i wish all the google results on how to set this up stated this. its probably time to clean up the documentation for this.
for everyone else smart enough to read to the bottom before buying on coinbase, binance w/e once you have your port forward set up (in my case ipv4 was not good enough i had to include ipv6 as well) just manually add the node in the dashboard https://nknx.org/nodes
after you get the node to connect you can generate an id which will take payment as stated by @zbruceli
i feel this simple feature is way to burred under the node aspect. maybe rename the button and include hover text “HERE IS WHERE YOU BUY YOUR ANTI INTO THE MINER COMMUNITY”… emphisis added satirically.
i was confused as all the search results suggested having the coins to start with in advance and attempting to transfer them in. where in my case i just wanted the minimum starting point with zero coins to trade. based on some of the other horrior stories and the cost of transfers this seems the cheapest route as well (~$5.0USD).
thanks for the help again @zbruceli