9 Ways You Can Buy Polkadot In Singapore

Last updated on January 19th, 2022

Polkadot is an up and coming cryptocurrency, and you may want to own some as part of your crypto portfolio.

But how do you go about buying this currency?

Here are a few platforms that allow you to buy Polkadot in Singapore.

How to buy Polkadot in Singapore

Here are 9 platforms that you can buy Polkadot in Singapore:

1. Coinhako
2. Tokenize
3. AAX
4. Crypto.com (App)
5. Crypto.com (Exchange)
6. Liquid
7. Kraken
8. Binance
9. Huobi

This is a summary of all of the methods:

Platform	Direct From SGD?	Type of Transaction	Fees
Coinhako	Yes	Instant Buy	0.8% – 1%
Tokenize	Yes	Trading	0.8% (Min $1)
AAX	No	Trading	0.1%
Crypto.com (App)	No	Instant Buy	None (But may have large spread)
Crypto.com (Exchange)	No	Trading	Up to 0.16%
Liquid	No	Trading	Up to 0.3%
Kraken	No	Trading	Up to 0.26%
Binance	No	Trading	Up to 0.1%
Huobi	No	Trading	Up to 0.2%

And here is each method explained in-depth:

Coinhako

Coinhako is one of the most straightforward ways of buying Polkadot in Singapore.

This is because you can directly buy DOT from SGD!

How to buy Polkadot on Coinhako

Here are the steps that you’ll need to do to buy Polkadot on Coinhako:

1. Deposit your SGD into your SGD wallet
2. Go to ‘Trade’
3. Look for DOT and click on Buy
4. Select the amount of SGD you wish to use to purchase DOT
5. Verify the transfer

#1 Deposit your SGD into your SGD wallet

To start buying crypto on Coinhako, you will need to fund your SGD wallet first. There are 2 ways you can do so:

1. Xfers
2. Direct FAST transfer

In the past, you could only use Xfers to deposit your funds into Coinhako.

Xfers acts as a middleman between the crypto exchange and your bank account.

However, you are now able to transfer your funds directly to your SGD wallet via FAST!

Don’t forget to include your unique deposit code in the comments section of the transfer. This will help Coinhako to match the deposit to your account!

You do not incur fees when depositing via FAST. Meanwhile you will incur a 0.55% fee for each deposit via Xfers!

FAST is the more cost effective way to deposit your SGD into Coinhako.

#2 Go to ‘Trade’

On Coinhako’s platform, you’ll need to go to the ‘Trade‘ section.

This is where you are able to buy and sell crypto on Coinhako.

When you are making any trade, you can’t determine the price that you wish to buy or sell at.

Coinhako will try to match it to the prevailing market rate when you make the trade.

#3 Look for DOT and click on Buy

You’ll need to scroll down to find DOT, and then click on ‘Buy‘.

#4 Select the amount of SGD you wish to use to purchase DOT

You will need to select the amount of SGD that you wish to use for your trade. The amount of DOT that you receive will be based on the prevailing market rates.

Coinhako has a minimum of $45 SGD for each trade that you make.

For every trade that you make on Coinhako, you are charged a 1% fee.

However if you use the promo code ‘COINGECKO‘, you will reduce your fees to 0.8%.

Any small reduction in fees would help to increase your returns!

It is also possible to buy DOT using your credit or debit card. However, you will be charged an additional 3% by Coinhako’s payment service provider!

It is really not worth the fees of using your credit card to make the trade, especially when FAST transfers are free!

#5 Verify the transfer

Once you’re done, you will need to verify your trade.

The DOT will be credited into your account when the trade is completed.

Verdict

Here are the fees that you’ll incur when trading with Coinhako:

Type of Fee	Amount
Deposit Fees	None (FAST), 0.55% (Xfers)
Minimum Trade Amount	$0.5
Trading Fees	1% for any trade (0.8% if you use the promo code COINGECKO)
Withdrawal Fee (SGD)	$2 per withdrawal

It is definitely more cost effective to deposit into your SGD wallet via FAST compared to Xfers.

