How to buy Ethereum (ETH)  in Canada

How to buy Ethereum (ETH)  in Canada

Ethereum is an open-source peer-to-peer decentralized cryptocurrency that uses blockchain technology to support smart contracts. The Ethereum Virtual Machine provides the foundation for a number of distributed applications (dApps).  It allows you to create smart contracts and allow cryptocurrency trading in its own currency, called Ether. It is currently the second largest coin, right behind bitcoin. 

Ethereum History

In late 2013, Computer engineer Vitalik Buterin was just 19 when he first described his project in the Ethereum Whitepaper. The Ethereum White Paper proposed the technical design, architecture and the reasons for the Ethereum protocol. 

In 2014 Ethereum was co-founded by Vitalik Buterin, Woods, Mihai Alisie, Anthony Di Iorio, Joseph Lubin and Charles Hoskinson. The team decided to finance the development by the advance sale of Ether (ETH) In July 2014 Ethereum carried out the very first Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for ETH. The Ethereum Foundation collected over  31,591 Bitcoins, which was worth over 18 million USD at that time. The revenues were used for legal liabilities, as well as open and future developer services. The Ethereum platform went live on 30 July 2015.

Just like bitcoin,  miners are used to confirm transactions and it uses a consensus called Proof of Work. However, Unlike Bitcoin which has a maximum supply of 21 million, Ethereum has not yet set a limit on its total coin supply. This has lead to concerns about inflation in the Ethereum community for many years. 

Ethereum Virtual Machine

The Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) is one of the key components of the Ethereum network. The EVM is responsible for maintaining and handling the computation of the Ethereum platform.  Bytecode is the programming language that EVM uses, which is different from other programming languages used in the market. 

Developers use a programming language called Solidity,  to create smart contracts on top of the Ethereum network. The Ethereum Virtual Machine essentially compiles code created by developers using Solidity and transformed it into bytecode. This way, the nodes would have the possibility to understand what was written and what it means.

The Ethereum ecosystem allows its developers to create decentralized economies, Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and many other projects.

How Is Ethereum different to Bitcoin?

– Ethereum currently has no maximum limit, whereas Bitcoin has a maximum cap of 21 million. 

– Bitcoin is just a currency, whereas Ethereum is a ledger technology that developers are using to build new applications.

–  Ethereum has faster transactions times since the block time is set to twelve seconds as compared to Bitcoins 10 minutes.

– Ethereum uses Proof of Stake Consensus (PoS), whereas Bitcoin uses Proof of Work Consensus (PoW)

–  Ethereum releases the same amount of Ether each year endlessly, while Bitcoin block rewards halve every 4 year until the max supply is reached. 

Is Ethereum legal in Canada?

It is completely legal to hold and trade Ethereum in Canada.  

How to trade Ethereum

Ethereum can be traded 24hr a day since it is not linked to one particular market. It can be traded on centralized and decentralized (DEX) exchanges. Since Ethereum has its own token economy, it can be traded against both coins and tokens.   When trading, it might be  helpful to keep stop losses in place to protect yourself against quick price reversals due to volatility. 

Is Ethereum risky?

Ethereum is extremely volatile and the market can propose both opportunities and risks for traders.While it’s possible to purchase physical goods with Ethereum, the majority of Ethereum transactions are investment based. Therefore, the buying and selling cycle causes people to speculation on the price, which in turn, causes for volatility.  Understanding volatility can lead to investors making more informed decisions about how they buy and trade cryptocurrency, in turn, a win win situation for everyone.

How do I store Ethereum?

Although there is no official way to store ethereum or cryptocurrency, however, it depends on a few variables;  your desire for security, how much you are going to be storing, what tokens you plan to stored there. 

It’s key to remember that regardless of what tool you use to create an account/wallet, it is essential to always safely store all of the necessary information, possibly in multi location.  

A list of wallets: ( always do your own research on deciding which wallet to use)

CLI (for advanced developers)****

• Geth (go implementation): Command Line, Official

• Parity: Rust implementation

Hardware Wallets

• Ledger – Can be used with MyCrypto, the Ledger Live Desktop Application, iOS app, Android app

• Trezor – Can be used with MyCrypto or Trezor’s web app

• Keepkey

Desktop Applications

• MyCrypto — also has a web version with support via Ledger, Trezor, Safe-T Mini, MetaMask, Parity Signer.

• Exodus: Desktop, multi-asset wallet with ShapeShift integration

Mobile

• imToken – iOS, Android. Longest running mobile solution for Ethereum..

• Trust Wallet – iOS + Android, dApp browser

• WallETH – Android, Open Source

• Parity Signer – Turns your old phone into a hardware wallet / transaction signer. Super safe. Can use with MyCrypto

• Ambo – iOS

Hope this gave you a better understanding of How to buy Ethereum (ETH)  in Canada.

You can Buy Ethereum in Canada directly from PCCEX by signing up or registering. Buy, sell and trade Ethereum on PCCEX, Canada’s best cryptocurrency exchange. 

Also, check out: How to buy ripple (xrp) in Canada

***Please ensure to declare any capital gains or reward income to your local taxation authorities to ensure you always remain compliant. Cryptocurrency purchased on illegitimate exchanges that do not run KYC may not be supported and have been listed/traded there without our permission. Investing in cryptocurrencies is a high-risk and volatile