ADA is the native cryptocurrency of the Cardano blockchain. The steps below take you from opening an exchange account to holding ADA in a wallet you control.
Step 1: Choose a Crypto Exchange
This guide starts with a centralized exchange (CEX), a company that matches buyers and sellers and holds your coins for you until you withdraw them.1 You'll need an account on an exchange that lists ADA. Exchanges that offer ADA include:
This list is not a ranking, and many other exchanges also list ADA. Availability depends on where you live, so check that an exchange serves your country before you sign up. The Cardano website's Where to get ada page lets you filter a community-maintained list of exchanges by country.1
Step 2: Verify Your Identity (KYC)
Most exchanges run Know Your Customer (KYC) checks before you can buy. This usually means:
- Uploading a government-issued ID
- Taking a selfie2
- Confirming your email address and country of residence3
Timing varies by exchange. Coinbase, for example, says you'll get the result of its review within 24 hours, and your account has limited features until then. It also says it only asks for ID on its own domains, so check the web address before you upload anything.2
Once your account is verified, turn on two-factor authentication (2FA). An authenticator app on your phone is a common choice.
Step 3: Deposit Funds
Next, add money to your exchange account. Common options include:
- Bank transfer
- Credit or debit card
- PayPal, Apple Pay or Google Pay, where supported
- Other cryptocurrencies you already own
Which methods you see depends on the exchange and your country.3,4,5 Each method has its own fees and processing time, and card payments often carry an extra processing fee, so check before you confirm.4
Step 4: Buy ADA
After funding your account, you can place an order:
- Go to the Buy or Trade section of the exchange.
- Search for ADA or Cardano.
- Enter the amount you want to spend.
- Review the price and fees, then confirm.
Ways to Buy You Might See
- Instant buy. The simple "Buy" screen. You enter an amount and get a fixed price. That price usually includes a spread, the gap between the market rate and the rate you get, on top of any fees.5
- Market order. Found on an exchange's trading screen. It fills right away at the best price on offer, and the exchange charges its taker fee.6
- Limit order. You set the highest price you're willing to pay. If the order waits on the order book until the price reaches your limit, the exchange charges its maker fee. On Kraken's fee schedule, the maker fee is lower than the taker fee.5,6 The order may take time to fill, or may never fill.
- Recurring buy. Some exchanges let you buy a fixed amount of ADA on a set schedule, such as weekly.5
Step 5: Move ADA to Your Own Cardano Wallet (Recommended)
While your ADA sits on an exchange, the exchange holds the keys to it.1 Moving it to a self-custody wallet, where only you hold the recovery phrase, puts it under your control. Cardano wallets include:
- Lace
- VESPR
- Eternl
- Begin
- Typhon
- Arculus, Keystone, Ledger, Tangem and Trezor, hardware wallets that keep your keys on a separate device. Supported models vary by maker.
More options are in the Cardano wallets section, and our guide on how to set up a Cardano wallet walks through setup. Write down your recovery phrase offline and never share it with anyone.
How to Withdraw Safely
- In your wallet, copy your receiving address. Cardano wallet addresses start with
addr1.7 - On the exchange, choose to withdraw ADA and paste the address.
- When asked for a network, pick Cardano. Some exchanges also offer other networks for ADA. Sending on the wrong network can lose your ADA or turn it into a different token, and the Cardano Foundation says neither it nor the other founding entities can recover it.8
- Check that the address on screen matches your wallet exactly, then confirm.8
Blockchain transactions can't be reversed, so ADA sent to a wrong address is gone. For a large amount, send a small test withdrawal first. If the ADA doesn't show up after a while, contact the exchange first, since delays are often on their side.8
Other Ways to Get ADA
- Buy inside a wallet. Some wallets have a built-in purchase option that takes cards, bank transfers or Apple Pay, and what's offered depends on your country.1 The purchase runs through a separate payment company with its own identity checks and fees. Lace, for example, offers a fiat on-ramp run by Banxa, a third-party provider.9
- Get funded. Project Catalyst pays ADA to community proposals that win funding.1
- Receive it. Once you have a wallet, anyone can send you ADA if you share your address.1
Decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on Cardano let you swap tokens without a company in the middle, but you need ADA in a wallet before you can use one.1
What's Next After Buying ADA?
Once you own ADA, you can:
- Stake it by delegating to a stake pool and earn rewards while it stays in your wallet
- Vote on Cardano governance, or delegate your vote to a DRep (a delegated representative)
- Use DApps, apps that run on the blockchain
- Collect NFTs or play Web3 games
Explore more in what you can do on Cardano.
Learn More
- Where to get ada: The Cardano website's overview of exchanges by country, in-wallet purchases, grants and staking
- How to safely withdraw your ada from exchanges: Cardano Foundation guide on choosing the right network
- Common scams: The Cardano website's guide to scams that target new holders
- Security guides: More guides on protecting your ADA, listed on Adastack
