How To Buy Cosmos (ATOM) - Beginner's Guide

Buying Cosmos (ATOM): A Step-by-Step Guide

Buy Cryptos Now

Cryptoasset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Last Updated March 28th 2022
21 Min Read

Are you interested in buying Cosmos, but not too sure where to begin? You’re not alone. The Cosmos asset is a hugely popular cryptocurrency to buy. But, for beginners, this can be quite intimidating.

The Cosmos (ATOM) network is remarkable for many reasons. It has a unique architecture of Hubs that allows interoperability between multiple blockchains. It facilitates the unification of the entire crypto industry by allowing communication and transactions between different ecosystems. 

All in all, Cosmos is trying to solve the problem of scalability and build a better decentralized future. Are you considering adding Cosmos to your crypto portfolio?

If so, this beginner's guide will teach you how to buy Cosmos - starting from choosing the right crypto broker to placing your first buy order on ATOM tokens, and everything in between.

If you want to buy crypto assets quickly and easily, check out eToro!

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Contents:

 

How To Buy In Cosmos – Quick Guide

To help you buy Cosmos coins as quickly as possible, we broke the process down into a few easy steps:

  • Step 1: Open an account with eToro – Head to eToro’s website and click join now to open a new account.
  • Step 2: Verification – By uploading essential documents that show proof of identity and home address, you will get your account verified in a short time. 
  • Step 3: Deposit – Fund your new eToro account with a minimum of $10. 
  • Step 4: Search for Cosmos on eToro – Search for ATOM or Cosmos in the eToro crypto market.
  • Step 5: Buy ATOM – Enter the amount of the worth of Cosmos you want to purchase in United States Dollars (USD), then click Open Trade. 

That’s it! By following these easy steps, you can invest in Cosmos in less than 5 minutes.

 

If this is your first time buying cryptocurrencies like Cosmos, not to worry - we explain each of the steps in detail below.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Step 1: Choose An Online Cosmos (ATOM) Broker Or Exchange

As Cosmos is a digital token, the entire process of buying and selling this cryptocurrency can be completed from the convenience of your home. All you need is the right online platform that can facilitate your purchase. 

However, finding a reliable provider from the plethora of options is not going to be an easy task. 

With this in mind, we have listed a few points that should be considered before determining which crypto platform would be a good fit when learning how to buy Cosmos. 

Regulation

When it comes to any type of financial investment or trading, regulation continues to be one of the most significant aspects to consider. In fact, this is also one of the main factors that differentiate cryptocurrency exchanges from brokers. 

Allow us to explain. Although cryptocurrency exchanges are rising in popularity these days, these platforms are unregulated and thus less secure. In comparison, a regulated crypto broker will be able to offer you a safer environment to buy and sell Cosmos. 

So, what does regulation actually entail? Let us explain in a few points. 

  • There are authorities around the world that are entrusted with the responsibility of setting up rules and guidelines that are to be followed by licensed brokers. 
  • To name a few, you will come across the FCA in the UK, FSA in Japan, SEC in the US, CySEC in Cyprus, and ASIC in Australia. 
  • The objective of these bodies is to safeguard the interest of investors like you and to ensure fairness across the cryptocurrency industry. 
  • If a broker is regulated, it means that the platform is holding a valid license from one of these financial authorities. In turn, they have to adhere to the rules and get audited by the governing body before it can even list any assets. 
  • Some of the best Cosmos brokers of today are licensed by one or more financial authorities, adding to the safety of these platforms. 
  • Regulated brokers can also offer you several advantages, such as the option to buy Cosmos directly using fiat currency and store the tokens within the platform. 

Above all this, you can also expect more transparency from a regulated broker, as they are required to be upfront and clear about their operations. 

As such, you can clearly understand the reasons for making regulatory compliance your top priority when choosing a broker for when buying Cosmos. 

Payment Methods

When thinking of how to buy Cosmos, you should check whether the broker supports your choice of payment method. This might not be a big issue these days, as most modern brokers and exchanges offer a variety of options. 

You will find not only traditional wire transfers and debit/credit card transactions but also support for multiple e-wallets like PayPal, Neteller, and Skrill. Some platforms are even advanced enough to accept payments via Google Pay or Apple Pay. 

While at it, you should also check whether there are any particular fees associated with your preferred payment option. For instance, some brokers might charge you for processing deposits paid through debit cards, while using credit cards might result in a 'cash advance' fee. 

Fees and Commissions

As you start learning about how to buy Cosmos, it is easy to overlook one thing - fees. In fact, when you sign up on a brokerage platform, you will be liable to pay a variety of charges. 

