Mar 10, 2021
How and Where to Buy SKALE Network (SKL) — An Easy Step by Step Guide
About SKL
What Is SKALE Network (SKL)?
SKALE is described as an elastic network that’s designed to bring scalability to Ethereum. As well as boosting transaction capacity, the decentralized project aims to reduce latency and ensure that payments can be made as cheaply as possible.
The project’s website says it wants to enable people to build and run DApps in a “decentralized modular cloud built for real-world needs and configured for your requirements.” This emphasis on decentralization isn’t at the expense of security.
According to SKALE, those who build on this platform can run Solidity smart contracts “thousands of times faster at a fraction of the mainnet cost” — with games and content streaming services among the projects that already take advantage of its infrastructure.
Who Are the Founders of SKALE Network?
SKALE Network was founded by Jack O’Holleran and Stan Kladko, both of whom have vast experience across the software industry.
O’Holleran — the co-founder and chief executive of SKALE — is a technology entrepreneur who specializes in blockchain and decentralized systems. He continues to hold a strategic advisor role at Aktana, the life sciences company he co-founded in 2008.
According to his LinkedIn profile, O’Holleran began the early stages of his career as an account executive at Good Technology. He spent two years there before joining Motorola’s business development and product strategy division.
Kladko spent many years obtaining a PhD in physics prior to co-founding SKALE, and worked for 16 years as a technology executive in San Francisco’s Silicon Valley.
He has co-founded several other companies, including Galactic Exchange and Cloudessa.
What Makes SKALE Network Unique?
SKALE Network is geared towards improving both security and decentralization of Ethereum-based apps.
Token holders on the SKALE Network are incentivized and earn rewards by helping to improve the scalability and security of the platform by serving as validators.
The SKALE Network was the first project to launch a token on ConsenSys Codefi’s Activate platform — which is “designed to launch decentralized networks and allow customers to purchase, manage and use their tokens — all in one application.” Activate was designed to create new standards for the distribution of utility tokens, and ensure that networks are fully usable as soon as tokens are sold. It’s hoped that this approach will help clean up the appearance of the initial coin offering sector, which has been susceptible to scams in recent years.
By launching a token that meets regulatory standards, SKALE is intending its token to be widely adopted and avoid any fraudulent activity.
Ethereum is typically slow to verify and authorize transactions. Using SKALE Network greatly improves the speed at which Ethereum verifies transactions as SKALE can operate much faster and run up to a maximum of 2,000 transactions per second per chain, according to the team.
Related Pages:
Find out more about Polkadot.
Check out our deep dive into decentralized finance.
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How Many SKALE (SKL) Coins Are There in Circulation?
The total supply of SKL tokens at the launch of the SKALE Network was 4.1 billion. When it comes to the maximum supply, this figure is fixed at 7 billion tokens.
According to a white paper released by the SKALE Network in July 2020, one third (33%) was allocated to validator rewards, 28.1% was earmarked for delegators, 16% was allocated to the broader founding team, 10% to the SKALE Foundation, 7.7% to the protocol development fund, 4% to the core team pool and 1.3% to the ecosystem fund.
How Is the SKALE Network Secured?
Validators in the SKALE Network secure the network by proposing blocks. Once the validators come to a consensus on a finalized block, the blocks are committed to the chain.
The SKALE Network uses proof-of-stake (PoS) to ensure the network is secured.
Where Can You Buy SKALE Network (SKL)?
There are several exchanges where one can buy SKL tokens. The first ones to list SKL include Huobi, Binance and Uniswap. Read more about how to convert fiat currencies to crypto here.
Currently, SKL is being ranked 223 on Coinmarketcap and has recently surged a hefty 57.23% at the time of writing.
SKL has been listed on a number of crypto exchanges, unlike other main cryptocurrencies, it cannot be directly purchased with fiats money. However, You can still easily buy this coin by first buying Bitcoin from any large exchanges and then transfer to the exchange that offers to trade this coin, in this guide article we will walk you through in detail the steps to buy SKL.
Step 1: Register on Coinbase
You will have to first buy one of the major cryptocurrencies, usually either Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH). We will use Coinbase here as it is one of the largest crypto exchanges that accept fiat deposits. Use the link below to register at Coinbase and you will receive a free amount of $10 worth of BTC after buying $100 worth of cryptos.
Type your email and click ‘Get started’. Make sure you provide your real name as Coinbase will need it for account verification. Choose a strong password so that your account isn’t vulnerable to hackers.