You will incur unnecessary fees if you do so with Xfers!

However, it may take slightly longer for your funds to deposited into Coinhako if you choose the FAST method.

Another thing you’ll need to take note is the withdrawal fee of $2. If you are withdrawing out small amounts, it would not be worth this fee!

Overall, Coinhako has pretty high fees. However the convenience of buying DOT instantly with SGD helps to make up for it!

Tokenize

Tokenize is a centralised exchange that is based in Singapore and Malaysia.

Their exchange allows you to trade 30 different currencies directly from SGD!

Here’s how you can buy DOT on Tokenize:

1. Deposit your funds
2. Go to ‘Market’
3. Select SGD/DOT as your trading pair
4. Select the type of order and your trade amount
5. Make the trade

#1 Deposit your funds

To start trading on Tokenize, you’ll need to deposit your SGD into your wallet first.

However, it can be a bit hard to navigate around Tokenize’s site. You’ll need to see go to the top right-hand corner which has your name, and select ‘Wallets‘.

After that, you’ll need to scroll down all the way to your Fiat Balance. You’ll see the amount of SGD and USD that you have with Tokenize.

You’ll need to click on ‘Deposit’, and you can deposit your funds via 2 ways:

1. Xfers Direct Transfer
2. Swap from XSGD wallet

You’ll be asked to select the amount you want to deposit from your Xfers account, along with the fee.

You’ll be charged a 0.55% fee if you use Xfers Direct Charge.

Tokenize will deduct the balance from your Xfers account, and it will be credited into your SGD wallet.

#2 Go to ‘Market’

After making your deposit, you can start trading your SGD for crypto.

You’ll need to select ‘Market‘ from the dashboard.

#3 Select SGD/DOT as your trading pair

You can select the SGD/DOT trading pair from the list below:

#4 Select the type of order and your trade amount

There are 2 types of orders you can make with Tokenize:

1. Limit
2. Market

Limit orders will allow you to determine the price of DOT that you wish to pay.

This gives you more control over the price that you want to pay for each DOT.

Meanwhile, market orders will purchase DOT at the current market price.

If you use this method, you will be able to fill your order almost immediately.

However, what I don’t like about market orders is that you won’t be able to see the trading fee that you’ll need to pay beforehand.

Once you’ve decided the type of trade you wish to make, you can choose the quantity of DOT that you wish to buy.

#5 Make the trade

After you’ve confirmed your trade, your DOT will be credited into your wallet.

Verdict

Here are the fees that you’ll need to pay when trading on Tokenize:

Fee Type	Amount
Deposit Fees	0.55%
Trading Fees	0.80% (min. $1 SGD)
Withdrawal Fee	0.55%

The trading fee is quite high at 0.80% (min. $1). However, it is slightly lower compared to Coinhako.

You’ll need to decide if paying these extra fees is worth it to gain access to a greater variety of currencies!

AAX

Atom Asset Exchange (AAX) was founded in 2018, and is based in Hong Kong.

This exchange allows you to deposit SGD into your account. However, you can only trade SGD into BTC or USDT!

This means that you’ll need to make 2 conversions before you can get DOT.

Here’s what you need to do to buy DOT on AAX:

1. Deposit SGD into AAX
2. Use the Exchange feature to exchange SGD to BTC or USDT
3. Find a suitable trading pair with DOT
4. Make the trade

#1 Deposit SGD into AAX

First, you’ll need to deposit SGD into your AAX account.

You will need to deposit a minimum of $50 into your account. However, if you deposit less than $1.5k, you will incur a $35 deposit fee!

#2 Use the Exchange feature to exchange SGD to BTC or USDT

Once you have your SGD into your account, you’ll need to go to ‘Buy Crypto → Exchange‘.

The Exchange platform allows you to buy BTC or USDT from your SGD.

I would suggest using USDT, as it is less volatile compared to BTC.

AAX does not charge any fees for this conversion. However, the exchange rate may be slightly less favourable compared to the market rate.

#3 Find a suitable trading pair with DOT

Once you’ve exchanged your SGD for USDT, you can now go to AAX’s trading platform.

