Cryptocurrencies are tough to understand; they’re technologies that transfer value in real-form, enable fast global transactions, and have made investors extremely wealthy. Learning how to buy cryptocurrency can be a difficult feat; it’s something that can get very confusing especially for beginners, however, with the right teacher, it can be straight forward.
One of the largest issues associated with cryptocurrencies and buying them is that their market action is extremely volatile; cryptocurrencies have demonstrated price volatility unlike any other asset in financial markets. As a result, people are hesitant to use cryptocurrencies as any type of actual currency, nonetheless as an investment, as they’re scared that they’ll never get the correct price that they want to when buying or selling the asset. To combat this, Tether was created; Tether is a cryptocurrency that is linked 1:1 to the United States Dollar (USD).
Tether derives the benefits of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, which includes speed and efficiency while extracting the benefit of consistency and usability of traditional fiat currency. This guide will overview how to buy Tether, tricks for getting the best prices in your purchase, and also how to use and benefit from the efficiency Tether has to offer.
Cryptocurrencies as a whole were proposed to enable various benefactors amongst payments, finance, and general transactional purposes. Cryptocurrencies traditionally function on a blockchain, an immutable and transparent ledger where all processes are essentially immutable: meaning they can never be erased. This proposal, introduced with Bitcoin, allowed for fast, global transactions, a verification system where the users were the validators, and people could buy cryptocurrency directly from the open public markets. There was one problem, however, which seems to be the current issue being tackled; cryptocurrency prices are notoriously volatile. Tether, a company that launched the USDT (Tether) cryptocurrency in 2017, sought to solve that.
The current issue with cryptocurrency being used for transaction purposes is its extreme volatility. For example, the price of a cryptocurrency can tank within seconds and vice-versa:
Let’s say we went to the grocery store with 2 Bitcoins which was worth $100. While we were shopping and looking for which groceries we wanted, the price of Bitcoin fell over 40%. When we get to the checkout, and give them our 2 Bitcoins to buy what we picked out, we’re informed that we don’t have enough Bitcoin to buy what was intended.
The above scenario is very real and seems to be one of the biggest problems cryptocurrency is facing. It is also the same scenario that hundreds of companies are now looking to solve via what are called “stablecoins“, a classification of cryptocurrency that Tether is grouped under. Tether (USDT) is one of these stablecoins, in fact, the current most popular stablecoin.
What’s a Stablecoin?
A stablecoin is a class of cryptocurrency that alludes to cryptos running on blockchains that are always linked on a 1:1 basis to a stable currency – this can be United States Dollars, Euros, and so on. These stablecoins are then sent and received nearly identically to how Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency is done; a sender of a certain transaction requests the receiver’s stablecoin address (Which is, just like Bitcoin, a string of random letters and numbers). The sender sends his stablecoin to the receiver’s address and upon confirmations, they have successfully completed a crypto transaction of fiat value.
Tether is exactly as described above; it’s a cryptocurrency, backed on a 1:1 basis by fiat or ‘stable’ currencies, that can be sent and received just like any other crypto ‘coin’. As a result, it is acclaimed that Tether is always redeemable on a 1:1 basis for USD. This is completed through what the Tether claims is a large reserve of fiat currency.
How to create a Tether (USDT) Wallet
In order to send and receive Tether (USDT) you’ll need a USDT wallet; just like Bitcoin or most other cryptocurrencies, Tether runs on a wallet-to-wallet basis, which means you’ll hold the virtual representations of USD in a wallet. You can create a wallet for Tether by heading to their official homepage and clicking the ‘Sign Up’ button. Additionally, an official link to this page can be found here.
After signing up, select the ‘New Wallet’ button which will create a new Tether wallet. Additionally, the exchanges that we will discuss in the following sections will enable you to create exchange-held Tether wallets. These are less safe and considered to be a bit riskier as if the exchange gets hacked so do your funds, however, they are usually okay for limited amounts of time and not long-term holding as long as they are on reputable exchanges.
Best Exchanges to Buy Tether (USDT)
Buying Tether on Binance is arguably one of the most cost efficient and fastest ways to purchase Tether (USDT). Tether can be bought on Binance by first buying a base cryptocurrency and then selling it directly for Tether. Binance is a Malta-based exchange that enables you to buy and sell a number of different cryptocurrencies that have all been reviewed by the Binance team. Binance is led by Changpeng Zhao, otherwise known as ‘CZ’.
Binance is currently the most liquid exchange to buy Tether (USDT), which essentially means it is the place where people are selling the most Tether. Getting started with Binance is fairly simple, very quick, and doesn’t require much effort; in fact, to get started with Binance you don’t need to verify your account via physical documentation as you do on other exchanges, and all that’s required is a valid and confirmable email address.