These include the cost of facilitating your cryptocurrency and fiat transactions, and sometimes, even maintenance fees. However, by finding the right broker, you can avoid paying any unnecessary charges. 

Although the crypto space is hyper-competitive, each Cosmos broker will have an entirely different fee structure. For instance, while some brokerage sites might charge you commissions on a percentage basis, there are also platforms where you don't have to pay anything at all. 

Of course, high commission rates can always eat into your profits or worsen your losses. 

Here is how:

  • Let's say that you buy Cosmos at a total investment of $1,000. 
  • Your chosen broker charges a commission of 3% for the transaction. 
  • So, in addition to the $1,000 investment, you also pay $30 in commission. 
  • After a few months, Cosmos tokens have appreciated 20%, increasing the value of your investment to $1,200. 
  • You decide you sell the ATOM coins you own. 
  • The broker again charges you a 3% commission for selling. 
  • Meaning, you will pay another $36 (3% of $1,200) in commission. 
  • In total, you have paid $66 in commission for the two transactions. 

Your net profit from this trade is $134, after subtracting the cost of commission from the $200 gains you made. 

As you can see, commissions can quickly add up, ultimately affecting your take-home profits. In addition, your Cosmos broker could also charge you fees for processing your deposits and withdrawals, along with other administrative charges. 

As such, it is important that you factor in the fee structure when choosing a broker to buy Cosmos from. 

Other Important Factors

While the above-mentioned factors play the most significant role, those alone will not be sufficient to ensure that your experience with a broker will be smooth and successful. 

Therefore, you should consider some of the minor details that can play a big part in making your Cosmos purchases more convenient. 

  • User-Friendliness: Before you sign up with a broker, make sure that the platform is easy for you to use. If the brokerage site is beginner-friendly, even the most advanced features will be of no use to you. 
  • Minimum Investment: Brokers might have a minimum investment policy in place. Meaning, you should be ready to stake a certain amount to get access to Cosmos. You should make sure that this requirement is set at a level affordable to you. 
  • Storage: Another crucial point that beginners tend to overlook is what to do with their Cosmos tokens after completing the purchase. For those unaware, you will need a crypto wallet to store your digital assets. Some platforms also allow you to keep your Cosmos coins within the brokerage site - thus saving you from the hassle of withdrawing them. 

Whatever your choice, it is best to use a regulated broker that has a good reputation and credibility to avoid any problems with your Cosmos purchases. 

Step 2: Come Up With A Cosmos (ATOM) Investment Plan

When you are thinking of how to buy Cosmos, you should first be able to answer why you are purchasing this asset. In other words, you want to make sure that you are not jumping into the cryptocurrency space without conducting sufficient research first. 

Alongside, you should also have a proper direction on what you want to do with your Cosmos coins. This is paramount in order to devise a strategy that is best suited for your goals. 

Long-Term or Short-Term

Cryptocurrencies such as Cosmos are known to be highly unpredictable and volatile. For this reason, it is always important that you have a clear strategy in mind before you dip your toes in the crypto market. 

Many investors see Cosmos as a long-term investment, believing that it has the potential to grow substantially in the future. 

  • If you feel the same, then you can consider a 'buy and hold' strategy for your ATOM tokens. 
  • This means that you can buy Cosmos and tuck them away in a secure crypto wallet - at least for a few years. 
  • Although you will still have to follow the wider market trends associated with ATOM tokens, you will not need to stress over daily price fluctuations. 

If your Cosmos tokens appreciate in value over the years, you can sell your investment and make a profit. In fact, the price of ATOM coins has increased almost 100% since the beginning of 2021, which is encouraging for long-term investors. 

On the other hand, there are also those who see Cosmos better suited as a short-term investment.

Meaning, instead of looking at the long-term prospects, such traders are more interested in the recent price history of the coin - so that they can make quick profits off its volatility. 

As such, you will find yourself placing several trades - all with small durations of hours or even minutes.

However, short-term Cosmos trading can turn out to be a full-time job, where you have to constantly be on top of the price movements, perform regular market analysis and gain expertise in using technical indicators. 

For a beginner, this can be too much to take on. Therefore, if you are only learning how to buy Cosmos for the first time, then it will be best to think of a long-term investment. 

Once you are more knowledgeable about the crypto markets, you might be better equipped to try out short-term strategies

Target Cosmos Price

If you are unsure about how long you want to hold on to your Cosmos tokens, you can define your goal in terms of a profit target. 

  • For instance, let's say that you have purchased $500 worth of Cosmos tokens. 
  • You might plan a strategy that aims to double your investment amount. 
  • As such, you will hold on to your ATOM tokens until the total value of your coins increases to $1,000. 

