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How to buy, sell and trade IOStoken (IOST)
An introductory guide to buying and selling IOST in Australia.
The Internet of Services (IOS) is a Singapore-based blockchain platform designed to offer a secure and scalable infrastructure for online service providers. Launched in January 2018, IOS aims to provide high transaction throughput, privacy protection and many other features.
Its native currency is the IOStoken (IOST), which has quickly become one of the world’s top 100 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. If you’re thinking of buying any IOST, this guide examines how to do so and investigates exactly what the IOS platform offers to users.
Where to buy IOST
You can find IOST listed on a variety of popular cryptocurrency exchanges, including:
A step-by-step guide to buying IOST
Want to know how to buy IOST? Read on for simple, step-by-step instructions:
Step 1. Register for an account with a cryptocurrency exchange that lists IOST
The first thing to be aware of is that IOST is only listed on some exchanges, so you’ll need to search for a platform that features it in one or more currency pairings. Once you’ve found a suitable platform, sign up for an account by providing your email address and creating a password.
Depending on the exchange you choose, you may also need to provide a range of personal information and proof of ID before you are allowed to place any trades. We also recommend enabling two-factor authentication on your account for extra peace of mind.
Step 2. Deposit funds into your account
Most exchanges won’t allow you to exchange Australian dollars (AUD) directly to IOStokens, so you may need to first acquire a cryptocurrency listed in a pairing with IOST. Examples include bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). To deposit cryptocurrency into your account, copy your exchange wallet address and then send the required amount of coins or tokens.
However, CoinSpot is one exchange that does allow you to buy IOST using AUD. You can deposit funds with this Australian-based exchange using POLi payments (look for the “Deposit” link from your account dashboard), or deposit cash at a newsagency via Blueshyft.
Step 3. Buy IOST
The final step is to navigate your way to the exchange or markets section on your chosen platform and search for IOST. Select your desired pairing, such as IOST/BTC, and enter how much IOST you want to buy or how much BTC you want to spend.
Make sure you reveal the full details and cost of your transaction before clicking “Buy IOST”.
How to sell IOST
If you want to sell your IOStokens, the process you’ll need to follow is essentially the same as that outlined in Step 3. However, make sure you click on the “Sell IOST” button before entering your transaction details, and remember that you may not be able to directly exchange IOST for the crypto coin or token you want.
Which wallets can I use to hold IOST?
While you can store your IOStokens in an exchange wallet if you wish, this does expose you to the many security risks associated with exchanges. Instead, it’s recommended that you move your tokens into a secure, private wallet.
As IOST is currently an ERC20 token on the Ethereum blockchain, it can be stored in any Ethereum-compatible wallet. Examples you may want to consider include hardware wallets like the Ledger Nano S and TREZOR, or web wallets like MyEtherWallet and Eidoo.
Learn more about storing cryptocurrency in our ultimate guide to wallets.
How the Internet of Services and IOST work
Launched in January 2018, IOS was created with the aim of overcoming a couple of key problems associated with many blockchain projects: low transaction throughput and specialised focus on a limited range of specific applications.
The IOS is a blockchain platform designed to provide the network infrastructure needed to support a service-oriented ecosystem. As outlined in the IOS primer, “The IOS platform not only provides its users a completely decentralized way to exchange online services and digital goods, but also enables developers to deploy large scale dapps with the ability to support a massive number of users”.
In other words, it aims to tackle the scalability problem faced by many other blockchains, making decentralised services with large transaction volume a reality. With a promise to deliver up to 100,000 transactions per second, IOS uses Efficient Distributed Sharding (EDS) technology to partition the network into sub-spaces and improve scalability. Rather than proof-of-work, it also relies on a proof-of-believability consensus mechanism which validates nodes based on their past contributions and behaviours.
IOStokens are the native currency of the IOS network, and they are the medium of exchange for all transactions and commission fees.
What to consider if buying IOST
Buying cryptocurrencies is a speculative move. Not only are digital coins and tokens highly volatile, they are also quite complicated assets with prices that can be affected by a wide range of factors. That’s why it’s essential to do your own research before you buy.
If you are thinking of purchasing any IOST, make sure to consider the following factors first:
- Supply. According to CoinMarketCap, the circulating supply of IOST at the time of writing is 8,400,000,000, out of a total supply of 21,000,000,000 IOST. Consider the effect that the arrival of more of the coin supply on the open market could potentially have on price.
- Distribution. The 21 billion IOST were distributed as follows:
- 40% through a private token sale
- 35% to the IOS Foundation to develop the ecosystem
- 12.5% to the community to be used as incentives in the ecosystem
- 10% to the team
- 2.5% to early investors and advisors
- Use. In the IOS ecosystem, IOST can be used to:
- Pay for services and goods
- Pay validators for running smart contracts, processing messages and transactions as well as using resources shared by the ecosystem
- Calculate a user’s believability
- Earning IOST. Users of the IOS ecosystem can acquire IOStokens by:
- Validating transactions
- Contributing resources to the community, for example providing storage space
- Obtaining them via exchanges or through IOS third-party integrations
- White paper. If you want to learn more about the technology behind the IOS ecosystem, check out the IOS white paper.
- Not yet live. According to the roadmap found in its primer document, IOS won’t officially release its network until Q3 2019. As a result, it’s not yet proven whether the project will be able to deliver on its potential. It’s also worth pointing out that once the network is live, the ERC20 IOStokens will be converted 1:1 to native IOS tokens.
- Competitors. One factor that will influence adoption of the IOS platform and therefore the value of IOST will be how it stacks up against its competitors. Some other key projects to keep an eye on include Ethereum, NEO and IOTA.
- IOS Foundation. The IOS blockchain is being developed by the IOS Foundation, a Singapore-incorporated non-profit.
If you carefully consider the range of factors that could potentially impact the price of IOST in the future, you’ll be well placed to decide whether or not you should buy and sell tokens.
Picture: Shutterstock
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author holds IOTA and XLM.
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