You will receive a confirmation email. Open it and click on the link within. You will then be required to provide a valid mobile number to set up two-factor authentication (2FA), it is an extra layer to the security of your account and it is highly recommended that you keep this feature turned on.
Follow the next step to finish your identity verification. These steps are a bit daunting especially when you are waiting to buy an asset but just like any other financial institutions, Coinbase is regulated in most countries such as the US, the UK and the EU. You can take this as a trade-off to using a trusted platform to make your first crypto purchase. Good news is that the whole so-called Know-Your-Customers (KYC) process is now fully automated and it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes to finish.
Step 2: Buy coins with fiat money
Once you finished the KYC process. You will be asked to add a payment method. Here you can either choose to provide a credit/debit card or use a bank transfer. You will be charged higher fees when using cards but you will also make an instant purchase. While a bank transfer will be cheaper but slower, depending on the country of your residence, some countries will offer instant cash deposit with low fees, such as iDeal in some European countries.
Now you are all set, click the ‘Trade’ button at the top left, choose the coin you want to buy and confirm your transaction…and congrats! You’ve just made your first crypto purchase.
Step 3: Transfer your cryptos to an Altcoin Exchange
But we are not done yet, since SKL is an altcoin we need to transfer our coins to an exchange that SKL can be traded, here we will use Gate.io as our exchange. Gate.io is a popular exchange to trade altcoins and it has a large number of tradable altcoins pairs. Use the link below to register your new account.
Gate.io is an American cryptocurrency exchange that launched 2017. As the exchange is American, US-investors can of course trade here and we recommend US traders to sign up on this exchange. The exchange is available both in English and Chinese (the latter being very helpful for Chinese investors). Gate.io’s main selling factor is their wide selection of trading pairs. You can find most of the new altcoins here. Gate.io also demonstrates an impressive trading volume. It is almost every day one of the top 20 exchanges with the highest trading volume. The trading volume amounts to approx. USD 100 million on a daily basis. The top 10 trading pairs on Gate.io in terms of trading volume usually have USDT (Tether) as one part of the pair. So, to summarize the foregoing, Gate.io’s vast number of trading pairs and its extraordinary liquidity are both very impressive aspects of this exchange.
After going through a similar process as we’ve done before with Coinbase, you will be advised to set up 2FA authentication as well, finish it as it adds extra security to your account.
Step 4: Deposit BTC to exchange
Depends on the policies of the exchange you might be required to go through another KYC process, this should usually take you from 30 minutes to possibly a few days maximum. Though the process should be straight-forward and easy to follow. Once you’re done with it you should have full access to your exchange wallet.
If this is your first time making a crypto deposit, the screen here may look a bit scary. But don’t worry, it’s basically simpler than making a bank transfer. At the box on the right, you will see a string of random numbers saying ‘BTC address’, this is a unique public address of your Bitcoin wallet at Gate.io and you can receive Bitcoin by giving this address to the person to send you the funds. Since we are now transferring our previously bought bitcoin on Coinbase to this wallet, click on ‘Copy Address’ or right-click on the full address and click copy to grab this address to your clipboard.
Now head back to Coinbase, go to Portfolio page and click on Bitcoin on your asset list, then click on ‘Send’ on the right.
Under the Recipient field, paste the wallet address in your clipboard, for security consideration you should always check if both address are matching. It is known that there are certain computer malware that would alter the content in your clipboard into another wallet address and you will be essentially sending funds to another person.
Click ‘Send’ to proceed, you should receive a confirmation email instantly, click on the confirmation link in the email and your coins are on the way to Gate.io!
Now go back to Gate.io and head to your exchange wallets, don’t worry if you haven’t seen your deposit here. It is probably still being verified in the blockchain network and it should take a few minutes for your coins to arrive. Depending on the network traffic condition of the Bitcoin network, during busy times it may take even longer.
You should receive a confirmation notification from Gate.io once your deposit has arrived. And you are now finally ready to purchase SKL!
Step 5: Trade SKL
Go back to Gate.io, then go to ‘Exchange’. Boom! What a view! The constantly flicking figures might be a bit scary, but relax, let’s get our heads around this.
In the right column there is a search bar, now make sure “BTC” is selected as we are trading BTC to altcoin pair. Click on it and type in “SKL”, you should see SKL/BTC, select that pair and you should see a price chart of SKL/BTC in the middle of the page.
