Making your first purchase
- Author
- CRYPTO PORT Editorial
- Published
- Updated
- Reading time
- 6 min
In short
Make your first purchase small enough that losing it would not affect your life, and pick a single asset whose mechanics you actually understand. Simply being aware of whether you are buying from the brokerage or on the order book already changes what it costs you. Work through it in three stages: decide the amount, choose the order type, then check what actually filled.
Key points
- Start with money you can afford to lose; minimum order sizes differ by operator
- On the brokerage the spread is your cost; on the order book it is the trading fee
- A market order fills immediately; a limit order names your price but may never fill
- Record what you bought and at what price — you will need it at tax time
Definition
Acquiring a crypto asset with the yen you deposited. On a brokerage you buy at the operator's quoted price; on an order book your order is matched against other users' orders.
Settle two things before you buy. First, the amount — decide it before you look at the chart, because a rising price makes everyone want to commit more. Second, the asset. Most people start with something large and well documented; Bitcoin and Ethereum get picked not because they are expected to rise, but because their mechanics and information sources are easy to follow.
Then decide which screen you are buying on. Japanese operators typically offer both a brokerage and an order book. The brokerage sells to you at the operator's quoted price in almost one tap, but the gap between its buy and sell quotes — the spread — is your real cost. The order book matches you with other users, supports limit orders, and is generally cheaper. The point worth internalising is that the same asset at the same operator costs differently depending on which screen you use. 'Brokerage versus order book' goes into it.
The two basic order types are market and limit. A market order executes at whatever the current price is: you are certain to buy, but you do not choose the price. A limit order says 'buy at this price or better': you choose the price, but the market may never reach it. For a first attempt, placing a small limit order purely to learn how to read the book is good practice. How you specify size — by yen amount or by quantity — varies by operator.
After the order goes in, check the execution history for when, at what price and how much actually filled. Market orders routinely fill at a price slightly different from the quote you saw. Noticing how big that gap is tells you which method to use next time.
Finally, keep records. In Japan, profits from selling or exchanging crypto assets are taxable, and calculating them requires your acquisition cost. Exchanges let you download trade history, but services shut down and formats change, so noting the date, asset, quantity and amount yourself after each purchase saves pain later. See 'Crypto and tax basics' for the wider picture.
Watch out for
- · Treat any pitch that guarantees gains, promises your capital back, or pressures you to act now as a scam. There is never a reason to let someone rush your purchase
- · Do not make an obscure asset recommended on social media your first buy — you may find there is no liquidity to sell it back
- · Margin trading can lose more than you put in. It is not a feature for a first trade
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum I can buy?
Minimum order sizes and amounts depend on the operator and the asset; purchases of a few hundred yen are sometimes possible. Check the exact terms on the official site of the operator you use.
Should I move a purchase to my own wallet right away?
Not necessarily. Holding your own wallet means taking on responsibility for the keys, and moving a large amount before you are comfortable with the mechanics is risky. Understand how transfers work and rehearse with a small test transfer first, then decide.