Pros:
Cons:
- At the moment there is no margin offering for trading, and no products available (E.g. CFDs are not supported).
- Verification in the case of wanting to buy larger amounts of funds can be relatively long.
How to Buy Tether (USDT) On Binance
Create An Account
The first step to buy Tether on Binance is to register an account with the exchange. This can be done very quickly and easily. To do so, first, make sure you have a working and accessible email address. Next, head to the main Binance homepage (Located at Binance.com) and at the top-right of the screen you will see the option to either ‘Log In’ or ‘Register’ – click the ‘Register’ option.
This will prompt a new page where you’ll then be asked to input general information for account creation which includes email address and a password; ensure your password is secure and don’t share it with anyone.
The image above depicts the form that will load when you click the ‘Register’ button. Once completed, you can move on to the next step.
Add Security to Your Account (Optional)
While Binance enables you to create an account very quickly and without physical documentation (Making it one of the quicker options for crypto exchanges), it unfortunately makes your account a bit vulnerable due to it not being linked to any identity. As a result, we encourage you to set up 2-Factor Authorization; this is not required, however, it does add an additional layer of security to your account.
In order to do this, first head to your account page; you can do this by clicking the parent page ‘Account’ at the top right of the screen. Doing so will prompt a box to pop up asking if you’d like to ‘Enable 2FA’ – click yes, and you’ll be redirected to a new page asking you to download the app ‘Authenticator’. From this step, search the app store relative to your phone operator (iPhone search ‘Google Authenticator’, Android search ‘Authenticator’). Download this app. Once completed, press ‘Next’ on Binance and you’ll be greeted by the following page on Binance which may seem like gibberish:
Credit: Binance Support
Now on your phone, open the Authenticator app that we just downloaded. You’ll find at the top of the application is a “+” sign. Click on this and your camera will open asking you to scan the appropriate QR code: use the camera to scan the code that is displayed on your computer screen. This will create a new listing on your Google Authenticator app called ‘Binance’ and a list of numbers will be next to this. Anytime you log in, withdraw, or complete a sensitive activity on Binance, you’ll have to enter this set of numbers. Remember: This step is optional but HIGHLY recommended.
Deposit and Fund Your Account
Next, we need actual money to buy Tether, right? To fund our account, as discussed earlier, we can use a credit card or deposit a base cryptocurrency. In either case, our goal is to get Bitcoin onto Binance so that we can sell it for Tether.
If you haven’t already bought Bitcoin, you can buy it directly on Binance (For a premium) using a credit card; to do this, log in to your account and at the top-right of your Binance account click the ‘Funds’ tab and a drop-down will appear; from these options, select the last one which is ‘Buy with Credit Card’. Then simply input your card info, select Bitcoin, and input how much worth in fiat that you want to buy. Press ‘Confirm’, and you’ll be allocated Bitcoin directly to your account.
What if I already have Bitcoin? You can deposit it seamlessly to Binance by logging into your account once again and selecting the ‘Funds’ tab at the top-right of your screen. This will drop-down a list of options. Select ‘Deposits’:
Note: If you bought Bitcoin inclusively on Binance as instructed in the aforementioned step, then you do not have to send Bitcoin to this deposit address, it will automatically allocate to your Binance account.
Once completed, we’re ready for the final step, which is to finally acquire Tether.
Place Order for Tether (USDT)
The final step in this process is to acquire Tether, and the process may be confusing, however, read along first and you should get the hang of it. Binance lists the pair ‘BTC/USDT’, which means Tether is being sold for Bitcoin, however, we want Tether instead; so we will simply use this pair, however, instead of buying the pair, we’re going to sell the trading pair, meaning we’ll sell our Bitcoin for Tether.
This is mainly because Binance, and most other exchanges, do not have a direct buy feature for Tether, so therefore we will sell our acquired Bitcoin for Tether. To do this, head to the ‘Exchange’ section of Binance (Click on the ‘basic’ option from the drop-down), and you’ll see a chart, as well as some other information, has been loaded. Now, on the right-hand side of the screen, you’ll see a list of trading pairs. Click on the label ‘USDS’ and from the drop-down, select the ‘USDT’ option. Then, in the input box, search for “BTC”. You should see the BTC/USDT result, as follows:
Click on this option, and as a result, a new chart will load which represents the price of Bitcoin relative to Tether (It will be the same as in United States Dollars). Now, underneath the chart, you’ll see two boxes: A buy box and a sell box. Navigate to the sell box and press ‘Market’ for the order type tab. Then, press the 100% button; this will allocate the maximum amount of Bitcoin that we just purchased to be sold in exchange for Tether.
