Where To Buy IOTA in USA – Learn How to Buy IOTA Today in 2023

Fact Checked by Gary McFarlane

Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.

As of 2021, there are a reported 13.8 billion devices connected to the internet, this number is expected to grow dramatically by 2030 as the prevalence of the internet increases in developing countries. All interconnected, internet-based devices are part of the “Internet of Things (IoT), a buzzword describing devices that can speak to each other. IOTA aims to be the de-facto way for transactions to take place between machines and devices that are part of the Internet of Things ecosystem.

IOTA is currently making waves in the tech industry due to its innovative “Tangle” technology. Since its release in 2017, the price of IOTA has more than tripled, leaving a lot of investors wondering ‘how to buy IOTA” before the price continues to rise. In this guide, we’ll explain exactly that, as well as providing an overview of IOTA and the technology behind it.

#1 Exchange to Buy IOTA in USA – XTB

How to Buy IOTA in USA – The Quick Four-Step Strategy

It’s quite hard to find a reputable broker offering IOTA in the US, luckily we’ve compiled a list of the 5 best exchanges to buy IOTA and broken down the pros and cons of each. This quick guide will allow you to start investing in IOTA in just a few minutes.

  1. Sign up with XTB: The first step is to register with a reputable broker, for this, we recommend XTB because they’re regulated and have a great track record. Just go to “XTB.com”, hit the “Join Now” button, and fill in some basic information.
  2. Verify your details: After you’ve made your account, you’ll need to verify it by providing a photo ID (passport, driving licence) and proof of address (utility bill, bank statement).
  3. Fund your XTB account: Now that your account is verified, you need to deposit some funds. You can do this by using either a credit/debit card, wire transfer, or e-wallet (PayPal, Skrill).
  4. Buy your IOTA: Once you’ve deposited some funds to your XTB account you’re ready to invest! Just type “IOTA” into the search bar, press “trade”, enter how much you want, and hit “buy”.

What is IOTA?

IOTA works very differently from most cryptocurrencies, it’s a distributed ledger, but not a blockchain technology like Bitcoin or any other cryptos. Instead, IOTA has focused on achieving interoperability by creating a new technology called “Tangle”, which IOTA claims is quicker and more efficient than traditional blockchains.

The main difference between Tangle and a standard blockchain is the way they validate transactions, rather than a group of miners or stakers validating transactions by trading computing power for rewards in the form of cryptocurrency, IOTA validates transactions between IoT devices by making each new transaction validate two previous transactions. This results in quick and efficient confirmations, but more importantly does away with the need for the expensive, energy-hungry hardware, validators would previously require. In the midst of widespread outcry concerning the environmental impact caused by miners, this is a very interesting technology.

Before we continue with the guide, it’s important to make note of the different terms associated with IOTA. IOTA is the non-profit company behind the token, MIOTA is the cryptocurrency and equivalent to 1 million iota, iota (recognizable by its capitalization) similar to a satoshi, and is worth 1 millionth of a MIOTA.

Where to Buy IOTA in USA – Full Broker Reviews

Currently, not many exchanges support IOTA due to the way the wallet addresses work, although this is set to change with the rollout of chrysalis. If you want to know where to buy IOTA, you can find our picks for the top 5 platforms you can buy MIOTA on right now!

1. MetaMask – Non-Custodial Way to Buy IOTA in the US

If you’ve spent any time exploring dApps you might’ve heard of MetaMask, a wallet allowing users to interact with the Ethereum blockchain. Available through both a browser extension and a mobile app, allowing the majority of people to have a way to access it. Although their primary focus is on Ethereum-based tokens and interacting with decentralized applications, MetaMask also provides users an easy way to invest in lesser-known altcoins.

A key feature of MetaMask is the fact it’s non-custodial, meaning that you have control over all the keys associated with your wallet. This is important because if you were to lose access to your device or something happened to MetaMask, you would still be able to recover your coins from a separate wallet.

MetaMask can be used as a way to store the majority of your altcoins, they have a “swap” feature that makes it easy to exchange your coins with any other that you’d like to hold, while only paying a minimal fee. If a coin isn’t available on MetaMask then you can manually add it using the contract address found on BscScan, making the range of coins available far greater than you’d initially expect. Another interesting aspect of MetaMask is the built-in browser allowing you to interact with web3.0 applications, something that’s slowly becoming more and more mainstream. The only downside with MetaMask is their lack of native exchange, meaning you’ll have to fund it with another source of crypto and then swap that to your desired asset.

