Solana costs about $0.00025 per transaction. Ethereum costs about $2–10. That single fee gap is the reason most of the on-chain action — memecoins, DEX trades, NFT mints — has migrated to Solana over the last two cycles. Whether SOL deserves a slot in your portfolio is a different question. But if you’ve decided yes, the only thing left is to buy it without overpaying or sending it to the wrong network.
I’ve held SOL through the FTX collapse (when it went from $260 to $8), the 2023 recovery, the 2024 memecoin mania, and the chain outages in between. This is the walkthrough I’d give a friend buying their first SOL today on BitGet. Two of the links are affiliate. I’ll flag them.
Short answer: To buy Solana on BitGet, create an account with email, enable 2FA, complete KYC (usually same-day), deposit funds via card, P2P, bank transfer, or crypto, then place a spot order on the SOL/USDT pair. Spot fees are 0.10%. Card on-ramp adds 1–3%. For long-term holding, move SOL to a Ledger Nano X — Phantom or Solflare for an everyday hot wallet. Time from signup to SOL in your account: about 30 minutes.
Open a BitGet account → (affiliate)
Key takeaways
- Solana transactions cost fractions of a cent and confirm in under a second — that’s why the volume is there.
- BitGet spot fees are 0.10% maker/taker. Card buys cost 1–3% on top, so fund with bank or P2P if you can wait an hour.
- KYC usually clears within 1–24 hours. Have a passport or driving licence ready.
- Use a limit order, not a market order, for anything over $100 — SOL spreads can widen during volatility.
- Anything you’re not actively trading belongs on a Ledger, not on an exchange.
Why Solana matters (and why some people hate it)
Solana is the chain people argue about hardest. On one side, the speed and cost are real — theoretical throughput around 65,000 transactions per second, real-world averages between 3,000 and 4,000 TPS, and fees so low you forget they exist. Compare that to Ethereum’s 15 TPS base layer and you understand why builders and degens picked Solana for anything that needs to happen at speed.
On the other side, the criticism. Solana has gone offline more than once — multi-hour outages in 2022 and 2023 that took the whole chain down. The validator hardware requirements are heavier than Ethereum’s, which the maximalists call centralised. The FTX connection didn’t help when the whole SBF empire collapsed and SOL went from $260 to $8 in a week.
Both takes are partly right. The chain is fast and cheap and has shipped enormous volume during memecoin seasons. It has also broken under that load multiple times. If you’re buying SOL, you’re buying both the speed story and the fragility story. Knowing both makes you a better holder.
Market cap puts SOL inside the top five by most rankings — usually behind BTC, ETH, USDT, and depending on the day either BNB or XRP. Daily volume sits in the billions. You can check the current numbers on CoinGecko and CoinMarketCap before you buy.
For the wider context — what crypto is, what an exchange does, how to think about which token to start with — the how to buy crypto parent guide covers it. This post is SOL-specific.
Why I recommend BitGet for buying SOL
A few platforms list SOL. Here’s why BitGet is the one I’d point a beginner at for this token specifically.
Deep SOL/USDT order book. SOL is one of the most actively traded pairs on BitGet. Tight spreads, fast fills, no thin-liquidity surprises. For an asset as volatile as SOL, that matters — a 1% spread on a market order is a real cost.
Honest fee table. Spot maker/taker fees start at 0.10% and drop with BGB holdings or volume. The chart price is the price you trade against. No hidden mark-up baked into the quote.
Multiple on-ramps. Card, bank transfer, P2P, or crypto deposit. Pick the route that fits your timeline and budget.
Withdrawal works. I move SOL out of BitGet to my Ledger regularly. Confirms in under a minute on the Solana network. No drama. Full breakdown of the platform in the BitGet review.
Not for US residents. BitGet is geo-blocked in the US. If that’s you, look at Coinbase Advanced or Kraken instead. Everywhere else, this is the workflow I’d run.
Pre-signup checklist (ID, bank, 2FA, storage)
Five minutes of prep before you open the sign-up page.
A photo ID. Passport or driving licence. KYC will ask for it and a selfie. Make sure the photo is clear and the ID is in date.