If done correctly, your screen should look similar to this:
Upon inputting the amount to sell to acquire Tether, press ‘Sell BTC’ –> Then, once executed which will be instant, you’ll then be able to navigate to your account balance and Funds tab and see that Tether (USDT) has now been allocated to your Tether wallet; congratulations, you’ve bought Tether!
Coinbase is one of the biggest retail cryptocurrency exchanges in the world at the moment and is setting the precedent for beginner-based cryptocurrency buying and selling. Coinbase is a United States registered and regulated cryptocurrency exchange, and one of the only exchanges in the United States that has registered and maintained a supreme level of regulatory-abidance while maneuvering through a quivery market.
At this time, Coinbase does not support the buying or selling of Tether at this time. Coinbase currently supports fiat conversions as well as fiat holdings, however, it does not enable stablecoins in any way at least at this time. The possibility of Coinbase listing Tether (USDT) is definitely feasible; the exchange has said how they’d like to look into listing all sorts of cryptocurrencies, and they even acquired a license to enable them to buy and sell security-based tokens. At this time, however, you cannot buy or sell Tether in any way on Coinbase.
Changelly is an alternative cryptocurrency exchange site that makes the process of swapping cryptocurrencies for one another very simple. It also functions as an exchange and even enables credit and debit card purchases if supported in your relative country. Changelly is a trusted cryptocurrency outlet mainly because it has been at the forefront of retail and beginner-based cryptocurrency exchanges since 2015.
Changelly functions through two main ways, you can either:
- Buy cryptocurrency relative to the price available in fiat with a linked credit card (Currently only VISA-supported)
- Send one cryptocurrency to an address generated for you and immediately receive the equivalent amount in the selected cryptocurrency of your choice (Subsequently changing your crypto)
We can luckily use both of these methods to buy Tether on Changelly; let’s begin!
Pros:
Cons:
- Not an institutional-level option for cryptocurrency exchanging.
- A great retail solution, however, not designed for other options.
How to Buy Tether (USDT) On Changelly
Create An Account
Note: There are currently 2 main methods of buying Tether (USDT) on Changelly, as we mentioned earlier. The easiest option with the least amount of work is to create a preliminary account, and set up a Changelly swap transaction, which is what we will go over. This assumes you’ve purchased Bitcoin from a basic retail exchange; if you don’t know how to do this, you can read our guide here on how to.
The first step in order to buy Tether on Changelly is to create an account with the platform; in order to do this, on the main homepage of the exchange, click on the “Sign Up” button in green and a new slide should come out from the right side of the screen. Simply input your email address (No password is required for preliminary account information):
Doing so will then bring you to the preliminary exchange. We recommend setting a password if you’re going to continuously use Changelly as it will save you time from continuously creating separate accounts.
Set Up a Changelly Cryptocurrency Swap Transaction
The next step may get confusing, so stick with us here; even if you don’t understand 100% of what’s going on, follow along and you’ll get the hang of it by the end. For Changelly, in order to buy Tether, we’ll need to create a swap transaction. This is unlike other exchanges and works like so:
We establish which cryptocurrency we currently possess, and which cryptocurrency we want to buy and how much of it –> Changelly calculates how much worth of crypto ‘x’ we can afford with crypto ‘y’ –> Changelly creates a unique cryptocurrency address for you to send crypto ‘x’ to –> You send crypto ‘x’ to the address –> Changelly will send you back the amount of crypto ‘y’. In this case, crypto ‘x’ is simply Bitcoin, and crypto ‘y’ is Tether (USDT).
Let’s get to it then – first, input “Bitcoin” as the “Send” crypto, and Tether (USDT) as the “Receive” crypto and input how much Bitcoin you’d like to exchange for Tether:
Once entered press ‘Next Step’. This will load a new page that will ask you to input the wallet address for your Tether wallet that you’d like the Tether to be sent to (See our guide on creating a Tether wallet address under What is Tether) – make sure this is an accessible address and press ‘Next Step’ again.
Ensure this is a valid Tether (USDT) address and we can proceed forward.
