Today, many New Yorkers want to invest or buy some Polkadot (DOT) tokens. The good news is that New York residents can do that easily and quickly on the many crypto exchanges that operate in the state.
This guide will discuss how to do that. It will go over the process of buying Polkadot, how the DOT crypto functions, and why it’s a promising cryptocurrency for buying. Most importantly, you’ll learn where to buy DOT if you’re a New York resident and provide the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions on the subject.
What Is Polkadot (DOT)?
In technical terms, Polkadot is an open-source sharding multichain protocol that enables users to transfer any asset or data, besides the official token, throughout the chain.
In essence, Polkadot aims to process numerous transactions on several parallel chains, which vastly improves scalability. What’s more, you can quickly and easily add custom blockchains to Polkadot’s framework and connect to its network.
All of this makes Polkadot unique in the crypto world, making it more akin to apps on smartphones than regular cryptocurrencies.
This protocol aims to create a fully decentralized web run by its users, who can create new apps and services with ease. And as it can easily connect any type of data on the blockchain, it’s certainly something you can achieve.
As for the DOT token itself, it has three purposes:
- To provide network governance
- To lead network operations
- To create parallel chains or parachains via bonding
The number of DOT tokens was first limited to 10 million, but the network was redenominated and now has one billion tokens. The redenomination didn’t affect the network at all, as the developers only increased balances by a factor of 100 to avoid the use of smaller decimals. So, the change was just for pure convenience.
The original DOT token was priced at $0.29 after its ICO in late 2017, with around 2.24 million DOT tokens offered at that point. The second ICO came in July 2020 when the redenomination mentioned above occurred. The token price was $1.24, with 342,080 DOT tokens sold.
The price quickly started to rise after that, truly coming into its own in early 2021. The still unsurpassed maximum value was reached in early November 2021, when the price was around $55.
Why Should I Buy Polkadot?
First and foremost, if you genuinely believe in what Polkadot is trying to achieve, then you should definitely invest in crypto. However, if you don’t, you should consider other things and decide afterward.
The token’s value has fallen from its highs in November, but it is always likely to start rising again soon. Naturally, we cannot know whether this will happen, so you still need to consider if and how much you should invest carefully.
Lastly, it’s important to mention that Polkadot has a sound rewards system that incentivizes new and current investors. You get to stake your coins and join in on the governance of Polkadot’s decentralized system by becoming either a nominator or a validator. By doing that, you’ll get rewards in the form of additional DOT tokens over time.
It’s an easy way of earning more tokens as you still get to choose how much you want to be involved in the governance process. Regardless of your involvement level, it would still be good to read the guide for nominators or validators, depending on the role you choose.
Where to Buy Polkadot in New York?
Now that we’ve explained the benefits of Polkadot and the uniqueness of its system, it’s time to see where you can acquire it. If you are a New York resident, you have two options — crypto exchanges and direct buying.
Centralized Cryptocurrency Exchanges
When you want to buy Polkadot or any other coin for that matter, your best bet is always a centralized cryptocurrency exchange.
Why centralized, though? Well, there are two major types of crypto exchanges — centralized and decentralized. The former is more common, but it requires your data and imposes many different fees, while the latter is entirely decentralized, which means you don’t have to register with your personal information.
Decentralized platforms are often considered a better option due to the decentralized nature of cryptocurrency, but they are incredibly rare, and they rarely have valid licenses, so it’s never a certainty that using them is safe.
That’s why you should stick to centralized exchanges, but you still need to consider a few things when choosing one:
- Available coins — Naturally, the exchange you choose needs to have Polkadot, but also other cryptos and fiat currencies, so you have enough trading pairs. It’s best to look for an exchange that features many coins, as you might want to have more options down the line.
- Validity and legality — The United States, and especially the state of New York, have a detailed legal framework for investing in crypto, so it’s always better to stick with exchanges that have valid licenses for operating in the US.
- Security — If a platform is legal, it likely already has many high-end security features set in place, but it’s still important to check. That’s because it’s not uncommon for major exchanges to get breached, so you need to check their history and what protection measures they’ve put in place after those breaches, including insurance for your coins.
- Availability in New York — Most crypto exchanges that cover Polkadot and operate in the US do so in almost all states. However, some don’t, so you need to check that the exchange works in the state of New York. For example, the biggest crypto exchange in the world, Binance, doesn’t work in seven states, including New York.
- Liquidity — Even if an exchange offers DOT, it still needs to have enough users willing to sell it if you want to find enough DOT to buy in a reasonable amount of time.
- Fees — Every exchange has fees as that’s the only way to make a living. However, some have fewer fees and lower transaction fees, for example.
- Payment methods — Every exchange has various fiat and crypto payment methods that you use for making deposits and withdrawals. You should choose a platform with one or more of the typically used methods.
Direct Buying
Instead of buying Polkadot on an exchange, you can always choose to buy it directly from someone. That way, you’ll avoid registering an account, showing personal information, depositing money, and most notably, the fees that come with using a crypto exchange.
However, you will have to find someone who wants to sell their DOT supplies. In addition, you have to be careful that you find someone trustworthy. If you can’t, you’ll have to do the transaction in a public place to ensure everything goes in order.
How to Buy Polkadot in New York? Step-by-Step Guide
As you can see, the best way to buy Polkadot in New York is to use a crypto exchange. So, let’s take a look at how the buying process works in a typical exchange as they usually operate in the same or quite a similar manner:
- Get a crypto wallet — If you don’t already have one, get a crypto wallet that supports Polkadot and set it up. Alternatively, you can store your DOT tokens directly on an exchange, but it’s still better to have your own wallet and private keys.
- Choose an exchange — Make sure the exchange has the features you need, most notably that it supports Polkadot.
- Create an account — Every centralized exchange requires you to create an account, and the process includes you sharing various personal details like name, address, and email.
- Deposit funds — Once the account is ready for use, choose a payment method that works for you and make a deposit.
- Find the adequate pair — One part will be DOT while the other will be the currency you’ve deposited, for example, USD.
- Buy the desired DOT amount — Once you find a good pair, just input the amount of DOT tokens you want to buy and complete the purchase.
Final Thoughts
All in all, buying Polkadot in New York is an effortless endeavor. The token and the protocol itself might be complicated to understand, but buying DOT isn’t. You only need to choose a crypto exchange that covers it, and you’re set.
Once you have some Polkadot tokens, you can continue trading them, keeping them for the long-term, and maybe even staking them so you can have a passive income from the network’s rewards system.