Below there is a box with a green button that says “Buy SKL”, inside of the box, choose the “Market” tab here as that is the most straight-forward type of buying orders. You can either type in your amount or choose what portion of your BTC deposit you would like to spend on buying, by clicking on the percentage buttons. When you have confirmed everything, click “Buy SKL”. Voila! You have finally bought SKL!
Other Exchanges To Buy
You can also buy from these exchanges:
Apart from the exchange(s) above, there are a few popular crypto exchanges where they have decent daily trading volumes and a huge user base. This will ensure you will be able to sell your coins at any time and the fees will usually be lower. It is suggested that you also register on these exchanges since once SKL gets listed there it will attract a large amount of trading volumes from the users there, that means you will be having some great trading opportunities!
HotBit
Founded in 2018 and holding Estonian MTR licence, American MSB licence, an Australian AUSTRAC licence and a Canadian MSB licence，HotBit cryptocurrency exchange is known as a cryptocurrency trading platofrm that continues to develop and integrate various forms of businesses such as spot trading, financial derivatives, cryptocurrency investment and DAPP into one platform. Hotbit allows US investors right now. Currently, Hotbit’s businesses covers more than 210 countries and areas. Based on its globalized and unified strategies, HotBit continues to focus on world’s emerging markets such as Russia, Turkey and southeastern Asia markets, and was ranked one of the top 3 most welcomed exchanges by Russian media in 2019.
Poloniex
Poloniex is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange for both experienced and amateur cryptocurrency traders. It offers a range of crypto markets, advanced trade types, as well as margin trading and crypto lending, which makes it a convenient place for traders from all walks of life. Poloniex is a good and very popular exchange that offers very low trading fees, good customer support, easy registration process, multiple cryptocurrencies, and has other amazing features. As Poloniex is a US cryptocurrency exchange, US-investors may of course trade there. But US-investors should in any event do their own independent assessment of any problems arising from their state residency. In particular, investors from the state of New York are often restricted from trading at many cryptocurrency exchanges.
Last Step: Store SKL securely in hardware wallets
Ledger Nano S
- Easy to set up and friendly interface
- Can be used on desktops and laptops
- Lightweight and Portable
- Support most blockchains and wide range of (ERC-20) tokens
- Multiple languages available
- Built by a well-established company found in 2014 with great chip security
- Affordable price
Ledger Nano X
- More powerful secure element chip (ST33) than Ledger Nano S
- Can be used on desktop or laptop, or even smartphone and tablet through Bluetooth integration
- Lightweight and Portable with built-in rechargeable battery
- Larger screen
- More storage space than Ledger Nano S
- Support most blockchains and wide range of (ERC-20) tokens
- Multiple languages available
- Built by a well-established company found in 2014 with great chip security
- Affordable price
If you are planning to keep(“hodl” as some may say, basically misspelt “hold” which get popularised over time) your SKL for a considerable long time, you may want to explore ways of keeping it safe, although Binance is one of the safest cryptocurrency exchange there had been hacking incidents and funds were lost. Because of the very nature of the wallets in exchanges, they will be always online(“Hot Wallets” as we call them), therefore exposing certain aspects of vulnerabilities. The safest way of storing your coins to date is always putting them into a type of “Cold Wallets”, where the wallet will only have access to the blockchain(or simply “go online”) when you send out funds, reducing the chances of hacking incidents. A paper wallet is a type of free cold wallet, it’s basically an offline-generated pair of public and private address and you will have it written somewhere, and keep it safe. However, it is not durable and is susceptible to various hazards.
Hardware wallet here is definitely a better option of cold wallets. They are usually USB-enabled devices that store the key information of your wallet in a more durable way. They are built with military-level security and their firmware are constantly maintained by their manufacturers and thus extremely safe. Ledger Nano S and Ledger Nano X and are the most popular options in this category, these wallets cost around $50 to $100 depending on the features they are offering. If you are holding your assets these wallets are a good investment in our opinion.