This can be done by selecting ‘Spot’ on the menu.

After that, you’ll need to select a trading pair with DOT.

#4 Make the trade

After selecting DOT/USDT as your trading pair, you’ll need to decide on the order type:

1. Limit
2. Market
3. Stop order

You’ll also need to enter the details of the trade you wish to make.

This includes:

1. The price of USDT you want to buy DOT at
2. The amount of DOT you wish to buy

Once the trade has been filled, DOT will be credited into your account.

Verdict

Here are the fees and minimums when you’re trading on AAX:

Deposit Minimum	$50
Deposit Fees	$35 if deposit < $1500, none if deposit ≥ $1500
Trading Fees	Up to 0.1%
Withdrawal Minimum	$150
Withdrawal Fees	0.3% (Minimum $10)
Sending Fees	Depends on currency

If you want to save on the deposit fees, you’ll have to deposit at least $1.5k into your AAX account each time!

The trading fees are as competitive as Binance (up to 0.1%), and AAX has the added advantage of supporting fiat currencies like SGD.

However, you’ll still need to make 2 trades to get DOT!

I would think that AAX is suitable only if you intend to trade a large amount of crypto.

Crypto.com (App)

Crypto.com is another platform that offers Xfers support. This does make trading crypto more accessible from Singapore.

However, unlike Coinhako, you are unable to buy DOT directly from your SGD!

Instead, you’ll need to make at least 2 trades to purchase DOT.

How to buy DOT on Crypto.com

Here are the steps you’ll need to do to buy DOT on Crypto.com:

1. Go to Crypto Wallet
2. Scroll down and find DOT
3. Click on ‘Buy DOT’
4. Select your payment method
5. Confirm the trade

#1 Go to Crypto Wallet

You’ll need to access your crypto wallet on the Crypto.com app.

This can be done by tapping on the central icon and going to ‘Crypto Wallet‘.

#2 Scroll down and find DOT

If you don’t have any DOT in your Crypto.com wallet, you’ll need to scroll down to find the currency.

It may take a while to find it, as Crypto.com does not have a search function!

#3 Click on ‘Buy DOT’

You will be redirected to the DOT price page. You’ll need to tap on ‘Buy DOT‘ to make the trade.

#4 Select your payment method

Similar to Coinhako, you cannot decide on the rate that you wish to buy DOT at. Instead, it will be done at the prevailing market rate.

There are 3 payment methods that you can use to buy DOT on Crypto.com:

1. Debit or credit card

You can use either a credit or debit card to purchase DOT directly.

This would probably the most efficient way of buying DOT. However, you will be charged a 3.5% fee if you’re from Singapore!

The fees are almost as expensive as buying from Coinhako.

Due to this high fee, it may not be worth buying DOT using your credit or debit card.

2. Crypto wallet

If you have other cryptocurrencies in your crypto wallet, you can use this to trade for DOT.

You can use either CRO, BTC or USDT to buy DOT.

3. Fiat wallet

The final way that you can buy DOT on Crypto.com is via a fiat wallet.

Fiat money is government-issued currency that is not backed by a physical commodity, such as gold or silver, but rather by the government that issued it.

Investopedia

You can only buy DOT from either a EUR or AUD fiat account.

Unlike Coinhako, you are unable to purchase DOT via Xfers!

This is because there are only 8 cryptocurrencies that you can purchase from Xfers:

1. BTC
2. ETH
3. BCH
4. LTC
5. XRP
6. CRO
7. BNB
8. XSGD

If you want to buy DOT with SGD, here are the steps that you’ll need to do:

1. Buy CRO or BTC using SGD from your fiat wallet (Xfers)
2. Purchase DOT using CRO or BTC from your crypto wallet (method 2)

#5 Confirm the trade

When you confirm the details, Crypto.com will lock in the exchange rate for 15 seconds.

Once you confirm the trade, the DOT will be credited to your account.

Verdict

Here are the fees that you’ll incur with Crypto.com:

Type of Fee	Amount
Deposit Fees	None
Trading Fees	None
Withdrawal Fee	0.4% per withdrawal (Xfers)

The fees when trading with Crypto.com seem to be lower! However the spreads can be quite high.