Crucially, you can set any target profit - be it 10%, 20%, 30%, and so on. Since the price of Cosmos has historically moved drastically, you might be able to achieve your goal within a few days, months, or years - depending on the market conditions. 

Consider Regular Investments

If you have a lump sum amount that you want to invest into Cosmos, you have two options in front of you. You can either stake the entire amount at once or consider buying Cosmos gradually over time. 

The latter approach is known as 'dollar-cost averaging,' where you will be continuously investing the same amount of money systematically, regardless of the fluctuating prices. 

For example:

  • If you wanted to invest $1,000 into Cosmos, you could break it into five increments of $250 each. 
  • Let's say you were able to buy Cosmos at five different prices of $12.81, $12.50, $13.10, $13.85, and $14.32. 
  • Over the five individual investments, this gets you an average price of $13.31. 

By choosing to do this, you have the benefit of not risking a large sum immediately. If the value of Cosmos falls after your first purchase, you are only losing a small amount. 

More importantly, as you can see from the example, buying over time can bring down your average cost per ATOM token, especially if the price of the asset increases in the future. 

Don't Miss: Cosmos Price Predictions

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Step 3: Open A Cosmos (ATOM) Broker Account

Once you have decided on which Cosmos platform you want to use, here is how you can create your brokerage account. 

  • Visit the homepage of your chosen broker. 
  • Register as a new user by providing a username, email address, and password. 
  • Fill in your basic personal information, like your full name, address, date of birth, and contact details. 
  • On regulated brokerage platforms, you will also be legally required to verify your identity - by providing your government-issued ID card like passport or driver's license. 
  • In addition, you should also provide proof of your address by attaching a copy of your utility bill or bank statement. 

When you have completed these steps, your account will be confirmed, and you will have access to the trading interface. 

Step 4: Deposit Some Funds

When buying Cosmos from a brokerage platform, you will first need to transfer money into your trading account. You can do this via a debit/credit card, a bank transfer, or an electronic wallet like PayPal - depending on the provider in question.  

That said, the transaction speed of each of these payment options can vary from one broker to another. We find that debit and credit card deposits are processed almost instantaneously, whereas bank transfers typically require a few business days to complete. 

As such, if you want to buy Cosmos right away, it will be best to use a debit/credit card. Alternatively, e-wallets like PayPal can also be trusted for speedy payments. 

Step 5: Set Up A Cosmos (ATOM) Order

By this step, you have everything in order to start buying Cosmos. That is, you have an investment strategy in mind, and you have already created an account with your preferred Cosmos broker. 

Now, let us dive into the actual process of how to buy Cosmos. Before you can start making Cosmos purchases, you need to know what a trading order is and which ones you need to use. 

Trading orders are nothing but instructions that you give to your broker on how to carry out your trades. Let us focus on the most basic ones that you will be using when buying Cosmos. 

Buy Order

When you want to purchase Cosmos, the first instruction you will provide to your broker is a buy order. If you are buying Cosmos to profit from its future increase in value, a buy order is how you will enter the market. 

When Cosmos has reached your target profit, you will use a sell order to exit the market. 

That said, if you are pursuing a short-term strategy, at some point you might want to speculate the price of Cosmos going down. If your broker allows shorting positions, you will be using a sell order to open your trade and a buy order to close it. 

Limit or Market Order

While the buy order indicates to your broker that you want to purchase Cosmos, it does not say when or at what price. For this, you will need to choose either a market order or a limit order. 

A market order instructs your broker to buy Cosmos immediately and at the next available price. Since the value of Cosmos will be changing rapidly, the price at which your order gets filled could be different from the one quoted - leading to 'slippage.' 

Market orders are best used when you want the trade to be executed instantly, rather than waiting for a specific price. 

With a limit order, you specify a price, and your broker will execute the trade only when Cosmos can be bought at that specific value. However, due to this restriction, your position might not be filled quickly or at all. 

As such, limit orders are generally used if you have an entry price in mind and are ready to wait for the market to move in your favour.  

For example:

  • Let's say that Cosmos is quoted $12 on your chosen brokerage platform. 
  • You believe that Cosmos would be a good value investment if you are able to buy at $11. 
  • So you place a limit order at $11. 
  • If the value of Cosmos reaches your limit price, your buy order will be filled by your broker. 
  • If Cosmos does not hit your stated limit price, your order won’t be filled - leaving it pending. You will need to cancel the position manually if this happens. 

Each trading order has its advantages and disadvantages. You should plan ahead to know which ones to use when you are buying Cosmos based as per your chosen strategy. 

Stake

Once you have specified how you want the broker to execute your Cosmos purchase, you should mention how much money you want to invest into this asset. 