An email you control. You’ll get 2FA codes, withdrawal confirmations, and security alerts to this address for years. Use a real one.
A strong password. 16+ characters, never reused. A password manager makes this painless.
An authenticator app. Google Authenticator or Authy. Install it before you sign up. SMS 2FA is a security hole — SIM swap attacks have drained more crypto accounts than most beginners realise.
Your funding source. Debit card, bank account, or crypto in another wallet. UK readers using Faster Payments and EU readers using SEPA Instant will find P2P near-instant.
A storage plan. Decide before you buy where the SOL is going. Trading float on BitGet, long-term holding on a hardware wallet. If you don’t have one, the Ledger Nano X supports SOL natively and will arrive by the time you’ve finished funding.
Step-by-step: BitGet signup
Five steps. About ten minutes if your documents are ready.
- Open the sign-up page. Go to BitGet (affiliate — gives you a small fee discount). Enter your email and a strong password.
- Verify your email. A six-digit code arrives within a minute. Paste it in.
- Enable 2FA. Security Settings → Authenticator. Scan the QR code with your app, save the backup code somewhere offline. Write it down — don’t screenshot.
- Complete KYC. Identity Verification → upload passport or driving licence + take a selfie. Mine cleared in 11 minutes. Some take a few hours.
- Add a payment method. If you’re using card, add it now. If P2P, you’ll set up the trade in the funding step below.
Account ready. Time to fund.
Funding: card vs P2P vs bank vs crypto deposit
Four ways to put money on the platform. Each has a different cost and speed.
| Method | Fee | Speed | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Crypto deposit | Network fee only | 1–60 min | Already hold USDT/USDC/SOL elsewhere |
| P2P (bank transfer) | 0% (small rate spread) | 5–30 min | Best rate, slightly more steps |
| Bank transfer (third-party) | 0.5–1.5% | 1–3 hours | Mid-size buys |
| Card on-ramp | 1–3% | Instant | First small buy, can’t wait |
Crypto deposit is the cheapest if you already have USDT or USDC on another exchange or wallet. Send to your BitGet deposit address. For USDT, the TRC-20 network costs about 1 USDT in fees — ERC-20 is closer to 8 USDT. Pick the right network or the funds don’t arrive.
P2P is the highest-effort, lowest-fee route. You’re matched with another user selling USDT for your local currency. You send them a bank transfer, BitGet escrows the USDT, they release it to you when the bank confirms. Rates are usually within 0.5% of mid-market.
Bank transfer via third-party on-ramps is the middle ground — visible fees, clears in a few hours.
Card on-ramp is the fastest and most expensive. Fee is bundled into the quoted rate — USDT will cost 1.5–3% above spot. Convenient. Bad value over time. Fine for a first $50 to test the workflow.
My rule for SOL specifically: card for the first $50, P2P or crypto deposit for everything after.
Placing your first SOL trade
USDT is in your spot account. Two ways to convert it to SOL.
Option A: Market order (fast, slightly worse fill)
A market order buys at the best available price in the book, instantly. Fine for small buys.
- Open the BitGet app or web platform. Go to Spot Trading.
- Search SOL/USDT and select it.
- On the buy side, select Market.
- Enter the USDT amount (or use the percentage slider — 25%, 50%, 100% of available USDT).
- Tap Buy SOL. The trade fills in a second or two. SOL appears in your spot wallet.
You pay 0.10% in fees plus a small slippage cost.
Option B: Limit order (slower, better price)
A limit order parks your buy at a price you set. You wait for the market to come to you.
- Open Spot Trading, select SOL/USDT.
- On the buy side, select Limit.
- Check the current price. Set your limit slightly below the current ask — e.g. if SOL is trading at $145.20, set your limit at $144.80.
- Enter the USDT amount.
- Tap Buy SOL. The order sits in the book until SOL drops to your price.
For anything over $100, limit orders are the right move on SOL. Spreads can widen quickly during volatile sessions and you save the difference. Full breakdown of order types in the BitGet spot trading guide.
How much SOL to buy (position sizing)
The question every beginner asks after the first sharp move. Three rules I’d hand a new buyer.
