How to Buy Moonbeam (GLMR)
Beginner’s Guide
What Is Moonbeam (GLMR)?
Moonbeam is an Ethereum-compatible smart contract parachain on Polkadot. Moonbeam makes it easy to use popular Ethereum developer tools to build or redeploy Solidity projects in a Substrate-based environment.
Moonbeam is much more than just an EVM implementation: it’s a highly specialized parachain that mirrors Ethereum’s Web3 RPC, accounts, keys, subscriptions, logs, and more. The Moonbeam platform extends the base Ethereum feature set with additional features such as on-chain governance, staking, and cross-chain integrations.
Moonbeam’s Ethereum compatibility is unmatched:
Minimal Changes: developers can use existing Solidity smart contracts right away, with no need to rewrite or reconfigure
Use Existing Developer Tools: connect popular tools like MetaMask, Hardhat, Waffle, Remix, and Truffle via a complete set of Web3 RPC endpoints. Use well-known Javascript libraries such as Web3.Js or Ethers.Js.
Unified Accounts, Addresses, and Signatures: use your existing Ethereum H160 accounts & ECDSA signatures to interact with Moonbeam
Tap into the Most Integrations on Polkadot: use existing oracles, bridges, wallets, and other tools that are already building on Moonbeam
Moonbeam provides integration and connectivity between Polkadot Parachains as well as with other chains such as Ethereum and Bitcoin via bridges. Moonbeam was started in 2019 by Derek Yoo of Pure Stake.
How to Buy Moonbeam Summary
- Get a Moonbeam wallet (e.g. Ledger, Trezor , Exodus, Guarda, AtomicWallet)
- Find an exchange that sells Moonbeam (e.g. Crypto.com, Binance , OKX, Bybit, Kucoin)
- Deposit money and make the trade
- Withdraw the Moonbeam to your wallet
Buying Moonbeam in 3 Simple Steps
Step 1 – Get a GLMR wallet
Moonbeam Hardware Wallets
Moonbeam is a decentralized blockchain platform that supports the interoperability of smart contracts between different blockchains. As a blockchain platform, Moonbeam does not have its own hardware wallets. However, since Moonbeam is built on the same technology as Ethereum, it is compatible with Ethereum wallets. Therefore, if you want to store your Moonbeam tokens (Glimmer or GLMR) securely, you can use any hardware wallet that supports Ethereum, such as:
Ledger Nano S: A popular hardware wallet that supports Ethereum and several other cryptocurrencies.
Trezor: Another well-known hardware wallet that supports Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
KeepKey: A hardware wallet that supports Ethereum, Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other cryptocurrencies.
MetaMask: A browser extension that can be used as an Ethereum wallet and is compatible with Moonbeam.
MyEtherWallet: An open-source, client-side interface for generating and managing Ethereum wallets that can also be used for Moonbeam.
When using any hardware wallet to store your Moonbeam tokens, it is important to ensure that you follow the manufacturer’s instructions carefully and keep your recovery phrase in a safe place.
The best option for storing any cryptocurrency would be to use a hardware wallet. These are pieces of hardware that store the private key to your coins offline.
Today, there are two leading hardware manufacturers to choose from – Ledger and TREZOR. Both companies have different models of hardware wallets that will get the job done.
If you want deeper insights on specific models, you can read my Ledger Nano X review or my TREZOR Model T review.
Moonbeam Software Wallets
Moonbeam is a decentralized blockchain platform that supports the interoperability of smart contracts between different blockchains. To store your Moonbeam tokens (Glimmer or GLMR) securely, you can use a software wallet that is compatible with Moonbeam. Here are some of the software wallets that you can use to store your Moonbeam tokens:
Metamask: A browser extension that can be used as an Ethereum wallet and is compatible with Moonbeam. It is easy to use and offers a simple and secure way to manage your Moonbeam tokens.
MyEtherWallet: An open-source, client-side interface for generating and managing Ethereum wallets that can also be used for Moonbeam. It is a popular choice among cryptocurrency enthusiasts and offers advanced features such as integration with hardware wallets.
Trust Wallet: A mobile wallet that supports Ethereum and is compatible with Moonbeam. It offers a simple and user-friendly interface and allows you to store your Moonbeam tokens securely on your mobile device.
Atomic Wallet: A multi-currency wallet that supports Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies, including Moonbeam. It offers a desktop and mobile version and allows you to manage your Moonbeam tokens securely from your device.