MetaMask Fees

Fee Type Amount (%)
Service Fee 0.3% to 0.875%

 

Pros

  • Non-custodial
  • Huge variety of assets
  • Built-in dAPP browser
  • Swap between ETH & BSC coins

Cons

  • No proprietary exchange
  • Doesn’t support every network

Cryptoassets are highly volatile unregulated investment products. Proceed at your own risk.

2. Binance.US – Best Way to Buy IOTA for Technical Traders in the US

The world’s largest exchange by volume, it’s no surprise that Binance has made its way onto this list. Despite the regulatory issues they faced in 2019, Binance has cemented its place in the US market by releasing Binance.us. Binance.us still has all the great features users came to expect from the platform but removed certain leveraged financial instruments to ensure they comply with laws in the US.

Although not particularly transparent about its security, Binance has revealed it uses industry-standard security techniques to make sure its customers are safe. The 2FA system they use is one of the better ones, every time you log in, you’ll need to enter a code sent to your mobile, the same applies with withdrawals, however, you’ll also be sent a code to the email you used to register with Binance.

Although the US platform has a reduced number of cryptocurrencies, IOTA has a USD pair, meaning you won’t run into any issues when trying to invest from inside the US. If you’re a technical trader then Binance is a great option for you, it has a huge range of indicators and has TradingView integration, meaning you won’t be short on charting tools.  Outside of the usual, Binance allows users to earn interest on their investments by staking the coins for rewards, there are currently 7 PoS coins available.

Binance.us Fees

Fee Type Fee Amount (%)
Instant Buy/Sell Fee 0.5%
Spot Trading Fee 0.1%

 

Pros

  • Great range of indicators
  • TradingView integration
  • Lots of crypto pairs
  • Staking

Cons

  • Fewer features on the US platform
  • Not available in all states

Cryptoassets are highly volatile unregulated investment products. Proceed at your own risk.

3. Firefly/Trinity Wallet – Buy IOTA Natively in the US

Released in 2019, Trinity Wallet was the go-to option when considering how to buy IOTA. It can be hard to find a reputable place to store your coins, but you can rest easy knowing this wallet was released by the official IOTA company. Outside of mobile, Trinity Wallet is also available as a desktop application, allowing for far greater accessibility. It’s important to note, Firefly is the new version of the native IOTA wallet, after the Chrysalis migration started, a new wallet had to be created, this is Firefly.

Although technically outdated by a couple of months, we thought it was important to mention Trinity wallet because around 35% of users and tokens are still on the platform, meaning that a high number of IOTA users have yet to upgrade. The official release for Firefly was April 2021, which makes it clear why so many users are yet to make the switch despite the plethora of security improvements. If you want to upgrade to the Firefly wallet, luckily enough it’s an easy process, all you’ll have to do is download the most recent Firefly wallet, and import the seed from your Trinity Wallet, IOTA will take care of the rest. Recently, Firefly wallet has rolled out support for hardware wallets, however, it currently only supports Ledger, so if you own a Trezor you’re out of luck.

Firefly/Trinity Wallet Fees

Fee Type Amount
Transaction fee 4.5% + $4.99
Credit/Debit fee $4.99 + 3.99% or 7% above $142

 

Pros

  • Great security
  • Backed by the IOTA company
  • Consistent updates

Cons

  • Creating replacement wallets rather than upgrading creates a confusing ecosystem
  • Limited hardware wallet support

Cryptoassets are highly volatile unregulated investment products. Proceed at your own risk.

Purchasing MIOTA – Is it a Good Investment?

The amount of IoT devices is drastically rising, with some predicting the number will reach over 30.9 billion as early as 2025. The average household reportedly contains around 50 connected devices, including phones, wearables, and even washing machines. While there’s nothing wrong with smart devices, if you consider the environmental issues caused by 300,000-500,000 users completing daily transactions through the Bitcoin blockchain, it’s scary to think about how much power would be needed if 30 billion devices were sending transactions.

This is the issue IOTA aims to solve, rather than using a traditional blockchain, IOTA makes everyone sending a transaction act as a validator, having to confirm two previous transactions. By doing things this way instead of using a consensus algorithm similar to that of Bitcoin, you can remove miners from the equation, eliminating the greatest strain on the environment; power-hungry hardware. It was reported that as of 2021, Bitcoin was using more electricity than the entirety of Finland, a country with a population of over 5 million, presenting an issue with scalability.

A technology like IOTA could seriously reduce the strain on traditional blockchains, especially with the increased amount of M2M (machine-to-machine) transactions taking place. As of late 2020, MIOTA began gaining strength following a long period of horizontal price movement, this is likely in part due to the negative publicity Bitcoin has faced as a result of high energy consumption. In 2021 MIOTA has been trading between $1-$2 which is a huge gain compared to $0.10-$0.30 in 2020, this could mark the beginnings of a climb back to previous highs of around $5.

