ICON, like many cryptos, is difficult to purchase directly with fiat (currency issued by a country). If you want to invest in ICON, you may need to purchase another crypto with greater availability which can then be converted to ICX on an exchange where it is offered.

Coinbase is a premier option in terms of crypto exchanges and will be the example used in this guide.

When selecting your initial coin, there are a few things to keep in mind. 

• You can purchase fractions of cryptos. While Bitcoin might sell for $10k, you can purchase $50 worth, which may amount to 0.00045 Bitcoin. 
• Not all cryptos are easily transferable for ICON, or in general. You will want to select a common coin such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, which will have greater availability for exchange. 
• There are fees to purchase and transfer Crypto (the exchanges gotta make money somehow). The fees are transaction-based instead of being based on the volume of your purchase. This means you are better off purchasing in bulk than you are making multiple smaller transactions.

Purchasing crypto can typically be done through a bank account, debit card or wire transfer, though other options (PayPal, etc.) may be available for withdrawals. Note that certain exchanges may have a waiting period to transfer your crypto after purchase. For instance, Coinbase has a waiting period to transfer of 12 days for purchases from a bank account and 9 days for purchases from a debit card. 

Once you've purchased your coin, you will need to transfer it on an exchange that offers ICON. You’ll want to have a common crypto like Bitcoin to make sure you have something that will easily convert to ICON. 

The below table lists details on exchanges offering ICON. There is a lot to learn when it comes to selecting an exchange, but we’ll start with some of the basics. 

Levels		Offers ICX	Key Benefits	Security and Verification	Available in US?
Velic	Level 1	Yes	Purchase crypto directly via credit card.	Name, Email	Yes
	Level 2		Level 2 needed for Withdrawal	Phone Number	Yes
	Level 3		Loans, Token Sales	KYC verification	Yes
	Level 4		Highest limits	Face-to-Face	Yes
Kraken	Starter	Yes	Minimal Verification Requirements	Name, Email, Street Address, Phone Number	Yes
	Intermediate	Yes	Fiat options, higher limits	Gov. Issued ID, Proof of Residence, Photo ID, Occupation, Social Security Number	Yes
	Pro	Yes	Fiat options, highest limits, customization options	Financial Statements, AML Verification	Yes
Coinbase	Level 1	No	Minimal Verification Requirements, Low-Limit Fiat deposits/withdrawals	Name, Email,Phone Number	Yes
	Level 2	No	Unlimited Investing, Wire funds in and out	Street Address	Yes
	Level 3	No	Send and receive digital currencies	Photo ID	Yes
Voyager		Yes	No exchange fees, fiat deposits/withdrawals. Instead of providing a new exchange, Voyager uses other exchanges to find the best deal.	Email verification	Yes (only available via iOS app)
Beaxy		Yes	Offers Fiat deposits/withdrawals	KYC verification	Yes (in select states)
Crypto.com		Yes	Not a direct exchange, but offers card that allows purchases with ICX.	Email verification	No

Purchasing crypto on Coinbase

Step 1: Converting crypto on Coinbase is easy. Start by going to the Prices tab. 

Step 2: This screen will show you the current coin prices. You’ll notice that some coins have a Trade button on the right hand side. That means that these are cryptos that can be converted from one to another on Coinbase. 

Step 3: Start by clicking the Trade button on the crypto you own and would like to convert. 

Step 4: Now you have a pop-up with three tabs. Click on the Convert tab to make your trade. This display will tell you which coin you’re converting From and which coin you’re converting To. You can choose a specific amount or choose to Convert All. Once you enter an amount, a conversion rate will appear. To confirm the transaction, click Convert Now.

Now that you’re converted into a more transferable coin, you can proceed with sending your coin to a new exchange that converts to ICON. Velic.io is a premier service for this currently and doubles as a top P-Rep, so in addition to making your transfer, you’re supporting the ICON network.

Once you’ve registered with velic.io, follow the below steps to transfer and convert your coin. 

Transferring your coin to Velic

Step 1: Once registered for velic.io, hover over the Assets tab and click on Asset Status from the dropdown menu. If you have any assets in velic, this is where they will be shown. This is also where you can access your wallet to deposit crypto from Coinbase. 

Step 2: On this screen, locate the coin you plan to transfer from Coinbase and click the Deposit button. This will bring you to a screen with your wallet address and a QR code. If you are transferring via mobile, you can simply scan the QR code, but if you are using a PC, you’ll want to copy your address by clicking the Copy Address button.

Note: When you click the Copy Address button, Velic will pop up with a screen to make sure it’s copied correctly to your clipboard. 

Step 3: With your Velic wallet successfully copied to your clipboard, return to Coinbase and click on the Accounts tab. 

Step 4: On the left, a little down the page, you will find a list of coins to send. Locate the coin you plan on sending to Velic for your transfer and click the Send button. 

Important! The type of coin you are sending from Coinbase MUST match the type of coin you are depositing to in Velic. If the coin types do not match, you are at risk of losing your coins.

 

Step 5: A pop-up should appear that displays your total coinage amount that is available to send. Paste your wallet address you copied from Velic into the Recipient field. Then you can select an amount you want to transfer.

Note: If you’re not seeing all of your funds available for transfer, they are liking in a waiting period from a recent deposit. Click the “Not seeing all your funds?” button, which will tell you how much longer before your funds are available for withdrawal.

Step 6: Once you’ve settled your amount, click Continue. This will open another screen to confirm your transaction and alert you of any fees, which are typically nominal. You’ll also be prompted to enter a code for your 2-factor authentication which should automatically be sent to your phone. Enter the code, review the transaction and click Confirm. 

Coinbase will verify your transaction, though it will likely take some time to complete. You can check on your transaction in the Accounts tab under History. 

Converting your coin to ICON

Step 1: Back in Velic you can make coin conversions on the Exchange tab at the top of the page. 

On the exchange rate menu on the left, select the coin you want to convert from the top menu and then select the conversion you want to make (i.e. ICX/BTC) 

Step 2: On the right of this screen you will see the Buy and Sell options for your token. In the section above Buy ICX you will see a number of forms including the Price of your conversion coin, the Amount of ICX your transfer will result in and the Total you want to convert. In the Total field, you can enter the amount of your coin you want to convert. Alternatively, you can use the percentage buttons to auto-fill thatfield. Once you have your amount configured, click Buy ICX.

The conversion should happen within a few minutes, at which point you can view your newly acquired ICX in the Asset tab we visited previously. 

Moving your ICX to your ICON Wallet

The last step in your journey to ICX is creating your ICON wallet. ICON has its own wallet, called ICONex, that operates as an extension on your browser. Download the Chrome Extension Here and follow the steps below to add your ICON to your wallet. 

Step 1: Once you have your ICON wallet set up, you can transfer coin from Velic.io. Start by going to the My Wallet tab where you will see the details of your wallet. To the right, you will see your wallet address. If you hover over the address, an option appears for you to copy the address to your clipboard.

Step 2: Now that you have the wallet address for your ICON wallet on your clipboard, you can return to velic.io to make your transfer. Return to Velic and go back to the Asset tab and the Asset Status screen. You will then want to click on the Withdrawal button on the ICX line.

Step 3: In the ICX Withdrawal Address line, paste in the address you copied from your ICON wallet. Fill in the ICX Withdrawal Amount or click the max button to withdrawal all of your ICX. Then click Submit. 

Velic will likely send you an email to verify the transaction. Once it has been verified, the transaction should complete within a couple of minutes.

Congratulations! You now have ICON. The next step in the process is to stake your icon, which you can learn more about here.