May 7, 2021

9 min read

Guide: How to get involved in the upcoming Mercor Finance IDO

From online wallets to $START staking, this guide covers all the options step-by-step

If you are new to Binance Smart Chain, IDOs, or crypto in general and want to get involved in our first CERTIFIED $START IDO for Mercor Finance ($MRCR), then this guide will walk you through everything you need…

What do I need?

Primarily, you require two tokens to take part in any BSCstarter IDO:

BNB & START.

BNB is the network token of the Binance Smart Chain blockchain (like ETH is to Ethereum). And START is the token of our platform, BSCstarter.

BNB is used by our platform as the currency. So when you buy tokens in an IDO you will need to pay in BNB.

In our next guide (you can find a link at the end of this one), we go into detail on how you can get hold of START. For now, though, let’s begin by focussing on BNB.

Before you buy your BNB you will first need to set up a wallet to receive it and use it to interact with online Apps such as our very own BSCstarter.

Part 1: Setting up an online wallet

At BSCstarter we support a large number of the most popular wallets, including MetaMask, TrustWallet, Ledger, and Trezor.

Most wallets are set up for the most popular network by default (Ethereum), tokens on this network are referred to as ERC-20 tokens. Conversely, on Binance Smart Chain tokens are referred to as BEP-20 tokens.

On a mobile device…

For ease of use, we highly recommend TrustWallet for Android or iOS. Start by hopping over to the TrustWallet website and downloading the wallet: https://trustwallet.com/

Once you have created your TrustWallet, please follow this step-by-step guide to ensure you are ready to receive Binance Smart Chain BNB tokens: https://www.binance.com/en/blog/421499824684901157/How-to-Set-Up-and-Use-Trust-Wallet-for-Binance-Smart-Chain

On a PC or Mac…

If you want to use a wallet on your PC or Mac, then we recommend MetaMask.

Please note, the process of setting up Binance Smart Chain on MetaMask is a little more complicated than TrustWallet, therefore we recommend using TrustWallet on a mobile device in the first instance.

Please visit the official MetaMask website here to download the wallet: https://metamask.io/index.html

Once you have installed MetaMask, please follow this simple step-by-step guide from MetaMask to set up the Binance Smart Chain network on your wallet: https://academy.binance.com/en/articles/connecting-metamask-to-binance-smart-chain

Buy BNB

The most popular place to buy the BNB token is on a Centralised Exchange via an App or your PC. Coinbase is one such App, however, they do not sell BNB or any Binance Smart Chain token, in fact.

The two best, and easy to use options, are Binance and FTX. Both will allow you to buy the BNB token with credit cards and everyday currencies such as the US Dollar (USD), the Euro (EUR), Great British Pounds (GBP), or Australian Dollars (AUD).

If your understanding is a little more advanced and you decided on the TrustWallet then you can buy BNB directly from PancakeSwap (the main exchange on Binance Smart Chain).

Send BNB to your online wallet

If you have purchased your BNB through an app such as Binance or FTX you will now need to send it to your wallet that you have just set up, such as MetaMask or TrustWallet.

To do this, select your BNB tokens, and then select the ‘withdraw’ option. You will then be presented with a number of fields, such as Wallet Address, Network and Amount.

Wallet Address

In the Address field, you can either copy and paste the address of your online wallet or scan a QR code if there is one available. For MetaMask your entire wallet will have one address, so any token you send to it, regardless of network, will always use this same wallet address.

On a PC or Mac, this address can be easily copied by clicking on the name of your wallet (in the example below it is HODL and the start and end of the address are visible e.g. 0xE44b…).

For TrustWallet, you will need to select the specific network to get the correct BNB wallet address (as seen in the image below).

Note, do not select BNB but Smart Chain. Selecting BNB would allow you to receive BNB however it will be wrapped-BNB on the Ethereum network not native-BNB on the Binance Smart Chain network. Binance Smart Chain DApps such as BSCstarter only accept native-BNB.

Network

The next option is to select a network. Some apps such as Binance on the smartphone will automatically select the network based on the wallet address you enter — however, for reference you want to select BEP20 (BSC) — or BEP-20.

Amount

The final option is ‘Amount’. In this field enter the exact amount of BNB you want to send to your online wallet. Finally, when everything is entered correctly, hit ‘Withdraw’.

Your BNB is on the way

Your newly purchased or HODLed BNB should now be on its way to your Online Wallet. The Binance Smart Chain network is much faster and more efficient than the Ethereum or Bitcoin networks, as a result, it shouldn’t take longer than a few minutes for your BNB to arrive in your wallet (depending on network congestion).

Once it has arrived, you are now almost ready to take part in your first BSCstarter IDO! All you need now is some $START…

Part 2: How to get the $START token

In Part 2, we address how to get START, the token of BSCstarter that must be staked on the Bscstarter.finance website to take part in an IDO.