Exodus Wallet: A desktop and mobile wallet that supports Ethereum and is compatible with Moonbeam. It offers a simple and intuitive interface and allows you to manage your Moonbeam tokens securely from your device.
When using any software wallet to store your Moonbeam tokens, it is important to ensure that you keep your private keys and recovery phrase in a safe place and do not share them with anyone.
Hardware wallets cost money, so if you’re not sure how serious you are about cryptocurrencies and just want to get a taste of what they feel like, perhaps you would be better off starting with a software wallet.
A software wallet is a free program that lets you store your coins on your computer or mobile phone.
The easiest Moonbeam coin software wallets to get started with are undoubtedly Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda . All wallets are very intuitive. Exodus, Atomic Wallet and Guarda is available on desktop for Windows, Mac and Linux, as well as on mobile for both iOS and Android. If you want more information you can read my Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda review.
Step 2 – Find an Moonbeam (GLMR) Exchange
Buy Moonbeam through Crypto.com
- Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency exchange company based in Singapore. As of May 2022, the company reportedly had 50 million customers and 4,000 employees. The exchange issues a token, Cronos. The company was initially founded in Hong Kong by Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, and Rafael Melo in 2016 as “Monaco”. In 2018, the company was renamed as Crypto.com following a purchase of a domain owned by cryptography researcher and professor Matt Blaze. Domain sellers valued the domain at US$5–10 million.
Buy Moonbeam through Binance
- Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange which is the largest exchange in the world in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2017 and is registered in the Cayman Islands. Binance was founded by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high frequency trading software.
Buy Moonbeam through Okex
- OKX (Chinese: 欧易), formerly known as OKEx, is a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange and derivatives exchange. It was founded by Star Xu (徐明星) in 2017. OKX is owned by Ok Group, which also owns crypto exchange Okcoin. It is not available to US based investors. The company’s CEO is Jay Hao and CMO is Haider Rafique. Initially headquartered in Beijing, China, OKX is now under a blanket ban by Chinese regulators. On October 13, 2021, it issued a “Notice on Regulatory Policy in Mainland China”, announcing that it would continue its policy of “withdrawing from the Chinese mainland market” and would not establish an office or team in the region. However, according to Caixin, although the exchange officially announced that it would no longer set up an office in Mainland China, it still has a large number of R&D staff working in the region, including engineers, who continue to work for OKX in the form of third-party outsourcing companies.
Buy Moonbeam through Bybit
- The exchange prides itself on delivering multilingual online support to its customers and is committed to providing a transparent and efficient trading experience. The products on the platform include BTC/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD, and XRP/USD perpetual contracts. A perpetual contract resembles a traditional futures contract in many ways. Its main difference, however, is that it doesn’t have an expiry date. Hence, traders are allowed to hold their positions for as long as they need to.Moreover, the exchange boasts a 100,000 TPS state-of-the-art matching engine. While many of its competitors have suffered from repeated overload problems, this high-performance matching engine makes it possible for Bybit to stand above the competition.The Bybit cryptocurrency broker platform is operated by the Bybit Fintech Limited which is registered on the British Virgin Islands, with headquarters in Singapore. The company was launched in March 2018, making it a fairly young player on the market.
Buy Moonbeam through Kucoin
- Kucoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange for numerous digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Launched in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges and already has over 8 million registered users from 700+ countries and regions. According to Alexa traffic ranking, KuCoin’s monthly unique ranking is in the top 5 globally. Known as the “People’s Exchange”, KuCoin operates in Seychelles, providing users with multi-language and 24/7 customer service. Meanwhile, KuCoin has established local communities all over the world in South Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Turkey, Russia, India, and other regions, providing users with the most local services. Currently, 1 out of every 4 crypto holders in the world is with KuCoin.
Step 3 – Withdraw Your Moonbeam (GLMR)
Once you decide on an exchange, open an account and buy your Moonbeam. Make sure to withdraw the Moonbeam from the exchange to your personal wallet.
Never leave coins on an exchange, as you risk losing them all if that exchange gets hacked or shuts down (which has happened in the past) and always double check address before send coins because you can send the coins to wrong address .
OVERVIEW
Who Are the Founders of Moonbeam?
The Moonbeam Network is a blockchain platform built on the Polkadot network and was launched by PureStake, a blockchain infrastructure and services provider in the year 2020. The CEO of PureStake, Derek Yoo, is considered to be the founder of Moonbeam Network.
