You might already know that Ether (ETH) is the primary currency used to fund Initial Coin Offerings. That’s because Ethereum network supports smart contracts, which make ICO participation easier and more secure. It’s relatively easy to get Ether on most of the cryptocurrency exchanges. At the moment, it’s the second largest cryptocurrency with $45 billion market cap.

Where to buy Ethereum

Over 7000 cryptocurrency markets are trading more than 1300 different cryptocurrencies. Some of the best sites to acquire Ether are:

Coinbase (user-friendly, minimum deposit $1, via bank transfer or credit/debit card).

Bitstamp (user-friendly, minimum deposit $5, via bank transfer or credit/debit card).

GDAX (for more experienced investors, minimal deposit $1, via bank transfer).

Gemini (for more experienced investors, minimal deposit $1, via bank transfer).

Kraken (for more experienced investors, minimal deposit $5, via bank transfer).

BitPanda (user-friendly, minimal deposit $25, via bank transfer and credit/debit card).

eToro (user-friendly, minimal deposit $200, via bank transfer, credit/debit card or Paypal).

LocalEthereum (for more experienced investors, minimal deposit $1, via bank transfer, Paypal or other cryptocurrencies).

All the sites with user-friendly interface make it easy to buy Ether. All you need to do is find an exchange that you favor. Pay attention to their transaction fees, since usually, credit/debit card deposits can be unreasonably expensive, although much quicker than the bank transfers.

Buying Ether is simple, but can take some time. Check this step-by-step tutorial by Coinbase. The process is similar in all exchanges.

Purchasing Ether with Bitstamp

If you never bought cryptocurrencies before, please follow the steps below. Here, we’ve chosen to open a Bitstamp account to guide you through the process.

1. Go to www.bitstamp.net

2. Create an account.

3. After you click register, your login credentials will be sent to the specified email address. Use them to log in to the site.

4. As soon as you log in, you’ll be asked to change your password to new one. Include at least one upper and lowercase letter and number to make it more secure. After that, re-login using your new password. It’s also recommended to enable two-factor authentication, but you can do that later on.

5. If you click Buy / Sell option on the top header, you will be asked to verify your account. Depositing without verification is impossible. Click on “verify your account” to proceed.

6. You’ll be asked to choose between verifying a personal or corporate account. Select a personal one (unless you’re a corporation) and fill in all the required details about yourself, including a copy of ID card, proof of residence and other documents. Make sure that the pictures you upload are high-quality; otherwise, the verification request will be denied.

7. It might take a while, but if you followed all of the instructions, you should be verified within 30 minutes. Now we can make our first deposit and proceed to buy Ether.

8. Choose “Deposit” from the main menu.

9. On the right side, you will see many deposit options. If you want to buy Ether with fiat, choose between EU bank, International Bank or Credit Card options.

10. Be mindful that different deposit methods come with different fees. For that, see Bitstamp fee schedule.

11. Select your most suitable payment option, the amount you wish to deposit and make the transfer. Bank transfers usually take one day to complete. Credit card transfers happen almost immediately.

12. Depending on your deposit method, you might have to wait for your money to arrive. Once your account is topped-up, pick the ETH/EUR trading option in the top-left corner.

13. Head to Buy/Sell section and select “Buy ETH”, since it’s the simplest purchase method.

14. Enter the amount which you want to spend on ETH and click Buy. Your newly acquired Ether will be credited to your account immediately.

15. Congratulations! Your first Ethereum purchase made simple.

After you’re done with purchasing Ethereum tokens, it is highly recommended to transfer your coins to a private ERC 20 Wallet. To transfer your Ether from Bitstamp, go to Withdraw section and select Ethereum (ETH). You’ll see an easy to follow withdrawal window.

Fill in your ERC20 Ethereum wallet address, select the amount and withdraw your Ether.

P.S. You will also have to confirm it by email.

How to exchange your Bitcoins to Ethereum?

If you’re already holding Bitcoin, you might find it handy to convert some of it to Ether to participate in the ICO. According to your situation, we put up several tools that might help.