Why do I need START

On the BSCstarter App, BNB is used to buy tokens in an IDO, and START is used to stake and prove your eligibility to take part.

Once you have connected your wallet, stake your START by clicking ‘Staking’

The minimum amount of START that can be staked to take part in the $MRCR IDO is currently 50 START. This will give you access to IDOs when they enter the first-come-first-served period for buyers.

Here is a guide on how to stake your START

Although not mandatory, most IDOs start with a timed period where only people who qualify for Guaranteed Allocation can buy. To qualify for Guaranteed Allocation you must stake 500 START or more.

The amount of your Guaranteed Allocation will depend on how much START you have staked, the higher the amount of START staked, the more of a percentage of the pool your Guaranteed Allocation will represent.

Once this period is over, anyone with 50 START staked can attempt to buy tokens from the $MRCR IDO pool. Please bear in mind, the most popular IDOs can sell out in seconds once entering the first come first served period.

The full details on each of the BSCstarter tiers

How do I get START?

Now you know why you need START tokens, here is where you can get them.

There are currently two options to get START tokens, Pancake Swap and Bidesk. Pancake Swap is the main automated token swap platform on Binance Smart Chain, and Bidesk is a centralised exchange (like Binance or Coinbase).

Bidesk

Some people may prefer to get hold of START tokens from the Bidesk exchange. This can be accessed from here: https://www.bidesk.com/exchange/START/USDT. And like all centralised exchanges, you will be required to sign up and complete some form of KYC.

The START pair is in USDT (AKA Tether), therefore you will only be able to buy START with USDT and sell START for USDT on Bidesk.

USDT is the most widely available dollar-pegged stable coin. You can get it from Bidesk, or you can get it from another exchange app you are signed up to and send it over to your USDT wallet on Bidesk, once you have signed up to the platform.

USDT is pegged to the United States Dollar, which means the value of 1 USDT is the same as 1 US Dollar (within a few tenths of a percent).

If you choose to obtain your START from Bidesk, you will need to withdraw it from the Exchange to your online wallet, such as MetaMask or TrustWallet to then stake it on the BSCstarter platform. A guide on how to withdraw your crypto from an exchange app can be found further up the guide.

Pancake Swap

If you have an online wallet like MetaMask or TrustWallet you can use the automated Pancake Swapp DApp to buy START token. This way is also the most efficient as you only need BNB in your online wallet to get the START token.

On Pancake Swap you must swap one token for another, however, most pools are usually paired in BNB, so this is the currency of choice for nearly every swap. The swap is authorised by your online wallet once you choose the option.

The easiest way to access Pancake Swap and make sure you are swapping for the correct token is to click the ‘Buy START’ option on the bscstarter.finance website.

Now simply enter the amount of BNB token you want to swap for START token. Pancake Swap will tell you how much BNB you have available in your wallet.

If you click MAX it will assign all of the BNB you have in your wallet to swap for START and will take into account the gas fee for the transaction (which on Binance Smart Chain is usually only a few cents).

Once you click ‘Swap’ you will be prompted with a pop-up like the below, you will be told the minimum amount of START you will receive for your BNB and the fee for using the platform (again only a few cents).

After you ‘Confirm Swap’ you will receive one final pop-up from your online wallet, asking you to confirm the transaction and gas fee. If you are using MetaMask it will look something like this:

Once you click confirm, you simply need to wait a few seconds (or minutes depending on network congestion), for your transaction to complete. When it does the BNB will have left your wallet and replaced with START tokens.

If you START tokens don’t show up…

But the BNB has left your wallet, then you may need to add the START token to your interface. Don’t worry your START tokens are there, they are just not displaying. To do this on MetaMask, you can click ‘Add Tokens’ and then select Custom Token.

Copy and paste the START contract address, 0x31D0a7AdA4d4c131Eb612DB48861211F63e57610, and click ‘Next’. Your START tokens will now appear.

For other wallets, you may need to search how to add a Custom Token and use a similar method of copy and pasting the contract address above.

Now you have your START tokens…

All that is left to do is to head back over to the BSCstarter.finance website, connect your wallet in which they are stored, and stake them.

Please follow this guide if you need help staking your START: https://docs.bscstarter.finance/faq/how-to-guides/how-to-stake-on-bscstarter

Once you have staked a minimum of 50 START, you are good to go! You can now take part in the $MRCR IDO on a first-come-first-served basis and buy tokens using BNB from your online wallet.

For more in-depth details, please read out litepaper: https://bscstarter.finance/#/litepaper

Please remember to KYC for the Mercor Finance IDO to be eligible: https://verify-with.blockpass.org/?clientId=mercor&serviceName=Mercor%20Finance&env=prod