Derek Yoo is a software engineer and entrepreneur with over two decades of experience in the technology industry. He co-founded several technology startups before founding PureStake in 2016, a company that provides blockchain infrastructure and services to enterprises, developers, and individuals.
While Derek Yoo is considered the founder of Moonbeam, it is worth noting that the development of the platform has been a collaborative effort involving a team of experienced developers, engineers, and advisors. The Moonbeam team includes seasoned professionals with experience in various industries such as blockchain, software development, and finance. They are committed to developing and maintaining the Moonbeam Network to provide an easy-to-use and highly interoperable platform for building decentralized applications.
What Makes Moonbeam Unique?
Moonbeam is a unique blockchain platform that brings the capabilities of Ethereum to the Polkadot ecosystem. Here are some key features that make Moonbeam unique:
Ethereum Compatibility: Moonbeam is designed to be highly compatible with the Ethereum network. This means that existing Ethereum smart contracts, developer tools, and dApps can be easily migrated to Moonbeam with minimal modifications, reducing the barriers to entry for developers and users.
Interoperability: Moonbeam is built on the Polkadot network, which allows it to connect with other blockchain networks and communicate with them seamlessly. This makes Moonbeam highly interoperable, enabling developers to build cross-chain applications and allowing users to access a wide range of assets and services.
EVM Compatibility: Moonbeam is built on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), which means that developers can write smart contracts in Solidity or other EVM-compatible languages and deploy them on Moonbeam. This ensures that Moonbeam developers have access to the vast Ethereum developer ecosystem and can leverage existing Ethereum tools and libraries.
Community-Driven: Moonbeam has a strong community of developers, validators, and enthusiasts who are actively contributing to the growth and development of the platform. The Moonbeam community is committed to building a decentralized, open-source platform that is accessible to everyone.
Scalability: Moonbeam is designed to be highly scalable, with the ability to process thousands of transactions per second. This makes it well-suited for building high-performance dApps and services.
Governance: Moonbeam has a robust governance framework that allows stakeholders to participate in decision-making and shape the future direction of the platform. This ensures that the platform is transparent, decentralized, and community-driven.
Overall, Moonbeam’s unique combination of compatibility, interoperability, scalability, and community-driven governance makes it an attractive platform for developers and users who are looking to build and use decentralized applications in a seamless and user-friendly manner.
How Many Moonbeam (GLMR) Coins Are There in Circulation?
The native token of Moonbeam known as Glimmer (GLMR) was issued via a private Community Event called Take Flight. During the community event of Moonbeam, 100,000,000 GLMR (10% of the total supply) was issued.
There will be a total of 1,000,000,000 GLMR tokens, with an annual inflation rate of 5%, as such, there will be an uncapped token supply. The distribution of the token is as follows.
How Is the Moonbeam Network Secured?
The Moonbeam Network is secured through a combination of technologies and mechanisms, including Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus, a network of validators, and cryptographic techniques. Here are some of the key security features of the Moonbeam Network:
Proof of Stake (PoS) Consensus: Moonbeam uses a PoS consensus mechanism to validate transactions and add new blocks to the blockchain. In a PoS system, validators are required to stake a certain amount of cryptocurrency as collateral to participate in the consensus process. This ensures that validators have a vested interest in the security and stability of the network and are incentivized to act in its best interest.
Validator Nodes: The Moonbeam Network is secured by a network of validator nodes that participate in the consensus process. Validators are responsible for verifying transactions and adding new blocks to the blockchain. The Moonbeam Network is designed to be highly decentralized, with a large number of validators distributed around the world. This reduces the risk of a single point of failure and increases the overall security of the network.
Cryptographic Techniques: The Moonbeam Network uses various cryptographic techniques to secure its transactions and data. For example, it uses the SHA-3 hash function for data integrity, the Ed25519 signature scheme for message authentication, and the BLAKE2s hashing algorithm for key derivation.
Upgradable Smart Contracts: The Moonbeam Network supports upgradable smart contracts, which allow developers to fix any security vulnerabilities or bugs that may be discovered after the initial deployment. This ensures that the smart contracts running on the network remain secure and functional over time.
Formal Verification: Moonbeam supports formal verification, which is a mathematical technique for proving the correctness and security of smart contracts. This provides an additional layer of security and ensures that smart contracts running on the network are free from bugs and vulnerabilities.
Overall, the combination of PoS consensus, a network of validators, cryptographic techniques, upgradable smart contracts, and formal verification makes the Moonbeam Network highly secure and resistant to attacks.