Tether is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, in large part because it’s a stablecoin. That means it’s tied to the value of a specific global currency, like the US dollar, making it more stable than other cryptocurrencies that can fluctuate wildly in value.
Plus the stable value makes it easy to exchange into USD or one of the many cryptocurrencies.
But do you know how to buy Tether? And if so, do you know where to buy Tether?
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What is Tether?
As mentioned above, Tether is a stablecoin. Its value is tied to the US dollar, which means one Tether will always be equal to $1. It’s for this reason tether is abbreviated as “USDT” (probably denoting “US dollar Tether).
It’s one of several stablecoins offered in the cryptocurrency universe, and one of the most popular at that.
As a stablecoin, Tether enjoys certain advantages over typical cryptocurrencies:
- The value remains stable, not providing the big price run ups of floating cryptos, but avoiding the massive declines as well.
- Some crypto exchanges pay incredibly high interest on crypto balances, with the highest yields often going to stablecoins, like Tether.
- Stablecoin is readily convertible into traditional currencies, as well as transferable to and from bank accounts, due to its stability.
- Stablecoin is probably more likely to be adopted as a national or universal cryptocurrency than those that float in value.
Put another way, if you want to hold at least some of your crypto investment in a stablecoin, Tether is an excellent choice. The crypto is 100% backed by reserves of traditional currency and cash equivalents, to keep the value at $1.
Tether also offers Tether Gold, which is a digital token backed by physical gold. That can make it a transferable play on an investment in gold bullion.
How to Buy Tether
Choose a Crypto Exchange
To buy any cryptocurrency, including Tether, you’ll need to open an account with a crypto exchange or broker that specifically accommodates that crypto. We’ll provide a list of several crypto exchanges to choose from in the next section.
When you do open an account with a crypto exchange, be sure that exchange accommodates any other cryptos you might want to trade in at some point in the future. In most cases, the more currencies offered, the more options you’ll have of cryptos to invest in, apart from Tether alone.
In addition, carefully evaluate the trading tools and ease of use of each exchange, as well as the fees charged for trading. You’ll also want to know if the exchange pays interest on crypto balances as well as how much.
Select a Digital Wallet
You’ll need one to hold your Tether and other cryptocurrencies. Cryptos are digital assets and must be stored digitally. Some of the exchanges listed below will provide a digital wallet as part of their service. But you may also want to have your own digital wallet.
If you can choose to use your own digital wallet, it has the advantage of being more secure than one provided by an exchange. That’s because you, not the exchange will have control of the digital wallet.
Digital wallets come in two types, hot and cold storage.
A hot storage wallet stores crypto on your computer or mobile device. That means you’ll need to have access to the Internet to access your crypto.
Cold storage wallets are actual physical media that hold your crypto. For example, it may be a thumb drive. It will be more secure than a hot wallet or a digital wallet provided by an exchange, because you’ll have complete control over it. Your crypto will only be accessible when the device is attached to your mobile phone or computer.
Of course, if your cold wallet gets lost or damaged there is no way to recover it.
Fund Your Account
There are generally two ways to fund a crypto account:
- Link a bank account, and transfer funds to your crypto exchange account, or
- Transfer crypto from one exchange to another.
The advantage of a linked bank account is that you’ll be able to move funds back and forth between your crypto account and your bank account.
Transferring crypto from one exchange to another is more easily accomplished when you have your own cold storage wallet. Since you’ll store your crypto on your own wallet, you can simply move the crypto from one exchange to another when your wallet is attached to your device.
Executing Trades
If you’ve ever traded stocks or other securities with a brokerage account, the process is fairly similar with cryptos. The main difference is that crypto exchanges don’t usually provide any type of phone support or broker assistance with trades. The entire process will need to be done online.
You can set either a market order or a limit order. A market order will be executed more quickly because it directs the exchange to execute the trade at the current price.
A limit order is where you set a specific price at which you want to buy or sell a crypto. This type of trading will take longer to execute because it won’t happen until the crypto price reaches the limit you set.
Naturally, you’ll need to have your account fully funded for the amount of the trade you plan to make, at least on purchases. Once the trade has been made, you can store the crypto on your digital wallet.
Where to Buy Tether
As the popularity of cryptocurrency increases, there are more platforms where you can buy Tether and other digital assets than ever. There are even diversified investment platforms, like Robinhood and Webull, where you can trade cryptos with the same service where you invest in stocks, options, and exchange-traded funds.
