Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

This device is too small

If you're on a Galaxy Fold, consider unfolding your phone or viewing it in full screen to best optimize your experience.

Skip to main content

Best Places to Buy Cardano for 2024

Review Updated
Emma Newbery
By: Emma Newbery

Our Cryptocurrency Expert

Many or all of the products here are from our partners that compensate us. It’s how we make money. But our editorial integrity ensures our experts’ opinions aren’t influenced by compensation. Terms may apply to offers listed on this page.

Cardano is a popular cryptocurrency, but it isn't available from as many top crypto exchanges as you might think. All the same, if you're looking for the best place to buy Cardano, you have some good options. Bear in mind that someone who wants to add a small amount of Cardano to their portfolio will have different needs than someone who wants to trade regularly. Here are our picks for the best places to buy Cardano, and what to keep an eye out for.

Crypto regulation and Cardano

In June 2023, the SEC filed charges in which it claimed a number of popular cryptocurrencies -- including Solana, Cardano, and Polygon are unregistered securities. This could impact the way these and other cryptos are traded in the U.S. If you're considering buying Cardano, make sure you understand how the SEC cases and other proposed regulatory changes could impact your portfolio. The SEC advises investor caution when it comes to crypto.

Coinbase
Open Account for Coinbase

On Secure Website.

Ratings Methodology

Our Rating:

Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars.
4.50/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor

Bottom Line

Coinbase is extremely accessible and a great option for first-time crypto investors. It's easy to deposit money, and Coinbase offers a wide range of cryptocurrencies. It would be good if it could be more transparent about its fees, which are higher than many exchanges.

Fees:

Variable fees (Coinbase), 0%-0.80% (Coinbase Advanced Trade), $29.99 monthly (Coinbase One)

Account Minimum:

$2

Our Rating:

Rating image, 4.00 out of 5 stars.
4.00/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor

Bottom Line

Crypto.com is a popular platform with a wide range of coins. Users need to stake its native coin to unlock benefits like higher interest rates and better rewards on its crypto debit card.

Fees:

Variable spread

Account Minimum:

Varies based on cryptocurrency

Our Rating:

Rating image, 3.50 out of 5 stars.
3.50/5 Circle with letter I in it. Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor. We want your money to work harder for you. Which is why our ratings are biased toward offers that deliver versatility while cutting out-of-pocket costs.
= Best
= Excellent
= Good
= Fair
= Poor

Bottom Line

Kraken is an excellent cryptocurrency platform with a wide range of available crypto. It has options for beginner and advanced traders and is one of the oldest crypto exchanges around.

Fees:

0.0% - 0.26% maker-taker fees (Kraken Pro)

Account Minimum:

Varies by cryptocurrency

TIP

Our top crypto play isn’t a token - Here’s why

We’ve found one company that’s positioned itself perfectly as a long-term picks-and-shovels solution for the broader crypto market — Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and all the others. In fact, you've probably used this company's technology in the past few days, even if you've never had an account or even heard of the company before. That's how prevalent it's become.

Sign up today for Stock Advisor and get access to our exclusive report where you can get the full scoop on this company and its upside as a long-term investment. Learn more and get started today with a special new member discount.

What to look for when buying Cardano

The first thing to look for when buying Cardano is a top cryptocurrency app, exchange, or brokerage that trades the ADA coin. Cardano has been in the top 10 cryptos by market for some time, but it is not offered by every platform. This is, in part, due to the SEC claims that it is operating as an unregistered security. We'll touch more on these shortly, first, here are some things to consider when hunting for the best place to buy Cardano.

Security

There have been several high-profile crypto exchange hacks over the years, so it's important to find an exchange that prioritizes security. Look for exchanges that keep the majority of their assets offline in cold storage. Some have external security audits and others have third-party insurance against hacking, which gives an additional layer of protection.

Independent proof of reserve audit

Unfortunately, the collapse of FTX and other crypto platforms showed us that crypto platforms aren't always a safe place to leave your funds. If you plan to leave your assets on the platform where you bought them, pay attention to what that company is doing with your money. An audit carried out by a reputable third party can give some reassurance that your money is safe.

