HOW TO USE KUCOIN: BEGINNER’S GUIDE

COVERED IN THIS HOW TO: 

• Registering.
• Buying crypto with credit and debit.
• Depositing and withdrawing.
• Transferring between accounts.
• Spot trading
• How to save on fees
• Dollar cost averaging.
• Earning passive income

REGISTERING

KuCoin offers varying levels of KYC depending on what services you plan on using. Registering with the exchange is very straightforward.

From the KuCoin home page, click on the “Sign Up” option from the top right menu.

Once loaded, the sign up page provides two methods for signing up: either by phone or email. Depending on which method you prefer, be sure to have your phone handy or your email open at this point.

From the top, fill in the following fields: your phone number or email address; your chosen password (must be 7-32 characters in length, with at least one letter, one number, and no spaces); and a referral code (optional).

Next, press the button beside your phone number or email to “send code.” You’ll be prompted to check off that you’re “not a robot” and complete a captcha. Once completed, you will receive either a text or email with a verification code. You’ll then have 60 seconds to type the code into the “phone/email verification code” field and complete the signing up process.

After entering the verification code, click on the “Terms of Use” hyperlink to read through. Then click on the box to verify you have read and agree to the terms. And finally, click the “Sign Up” button to register for your new account.

You’ll then be automatically redirected to your account’s “assets” page, a summary of your crypto assets and accounts on KuCoin. This page features your main account, trading account, futures account, and pool-x account.

After signing up and buying some crypto to get started (instructions further below), you’ll have immediate access to the main and trading accounts.

MARGIN TRADING REGISTRATION

For margin trading, you’ll need to navigate to the “Margin Account” tab, which can be found in the centre of the sub-menu on your assets page. Click on the “Enable Margin Trading” button that appears.

A pop-up will appear with a Margin Trading Agreement.

Complete the pop-up by clicking the box underneath to highlight it (confirming your agreement), and click the “Confirm” button to finish.

BUYING CRYPTO WITH CREDIT AND DEBIT

For those interested in buying crypto, but aren’t so interested in wading into the waters of spot trading… KuCoin provides a convenient way to do so. Complete the pop-up by clicking the box underneath to highlight it (confirming your agreement), and click the “Confirm” button to finish.

Start by navigating to Kucoin. Once the home page loads, you’ll find “Buy Crypto” as one of the menu options in the top left corner of the page. Click on or hover your mouse over this option so that the drop menu pops up.

The drop menu has three different methods to purchase: Credit/Debit, P2P, or FastBuy. Click on Credit/Debit – this is the option most likely to be used if you’re starting off your crypto journey.

From there, a new page will load, with a few different fields to fill out to process your transaction.

First is the box titled “I want to spend,” where you can fill in your chosen amount of a particular fiat (or government-issued) currency. Click the arrow beside to open up a drop-down menu of different types of fiat currencies to choose from.

Once completed, move on to the option box to the right titled “I want to buy.” Again, click on the arrow beside to open the drop-down menu. This menu lists a variety of crypto currencies. Choose the preferred currency you would like to buy.

CHOOSING A PAYMENT METHOD AND PAYMENT CHANNEL

Below, there are two sections prompting you to choose a payment method and payment channel. Choose your preferred option for both, starting with the payment method (which lists credit card, Apple Pay, SePA, or Google Pay). Then the payment channel, which is a third-party that accepts the payment for the exchange.

Payment methods and channels vary between different cryptos. Switching between different cryptos will change the available options for payment methods and channels.

After filling out those sections, scroll to the bottom of the page. There will be a section summarizing your order, where you can see the final sums. Additionally, there is a short disclaimer to read through before your transaction can be processed.

Click the box at the bottom of the disclaimer so that it turns green to agree. Then click the “Confirm” button to submit your transaction.

DEPOSITING AND WITHDRAWING

If, for whatever reason, you prefer not to buy directly from KuCoin, you can transfer assets from another exchange.

Begin by navigating to the top right hand of KuCoin’s website. You will see a drop down menu for “Assets.” Click on this to go to the assets page.

On the right hand side, you will find the “Deposit” button bolded in green. Click on it.

Search for the asset you’d like to purchase by clicking on the drop down menu. Select your chosen asset.

Once you’ve clicked on your crypto asset, you’ll find the address of your KuCoin Bitcoin wallet now on the page. Copy this wallet address. Back on the exchange you are transferring from, click to withdraw. There, you will be prompted for a wallet address. Paste your KuCoin wallet address. Make sure to double check the address is correct before sending.

Alternatively, KuCoin offers barcode transfers. To the right of the wallet address, look for the barcode symbol. Hover over it, then scan the barcode using the exchange you are withdrawing from on your phone.