The Advantages of Investing in IOTA

The problem IOTA aims to solve continues to grow by the day, this puts it in a unique position to capitalize on the need for low-cost, energy-efficient transactions. Currently, they don’t have any competitors, at least none that come close in terms of cost and efficiency, meaning that over the next few years we could certainly see great performance out of the MIOTA token. IOTA is a new-world technology that aims to solve a new-world problem, as such it’s hard to predict just how big it could become, but as our reliance on technology and smart devices increases, the need for cost and energy-efficient M2M transactions only grows.

  • Environmentally friendly: Without the need for miners solving complex cryptographic puzzles, the hardware requirements to validate an IOTA transaction are far lower than that of Bitcoin. This leads to a greatly reduced energy consumption, something the environment is in dire need of.
  • No transaction Fees: Once again stemming from IOTA not needing to reward any miners for validating transactions, IOTA has completely done away with transaction fees. Anyone that’s sent a BTC or ETH transaction knows just how much you can lose to fees.
  • Alternative Consensus: Bitcoin uses a proof of work consensus, which while impossible to tamper with it isn’t very fast. There is a lot of focus on trying to create a more efficient way to validate transactions, a great example being TRON.

The Disadvantages of Investing in IOTA

It seems no project is without problems, and IOTA is unfortunately not an exception to this rule. Although IOTA supposedly resolved a lot of issues it was facing in the early days, it wouldn’t be right not to mention them, especially considering some are still ongoing.

  • Phishing Attacks: As with every new technology, IOTA’s network had some issues, mainly due to a lack of testing. This resulted in a phishing attack taking place, with stolen funds amounting to $3.94 million worth of MIOTA.
  • Encryption Vulnerability: Many cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin included, use a SHA-256 hash encryption. IOTA, on the other hand, chose to create their own encryption method called Curl. When a team at MIT was testing this hash function, it found 2 separate inputs created the same output, a big issue when creating seeds. Although IOTA has fixed this problem, if it wasn’t found by MIT it could’ve potentially been used to steal funds from Tangle.
  • Decentralization Issues: IOTA’s network using a central server called a Coordinator to make sure transactions are secure. This means that the IOTA network is far less decentralized than they claim, however, there is a plan in place referred to as “The Cooridicide” which aims to remove the Coordinator.

How Much Does it Cost to Buy MIOTA?

If you make sure to use a regulated, reputable exchange then you won’t be charged more than anyone from another country for buying MIOTA. Currently, the price of MIOTA is $1.38, meaning if you invested $100 you would have around 74 MIOTA. If you invested $250 at the start of 2021 you would currently have more than $1,100.

Purchasing MIOTA – How to Pay for It

You’re not limited in ways to pay when buying MIOTA, especially when using our top-rated broker XTB. You’re able to use whichever payment method is right for you, with XTB supporting credit or debit card, bank transfer, and e-wallet (PayPal, Skrill). Below we’ve summarized the pros and cons of the two most popular methods; bank card and PayPal.

Buy MIOTA Using PayPal

If you choose to use an e-wallet to buy IOTA then you’ve likely already registered with one. The largest e-wallet is PayPal, trusted by millions to provide safe transactions. When using PayPal you benefit from the convenience of card payment, but also have an extra layer of security between your information and the exchange. For anyone wanting to have a greater deal of privacy, this is perfect.

Buy IOTA with Paypal via XTB Now >

Buy MIOTA using a Credit/Debit Card

Using a card to make any online purchase tends to be the easiest way, it’s no different in the crypto world, however, it does come with heavy costs. While you can normally use a bank card free of charge, you’ll be facing fees of around 2-5% for every transaction when buying crypto. On top of this, you don’t have the extra layer of privacy an e-wallet offers.

Buy IOTA with Credit/Debit Card via XTB Now >

How & Where To Buy IOTA – Conclusion

All in all, IOTA is an incredibly interesting technology that has the potential to solve some major issues in the crypto space. If they’re able to work out the issues with centralization and provide users with an easier onboarding process, there’s no reason why IOTA can’t see the same highs it enjoyed in 2017. After reading this guide you should know how to buy IOTA using the best IOTA exchange. We recommend XTB to anyone looking for a regulated, easy-to-use, fully-featured exchange. As with any exchange, it’s crucial you set up 2FA when using XTB as it ensures your funds are completely safe.

FAQs

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About Jay Leonard PRO INVESTOR

Jay is a UK based cryptocurrency expert, specialising in fundamental analysis and medium to long term investments. He has a great deal of hands on experience in the space and a current focus on institutional adoption.