STX token: Where to buy and steps for beginners to create their wallets

The Stacks blockchain brings predictable smart contracts and decentralized apps to Bitcoin. By anchoring Stacks to Bitcoin, it is integrated with Bitcoin’s security, capital, and network.

This article seeks to give light on how beginners can easily have access to the STX token which have been listed in a number of exchanges such as:

1.OKCoin

2. Binance

3. Gate.io

4. KuCoin

5. OKEx

And take note of the fact that all these exchange are user-friendly. I will provide the links to two sites and show you how you can by the STX token

1: OKCoin

http://https://www.okcoin.com/spot/trade

2: Gate.io

http://https://www.gate.io/trade/STX_USDT

These sites have the STX/USDT pair which can allow you to buy STX token when you have USDT, so these are the basic steps one can follow when buying the STX token on Gate.io:

1. Deposit any token of your choice then exchange it to USDT and tap on the wallet option as displayed below. You can create your gate.io account using the link provided above and it doesn’t require you to pass the KYC (Know your customer) before you make a deposit or transfer.

2. After the transaction have been processed look for the USDT/STX pair

3. Click on the pair and press on the buy tab

4. Ensure that you enter the current amount of USDT and make sure that the trade type is on limit order (which means transaction can only be executed at the limit price or lower).

5. Approve the transaction by pressing on the buy tab and enter your funds password if you’re using Gate.io to buy the STX token

6. In less than 5 minutes your transaction will be approved and you will have your STX token

In case you have been wondering on what to do with your STX you can use the OKCoin stacking pool to earn Bitcoin as a reward of locking your STX for a period of time.

These are the basic steps once can take when stacking STX token.

1. You create an account on OKCoin. You can use a referral link and do the KYC level 1 and 2.

2. After successful registration you will click on the earn tab shown below and choose the stacks pool.

3. Press on the blue tab which is the deposit option.

4 . Choose the deposit option, choose STX and the value

Minimum deposit for the OKCoin stacking pool is 50 STX tokens

Using Hiro Wallet

Once you get your first STX token you can withdraw it from the exchange. It’s better to keep tokens on non-custodial wallet such as Hiro or Xverse. Both od them allow you to manage STX tokens which means sending and receiving. Cryptocurrency wallets don’t contain tokens directly inside of them but they merely provide a mechanism for managing them on a blockchain using credentials.

To download Stacks Wallet by Hiro you have to visit https://www.hiro.so/wallet and install the application. Once it’s done you click on „create new wallet” button and you will see 24 words which is called „ Secret Key” (otherwise known as a “seed” or “mnemonic” phrase).

It serves as your sole credential and should be kept completely private and used only to authenticate with trusted software like the Stacks Wallet so you can send STX to others and otherwise manage your own holdings.

However, unlike a traditional password, no one can ever reset your Secret Key should it get lost. It’s absolutely vital that you secure your Secret Key since its lost w ill entail the lost of all associated STX tokens irreparably.

Save your mnemonic phrase and continue. To check if you’ve done it correctly you have to put it again.

Then you will have to set a password to your wallet which is something different that mnemonic phrase. It allows you to send and receive transactions.

After that you will see a main screen of Hiro Wallet. To receive your first transaction you have to know your address. To do so click on receive button and put your password.

Your Stacks address is akin to a bank account number, in that it’s known and shared publicly so others can send STX tokens to you. Here’s the example of such address:

SP1J1R5R54TDXRY99XTBBV8SP6ED6SYN01VEWX433

Now you can withdraw it from exchange wallet to your private one. Put you Stacks wallet address and set the amount of STX tokens you would like to transfer.

Total balance of your Stack Wallet should change up to 30 minutes. Now you can send those tokens to another wallet in the same way you did before. Each transaction can be seen in the explorer: https://explorer.stacks.co/?chain=mainnet

If you have enough STX tokens (80,100 is minimum) you can start stacking by using Hiro Wallet. Stacking is an innovative mechanism that rewards STX token holders for participating in the consensus process.

STX holders who participate in Stacking are called Stackers. Every time a new block is mined on the Stacks chain, the protocol sends the BTC committed by miners to Stackers as a reward for adding value to the network.

To do so you have to click on „get started” button which will bring you to the next screen. You should choose the amount, duration (for example 1 cycle) and BTC address. It’s important to use non-custodial wallet. Exchanges are not accepted.

Press „confirm and lock” button and then put your password. You can always check stacking progress on the main screen.

Using Xverse Wallet

Another option to keep your tokens is Xverse wallet which is not only a place to securely hold your Stacks and easily handle transactions, in the long run, it is designed to be the first step in becoming your gateway to the Stacks ecosystem. It’s beta version works on mobile phones.

It’s pretty much the same as with Hiro wallet (and many others). You have to click on create new wallet button, write down or remember secret key, put it back to see if it’s correct and continue.

Then you will see the main screen of Xverese wallet. Just click on the button referring to what tokens you want to receive or send. If you want to receive STX reveal you address.

Then move to Hiro Wallet and follow the instructions above.

New balance should be visible within 30 minutes.

If you are ready for change — learn how to become a STX Holder. There is a community called Freehold that can help you. Visit https://joinfreehold.com/ and check what you are missing.