Need to buy Dark Energy Crystals (DEC)?
DEC is the native in-game currency for the popular Play2Earn game, Splinterlands. This currency exists on the Hive blockchain, which is going to throw most users a curveball. The challenge is that Hive is not used for much other than Splinterlands currencies and Splinterlands asset tokens such as packs, cards, and land.
But don’t fear! This easy guide will help you make quick work your Dark Energy Crystal conversion: from a fiat onramp using a credit card or ACH into selling your assets and transferring those winnings right back into your bank account.
How to Buy Dark Energy Crystals (DEC)
Buy Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) using U.S. Dollars (USD)
First, U.S. users will want to visit Binance’s U.S. website.
If you live in Europe, Canada, or elsewhere you’ll use Binance’s international website instead.
Both exchanges are extraordinarily similar with two relevant exceptions.
- In the United States, you’ll be presented options to first deposit USD using debit card, wire transfer, or ACH.
- Outside the U.S., ACH does not exist, but users can make deposits using credit cards.
Regardless of where you’re located, don’t panic–all steps will be the same from here.
After funding your Binance account, it’s time to buy a little Bitcoin.
Navigate to the Buy Crypto link, enter an amount (in USD) and choose “preview”. If everything looks good, click Accept.
Now, depending on your account status, you may need to wait up to 10 days for this a transaction to clear. This is unfortunately an unavoidable step to prevent fraud and it’s common across all crypto exchanges.
Once your funds become available, bounce back over to Splinterlands to complete the process using your Bitcoin.
Buy Dark Energy Crystals (DEC) using Bitcoin (BTC)
After logging into Splinterlands, click on the “+” icon beside your DEC balance.
A window will open.
Now, grab the drop-down menu and find Bitcoin. Enter the amount of Bitcoin that you would like to convert. You may want to also jot down the exact amount in a notes document since you’re about to need it again on the Binance side.
Then click Buy DEC.
On the next screen, you’ll be given a wallet address. Be sure to leave this window open in one tab as you’ll need to come back to confirm the transaction shortly.
Hope back into your Binance wallet on the top menu and use info to withdraw.
After you initialize the process, click the Transfer Sent button back on the Splinterlands side.
You should then receive a code from SimpleSwap that you can use to track your transaction on the Hive Block Explorer. The interface may encourage you to wait up to 24 hours (and do be patient!), but in my experience, these transactions usually complete in under 5 minutes.
If you get concerned, you can review the status of your transaction on the Hive Block Explorer and if you run into any issues, you can always submit a support request on the Splinterlands website or hop on the official Splinterlands Discord for more assistance.
Supported Exchanges for Dark Energy Crystals
Dark Energy Crystals exist on the Hive blockchain, which has two major exchanges:
- Hive Engine
- Tribal Dex
Tribal Dex is a newer and (by far) the more usable interface. In fact, various screens on Hive Engine currently recommend just using Tribal Dex.
Often, it’s easier to convert currencies within the Splinterlands interface, which integrates SimpleSwap to convert TRON (TRX), Bitcoin (BTC), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH), EOS (EOS), Cardano (ADA), Ripple (XRP), Stellar (XLM), and Tezos (XTZ) .
If one of these currencies works better for you, just swap out Bitcoin (above) with your currency of choice. If you do not yet own any of these tokens, all are also available at Binance.