I used to buy it and stake it on Binance in one simple step but currently, the UK regulators stupidly restricted Binance from operating here so I tried Exodus wallet, which makes it super easy to buy and stake in just one click for 7% APY, but the current debit card fees from Ramp and Moonpay (the two services that provide the payment) are way too high. So I was wondering if someone figured out what’s the best way to proceed in the UK to send GBP and get SOL ready to stake with reasonable deposit fees. Thank you for any advice.

  • redeye_banana@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Kraken. I do.a bank transfer for zero cost from one of the major uk banks. About 20 minutes later the funds show up in my account.

    Sol/gbp is a trading pair, so I can buy directly with my £.

    Transfer sol to my phantom wallet for a small fee, then stake.

  • cardanianofthegalaxy@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I’m in the UK and use Coinbase. Zero fees for GBP deposits via bank transfer. Buy SOL using the Advanced Trade feature to minimise fees.

      • cardanianofthegalaxy@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        I have a sort code and account number for Coinbase deposits. I include the unique reference number for my account and send as a standard bank transfer. The deposit hits my Coinbase account and is available to spend within 5 minutes. I’ve been doing it this way for over 2 years, never had an issue.

  • ParkersHouse@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    UK too.

    I go my bank account, which doesn’t let me send money to crypto firms, although I can gamble it all away no problems, to revolut, then to nexo where I get charged £1. Then I do a free transfer of SOL from Nexo to Phantom. For me with my bank, fees etc, that is the best way I’ve found.

    • Wide_Material_7501@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Banks not letting us transfer our savings to invest but letting us transfer it for gambling or buying illegal stuff is nuts.

      Anyway, I will try this way as I already have a Nexo account.

      Thanks for the suggestion!

  • TheSQLInjector@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Hey mate, Been on Solana for 3 years now and have been writing code on chain for almost a year.

    1. Download the phantom wallet, it’s a chrome extension and there’s also a brilliant mobile app for iOS(not sure about android). It’s so easy to use, mobile friendly, and the most popular Solana wallet by far, use it, seriously. Don’t keep your money on an exchange. Look at what happened with FTX. Let me know if you run into any troubles.

    2. Deposit directly from your bank account into your phantom wallet using moonpay. Click Buy -> USDC -> Moonpay -> enter bank credentials and off you go, it says it could take up to 24 hours but I have never seen it take more than 5 minutes.

    3. Now you should see the USDC you just deposited in your phantom wallet. Phantom has a native dApp friendly browser built into it, if your on mobile it’s the bottom right button/tab that kinda looks like a globe. Click on it, from there head to Jupiter where you can swap your coins seamlessly and instaneously

    4. Swap your USDC to Solana. Jupiter is an aggregator that finds the most efficient path among all Solana dex’s to maximize the value you’re getting. The swap is virtually instaneous, you’ll get a confirmation message and the solana will appear in your wallet before you can blink.

    5. Stake it natively with Marinade, or stake it directly within the Phantom app by clicking on your Solana balance and clicking “start earning SOL”. Marinade is better because it automatically (you don’t have to care or worry about how this works behind the scenes) delegates your solana out to the best validators to maximize both your returns and the network security.

    Any questions or issues ping me, happy to help. Welcome to Solana. There’s a ton of epic defi dApps to dig into once you’re comfortable.

    • Wide_Material_7501@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Thank you so much for your exhaustive answer! I will try replicating all these steps.

      The only problem that I foresee, is the same roadblock I encountered while buying SOL inside the Exodus wallet, Exodus use Moonpay and Ramp as integrated on-ramp services to buy; and whenever I choose “via bank transfer” (to avoid fees), my bank deposits are not approved by any of my UK banks, saying they don’t allow transfers to crypto-related accounts! WTF. Therefore I have to click on the Ramp or Moonpay “debit card” option and that’s when the high fees also arrive.

      The only problem that I foresee is the same roadblock I encountered while buying SOL inside the Exodus wallet, Exodus use Moonpay and Ramp as integrated on-ramp services to buy; and whenever I choose “via bank transfer” (to avoid fees), my bank deposits are not approved by any of my UK banks, saying they don’t allow transfers to crypto-related accounts! WTF. Therefore I have to click on the Ramp or Moonpay “debit card” option and that’s when the high fees also arrive.

      • TheSQLInjector@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        Hey! Oddly enough, I just ran into similar issues with Moonpay as I was trying to deposit more money into my Phantom wallet. Wouldn’t accept my debit card.

