Crypto Exchanges Reward Staff with Bumper Bonuses after Successful 2021

Everyone has heard how Bitcoin and other crypto currencies have made millionaires of those who bought as recently as a year ago. Gains of 1,000% or more are not just possible, they have been common place with many of these crypto currencies. Someone who bought Bitcoin in May 2016 at less than $500, would have had a gain of 1,400% in about 17 months. Then over the past few days, we saw Bitcoin lose almost $1,000, so to say these crypto currencies are volatile would be a massive understatement.

Since the inception of Bitcoin in 2008, we at Trend News have been skeptical of crypto currencies’ ability to survive, given that they present a very clear threat to governments who want to see and tax all transactions. But while we may still be cautious on the actual crypto currencies, we are very aware of the potential of the underlying technology that powers these electronic currencies. In fact, we believe that this technology will be a significant disruptor in how data is managed, and that it will impact every sector of the global economy, much like how the internet impacted media.

Here are some questions & answers to get us started…

Q: What are Crypto Currencies?

The most well known crypto currency (CC) is BITCOIN. It was the first CC, started in 2008. Today there are more than 800 CC’s, including Ethereum, Litecoin, Dash, Zcash, Ripple, Monero, and they are all “virtual”. There are no “physical” coins or currency.

Q: How do CC’s work?

CC’s are virtual currencies that exist in very large distributed databases. These databases use BLOCKCHAIN technology. Because each Blockchain database is widely distributed, it is thought to be immune to hacking, as there is no central point of attack and every transaction is visible to everyone on the network. Each CC has a group of administrators, often called “miners”, who validate transactions. One CC called Ethereum uses “smart contracts” to validate transactions. Crypto TREND will provide more details in upcoming news publications.

Q: What is BLOCKCHAIN?

Blockchain is the technology that underpins all CC’s. Each transaction for the purchase, sale, or exchange of CC’s is entered into a BLOCK that is added to the chain. This technology is complex and will not be explained here, but it has the potential to revolutionize the financial services industry, as transactions can be executed quickly and easily, reducing or eliminating fees. The technology is also being examined for applications in many other industries.

Q: Are CC Exchanges regulated by government?

For the most part, the answer is NO, which, for some users, is a big attractions of this market. It is the “wild west” right now, but governments in most developed countries are examining this market to decide what regulation may be needed. A big decision is whether to treat CC’s as a currency or a commodity / security. Canada and USA have so far declared that CC’s are legal, however the situation remains fluid as for reporting and tax implications. Crypto TREND will be following and reporting on these developments.

Q: How do I invest in this market?

You can buy, sell, and exchange CC’s using the services of specialized “Exchanges” that act as a brokerage. You start by selecting an Exchange, setting up an account, and transferring fiat currency into your account. You can then place your BUY and SELL CC orders. There are many exchanges around the world. Opening an account is fairly simple and these exchanges all have their own rules about initial funding and withdrawals.

Crypto TREND will be recommending CC Exchanges in future.

Q: Where do I keep my CC?

To have the freedom to move your crypto currencies around, and to pay bills, you will need to have a digital wallet. These wallets come in several formats, such as desktop, cloud based, hardware (USB), mobile phone, and paper. Many of them are FREE, however, security is a big factor as no one ever wants to lose their wallet or have it stolen. Crypto TREND will be recommending digital wallets in future.

Q: What can I do with my CC?

As well as investing in CC products, you can also use crypto currency for some financial transactions, such as money transfers and paying bills. The list of companies accepting crypto currency is growing fast, and includes big hitters like Microsoft, GAP, JC Penny, Expedia, Shopify, Bloomberg.com, Dish Network, Zynga, Subway, and WordPress.

Q: What’s next?

As we start off, we will keep each of the Crypto TREND articles short and keep the scope of each one as narrow as possible. As we noted earlier, we believe that the crypto currency technology will be a game changer and potential investment opportunities like this come by once or twice in a lifetime. Make no mistake, early investing in this sector will be only for your most speculative capital, money that you can afford to lose.

Even if you are not wanting to invest at this time, gaining an early understanding of this new disruptive technology will put you in an advantageous position to profit from our recommendations as we move forward.

Expect to see more news and specific recommendations from Crypto TREND as we start this journey into what may seem to be a foreign jungle at first. This is a volatile market and may not appeal to all investors, however, Crypto TREND will be your guide if and when you are ready.