Fees

You may pay a fee to deposit money, trade, and/or make withdrawals. Fees can eat into your profits, and cryptocurrency platforms are not always transparent about how fees are calculated. This can make it difficult to compare apples to apples.

Before you deposit any money on a cryptocurrency exchange, it's important to understand each of these costs. It's also a good idea to test out what exchange rate you're offered on various platforms to make sure you're getting the best deal.

Ease of use

Some people want a site where it's simple to convert fiat (traditional) currency into Cardano. Others look for more complex crypto trading functionality. When searching for the best place to buy Cardano, explore individual platforms as much as you can before you deposit money. Don't be afraid to set up more than one account and experiment.

If you want to manage your crypto on the go, make sure there's a good mobile app. And look at the educational resources to see how accessible the platforms are -- you'll find some have a host of useful information. And if you want to be able to move your Cardano cryptocurrency to an external crypto wallet, make sure this functionality is available.

Crypto selection

If you're only interested in buying Cardano, you won't need a wide selection of tokens. However, if you plan to also explore Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies, look at what coins are available. One way to be sure the platform has a good mix is to check that the top 20 coins by market cap are on the list. You can also look at how often the brokerage, exchange, or app lists new coins and what criteria it uses.

Bonuses, local availability, staking, and more

Only a few cryptocurrency platforms are available in every U.S. state, so it's a good idea to check the coverage before you go too far. If you're an American, the best place to buy Cardano is through an exchange that's licensed to operate in the U.S.

Several crypto exchanges and brokers offer sign-up bonuses for new customers. This may give your initial Cardano investment a nice boost. Don't let it overly sway your decision-making though -- if an exchange has a good bonus but charges high fees, it may cost more in the long run.

Check out our cryptocurrency reviews for more crypto apps, exchanges, and brokerages.

TIP

The right crypto investing mindset

Investing in crypto can be extremely risky. We think investors should approach these assets like any other technological investment — with a long-term mindset and the expectation of ups and downs. The Fool realizes there may be opportunities for investors. We do actively recommend select cryptocurrencies to our community. But we encourage everyone to be well versed prior to investing to understand the potential risks and rewards.

What is Cardano?

Cardano (ADA) is a popular cryptocurrency that was launched in 2015 by Charles Hoskinson, who also co-founded Ethereum (ETH). The ADA token is the backbone of the Cardano network.

Cardano is a programmable blockchain ecosystem that developers can use to build decentralized applications. This third-generation cryptocurrency set out to solve some of the issues faced by Ethereum, by, for example, improving processing speeds and reducing transaction costs.

It has taken a slow-and-steady approach to development. Each step is peer-reviewed before implementation. Cardano is one of a number of cryptocurrencies that can run smart contracts. It uses a proof-of-stake validation model. This means that only people who own the Cardano ADA token can validate blocks.

Is Cardano a security? And why does it matter?

At the start of June, the SEC brought charges against Binance and Coinbase, two well known cryptocurrency exchanges. One of the charges was that the platforms had been operating as unregistered securities exchanges. Cardano was listed as one of the unregistered securities the SEC said they had traded.

There's long been a debate about how to categorize cryptocurrencies. If a crypto is a security, it comes under the jurisdiction of the SEC and there are strict rules about how it can be traded and what information it needs to report. Until now, most cryptos have instead been treated as commodities. If Cardano is classified as a security, it will have a big impact on how U.S. investors can buy, sell, and store ADA.

The SEC applies something called the Howey Test to determine whether something is, in fact, a security. This states that an investment contract (a type of security) exists when, "There is the investment of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others." It argues that those involved promote ADA as an investment, and that there is an expectation that investors can profit from the work the entities that support the Cardano blockchain.

Cardano hit back at the claim. "Under no circumstances is ADA a security under U.S. securities laws," said a blog post from IOHK, one of the companies behind Cardano. "It never has been."

Where can you buy Cardano?

