity: Make sure the exchange not only supports Dash, but also supports the cryptocurrency you’d like to trade in. For example, traders interested in trading Dash for Litecoin should opt for an exchange that supports DASH/LTC pairing. Traders can further narrow down the search based on the exchange’s liquidity for Dash/Litecoin. The higher the liquidity (high trading volume), the faster the trading.

Trading Fees: Like with any other cryptocurrency, trading Dash costs money. Most Dash exchanges charge a small percentage of the amount traded. The good news is that the percentage usually decreases if the monthly trading volume rises. For traders hoping to increase trading volume, exchanges that decrease their percentages more can be more useful than exchanges that offer a fixed trading fee.

Ease of Use: This is self-explanatory. Choose exchanges that have friendly user interfaces, quick loading times, and yes, support for mobile devices.

Customer Support: As cryptocurrency exchanges are an evolving technology, new traders can be at sea over the simplest of processes. As many things could go wrong, a reliable support team can save a lot of time, nerves, and money.

User Experience: Word-of-mouth can play a big role in selecting an exchange. Do a little bit of research on Dash exchanges and read what people have to say on online forums. The best exchanges usually have the highest rating points and the least complaints.

Security: Because of the nature of the cryptocurrency market, Dash exchanges run a serious risk of hacker attacks. And even though this factor is last on the list, it is as important as, if not more than, the other factors.

That’s about it. Traders selecting their exchange based on the above factors should ideally end up with one from the following list of best exchanges to buy Dash. The end of the following section has a Dash exchanges comparison chart for quick reference.

Best Exchanges to Buy Dash

Bitfinex: This Taiwan-based exchange is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges. It’s also one of the largest and has the highest Bitcoin trading volumes. In exchange for USD or Bitcoin, Bitfinex users can trade in Dash, Bcash, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Monero, Bcash, Zcash, OmiseGo, EOS coin, IOTA, Santiment, and Ethereum Classic. In addition to the web version, it’s also available on mobile phones thanks to its “Android” and “iOS” mobile apps.

On the flip side, Bitfinex users lose a lot of time in the registration and verification process, so the initial transaction can be very time-consuming (15-20 business days). And yes, as of now, Bitfinex is closed to U.S. customers.

Kraken: This prominent U.S.-based Bitcoin exchange operates in the U.S., Japan, Canada, and the European Union. Users can buy Dash with Bitcoin, U.S. dollars, and euros. In fact, this exchange has the highest trading volumes in euros. Unlike the previous exchanges, the verification/authentication process is a lot quicker and takes just about a day or two.

Changelly: This popular multi-currency instant exchange web site allows users to buy Dash with a credit/debit card or in exchange for other cryptocurrencies. The exchange takes any currency and calculates its USD equivalent.

On the flip side, Changelly has purchase restrictions (varies with country), and Dash coin is more expensive on Changelly.

So the better option to use this exchange is to buy Dash in exchange for other cryptocurrencies such as BTC, LTC, or ETH. The procedure is very simple.

Bittrex: Based out of the U.S., this exchange provides you the option to trade in Dash and 190 other cryptocurrencies on a platform that is well-regulated and compliant with current U.S. rules. On this exchange, one can buy Dash in exchange for Bitcoin, Ethereum, or U.S. dollars.

Starting on Bittrex is easy, as all it requires is your e-mail ID to register and log in. But to withdraw funds, you need to go through a “know-your-customer” protocol that requires you to submit ID documents, your phone number, and sometimes even a two-factor authentication.

ShapeShift: This is one of the fastest and safest cryptocurrency exchanges on the planet. You can trade your Dash or anyther cryptocurrency for any other cryptocurrency. There is no account needed, no fees for transactions, and the exchange offers competitive Bitcoin and altcoin exchange rates that update in real time. (Source: “7 best websites to buy Dash cryptocurrency,” CoinSutra, November 7, 2017.)

Initial Verification

Time Cryptos Supported Availability for U.S. Users Bitfinex 15-20 days 13 No Kraken 1-2 days 58 (est.) Yes Changelly Minutes — Via email ID 80 (est.) Yes Bittrex Minutes — Via email ID Over 190 Yes ShapeShift No Verification Over 100 Yes

Analyst View on the Best Dash Exchange

As the choice of exchange depends on various factors, a lot depends on individual location and needs. For U.S. users, I recommend Kraken. It has very good reviews, a small verification time, a good reputation, and it supports major cryptocurrencies. The fact that Kraken does not support credit/debit card payments does not deter me. But if I had to buy Dash with a credit/debit card, Changelly, though a bit pricey, would be my go-to option.