Rule one: SOL is higher beta than BTC. When Bitcoin moves 5%, Solana usually moves 8–15% in the same direction. That cuts both ways. If a 40% drawdown on your SOL position would change how you sleep, the position is too big.
Rule two: split your entry over weeks, not minutes. Pick a target — say £1,000 of SOL over three months — and split into 12 weekly buys. You won’t hit the bottom. You won’t hit the top. You’ll get a reasonable average and you’ll learn the platform along the way.
Rule three: hold a stablecoin reserve. SOL has done 70%+ drawdowns multiple times. If you go in 100% on the first day and the price drops 50% in a month, you’ve got nothing left to buy the dip. Keep 30–40% of your SOL budget as USDT for that exact moment.
For a first-ever SOL buy, start with the equivalent of a night out. Place the trade. Watch the price for two weeks. See how it feels when SOL drops 15% in 48 hours (it will, eventually). If you sleep fine, scale up.
This is the section where I’d point out that learning to size positions and read charts is a skill you can’t shortcut by reading blog posts. If you want to actually learn to trade — not just read about it — Trade Travel Chill (affiliate) is the community I’m part of and the one structured education source I actually trust. Optional. Useful when you’re ready.
Storing SOL: Ledger, Phantom, or exchange?
You bought the SOL. Where does it live?
Exchange (BitGet)
Fine for your active trading float — the amount you’d be willing to lose without losing sleep. BitGet publishes Proof of Reserves and lets you withdraw at any time. But you don’t hold the private keys. That distinction matters more in a crisis than in a normal week.
Hot wallet (Phantom or Solflare)
Phantom is the everyday Solana wallet most users run. Browser extension and mobile app. Good UX, connects to every Solana DApp, holds your SOL plus any SPL tokens or NFTs you collect. Solflare is the alternative — older, slightly more features for advanced users.
A hot wallet is connected to the internet. That’s its convenience and its weakness. Good for small balances you want to spend or stake. Bad for long-term holding.
Cold wallet (Ledger Nano X)
A Ledger Nano X is a hardware wallet — a USB device that stores your private keys offline. SOL is fully supported via Ledger Live or via Phantom in hardware-wallet mode. You confirm every transaction physically on the device, so even a malware-ridden laptop can’t drain you.
Ledger costs about £150. Cheaper than the lesson of an exchange failure. Order one from the Ledger store (affiliate). Set it up, write the 24-word seed on the card it ships with, store the card somewhere fireproof and away from your home computer.
The split I run for SOL
- Trading float on BitGet: 20% — for active trades.
- Phantom hot wallet: 10% — for staking and DApp use.
- Ledger long-term: 70% — doesn’t move except to top up.
Full self-custody playbook in the how to store crypto safely guide.
Ready to buy your first SOL?
Sign-up takes 90 seconds, KYC usually clears same-day, and BitGet has one of the deepest SOL/USDT order books anywhere.
Affiliate link. I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.
SOL staking: liquid, low-friction, real yield
One of the simplest reasons to hold SOL on a hardware wallet — you can stake it and earn yield while it sits there. Network staking returns sit somewhere around 6–8% APY depending on the validator and the epoch.
The mechanics are straightforward. You delegate your SOL to a validator (you don’t send the SOL anywhere — it stays in your wallet). The validator includes your stake when proposing blocks, you earn a share of the rewards. You can unstake at any time, but unstaking takes one epoch — about two to three days — to release.
You can stake from Phantom, Solflare, or directly through Ledger Live. There’s no minimum amount and no lockup beyond the epoch wait. BitGet also offers SOL staking through its Earn product if you want the simplest path — covered in the BitGet Earn guide when that goes live.
One caveat: validator choice matters. A small handful of validators control too much stake on Solana, and as a holder you have a small but real say in decentralisation by where you delegate. Pick a smaller, well-rated validator if you care about that. Pick the convenient option if you don’t.
For news and updates on Solana network performance, validator distribution, and major upgrades, CoinDesk’s Solana coverage and Reuters’ crypto desk are the sources I check.
Common SOL beginner mistakes
The mistakes I see most often when people start buying SOL.
Buying during a memecoin mania. SOL price tends to pump hardest during Solana memecoin seasons — BONK, WIF, POPCAT cycles. That’s exactly when new buyers arrive and exactly when the local top sets in. Don’t chase. Wait, or DCA through it.