Send Funds to the Swap Transaction Address
Prior to completing the final step, review the transaction details. These will be provided to you as follows:
Ensure that you have all the correct details; most importantly, make sure that the wallet address you input is the correct one because if it’s the wrong one, you’ll lose your funds. Once confirmed, press the ‘Confirm’ button and you’ll be redirected to a new page where a unique address has been displayed; this is your deposit address. Copy this address, and on the exchange or wallet you’re holding your Bitcoin on (Or another cryptocurrency that you specified if that was the case), click the ‘Send’ button. Input only the address that Changelly has generated for you. Confirm it, and press send. Once done, go back to Changelly; if done successfully, Changelly should now update and display a “Payment Received” screen.
Next, you’ll simply have to wait for Changelly to send your Tether to the Tether wallet that you input, and congratulations – you’ve successfully bought Tether (USDT) on Changelly!
Buying Tether (USDT) in Your Country
Currently, the UK does not have explicit restrictions on buying Tether, which means you can buy it on UK supported exchanges that list Tether (USDT). We recommend using Binance for this purpose, as it is the quickest and easiest option for buying Tether. Binance is a Malta-based cryptocurrency exchange that is currently legal and accessible if you’re in the UK.
Keep in mind that high-ranking UK officials have commented before on Tether; while this does not mean in anyway that it will be made illegal within the UK, it’s always best to keep up with news releases regarding your asset holdings (Tether included). At this time, however, you can buy Tether in the UK on Binance.
If you’re in the US or Canada you can buy Tether (USDT) through Binance or Changelly; both are viable and fast options. Binance and Changelly are both supported exchanges in the United States and Canada, and both exchanges list and support Tether (USDT) pairings. At this time, Tether is not prohibited for residents of Canada or the United States, however, this is subject to change.
Although Tether (USDT) is backed on a 1:1 basis by the United States Dollar, Tether is not issued by the United States government or bank. Subsequently, if anyone claims that they are a bank or government official (As is actually common) and are selling Tether at a discount it is an obvious scam. Verified exchanges that sell Tether in the United States and Canada are Binance and Changelly.
Regardless of being backed by the United States Dollar, Tether is very common in Australia. This is mainly because Tether is one of the staples that supports and makes up the cryptocurrency market. You can buy Tether (USDT) in Australia primarily on Binance. Binance is considered a standard for cryptocurrency exchanges and is widely used in Australia. You can buy Tether on Binance in Australia by depositing a base cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin and using it to exchange for Bitcoin.
Can I trade cryptocurrency using Tether (USDT)?
Although Tether (USDT) is pegged on a 1:1 basis to the United States Dollar, many wonder if it can be used for online trading purposes; the answer is yes! Tether is, at this time, a very big staple of the cryptocurrency market; because of its ability to back 1:1 to a fiat currency but still serve as a cryptocurrency fundamentally, Tether is paired to a plethora of different cryptocurrencies. This enables you to use Tether for trading purposes.
How do I use Tether to trade?
Since Tether is backed to a ‘stable’ currency, many traders utilize it as a safe-haven for their trading, almost as a risk-free cryptocurrency. Using Tether for this purpose allows you to keep funds safe and secure in the form of a cryptocurrency without volatility; maybe you’re trading cryptocurrency and don’t want to wait 3-5 days to transfer the fiat value of your trading account to your bank account; you can use Tether as an option, and convert all your holdings to Tether until you’re ready to trade again. So where can you go to trade using Tether? You can trade with Tether on Binance, as well as Kraken.
In the case of trading with Tether, you need to trade with markets that have USDT pairings. On Binance, for example, you can find these by selecting ‘USDT’ markets under the ‘All USD Markets’ section, as follows:
In order to trade via Tether, you’ll just need to remain within these USDT markets. This function enables you to trade cryptocurrency markets relative to USD while both 1.) Trading potentially profitable cryptocurrencies, 2.) Keeping the ability to convert your trade to a safe harbor cryptocurrency.
Can I trade Tether using a trading robot?
While you cannot trade Tether (USDT) itself using a Bitcoin robot, you can, in fact, use bots to trade Tether trading pairs. Similarly to how we said above where we’d be trading cryptocurrencies that are only paired to USDT, some trading robots enable you to do this as well. All that’s required is to navigate to the trading bot of choice and find the settings or ‘Traded Assets’ tab (Most if not all trading robots have this), and select only USDT pairs. Your traded assets page or settings tab that indicates which pairs the trading robot should trade, should, as a result, look something similar to:
- BTC/USDT
- ETH/ USDT
- LTC/USDT
- XRP/USDT
Once done, your trading robot will be configured to only trade pairs supported by Tether.
Alternative Methods to Buy Tether (USDT)
There are a few ways to buy Tether using a credit or debit card, and your option of choice typically depends on your jurisdiction or credit card provider. There are 2 main ways to buy Tether (USDT) using a credit/debit card: Buy Bitcoin with a credit card on Binance using a credit card and then exchange that Bitcoin for Tether, or link a credit card to Changelly and then use the card to purchase Tether directly after inputting your Tether wallet.
