One way to buy Ripple and other altcoins in Australia
How can I buy coins that don't trade for AUD?
2017 was the year of bitcoin. However, 2018 is looking to set itself up to be the year of altcoins. Ripple, Stellar Lumens and RaiBlocks have all seen growth spikes over the last part of 2017 and into the new year, despite the fact that you can't purchase many of these altcoins directly with fiat currency. Until a major broker such as Coinbase picks up these smaller coins, it will likely continue to be difficult to purchase them directly with a fiat currency, such as AUD or USD.
Should I use bitcoin to buy altcoins?
To get around the difficulty of buying altcoins such as Ripple and RaiBlocks, many people are first buying bitcoin through brokers such as Coinbase and then sending those funds to their wallets in the exchanges that support the altcoin they're trying to buy. For more information on altcoins, check out our guide here. However, this is likely a quick way to lose a lot of potential value from your investment due to high fees. The average transaction fee for bitcoin in December was $35, with reports of someone trying to send just US$25 and being hit with US$16 worth of transaction fees through the bitcoin network. This is attributed to the scaling problems that bitcoin is facing, because of how it was built. As the popularity of bitcoin has risen, the technology itself hasn't been able to keep up with the increased transaction demands, resulting in big fees and big delays. These delays in some cases can be up to an hour for a bitcoin transaction. When buyers are trying to purchase a currency that moves as quickly and as often as altcoins such as Ripple do, they want to be able to jump onto the buy as soon as the price hits the spot they're looking for, and before it shoots up again. Between the high transaction fees and the time it takes, using bitcoin to purchase other cryptocurrencies might be one of the worst ways possible.
Should I use Litecoin?
There are only three cryptocurrencies that are universally accepted and traded across exchanges – bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. So to pick up some smaller currencies, you'd probably be better off to trade with one of these. Outside of bitcoin, many people are using Ethereum to purchase other altcoins. However it too, while not on the level of bitcoin, is starting to have increased fees and transaction times. Litecoin then presents itself as an option worth considering, for people looking to buy into these other altcoins. How to buy Litecoin in Australia. Litecoin's average transaction fee at the moment is anywhere between US$0.60 and US$1.20, making it significantly lower than both bitcoin and Ethereum. Its transaction time is also less than 10 minutes, meaning you can usually jump in before prices get too high. It's also available on easy brokers such as Coinbase, allowing you to purchase Litecoin with your credit or debit card and then transfer it instantly into your wallet in the exchange where you want to buy an altcoin.
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can you please explain how you convert ripple back to fiat when you sell
Hi Grant,
Thanks for your inquiry
There are exchanges where you can directly sell your XRP into fiat cash but the most common way is to convert your XRP into BTC and sell your BTC at exchanges.
Hope this information helps
Cheers,
Arnold