FROM CAD TO SOL [BUY/STAKE]
How to purchase and stake SOL?
How to invest in Solana and Stake in for 8% APR?
I am not a financial advisor, nor I can boast about my amazing experience with investing in various risky projects. This is simply a manual on how to purchase and stake Solana (SOL).
SOLANA: solana.com
White Paper: Solana: A new architecture for a high performance blockchain
Prerequisites for easy start:
- Chrome/Edge Browser
- Shakepay Account (shakepay.com) [You can buy directly from Coinbase! It is more expense though (extra $15–20)]
- Coinbase Account (coinbase.com)
- ShakePay Phone App
- Phantom Wallet Extension (Phantom — Chrome Web Store (google.com))
1.There is no direct CAD to Solana exchange, so the first step for you is going to be buying some BTC. So far, the best place to do this for me personally was using ShakePay. If you have no ShakePay account this referral link will give you $30 on a $100 purchase — shakepay.com
Most Canadian credit cards cannot be used to purchase cryptocurrencies, however if you can — skip this step and go directly to Step 2.
This is the error message I was getting on every major exchange trying to use my CAD card.
Shakepay platform allows to use Interac e-Transfer, but it’s much cheaper in purchase fees compared to Coinbase.
You can buy SOL directly from Coinbase, but their fees are almost twice as expensive compared to Shakepay, so that’s what I did,bought from Shakepay and Trasnferred to Coinbase. If you don’t care to pay extra $15–20 go to STEP 4
Another exchanges to buy crypto directly sorted most to least trust-worthy:
You can follow to Step 4 if purchased directly.
Once funds are added go over to Buy & sell tab to exchange it to BTC. I do not recommend you to buy Ethereum, as the transaction prices are fairly high and the minimum amount you can withdraw from ShakePay is 0.1ETH, there is no lower limit for BTC.
You now have BTC which you can send over to the Coinbase exchange and swap BTC to Solana Token (SOL) , which later can be staked on Phantom Network. To send funds from Shakepay you will need to have the application on your phone.
Google Play: Shakepay: Buy Bitcoin in 🇨🇦 — Apps on Google Play
Apple Store: Shakepay: Buy Bitcoin Canada on the App Store (apple.com)
2. If you still do not have Coinbase account it is time to create one. This link will give you $10 on a $100 deposit Sign up — Coinbase . Once your account is created and verified (use your Canadian drivers license and laptop camera. Total verification process took around 10minutes) you can send crypto from ShakePay. Make sure to select correct coin and network when sending bitcoin.
3. Once you send the funds it will take some time for them to arrive, and you will see your transaction in the pending status. Nothing to worry about.
4.Your funds are deposited, which means it is time to convert BTC to SOL
5. If you haven’t installed Phantom Wallet yet, go to (Phantom — Chrome Web Store (google.com)) and press Add to Chrome.
6. Choose “Create New Wallet”. You will be given a Secret Phrase which is extremely important to keep safe! Make sure you save it, and remember where you saved it.
7. It’s ready!Press Deposit and search for Solana.
8.Copy the address for your Solana wallet and head back to Coinbase. Navigate to Assets => Solana => Wallet. Paste your address into the To field on Send Tab and select the desired amount.
9. You will get the confirmation that it was sent and now you can open the Phantom Wallet once again to stake the coin. I have received $998 USD worth of Solana, which is equivalent to $1270 CAD and press Start Earning SOL.
10. You will need to choose the validator. What is a validator you might ask? Solana is based on proof-of-stake, where a “validator” is roughly the equivalent of a miner (but still different).
All validators are different, and technically anyone can become one. You want to search for reliable validators, who have a proven history of work and a hefty stake. Each validator also chooses the commission they will take for their work. Shinobi Systems take only 2% commission at this time, but it’s subject to change.
Great resource to find a validator: https://www.validators.app/
Once the transaction confirmed you are staking Solana in your Phantom Wallet!
Congratulations, you are done with the SOLANA token.
This guide is designed to make sure you avoid mistakes that many people including myself can make while trying to get into SOLANA.