In the case of choosing Binance or Changelly, it’s important to note that a Binance credit card link is enabled by a third party provider Simplex while Changelly only supports VISA cards. This makes buying Tether with a credit card on Binance a bit more global, while Changelly is concentrated only to specific providers. Also, Binance does not require verification in order to use a credit card (Within limits), while Changelly does require verification for usage.
Both are great options for buying Tether (USDT) using a credit/debit card.
At this time, there is no exchange where you can directly buy Tether using PayPal accounts, however, you can in fact indirectly buy Tether using PayPal by first using PayPal to buy Bitcoin on an external site and then transferring that Bitcoin to a Tether supported exchange such as Binance and exchanging them for one another.
If you’re unsure how to buy Bitcoin using PayPal, you can follow our guide which is linked, or you can sign up for an exchange such as Coinbase that enables PayPal linking. Assuming you comprehended the guides and were able to buy Bitcoin on the exchanges using PayPal, the next step would be to deposit that Bitcoin to an exchange that supports Tether pairing such as Binance. Once deposited, simply sell the Bitcoin for Tether via the BTC/USDT pair and you’ll have successfully bought some Tether using PayPal.
You can buy Tether with Bitcoin on Changelly very quickly and easily. The process is simple; as detailed in our guide above How to Buy Tether Using Changelly, set up a ‘swap transaction’ on Changelly and input that you’d like to use Bitcoin to pay for the Tether that you’re purchasing. That process will look similar to this:
Once specified how much Bitcoin worth of Tether you want to buy, follow the subsequent steps and you’ll be allocated Tether in no time.
Tether has demonstrated that the cryptocurrency market has a shot at enabling strictly digital transactions. Tether (USDT) is a fiat-backed cryptocurrency that extracts the safety and security of a consistently valued fiat currency and blends it with the technological efficiency of blockchain and cryptocurrencies. Learning how to buy Tether is a skill that once acquired can be used over and over again.
Cryptocurrencies are confusing for both beginners and seasoned users of technology, and buying them is even more confusing. With time, effort and research via guides like ours on InsideBitcoins, the learning curve can be shortened exponentially.
InsideBitcoins is up to date on news, tutorials, and guides about all cryptocurrencies, including Tether (USDT); make sure you subscribe to our newsletter to never miss out on market-moving developments.
FAQs
How does Tether keep its value of $1?
Tether (USDT) maintains its value by being backed by United States Dollars on a 1:1 basis. The actual process for this backing is a bit complex. Tether works, according to their core team, by reserving USD in banks. Each time a USDT token is bought on the digital markets, a dollar from the Tether reserve account is redeemed. More details on Tether's backing process and how it achieves the ability to retain a value of $1 despite market movement can be found in their official main whitepaper, found here.
I heard rumors Tether is illegal, is that true?
Tether receives a lot of controversy and allegations within the media about being fraudulent and a scam; this has initiated some law agencies to research the technology a bit more and see how it really works. As of this writing, there are no hard proven facts that prove Tether (USDT) is fake or fraudulent; it is legal currently in all jurisdictions where cryptocurrency is considered legal. However, this can change; be sure to stay up to date on developments and any breaking information about the legalities with Tether.
Did Bitfinex create Tether or did someone else?
Bitfinex as an entity did not actually create Tether, rather a Bitcoin Foundation director Brock Pierce did in 2014. When founded, the project was released under the name 'Realcoin' and was not publicly traded or available on a retail level near where it is today. It is unclear, however, reports conclude that Bitfinex acquired Tether around 2015 or so since the CEO for Tether that was made public ended up being the same name as Bitfinex's CEO.
What are the benefits of using Tether (USDT)?
Tether offers multiple benefits for a wide variety of users. The main benefactor that Tether presents for all users is that it enables them to cut costs associated with transferring your funds from a cryptocurrency to a fiat bank account, as well as behave in a much more faster manner. While a wire transfer of USD can cost multiple percentages to complete and will take days to process, Tether can be sent, received, and confirmed at a fraction of the cost in a fraction of the time.
I saw the price of Tether (USDT) backed to USD fall/increase, how is this possible?
Exchanges report pricings of Tether (USDT) which means that not all are up to speed. As a result, sometimes you may see the price of Tether backed by USD as fluctuating above or below the value of $1 USD. In many cases, this is nothing to worry about, however, it's important to keep up to date with news and developments in case anything fundamentally was changed.