Stay Tuned!

The cryptocurrency market boomed in 2017-2018; the total market cap of cryptocurrencies reached $700 Billion USD last year. With the immense market potential offered by cryptocurrencies, digital currency trade is flourishing and several crypto-exchanges were launched within the span of an year and still more are under development. Crypto-exchanges are platforms where traders can exchange cryptocurrencies for other cryptocurrencies or fiat money.

Panaesha Capital Exchange (PCEX) is a cryptocurrency trading platform set to be launched in Quarter 3 of 2018. PCEX is secure, fast, provides high liquidity and employs a broker channel for extra security. The platform is a one-stop trading solution; offering both cryptocurrency to cryptocurrency exchange and cryptocurrency to fiat currency trades.

Benefits of PCEX

Multi-functional Exchange Platform

Many crypto-exchanges, even prominent platforms, support just crypto-to-crypto trades, forcing traders to conduct their activities on multiple exchanges. Crypto-traders first buy cryptocurrencies for fiat money on a particular platform and then distribute the currencies over several trading platforms to ensure liquidity and profit. In order to convert the digital currencies to fiat, the traders have the choice of just a handful of platforms. PCEX is a comprehensive solution offering high liquidity; the crypto-traders can conduct all their trades on a single platform and will also be ensured of significant returns.

High Liquidity

To promote the liquidity of digital assets on PCEX, the platform embodies all the key attributes for a fast-moving exchange;

An easy user interface to simplify the transaction process. PCEX is built similar to the National Stock Exchange format for familiarity.

Low transaction fees (PCEX insists on very few fees for trading on the platform).

A sophisticated buy-sell procedure through a superior matching engine. Trade orders will be matched fast on the platform.

High-Caliber Order Matching

Users on PCEX are offered the limit trading procedure so that they can buy or sell assets at a price they set; the matching engine will try to enhance the sale by matching the users’ trade with a better price in a limited time. The limit time will be set by the traders after which the trade order will be removed from the platform. PCEX has the ability to match orders fast through a superior order-matching engine.

Affordable Fees

To conduct trade on PCEX, crypto-traders will incur just two fees: transaction fees and withdrawal fees. The transaction fee on PCEX is much lower than the fees on other platforms offering similar services. A significant portion of the transaction fees go to brokers and sub-brokers of PCEX; the platform will receive a smaller portion of the cut.

Broker and Sub-Broker Channels

Brokers and sub-brokers for crypto-trade is a unique feature of the PCEX trading platform. Traders on crypto-exchange platforms usually face poor customer support and slow reaction time. PCEX remedies this drawback by employing a fleet of brokers and sub-brokers to assist traders personally on each trade. A single point of contact will be assigned to traders on PCEX whom they can contact at any time for assistance. No dark period of unresponsiveness will ever be associated with PCEX.

Through the broker channel and exceptional services, PCEX aims to build long-term relationships with users. The broker channel also adds a layer of security to the platform.

High Security

Incidentally, PCEX has several layers of security. The platform has a Clark-Wilson Model of security architecture to ensure data integrity. The security system will verify the acceptance of information on PCEX so that data breaches can be prevented all together. Secure operations on the platform require the auditors to collaborate; devices and identities are in place to protect the website. PCEX provides crypto-traders a level of security that is impenetrable and keeps the traders’ identity and digital assets safe from hackers and accidental loss.

All users, brokers and sub-brokers on PCEX have to complete a KYC/AML protocol; PCEX is preparing ahead for any regulations that may arise in future. Traders can also be assured of legal conduct on the platform.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrency trading is a volatile atmosphere with prices peaking and dipping almost daily. The volatility of prices depends on country or state regulations, security, vendor acceptance of digital currencies, big players, etc. Cryptocurrency trade provides a much higher Return-of-Investment than traditional stock exchange; early investors in cryptocurrencies made profits in millions in 2017-2018.

To support the growing demand of digital currencies and digital currency trade platforms, PCEX adopts an advanced framework with full-service tools. Everything a crypto-trader will require to conduct smooth and effortless trade is available on PCEX. In fact, PCEX goes the extra mile.

Explore the new and exceptional crypto-exchange on http://www.pcex.io.

The statistics could no longer be ignored. Most ICOs tank, and stay tanked, once the tokens get to the crypto exchanges, after the frenzy and ‘FOMO’ attending the crowdsale is over.

