How to Buy Stacks(STX) in New York?
Chances are you may have not heard of Stacks(STX). Up until a few months ago, I was in the same boat. After doing some deep-diving on the Stacks(STX) Token website I quickly say the potential of the token given the people back it, the accelerators(Y combinator, Winklevoss Capital, and Digital Currency Group, just to name a few…) supporting it, and the companies using it’s technology. As a New Yorker, which is probably why you are here, you have been struggling to figure out what exchange to buy Stacks(STX) on and have been frustratingly blocked from platforms that are restricted in your region.What is Stacks(STX)?
Where Can I buy Stacks(STX) in New York?
How to buy STX on KuCoin in NYC?
What can Stacks(STX) be used for?
Notable projects using STX
How to Buy Stacks(STX) in NY TL;DR
1. Purchase Stacks(STX)Stacks(STX)2. Create a Hiro Wallet(If you already have it, just connect it to CityCoins website)
3. Transfer Stacks(STX) to your Hiro Wallet
4. Use your Hiro Wallet to hold your STX or connect it to a project or site that accepts STX.
What is Stacks(STX)?
Stacks(STX) was released to the public in July of 2019. Since releasing the token that was created as the Stacks Network native token, Stacks has grown to launch and power many projects, on top of its core purpose of fueling Bitcoin smart contracts. Users who stack their STX earn bitcoin. Stacking is more or less the equivalent of letting your bank lend borrow your money and pay you interest, except with Bitcoin(BTC) rewards.Where Can I Buy Stacks(STX) in NYC?
Buying Stacks(STX) in New York State can be quite hard. Despite being a leader world wide for financial dealings, the state has put a lot of regulations on crypto and crypto trading platforms, baring some from operating in the state and others deciding to hold off from operating in the state, until lawmakers decide a clear way to move forward. Given this, you will find a lot of cyrptocurrency buying platforms, Ex. OkCoin will draw you in with ads that you can buy STX through them, but in the end will not let you move forward with the purchase, as a NY resident. As a tip, this will happen with Cyrpto.com, Binance.com, BinanceUS.com, OkCoin.com, and a few more. Yes, a lot of wasted time with onboarding and signing up. To skip this process, go straight to KuCoin, which I break down a bit further below, but its interface is similar to any trading website. Lastly, you will need the Hiro Wallet browser extension, to transfer your STX into.How to Buy Stacks(STX) on KuCoin in NYC?
Once you have settled on purchasing Stacks(STX) through KuCoin, head over to their website or mobile app. If you aren’t familiar with their layout yet, I would start with using their desktop website. If you have not already, signup for KuCoin(use Code: QBSSSUVG for a welcome offer). Once on the KuCoin trading platform, you will want to either transfer in currency from another wallet, or you can buy a more popular token directly on KuCoin and then move forward with trading. My suggestion would be to transfer in Tether(USDT) or Ethereum(ETH) to KuCoin. You can find your deposit address on your account under “assets”. Once you deposit money into KuCoin, in this case we will use USDT, it will be in your “Main Account”. Transfer your USDT from your “Main Account” to your “Trading Account”. Now go to the “Trade” section of the app and select spot trading. On the top left find the pairing “STX/USDT”. Before entering the amount to trade switch from “Limit” to “Market” price. Once you have the market price of Stacks(STX), enter the amount of STX tokens you would like to purchase, and then click the green “Buy STX” button. The trade should go through nearly instantly if you are using market pricing, and you should hear a chime to confirm(if your volume is on). Congrats, you have successfully purchased Stacks(STX) in New York, and have most likely saved hours of unnecessary wasted time! Just to wrap up and get your STX out of the trading marketplace, you will want to move your Stacks(STX) from your “Trading Account” to your “Main Account” and then initiate a withdrawal to your Stacks Hiro Wallet. Do make sure to double check that you copy and pasted the correct “Receive” address into the withdrawal info on KuCoin. Once confirmed, you can check on the status of your tokens being sent through the explorer and KuCoin's Deposit/Withdrawal history, in your account section.What Can Stacks(STX) be used for?
Stack can be used for a growing number of uses. Besides earning Bitcoin by Stacking your STX, Stacks accelerator is pumping out projects and game changing businesses using STX as their core currency. At the moment STX is the only way you can mine any City Coin (Including NYCCoin, MiamiCoin, and San Francisco Coin) let alone acquire the currency, besides flat out purchasing it from someone else. If you are a fan of art, digital design, or the massively expanding NFT space, don’t miss STX NFT, the first NFT marketplace for STX built on BTC.Why avoid UniSwap and SushiSwap for buying Stacks(STX)?
The fees for the last year have been trending from $102-$200+ for any bit of transfer. There have been some slowdowns in the last couple of weeks, and general past month, but we aren’t talking a couple of cents. Right now the gas price for these two swap sites is about $41 to transfer. Depending on the volume you are transferring, this can cost you more than the amount of currency you are trading and immediately wipe away any potential gain. Check out the current and historical prices of Uniswap Gas Fees and SushiSwap Fees. All aside, they do have a great interface and make exchanging currency very easy, but the associated fees are just too high to justify.Notable Projects Using Stacks(STX)
–STX NFT(NFT Marketplace secured by Bitcoin(BTC))–XVerse(Stacks Wallet and Stacking Pool)
–Hiro(Stacks Web Wallet Chrome Extension)
–CityCoins(Backers of NYC Coin & Miami Coin: CityCoins gives communities the power to improve and program their cities through launching a city-based coin.)
–NYCOIN(A Citycoin based project, giving crypto rewards to cities for improvement and rewarding contributing(Mining or Stacking) individuals and city governments.)
–Stacks Accelerator(A business accelerator for Stacks(STX) based projects)
–See the full list of projects using Stacks(STX) to build!