Buy Smaller Cryptocurrencies with Uniswap

Coinbase is one of the most popular platforms that people use to buy cryptocurrencies. The problem is that a Coinbase user doesn’t have access to many buying choices. Of course, one can always choose other exchanges like Binance and Kraken, but a Coinbase fan like me can access these alternative choices with Uniswap.

The image has been taken from https://uniswap.org/

What is it?

Uniswap has been developed by a small team of developers from all around the world. It is a protocol that enables anyone to exchange ERC-20 tokens on the Ethereum platform. It is open-source and licensed under GPL, and Uniswap is decentralized. The protocol is defined, in their words, as:

“..an automated liquidity protocol powered by a constant product formula and implemented in a system of non-upgradeable smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain.”

How to use it?

For this tutorial, I am going to use my Coinbase wallet, and I am going to blur some information that I believed had to stay private.

After opening your wallet, click in the middle four-square icon, down at the bottom of the application.

The Dapp browser will be launched, and you will be able to look for “Uniswap” either by keyword-searching or simply browsing.

After clicking on its icon, the above screen will appear. From there you can click the blue “visit uniswap.exchange” button.

On the top-right, you can see that I am using the second version of the app, and I am looking to buy five “ocean” tokens. You can also see that I exchange them with Ethereum and the exchange rate. Fees are also visible on the bottom.

After you choose the token you need to buy, you need to confirm the transaction.

Then you need to pay the fees, which in my case were huge.

Once the transaction is submitted you need to wait for the tokens to be transferred to your wallet.

As you see, my current transaction is pending.

Caution

When I was first looking at how to use the Uniswap protocol, I stumbled upon an Android app on the play store. This app was not an official app and it might not be wise to use it. I contacted the Uniswap team on their Discord server, and they confirmed that the app was not created by them. So, be cautious about which source you use. The wallet Dapp and the official browser edition are the safest way to go.

Sources

• https://app.uniswap.org/#/swap — The official browser app.
• https://uniswap.org/