Buying Cardano

To stake ADA, you need to have ADA first. There are multiple ways to acquire ADA, but the most common way is to buy ADA through an exchange. The largest and most popular exchange is Binance. However due to regulations and restrictions, Binance does not serve the customers of some countries. In this case, you will have to find another exchange that serves or operates in your country. For example, NDAX is a crypto exchange that operates in Canada.

<aside> ⚠️ Make sure that you do your due diligence regarding the exchange you choose. See our risks and safeguards page for more info risks involved with centralized exchanges.

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Transferring Funds: Exchange to Wallet

The wallet you have created will have two addresses: a payment address that starts with addr and a staking address that starts with stake. The stake address is used to stake in stake pools, and the payment address is used to send and receive payments.

To transfer funds from an exchange to your wallet, follow these steps:

Go to your exchange and look for a “send” or “withdraw” function.
Select ADA as the currency you want to send or withdraw. You will be asked to enter the amount of ADA you want to send and the address you want it to be sent to (this will be your payment address).
Open your Cardano wallet and look for the payment address which starts with addr. It is usually found in a “receive” tab.
Copy the payment address and paste it into the target address in your exchange. After you paste it, double check the first and last few characters to confirm that you have copied and pasted it correctly.

<aside> ❗ Send a small amount of funds first, e.g. 5 or 10 ADA, before transferring the full amount. This can incur more transaction fees, but will help to verify that everything is correct.

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You may be required to confirm the withdrawal or transaction by your exchange.
Depending on the network congestion, the transaction may take a few minutes to complete and show the ADA in your Cardano wallet.