However, not all cryptocurrency exchanges and investment brokers offer trading in all cryptos. But below are five cryptocurrency exchanges verified to offer trading in Tether.
Coinbase
Coinbase is one of the top cryptocurrency exchanges available. It stands out for the sheer diversity of cryptocurrencies it offers, as well as the many services and features the platform provides.
For example, you can trade close to 70 different cryptocurrencies on Coinbase, which is one of the largest selections in the industry.
They offer Coinbase Earn, where you can earn additional crypto by completing courses related to specific cryptocurrencies. But you can also earn additional crypto by earning commissions on crypto staking on the exchange. That’s a process by which you monitor activity among certain cryptos and earn commissions for your effort.
In addition to cryptocurrency, you can also buy and sell non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, on the exchange. These are an increasingly popular type of digital asset based primarily on digital art. Artists create digital art, which then trades much like cryptocurrencies. They’ve taken on value as investments, because the prices on some NFTs have skyrocketed in a short space of time.
You can either store your cryptos in a digital wallet provided by Coinbase, or by using your own digital wallet.
But what might be the strongest feature of Coinbase is its ability to both spend your crypto and convert it to fiat currency, like US dollars.
Your account comes with a Visa debit card, enabling you to spend against your crypto balance. They also offer a stablecoin, which is tied to the value of the US dollar. That makes moving funds between your bank account and your Coinbase account quick and easy.
You can open an account with Coinbase and begin investing in Tether and other cryptos with as little as $2.
Kraken
Kraken is another very popular crypto exchange and one that supports trading in Tether.
One area where Kraken really excels is in customer support. Though they offer only contact by live chat – crypto exchanges are notorious for limited support, especially a lack of phone contact – but Kraken is available 24 hours a day, seven days per week, by live chat. That’s the next best method of contact to phone.
Kraken offers its services in scores of countries around the world and supports more than 50 different cryptocurrencies, including Tether. And like Coinbase, they also offer an opportunity to earn additional crypto through staking. You can earn yearly rewards of as much as 7%, depending on the specific crypto you stake in.
Kraken also offers margin trading. That’s similar to the process of accessing credit from a broker to purchase a larger amount of stock. But while margin trading with stockbrokers is normally limited to 2X your cash investment, Kraken can provide leverage of up to 5X your cash investment for cryptos.
To trade crypto on Kraken, you’ll need to have your own digital wallet, as the exchange doesn’t provide one for you. This isn’t a problem, however, since a personal digital wallet is much more secure than one offered through an exchange.
Kraken doesn’t have a dollar minimum to open an account or make a trade. Instead, trade minimums are based on each specific cryptocurrency. For example, to invest in Bitcoin, the minimum trade size is 0.0001 Bitcoin.
Here’s our full Kraken review.
Crypto.com
Crypto.com is an international crypto-exchange, enabling US-based investors to participate in at least 90 different cryptocurrencies, including Tether.
The exchange boasts more than 10 million users around the world. They even have $360 million in insurance coverage for cryptocurrency stored on the exchange. And like some of the other exchanges on this list, you can also trade in NFTs, as well as a stablecoin provided by the exchange.
Perhaps the standout feature of this exchange is their cashback Visa card. The cash back ranges from 1% to as much as 8%, based on the dollar value of the balance you have on the exchange. You’ll start out with a standard cashback reward of 1%, but with a balance of at least $400, you’ll receive 2%. It will take at least a $400,000 balance to take advantage of 8% rewards.
Not surprisingly, you can also earn interest on your crypto balance. They’re currently offering as much as 8.5% on crypto holdings, but the returns vary based on the specific crypto you hold. And they’ll pay as much as 14% on stable coin balances, like Tether.
Crypto.com has no standard minimum initial investment. Instead, the minimum requirement varies by the cryptocurrency you plan to purchase.
Bottom Line
In the often chaotic world of cryptocurrencies, Tether stands out as one of the more stable crypto investments. That’s not only because it maintains a constant value to the US dollar, but also because it has the potential to earn a predictable return in the form of interest income. And precisely because it has a stable value, it’s more easily converted into global currencies, or even transferred to and from bank accounts.
If you’re interested in holding Tether or any other cryptocurrencies, take a close look at any of the five crypto exchanges listed above. You’ll find one that will be the right choice for you.