To keep the risks to a minimum, you might want to try a 'dollar-cost averaging' strategy instead of putting in all your money at once. As we noted earlier, this will allow you to build your Cosmos portfolio slowly but with regular investments. 

Confirm Order

Before confirming your Cosmos purchase, you should always take a minute to check that you have entered the right information. This includes the buy/sell order, limit/market order, and your stake

After you confirm the order, the broker will execute it for you, and the ATOM coins will be added to your brokerage portfolio. 

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

Step 6: Storing Your Cosmos (ATOM)

If you are buying Cosmos with a long-term investment in mind, you will need to store the tokens securely. There are different options and types of digital wallets available for this purpose, such as:

  • A hardware wallet 
  • A mobile wallet 
  • A brokerage platform with an in-house wallet where you can store your ATOM tokens easily

If you choose a mobile or a hardware wallet, you will have to move your Cosmos coins after purchase from the brokerage platform. In addition, at the time of cashing out, you will, yet again, have to transfer them back. 

The easier alternative would be to choose a regulated broker that offers an inbuilt wallet. 

Step 7: Selling Your Cosmos (ATOM)

Since you are learning how to buy Cosmos, you should also know how you are going to sell them. Cashing out your ATOM tokens is very similar to buying them, except that the process is somewhere reversed.

To sell Cosmos, you should first transfer your ATOM coins to your chosen brokerage platform. Of course, you can avoid this step if you already have your Cosmos tokens stored in the in-built wallet provided by your broker.

Then, you can simply place a sell order, stating how many ATOM coins you wish to offload. Your broker will automatically complete the transaction. Once the proceeds from the sale are credited to your account, you can withdraw them to your original payment method.

Other Ways To Buy Cosmos (ATOM) In 2023

The process of buying cryptocurrencies has become easier and simpler over the years. These days, many brokers have made it possible for you to buy Cosmos directly using the following methods. 

Buy Cosmos Debit Card

Debit cards are, in fact, the most popular payment method across cryptocurrency brokers. 

Using a Visa or MasterCard will allow you to pay for your Cosmos purchases directly by specifying your investment amount and providing your card details. The rest will be the same as processing any other online purchase. 

Buy Cosmos Credit Card

The second most commonly used method to pay for Cosmo is a credit card. Although the process is the same as that of debit cards, you need to be wary of the 'cash advance fee.' 

Your card issuer might charge anywhere between 3% to 5% of the total amount being purchased. To be sure, it would be best to check with your provider before buying Cosmos online. 

Buy Cosmos PayPal

You can also buy Cosmos using your PayPal account. However, many brokers cap the amount you can deposit via PayPal on a per-day basis. You will want to check the specific fees before selecting this option. 

Buy Cosmos ATM

If you find a cryptocurrency ATM that supports Cosmos, this is another viable option for you. You can buy Cosmos via an ATM by specifying your investment amount and inserting the cash. 

You will then get a receipt detailing how you can add the ATOM tokens to your wallet. The main drawback to crypto ATMs is the exorbitant fees involved, often over 10% per transaction. 

Moreover, you will also need to go online to complete the process and download your Cosmos coins. In comparison, using a regulated broker will provide you with the convenience of buying Cosmos right from the comfort of your home in less than 20 minutes. 

How To Buy Cosmos (ATOM) 2023 - The Verdict

Our How to Buy Cosmos Guide has covered everything in detail regarding purchasing this digital asset. To offer a quick recap, you need to have an investment plan to start with and find a regulated broker that can give you access to ATOM tokens. 

When you are ready, you know which trading orders to use to complete your first Cosmos purchase today! 

eToro – Best Platform To Buy Cosmos

eToro have proven themselves trustworthy within the crypto industry over many years – we recommend you try them out.

Crypto asset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.

FAQs

Where can I buy Cosmos?

The best way for you to buy Cosmos is through a regulated broker that is licensed by a financial authority like the FCA or ASIC.    

Is Cosmos a good investment in 2023?

The value of Cosmos has increased substantially since the beginning of 2021. However, considering the volatility of this digital asset, it is suggested that you limit your investment to small amounts.    

How much should I invest in Cosmos?

The amount you can invest in Cosmos will depend on your financial standing and investment goals. In addition, you should also take into account the minimum amount required by your chosen broker.    

What is the all-time highest value of Cosmos?

Cosmos was trading at its highest-ever price of $44.70 on September 20th, 2021.    

Where should I store Cosmos?

Cryptocurrencies like Cosmos have to be stored in a secure digital wallet. You can also find a regulated crypto broker that allows you to keep your ATOM coins safe within the platform itself.