        I ended up just depositing USDC into coinbase and then used the coinbase-pay integration inside the Phantom wallet to seamlessly transfer funds from coinbase->wallet.

        Is Coinbase an option for you? I am not familiar with UK laws!

    • wbnar78@alien.topBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      I’ve been buying direct via moonpay so will give the USDC option a whirl thanks. From a selling point of view, would you reverse your current buying process or do something else?

      • TheSQLInjector@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        My selling process would look like this, although I would not advise you to sell with the imminent bullrun and massive growth of SOL coming, things are just starting to heat up.

        1. Use jup.ag to convert any coins I want to sell into USDC
        2. Send from Phantom wallet to Cex of choice (Coinbase, Kraken)
        3. Withdraw USDC

        Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a better way at the moment, cashing out still involves going through a CEX. However, I don’t think it will be that long (<5 years) before you can skip the centralized exchange altogether and buy things directly from your Phantom wallet with SOL and/or USDC.

  • MissMars77@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    I used to be very happy with uphold but they started going up in fees now I’m looking for something better too.

    Whatever I have there is mostly staked so it’s always giving me something back but the next ones I intend to get elsewhere.

    Anyone has a safe option aside from coin base?

  • mtljones@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    paxos on ramp

    make sure its fully d’ex so u can be 100% anon; we like to avoid the tax man 100%

    never connect on cex or kyc!

    • Wide_Material_7501@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Can you explain where and how is it possible to buy SOL in a DEX with fiat without going through a CEX first for sending GBP? Thank you!

      • mtljones@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        https://paxos.com/

        DYOR as its your money. check YT videos.

        from what i gathered, load up some gift cards or prepaid credit cards (use cash, this way it cant be traced to you).

        setup few wallets (if u dont know how, this is crucial first step). once again, YT.

        phantom and solflare are well reputed wallets. Id say use both, 1 for trading/moving around funds and 1 for profits. once ur comfy, buy cpl hard wallets for long term storage - these wallets are the ones that we want to keep like an anonymous secret savings account to build wealth adding extra 0’s over time. These will be your future house, cars, vacation & retirement money.

        Take your time, build grow. Learn everything 1 by 1. in few yrs you will be 1 of the happiest & wealthiest people in your network.

      • mtljones@alien.topBEnglish
        1·
        10 months ago

        the only 1 major suggestion I wan to make is dont buy/enter markets at these highs.

        its high risk.

        the time to ape in is at the bloody bearish lows when fear is so strong and the discount is too good to pass up on. THAT is where we buy. Now, is where we take profits n execute exit strategy (unless u trade actively and know what youre trading/doing)

        • Wide_Material_7501@alien.topOPBEnglish
          1·
          10 months ago

          Thanks for the advice. But what if SOL keeps going up? Then we would regret not buying it before! I try to invest every extra penny I earn, so I just keep buying SOL every time I have some income. I’m not a trader and don’t want to spend time looking at prices or charts, I just buy and buy and buy and buy whenever I have cash and hopefully, in a few years, I will have much more than what I have now. If I start speculating when to enter and when to wait, maybe I wait too much and then regret or miss the best day to get in and then it’s higher, etc. not sure if I could be right about that so I just buy SOL no matter what whenever I earn Pounds. Maybe in the future I can learn more and improve, I don’t know. Anyway, your feedback is appreciated! Thanks.

          • mtljones@alien.topBEnglish
            1·
            10 months ago

            theres a dude on reddit a 1st time investor who bought 1400 sol between 10-22. 10k investment.

            nice bag

            nice profits

            i did the math

            1400 sol @ 68$ = 95k

            almost 100k, from a 10k investment

            im certain he wont even take 50% off the table, and just gunna keep holding it blindly instead of banking that 100k and just patiently wait for next bear leg to start buying at the lows.

            100k is a down payment on a fucking house, and then some

            from 10k to a house, but, he’d rather keep holding. even goes to 100$, guys like that will just keep holding

            last bull run, met a dude online who invested his entire 401k on SOL at $5 (which was the top of first bull leg)

            yelling ‘fuck bitcoin dominance, sol is taking over’

            told him take profits man, market gunna dump. good chance itll come back to 20-25$ in bear market. dude laughed n said, impossible & unlikely.

            he deleted his twitter after it dumped below 100$

            live n learn, and learn from others