How to Buy CRV Tokens in Canada

“Curve is a decentralized exchange (DEX) for stablecoins. As a DEX, it allows a person to trade directly with another person without going through a third party.”

Curve is a cryptocurrency founded in 2020 by Michael Egorov (who is also the CEO). Curve was built to power curve.fi, a market maker for stablecoins (stablecoins are cryptocurrencies built to mimic the price of fiat currencies, like the U.S. dollar). The platform was built on the Ethereum network and allows users to connect their crypto wallet to swap certain Ethereum-based stablecoins for others without needing to go through third parties and paying high fees.

If you are wondering how to buy Curve in Canada, Netcoins is a publicly-traded, fully regulated crypto trading platform based in Canada. With 0% funding fees, free cash withdrawals, and live service seven days a week, we make it simple for Canadians to buy Curve (CRV) and other cryptocurrencies.

What Can You Do With Curve?

An investment in Curve is an investment in the future growth and success of the curve.fi platform. Curve.fi is an automated market maker for swapping between stablecoins. For those new to the world of crypto, an automated market maker is a programme that automates the process of trading, hence how curve.fi is able to offer low fees. 

As a decentralized market maker that allows users to swap their stablecoins in a low fee ecosystem, there is a clear need for a liquidity pool to draw from when facilitating transactions. You can think of liquidity pools as crowdsourced pools of cryptocurrencies.

Connecting an online Ethereum wallet, such as Metamask or Trezor, allows investors to deposit their crypto into liquidity pools. The pool is used to facilitate cryptocurrency transactions and compensate investors through transaction fees, therefore providing them with a consistent and profitable stream of passive income. 

Holding CRV tokens gives you both transparency and power over key decision-making. As a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) that is not managed by one person or group of people, the token’s code is accessible to all holders since there are no leaders in this organization. Further, decisions regarding how Curve is managed and changed are made through a collective vote rather than a centralized authority. Token holders can vote on the operations and direction of the Curve platform. They may even vote on topics like distributing treasury cash to pay for the protocol’s development. 

It is clear that Curve is nothing but fascinating. 

How Does Curve Stand Out From Other Cryptocurrencies?

Curve as a platform provides a strong use case throughout the world of stablecoins. Its emphasis on rewarding both traders and those who deposit funds into the liquidity pool makes it intriguing from several viewpoints. What makes Curve stand out is its focus on stability over volatility and speculation in the world of cryptocurrencies. Given that stablecoins tend to be less volatile than other cryptocurrencies, the platform tends to consider itself less risky. The safety of low price volatility mixed with the different decentralized finance (DeFi) activities on the platform, such as providing liquidity, makes it stand out from other crypto projects.

For many DeFi investors, participating in Curve’s ecosystem can feel like a safer bet.

 

Why Invest in Curve? 

Because of its unique proposition and ability to take a different approach in the cryptocurrency ecosystem, Curve has seen a lot of traction. There are plenty of reasons to be excited about the future of the project. Here are only four examples.

Curve is decentralized. The Curve network is not controlled by a single entity or individual, which helps to ensure its integrity. 

There is a max supply of CRV. Similar to Bitcoin, Curve has a supply cap of just about 3.3 billion CRV tokens that will exist at any point in time. This makes the coin deflationary over the long run and a hedge against things such as inflation.

Curve is amid significant adoption. Curve is one of the most popular automated market makers for stablecoins because of its low fees, low slippage rates, and low volatility. As stablecoins continue to grow in popularity, Curve is positioned very well to take advantage of the opportunity ahead.

Curve provides an opportunity to make passive income. In contrast to larger financial institutions like big banks, Curve provides users with an opportunity to earn competitive interest rates on their crypto/stablecoins. Given the low volatility of stablecoins, Curve’s value proposition is to earn you income in a low-risk way.

How Do I Securely Store My CRV Tokens?

You can buy CRV tokens from crypto trading platforms, like Netcoins, and leave your CRV tokens inside the platform. However, there are much safer options to storing your CRV as leaving them in exchanges can expose them to certain risks like hacking and theft.

The safest option to keeping your CRV secure is to transfer them into a CRV wallet. A CRV wallet is a type of digital wallet that is used to send and receive CRV, similar to a Google wallet or a physical wallet.

There are four different types of CRV wallets: hardware wallets, desktop wallets, mobile wallets and web wallets.  

Hardware wallets look like a USB device. They are considered to be offline wallets because they’re not connected to the internet. The fact they’re offline makes them more difficult to find and to hack. As such, they’re typically considered the safest option to store your CRV. 

Desktop wallets on the other hand are programs that store your CRV on your computer’s hard drive. Mobile wallets perform the same function as a desktop wallet but on a mobile device instead. 

Finally, a web wallet is an online service that sends and stores your CRV on your behalf anywhere, anytime. Similar to checking your email. 

Desktop, mobile and web wallets are all connected to the internet (and referred to as “hot wallets”). Like mentioned earlier, they are more susceptible to potential risks. On the other hand, hardware wallets (or “cold wallets”) are considered safer options as they are not connected to the internet. 

This is why it’s often advised that Canadians pull out their CRV from crypto trading platforms and send them directly to a hardware wallet. Only in this way, are they in full possession of their CRV and can keep them secure. 

 

Is Curve a Smart Investment?

Whether Curve is a smart investment comes down to your opinion on both the project itself and the future growth of the stablecoin market. Curve has differentiated itself within a quick-growing niche with stablecoin trading. Doing so has allowed them to create a quality product for both traders and liquidity providers while simultaneously becoming a one stop shop for stablecoins. 

Although there is an incentive to focus on one area and to create a quality product, it does limit their addressable market to the stablecoin space. There are reasons to be optimistic on this front, as stablecoin volume saw 370% growth to over $5 trillion USD in 2021, pointing to positivity for growth in the sector. 

With a solid platform and loyal fanbase, Curve may face some hurdles in the future that may limit its growth as an investment. Although focusing on stablecoins comes with less risk on the volatility front, any headwinds that the stablecoin market faces, in particular, will prove challenging for Curve. Additionally, as the crypto market grows, Curve will face competition from other larger platforms like Uniswap, which may place additional focus on the stablecoin space. Further development and innovation will be needed to maintain Curve’s lead.

If adoption of stablecoins continues into 2022 and beyond, Curve has set itself up well to grow alongside the industry and to take advantage of the adoption. The platform has a clear value proposition for both traders and liquidity providers, making Curve a worthwhile investment that bets on the future growth in stablecoin adoption.

This post is for informational purposes only. For proper financial advice, we recommend you speak to a financial advisor.