Other useful tools for trading SKL
Encrypted Secure Connection
NordVPN
Because of the very nature of cryptocurrency — decentralised, it means that users are 100% responsible for handling their assets securely. While using hardware wallet allows you to store your cryptos in a safe place, using an encrypted VPN connection while you trade makes it harder for hackers to intercept or eavesdrop your sensitive information. Especially when you are trading on the go or in a public Wifi connection. NordVPN is one of the best paid (note: never use any free VPN services as they may sniff your data in return of free service) VPN services out there and it has been around for almost a decade. It offers military-grade encrypted connection and you can also opt-in to block malicious websites and ads with their CyberSec feature. You can choose to connect to 5000+ servers in 60+ countries base on your current location, which ensures you to always have a smooth and secure connection wherever you are. There is no bandwidth or data limits that means you can also use the service in your everyday routines such as streaming videos or downloading large files. Plus it is among the cheapest VPN services out there (only $3.49 per month).
Surfshark
Surfshark is a much cheaper alternative if you are looking for a secure VPN connection. Although it’s a relatively new company, it has already 3200+ servers distributed in 65 countries. Apart from VPN it also has some other cool features including CleanWeb™, which actively blocks ads, trackers, malware and phishing attempts while you are surfing on your browser. Currently, Surfshark does not have any device limit so you can basically use it on as many devices as you want and even share the service with your friends and family. Use the signup link below to get an 81% discount(that’s a lot!!) at $2.49/month!
CryptoTrader.Tax
As you gain more experience in trading cryptos it gets more difficult when it comes to tracking your capital gains from all those trades, especially when you have multiple accounts across various trading platforms. CryptoTrader.Tax takes away the pain of preparing your bitcoin and crypto taxes for your tax season. It automates the entire tax filing process and you will be sure you won’t miss any important information required. Simply register, fill in your personal info, and import all of your historical cryptocurrency transactions into the platform. It integrates seamlessly with all major cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms to make this process even quicker by connecting your existing exchange accounts to the platform. Once your transactions are imported, you can generate your tax reports within a few clicks. CryptoTrader.Tax is free to use and you can simply get started right away. You will only need to pay if you want to generate your tax reports.
Get Started on CryptoTrader.Tax
Crypto Ultimatum
Crypto Ultimatum is a detailed training system that shows you how to go from no money to making a fortune with Crypto Currencies. The system that was used took $100 and turned this into $1006. But the system works so well they then took this $1006 and turned it into the huge amount of $257,000 with Bitcoin and Crypto Currencies!
The great thing about the training is you don’t need technical skills. In fact, you don’t even need a great deal of money and can start with much less than $100 if you wish. It reveals all the secret techniques and gives you the ability to make money when you are a complete novice. It even explains some of the scams so you can avoid them. It goes into detail about where you go to do all this trading and how you can make money in a little as 24 hours. You can develop into someone who buys and sells smaller types of “altcoins” too.
BitMEX
BitMEX is one of the largest crypto derivatives trading platforms that offers leveraged contracts that are bought and sold in Bitcoin. With the volatile nature of the cryptocurrency market, you can gain even more profit with leveraged trades. BitMEX offers even a maximum of 100x margin meaning you can multiply your profit for a hundred times. Signing up on BitMEX is easy and you are not required to go through any KYC process. Within a few minutes, your account will be ready and you can start trading by depositing BTC straight into your wallet on BitMEX. Do keep in mind that derivatives trading is highly risky and your loss can potentially be a hundred times also if you made the wrong move!
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I buy SKL with cash?
There is no direct way to buy SKL with cash. However, you can use marketplaces such as LocalBitcoins to first purchase Bitcoin, and finish the rest of the steps by transferring your bitcoin to respective AltCoin exchanges.
Buy Bitcoin from local sellers
LocalBitcoins is a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange. It is a marketplace where users can buy and sell Bitcoins to and from each other. Users, called traders, create advertisements with the price and the payment method they want to offer. You can choose to buy from sellers from a certain nearby region on the platform. LocalBitcoins is after all a good place to go to buy Bitcoins when you can’t find your desired payment methods anywhere else. But prices are usually higher on this platform and you have to do your due diligence to avoid getting scammed.
Are there any quick ways to buy SKL in Europe?
Yes, in fact, Europe is one of the easiest places to buy cryptos in general. There are even online banks which you can simply open an account and transfer money to exchanges such as Coinbase and Coinmama.
Popular online banks in Europe are Bunq, N26 and Revolut.
Are there any alternative platforms to buy SKL or Bitcoin with credit cards?
Yes. Changelly is also a very easy to use platform for buying Bitcoin with credit cards. It is an instant cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to exchange crypto fast and buy it with a bank card. Its user interface is very easy to use and the buying steps are pretty self-explanatory.