A spread in trading is the difference between the buy (offer) and sell (bid) prices quoted for an asset.

IG Trading

When you make multiple trades on the Crypto.com app, you may lose some money due to the spread!

These costs can be hard to keep track, but it is something you’ll need to consider.

It may be slightly more troublesome compared to buying DOT with Coinhako. This is because you will need to make 2 trades instead of one if you wish to use SGD.

Crypto.com (Exchange)

If you are looking for a more cost effective way of buying other crypto using Crypto.com, you can consider using their exchange platform instead.

This platform is separate from the app, and you’ll need to create a separate account for it.

If you are interested in signing up for a Crypto.com Exchange account and stake at least 1,000 CRO, you can earn at least $10 USD worth of CRO!

For this exchange, you aren’t able to trade your SGD for any of the currencies.

Instead, there are 3 main trading pairs that you can use:

1. BTC
2. USDT
3. CRO

So how do you go about buying DOT on Crypto.com’s Exchange platform?

#1 Buy CRO directly from SGD

On the Crypto.com app, you can buy either CRO directly from your Xfers wallet.

The crypto will be credited into your Crypto.com app wallet.

#2 Transfer your CRO to Crypto.com Exchange

After you have received your CRO, you will need to transfer it to the Crypto.com Exchange platform.

The transfer between the app and the exchange platforms is free.

On the currency’s page, you’ll need to go to ‘Transfer‘,

click on ‘Withdraw‘,

and then tap on ‘Crypto.com Exchange‘.

After selecting the amount, the CRO will be deposited in your Exchange account.

#3 Select CRO/DOT as your trading pair

On the Exchange platform, you’ll need to go to ‘Spot‘,

and select CRO/DOT your trading pair.

You can use BTC or USDT to trade for DOT as well.

#4 Select the amount and make the trade

You can choose between 4 different types of trades on Crypto.com Exchange:

1. Limit
2. Market
3. Stop Limit
4. Stop Loss

After selecting the price and the amount that you wish to buy, you can make the trade.

One thing I do not like about Crypto.com’s Exchange platform is that you are unable to see the fee that you’ll incur.

Verdict

Is this process really worth all the hassle? Why not just make the trade between CRO and DOT in the app?

Here is the price of 1 DOT in CRO in the Crypto.com app,

compared to the prevailing market rate on the Exchange platform at around the same time.

You are paying about an additional 0.009 CRO for every DOT that you buy on the app.

While this may seem very little, it will become significant if you are trading a large sum of money!

Moreover, you are able to select the price that you want to buy your DOT at with a Limit order.

The trading fees start from between 0.10% to 0.16%.

If you are looking to buy DOT frequently, this method may be slightly more cost effective compared to buying via the app!

Liquid

Liquid is a crypto exchange that is based in Japan. It allows you to transfer your SGD to the exchange, but the withdrawal fees are rather high.

Here’s what you need to buy DOT from SGD on Liquid:

1. Deposit your money via bank transfer
2. Go to Spot Trading
3. Select BTC/SGD as your trading pair
4. Select the quantity to trade
5. Repeat steps 3-4 for BTC/DOT trading pair

#1 Deposit your money via bank transfer

You’ll need to transfer your money via wire transfer to Liquid.

You are able to deposit SGD into your Liquid account.

#2 Go to Spot Trading

Once you’ve deposited your funds, you can go to ‘Spot Trading‘ to make the trade.

There are other options like Margin trading. However, they are too risky especially if you’re just starting to trade in crypto!

#3 Select BTC/SGD as your trading pair

You’ll need to select BTC/SGD as your trading pair.

You’ll need to trade between SGD and BTC first, before trading BTC for DOT.

This is because Liquid does not provide you with a SGD/DOT trading pair. As such, you can’t directly buy DOT from SGD!

#4 Select the quantity to trade

You’ll need to select the type of order that you wish to make:

1. Limit
2. Market
3. Stop
4. Stop limit

After that, you’ll need to select the amount of SGD or BTC that you wish to include in the trade.