Sending SOL to the wrong network. When you withdraw SOL from BitGet, pick the Solana network. Not BEP-20. Not ERC-20 wrapped SOL. Native Solana. Sending to the wrong network can mean the funds are gone forever.
Ignoring the rent / account-activation cost. Solana wallets need a tiny SOL balance to stay active (rent). It’s a fraction of a cent for the wallet itself, but interacting with new token accounts costs a small amount of SOL per token (about 0.002 SOL each). Keep a small SOL buffer for these.
Storing on the exchange forever. Trading float yes. Life savings no. Always move long-term holdings to a Ledger.
Day-trading the memecoin floor. New buyers see a 50x on a Solana memecoin and chase the next one. The 1-in-1,000 hits headlines. The 999 zeros don’t. Stick to SOL itself for the first six months.
Sharing the seed phrase. No legitimate company, no support agent, no platform will ever ask for your 24-word seed phrase. Anyone who does is trying to rob you. The phrase stays on paper, in your home, and nowhere else.
Ignoring 2FA. Set it up the second you create the account. Account drainers don’t break encryption — they phish credentials and hit accounts without 2FA.
Jumping straight to leverage. SOL is volatile enough on spot. The BitGet futures USDT-M guide is research material — not instructions to act on in week one. Six months of spot before you touch perps.
Buying every Solana fork or copycat. Some are legitimate. Most are pump-and-dump schemes branded for the SOL ecosystem. Stick to SOL itself if you’re new.
One last thing.
If this walkthrough saved you a few hours of research, signing up through my affiliate link costs you nothing and helps keep the lights on.
Affiliate link.
Frequently asked questions
What is the minimum amount of Solana I can buy on BitGet?
You can buy fractional SOL from around $1 worth. SOL is divisible to nine decimal places, so there’s no requirement to buy whole tokens. Most people start with $50–$200 to learn the interface.
Do I need to verify my identity to buy SOL on BitGet?
Yes for full functionality. You can hold and trade limited amounts without KYC, but withdrawal limits are tiny. KYC usually clears within 1–24 hours and unlocks full deposit and withdrawal limits.
Can I buy Solana on BitGet with a credit card?
Yes, but I wouldn’t. Card on-ramps charge 1–3%, credit card providers often add a cash-advance fee on top, and many cards block crypto purchases anyway. Use debit, bank transfer, or P2P instead.
What’s the cheapest way to buy SOL on BitGet?
P2P trading or depositing USDT from another wallet. P2P is bank-transfer-matched and fees are usually zero with a small rate spread. Crypto deposit only costs the network fee.
Should I keep my SOL on BitGet or move it to a wallet?
Move long-term holdings to a hardware wallet like the Ledger Nano X. Phantom or Solflare for everyday DApp use. Keep an active trading float on the exchange.
Can I stake SOL after buying it?
Yes. Delegate from Phantom, Solflare, or Ledger Live to any validator. Returns sit around 6–8% APY. Unstaking takes one epoch — about two to three days — to release.
What’s the difference between Solana and Ethereum for a buyer?
Solana is faster and cheaper per transaction. Ethereum has more total value secured, more developer activity in absolute terms, and a longer track record without outages. Both belong on most diversified portfolios. Compare directly in the how to buy Ethereum guide.
Final word
The first SOL buy teaches you the workflow for every SOL trade after. Sign up. KYC. Fund cheaply. Place a limit order. Move the long-term bag to a Ledger. Don’t chase memecoins in your first month.
That’s the short version. If you do those five things in that order, you’ve already avoided the mistakes that cost most beginners 40% in their first six months on Solana.
Right — over to you.
One more thing: Buying a token doesn’t mean it will go up. Most altcoins underperform Bitcoin over long enough timeframes. Only buy what you can afford to lose, and never put your rent money in crypto. If a YouTuber tells you a coin will 100x — they’re guessing too.
Related posts
- How to Buy Bitcoin (BTC) on BitGet: Step-by-Step
- How to Buy Ethereum (ETH) on BitGet: Step-by-Step
- How to Store Crypto Safely: The Self-Custody Guide