Do it on your currency exchange

If you don’t have ETH, but hold other coins like BTC or another altcoin, swapping your currencies into ETH is extremely easy. Most exchanges (Coinbase, Bitstamp, Gemini, etc.) will allow you to trade the BTC/ETH pair instantly and with little fees.

Use ShapeShift.io

A lot of people choose to keep their Bitcoins or other coins off exchanges and rightfully so. That’s why we decided to create this simple guide on how to change your Bitcoins (or altcoins) to Ether via inexpensive and straightforward service ShapeShift.io.

Two things that you’ll need before using ShapeShift to convert your Bitcoins or other coins to Ethereum are:

1. A wallet with Bitcoins or altcoins.

2. An ERC20 compatible Ethereum wallet. Check out our guide on how to get one.

As soon as you have these in place, head to ShapeShift.io.

1. The first thing to do is to select your deposit coin. It can be any coin that you hold in your wallet, but for the sake of this tutorial, we’ll choose Bitcoin.

2. Next, you’ll need to select an asset to receive, which is Ether. Also, pick the precise option above the continue button. It helps you to get a better rate and indicates that you know precisely how much Bitcoin you’re going to exchange. If you don’t know yet, use the quick option. For a more in-depth explanation of the difference between the two, check the ShapeShift blog.

3. Click continue and you will be taken to the following page.

4. First, you have to enter how much Bitcoin you want to exchange for Ether. In this case, the amount is 0.1 BTC. Then, enter your Ether wallet address (destination) and Bitcoin wallet address in case the transaction fails. In such case, it will be safely returned there. Lastly, check “I agree to Terms” button and click Start Transaction.

5. If you did everything correctly, you should see the similar window. Here you can see a Bitcoin wallet address where you need to send your Bitcoin to complete the transaction.

6. You’ll have 5 minutes to complete the transaction. Copy the wallet address under Send This Amount To field.

7. Open your Bitcoin wallet and send the Bitcoins to the given address. If you’ve selected “precise”, make sure to enter the same amount as you specified.

8. Soon after you send your Bitcoin, you should notice that the status bar has updated.

9. Now, waiting is all is left. It will take ~30 minutes for your Ether to arrive in your wallet.

10. When the transaction is completed, you’ll see the status bar changing once again and the Ether should be in your wallet.

Here you have it! You’ve successfully converted your Bitcoins or other altcoins to Ethereum and can participate in ICO.

If you like the service, it’s worth noting that ShapeShift also has a convenient app for both Android and iOS.

Use Changelly

If for some reason, you prefer to avoid ShapeShift, an alternative way is to use Changelly. Changelly is another service that lets you turn your coins into other coins. It requires registration; therefore, it’s slightly more convenient than Shapeshift if you’re planning to use the service multiple times.

Again, we’ll be turning Bitcoins into Ether. To make it happen, make sure that you have set up an Ethereum wallet beforehand. If you don’t have it yet, see our guide on how to open one.

Go to www.changelly.com and select BTC (you have) and ETH (you get). Enter the amount of Bitcoin that you want to turn to Ether and click exchange.

2. Changelly will ask you to open an account. Sign up as a new user to continue with your transaction.

3. As soon as you sign up, you’ll be taken to transaction window. Double check the amounts and click next.

4. Enter your Ether’s wallet address where you want to receive your freshly acquired Ether. Click next.

5. Confirm the payment and hit make payment to proceed.

6. On the next page, you’ll see Bitcoins wallet address and QR code. Send the Bitcoins you wish to exchange there. Make sure to send the amount you specified before.

7. That’s it! You can close the window once you complete the payment. Once the transaction is completed, you’ll get a notification to your email.

Pro Tip: Since both Shapeshift.io and Changelly.com operate on a similar principle, it is handy to compare both services simultaneously to see which one offers a better deal for a specific transaction.

What to do next?

Once you get a grip on your Ether, it’s time to make use of it. Again, if there are any uncertainties, see our other guide which helps you to create an ICO compatible Ether wallet and describes the ICO process.

Also, keep an eye on your website for further updates. If you need help, don’t hesitate to contact us. Take care!