#5 Repeat steps 3-4 for BTC/DOT trading pair

After you have traded your SGD for BTC, you’ll now need to trade your BTC for DOT.

This can be done by selecting BTC/DOT as your trading pair.

You’ll need to make a trade, similar to how you did between BTC and SGD.

After the order is completed, DOT will be credited into your account.

Verdict

Here are the fees that you’ll incur when trading with Liquid:

Type	Amount
Trading fees	Up to 0.30%
SGD Withdrawal Fees (StraitsX)	0.55% (Min $4, Max $30)
Withdrawal Fees (Bank Transfer)	$15 SGD + $30 USD

The trading fees are rather low. However, you’ll need to factor in the costs as you are making 2 trades.

Moreover, the withdrawal fees can be pretty hefty!

You may want to send your DOT to another exchange that charges you lower withdrawal fees.

The remaining exchanges do not support SGD

For the next few methods, they do not allow you to deposit SGD into their exchanges.

This means that you’ll have to buy a cryptocurrency using SGD from one exchange, and then send it to these exchanges.

The currency that you should buy is Bitcoin or Ethereum, which would have the most number of trading pairs.

However, you’ll need to consider the withdrawal fees that you’ll incur when sending your crypto on the blockchain.

Depending on the fees, it can be really hefty!

You can consider using Gemini’s Active Trader, which charges a rather low 0.35% trading fee. You are able to purchase either BTC or ETH using your SGD.

After that, you can send your BTC or ETH to any of the exchanges below. You will not be charged any withdrawal fees for up to 10 withdrawals per month.

Kraken

Kraken offers quite a few trading pairs on their platform. However, they do not allow you to buy any crypto directly from SGD.

As such, you’ll need to deposit a cryptocurrency onto their platform.

Alternatively, you can deposit other fiat currencies to make the trade too.

How to buy Polkadot on Kraken

Here’s what you need to do to buy Polkadot on Kraken:

1. Deposit a currency into Kraken (fiat or crypto)
2. Go to ‘Trade’
3. Go to ‘Intermediate’ and select a trading pair with DOT
4. Enter the amount that you wish to pay
5. Execute the order

#1 Deposit a currency into Kraken (fiat or crypto)

To start trading on Kraken, you’ll need to deposit either a fiat currency or cryptocurrency onto the platform.

You’ll need to go to the funding tab on Kraken.

From there, you can deposit a wide variety of fiat or cryptocurrencies:

Fiat	Crypto
AUD	BTC
CAD	ETH
EUR	LTC
GBP	XRP
CHF	USDT
USD
JPY

If you have any of the fiat currencies, you are able to do a wire transfer.

You may incur some fees when you are transferring your funds to Kraken!

#2 Go to ‘Trade’

Once your funds have been sent to Kraken, you can start trading.

You’ll need to go to the ‘Trade‘ tab to start buying your DOT.

#3 Select a trading pair with DOT

If you are using Kraken for the first time, you will be in the ‘Simple‘ interface.

If you wish to use this interface, you’ll need to select your trading pair above.

You can choose to go to the Intermediate interface too, where you can select your preferred trading pair.

From there, you can select a trading pair with DOT.

This depends on the currency that you’ve deposited into Kraken.

#4 Enter the amount that you wish to pay

After selecting your preferred trading pair, you’ll need to enter the details of your trade.

#5 Execute the order

Once your trade is executed, the DOT will be credited into your account.

Verdict

Here are the fees that you’ll incur when using Kraken:

Fees	Amount
Trading fees	Up to 0.26%
Withdrawal fee (crypto)	Depends on currency
Withdrawal fee (fiat)	Depends on currency

The fees are pretty reasonable, and there is no minimum fee as well!

However, the fees that you incur on Kraken are slightly higher compared to Binance or Huobi.

Nevertheless, Kraken is still an exchange platform that you can consider buying DOT from.

Binance

Binance is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world. You are able to trade many cryptocurrencies on their platform.

As such, it is a great platform if you want to buy ‘rarer’ altcoins.

