How To Safely Exchange Crypto to Crypto: A Beginner’s Guide

Most crypto beginners quickly run into a problem after successfully investing in their first coin: they start hearing about some new coin that’s on the move and about to 10x. However, when they try to purchase it they start running into complications.

Why Perform a Crypto to Crypto Exchange?

First, understand that cryptocurrencies operate on different blockchains (sometimes called ‘networks’). For example, Ethereum runs on the Ethereum blockchain and Solana runs on the Solana blockchain. These are not the only coins that operate on these blockchains though.

Additional coins on the Ethereum network:

• Shiba Inu

• PEPE

• Polygon

Coins on Solana:

• Render

• The Graph

• BONK

• WIF

Now, let’s say you have $100 of PEPE, an ETH coin, and you would like to exchange it for $100 of BONK on Solana. You would need to use the following steps:

1. Check exchange support. A CEX might be able to support this trade. Otherwise you’ll need to use a trusted DEX such as:
   
   a. Uniswap
   b. Aerodrome Finance
   c. Pancake Swap
   
   

2. Swap for a stablecoin. Exchange your $100 of PEPE for an intermediary coin, usually a ‘stablecoin.’ 
   
   

   1. USDC, or USDT (Tether) in most cases

   b. ETH would work for coins on the Ethereum chain, and SOL would work for coins on Solana as well.

   c. Be careful though because some coins are ‘multichain.’ If you send ‘Base ETH’ on the regular ETH chain, you may lose it.
   
   

3. Send the stablecoin to your hot wallet
   
   a. Coinbase Wallet, MetaMask, Phantom, are popular options. These can be a browser extension or a mobile app.

   b. Please read our articles on hot wallets and DEXes before proceeding.
   
   

4. Connect your hot wallet to the DEX
   
   a. For mobile hot wallets, the wallet itself will have it’s own native browser for connecting to a DEX that makes the process a bit smoother.

   b. On a computer, you will go through a process of connecting your wallet to the website.

   c. Double and triple check that you are using the correct addresses here, because connecting your hot wallet to imposter websites is how many people get scammed.
   
   

5. Verify the "Contract Address"
   
   a. Ideally you would use a trusted third party like DexScreener to confirm you are looking at the correct coin.

   b. Make sure DexScreener shows correct information such as Twitter accounts and websites for the project.

   c. Copy/Paste the contract address (CA) for the project into the DEX search window.
   
   

6. Complete the Transaction
   
   a. You will need to “sign” the transaction with your hot wallet in order to complete the swap.

DEX Security Precautions

Although using a DEX with a mobile hot wallet might seem smoother, going through the process on desktop makes it a lot easier to verify each of the above steps in different browser tabs as you go.

Items to verify:

• Exact steps, chains, and stablecoins you will need for the swap.

• DEX address (URL)

• CA of the coin that you want

Errors in these three items are where most people lose money, whether it’s because of an imposter website/coin, or simple mistake.

Conclusion

While this can seem overwhelming for beginners, remember that other exciting areas of crypto, like NFTs and low cap meme coin investing, follow a very similar process. Just remember to take it slow and go step-by step. Once you master using DEXes and hot wallets while keeping yourself safe, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities for your portfolio.