You can buy Cardano from almost anywhere in the world using a broker or cryptocurrency exchange. You can either trade another cryptocurrency for Cardano or deposit fiat money and convert it into ADA. Broadly speaking, you can buy Cardano through a crypto broker, exchange, or app.

It's relatively easy to set up an account with a cryptocurrency exchange. You'll likely need to submit a photo ID and proof of address to verify your account. Cryptocurrency exchanges usually offer a wider range of coins and have more functionality than stock brokers. However, unlike brokerages, exchanges are unlikely to be registered with the SEC, so they may offer less investor protection.

Most top crypto brokers and exchanges also have trading apps, making it easy to buy Cardano from your phone. However, Cardano is not available from popular payment apps like PayPal, Venmo, and CashApp.

What are the fees to buy Cardano?

The fees to buy Cardano depend on the platform you use. Unfortunately, crypto fees come in many shapes and sizes, and there's not a lot of consistency. When choosing a cryptocurrency platform, pay particular attention to the following.

  • Deposit fees: Depending on the payment method, there's often a charge to deposit fiat currency. Almost all exchanges will charge for credit card deposits, but a bank transfer is often free. Think about how you plan to deposit your money or crypto and make sure you understand how much it will cost.
  • Trading fees: These often take the form of a maker/taker percentage, but you may also be charged a fixed fee. Sometimes there's also a hidden fee built into the trading rate -- or a mixture of all three.
  • Withdrawal fees: These usually vary from crypto to crypto, but some exchanges offer free withdrawals. Others make it cheap to deposit money but hit customers with a steep fee when they want to withdraw their assets.

The best places to buy Cardano will be transparent about their fee structures. That way investors can plan for the costs of trading.

Where is it safe to buy Cardano?

It's safe to buy Cardano from reputable cryptocurrency platforms with good security processes. Look for safety measures like:

  • Storing assets offline in cold storage
  • Third-party insurance
  • Bug bounty programs
  • External audits of reserves

As with the fees, transparency is important -- be suspicious if a platform doesn't give details of its security measures.

At a user level, make sure you enable two-factor authentication (2FA). With 2FA, you'll need to input extra info each time you log on, such as an emailed security code. Some exchanges let you whitelist withdrawals -- meaning you can restrict withdrawals to pre-approved addresses.

All cryptocurrency investment carries risk, and Cardano is no exception. The price is likely to be extremely volatile, and the safest way to buy Cardano is to only spend money you can afford to lose and ensure that crypto only represents a small part of your wider portfolio. That way if the price does fall dramatically, you won't lose your life savings.

The SEC's claim that Cardano is a security present additional risks for U.S. investors. Several crypto platforms have already de-listed ADA and still more may follow suit. This could reduce liquidity and make it harder for you to sell your holdings.

Consider a crypto wallet

Once you've bought Cardano, also think about where you want to store it. Cryptocurrencies have a private key that's a bit like a bank PIN. If you don't control the key, you don't fully control your crypto. So if the crypto platform you used to buy Cardano gets hacked or fails, you may lose your ADA tokens. As a result, some people prefer to move their coins to a wallet they control.

However, this can bring its own complications, especially for new investors. For example, if you lose the password to your hardware wallet, there's no handy "forgot password" feature. Billions of dollars' worth of crypto are stuck in wallets that can no longer be accessed because people forgot their keys or lost their wallets. This is just one reason some people prefer to leave their crypto on the platform where they bought it.

In terms of the best place to buy Cardano, several crypto exchanges may fit the bill. Hopefully you now have a good understanding of what to look out for on your Cardano journey.

Offer Best For Commissions Next Steps

Best for overall crypto selection

Variable fees (Coinbase), 0%-0.80% (Coinbase Advanced Trade), $29.99 monthly (Coinbase One)

Best for earning interest on Cardano

Variable spread

Kraken Offer Image

Kraken

Advanced trading tools

0.0% - 0.26% maker-taker fees (Kraken Pro)

Our Cryptocurrency Expert