However, you are unable to buy DOT directly using your SGD.

How to buy Polkadot on Binance

Here’s how you can buy Polkadot on Binance:

1. Deposit crypto or fiat to Binance
2. Select a suitable trading pair
3. Select the amount and quantity you wish to trade
4. Make the trade

#1 Deposit crypto or fiat to Binance

First, you’ll need to buy crypto from another exchange, and then deposit it into Binance.

The best cryptocurrency to deposit will be BTC, as it will have a trading pair with almost all currencies.

If you have a fiat currency that is supported by Binance, you can choose to deposit that instead.

When you deposit your crypto, you’ll need to make sure that the address you’re sending to is correct.

If not, your crypto may be lost forever!

#2 Select a suitable trading pair

After depositing your crypto or fiat, you can buy DOT on Binance’s trading platform.

You’ll need to find the DOT/BTC trading pair.

#3 Select the amount and quantity you wish to trade

You can decide on the order that you wish to make.

You’ll need to decide on:

1. The amount of DOT you want to trade
2. The price of BTC you want to buy at

#4 Make the trade

Once you make the trade, the DOT will be credited into your account.

Verdict

Here are the fees that you’ll incur when trading on Binance:

Type of Fees	Fee Amount
Deposit Fees	None
Trading Fees	Up to 0.1%

The trading fees on Binance are as low as Luno Exchange!

However, it is also quite a hassle to buy DOT on Binance if you’re from Singapore. If you send BTC to Binance, you will incur a withdrawal fee from the crypto exchange you’re sending from.

All of these fees will add up, and you may buy a much lower amount of DOT than you expected!

Huobi

Huobi is another crypto exchange that allows you to trade a variety of cryptocurrencies.

Since they do not allow you to deposit SGD onto their platform, you’ll need to deposit another cryptocurrency into the exchange first.

Here’s what you’ll need to do to buy Polkadot on Huobi:

1. Deposit a cryptocurrency into Huobi
2. Select a trading pair with DOT
3. Select the type of order you wish to make
4. Select the quantity of DOT you wish to buy

#1 Deposit a cryptocurrency into Huobi

First, you’ll need to go to ‘Balances → Exchange Account‘.

This is where you will deposit your crypto to.

You can choose a wider variety of cryptocurrencies to deposit into Huobi, compared to Binance.

The safest currencies to deposit will be either BTC or ETH.

#2 Select a trading pair with DOT

After depositing your crypto, you can start trading it.

If you just want to trade your crypto, you can go to ‘Spot Trading → Exchange‘.

You’ll be brought to the exchange platform, which can be rather overwhelming.

You’ll need to find a trading pair with DOT, which can be done at the left hand side of the platform.

There are fewer trading pairs on Huobi compared to Binance:

1. DOT/USDT
2. DOT/HUSD
3. DOT/BTC

You can choose to use USDT instead of BTC, but there are fewer platforms in Singapore that allow you to trade in USDT.

#3 Select the type of order you wish to make

After you’ve selected your trading pair, you would need to select the order type that you wish to make:

1. Limit
2. Market
3. Stop-Limit
4. Trigger Order

Limit orders allow you to determine the price you wish to buy or sell your crypto. Meanwhile, market orders will buy your crypto at the prevailing market rate.

#4 Select the quantity of DOT you wish to buy

After you’ve selected your order, you’ll need to select the amount of DOT you wish to buy.

Once the trade has been executed, your DOT will be credited into your account.

Verdict

Here are the fees that you’ll incur when trading with Huobi:

Type of Fee	Fee Amount
Trading Fees	Up to 0.20%
Withdrawal Fees	Depends on currency

While the fees are rather cheap, they are not as low as Binance (0.10%). Binance may still be the better choice if you are a frequent trader of crypto.

Conclusion

If you wish to buy DOT directly from SGD, there are 2 main ways you can do so:

1. Coinhako
2. Tokenize

For the other 7 methods, you would need to make at least 2 trades from your SGD to get DOT.

Even though Coinhako and Tokenize charge higher fees, they may be worth it for the convenience that they give you!

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