HOW TO TRANSFER BETWEEN ACCOUNTS

Crypto purchases and deposits automatically find their way into your main account. But if you wish to trade your crypto on the spot exchange, you’ll first have to transfer your assets into your trading accounts.

Click on the “Assets” page. Under assets, click on “Main Account.” In the main account, navigate to the search bar on the right hand side of the page. Locate the asset you wish to trade with.

On the far right of your chosen asset, click on the “transfer” option. A window will pop up.

In the pop up window, select “Trading Account” as your destination. Once completed, you will be able to trade your asset(s) via spot trade.

SPOT TRADING

On KuCoin’s home page, hover over the “Trade” option on the main menu. Choose “Spot Trading” from the drop down menu.

Spot trading is done by purchasing crypto using a trading pair. For example, if you are looking to buy Bitcoin and you have USDT in your trading account, you would select the BTC/USDT trading pair.

On the main menu at the top of the page, you’ll see a little green arrow beside the “10x” pointing upwards. Click the arrow. BTC/USDT will autofill the box below, as that is the default pair. You can change this pairing by manually entering it into the box.

MARKET ORDER

If you aren’t concerned with getting the best price, market orders are easiest. Navigate down to the bottom right of the spot trading page.

Let’s continue using the BTC/USDT trading pair. Make sure you select “Market.” Under amount, enter the amount of USDT you are willing to use to purchase BTC. After clicking the “BUY BTC” button, you will receive an amount based on the current market price.

LIMIT ORDER

If you’d like to buy BTC at a certain price, limit order is the way to go. Just like a market order, navigate to the bottom right of the spot trading page.

Let’s say you want to buy 1 BTC. The current price is 35,000 USD, but you want to wait until it drops to 34,000 USD. In the section above the “Buy BTC” button, type “34,000” into the “Price” box and “1” into where it says “Amount.” Click the green “Buy BTC” button.

Your order will execute if the price falls to 34,000 USD.

HOW TO SAVE ON FEES

Like every other exchange, KuCoin charges fees for trading on the platform. However, unlike most exchanges, KuCoin offers some of the best discounts. All you have to do is own some KuCoin token to take advantage.

By owning some KuCoin Token (KCS) you are eligible for trading fee discounts. How much exactly depends on your VIP level. 

You can purchase KCS with credit/debit or via spot.

Other benefits for buying KCS.

• Daily dividend (50% of trading fees on the platform)
• Faster customer service
• Periodic exclusive perks and offers

HOW TO DOLLAR COST AVERAGE ON KUCOIN

Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) is an investment strategy that involves investing smaller amounts consistently over time. So instead of buying 50k of of Bitcoin the day Coinbase IPO’ed, you would buy 1k a month for the next 4 years and 2 months, regardless of how well or poorly Bitcoin is doing. This way, the fluctuations of the market have a lesser effect.

Studies have shown timing any market (be it stocks or crypto) is next to impossible. The best way to ensure gains is to invest slowly and surely.

Thanks to the KCS Token, DCAing on KuCoin is cheaper than most exchanges. If you feel like DCAing is too time intensive for you, KCS offers a DCA bot.

DCA BOT

The DCA bot is free. It supports 13 tokens: BTC, KCS, ETH, XRP, ATOM, ADA, BCH, LTC, EOS, XLM, DASH, TRX, and VET. It requires downloading the KuCoin mobile app.

On the mobile app, navigate to the middle of the KuCoin home page. Click on the “Trading Bot” symbol.

From there, click on “DCA.”

Click “Create.”

Choose which token you would like to invest in.

Once you’ve chosen your token, choose how much and how often you want to DCA.

And, how much of a profit target you want to set.

HOW TO USE MARGIN

Using any kind of leverage is very risky. If you do wish to use this feature of KuCoin, start by transferring money into your margin account.

This works the same way as transferring money into your spot account. Click on “Assets.” Then, transfer from your main account to your margin account.

KuCoin offers both long and short margin trades. For more on that check out their medium blog. 

HOW TO EARN PASSIVE INCOME

On KuCoin, you can earn passive income by lending out your crypto to other customers. To do so, navigate to the top of the KuCoin home page. Click on “Finance.” Choose “Crypto Lending.”

Unlike using spot, or margin, there is no need to transfer money out of your main account. All crypto lending comes out of your main account.

Once you are on the crypto lending page, you can choose the amount of BTC and your daily interest rate you would like to charge.

After you select the length of the loan (7, 14, or 28 days), press “LendBTC.” From there, the loan terms release into the market. Once someone agrees to the terms of your loan, it shows up in the unsettled tab.

CONCLUSION

Thank you for reading our beginner’s guide to KuCoin. We hope that this helps you easily navigate and use KuCoin. If you find yourself with any further questions, feel free to ask by commenting below. We are happy to help! If you are interested in signing up you can do so by visiting KuCoin