Most watchers keeping track of the ICO phenomenon universally agree that the trend in the last few months has been for ICOs to lose value post-crowdsale, with many buyers waiting in vain for the ‘moon’ they were promised, once the cryptocurrency hits an exchange portal.

What is however not being discussed is the principal reason why we are witnessing this phenomenon, and what participants in a crowdsale, including the rating companies most of us rely on to make a choice, must be doing wrong in picking which ICO have most value, or has the best probability of rising in value once the crowdsale is over.

While there are a lot of reasons one could legitimately proffer for the phenomenon, there is one fact that I think is probably more responsible for this than most other contending reasons: ICO token valuation and the misplaced emphasis on ‘blockchain experts’, ‘ICO advisors’ or ‘technical whizkids’ for erc20 tokens.

I have always thought the need for blockchain technical experts or ICO technical advisors is exaggerated, or even outrightly misplaced, when a project is judged by that criteria, unless the project is actually trying to create a brand new coin concept. For most ERC20 Tokens and copycat coins, the real important consideration should be the Business Plan behind the token and the managerial antecedents and executive profiles of the Team leaders.

As anyone involved in the industry should know, creating an ERC20 token from Ethereum, or similar tokens from other cryptocurrencies, does not take any great technical skill or require any overrated blockchain advisor (as a matter of fact, with new software out there, an ERC20 Token can be done in less than 10minutes by a complete technical newbie.

So technical should no longer even be a big deal for tokens anymore). The key should be the business plan; level of business experience; competence of the project leaders and the business marketing strategy of the main company raising the funds.

Frankly, as an Attorney and Business Consultant of over 30 years myself to several companies globally, I cannot I cannot understand why people keeping looking for some Russian or Korean or Chinese ‘Crypto Whiz’ or ‘Crypto Advisor’ to determine the strength of an ICO for what is basically a crowdfunding campaign for a BUSINESS CONCEPT…

I am of the strong opinion that is one of the major reasons why most ICOs never live up to their prelaunch hype. In an era where there is an abundance of token creation software, platforms and freelancer, the disproportionate focus on the blockchain experience or technical ability of the promoters is mostly misplaced. It’s like trying to value the probable success of a company based on the ability of its staff to create a good website or app. That train left the station long ago with the proliferation of technical hands on freelancing sites like Guru; Upwork, freelancer and even Fiverr.

People seemed too caught up in the hype and the technical qualifications of people promoting an ICO, particularly ERC20 Ethereum based tokens and then wonder why a technically superior Russian, Chinese or Korean guy cannot deliver the business end of the company after the fundraising campaign.

Even a lot of our ICO Rating companies seemed to allocate a disproportionate number of points to crypto experience of team member, how many crypto advisors they have, and the ICO success experience they have on their team, rather than focusing on the underlying business model to be created with the funds raised

Once one understands that over 90% of the cryptos and ICOs out there are simply tokens created to raise crowdfunds for an idea, and just not a token for token’s sake, then peoples emphasis will shift from technical angles, to the more relevant work of evaluating the business idea itself, and corporate business plan.

Once we move into this era of evaluation before deciding whether to buy or invest in a cryptocurrency, then we will start valuing future prospects or value of our tokens based on sound business considerations such as:

– Swot Analysis of the company and its promoters

– Managerial competence and experience of the team leaders

– The soundness of business idea beyond the creation of a token

– The marketing plan and strategy of the company to sell those ideas

– The ability to deliver the underlying products to the marketplace

– The customer base for the products and services to be created by the company

– and basis for projecting adoption in the market place

What most people failed to realize is that the potential for their tokens to rise in value post ICO is not so much dependent on anything technical but on the good things happening in the company raising the funds and the perceived increase in the valuation of the company as it rolls out its business plan and delivers on its business products.

Of course, buying cryptocurrency is not buying stock, and it’s not buying the security in any company. We get that, but tokens react much the same way as stocks react to good news or bad news about a company. The only difference is that in the case of cryptos, the effect is magnified a 100 fold.

So, when a company meets some financial or business milestone, the price of its token on the exchange will go up… and it goes down fast when nothing good is happening. So, what the company will do and how it will do it after the ICO should of the utmost importance to anyone who does not want to see the value of his Tokens plummet and stay down forever.

Sure, tokens most tokens would plummet once the tokens hit a crypto exchange after the ICO, because of those who want to take immediate profits, but whether it would ever come back up to give you the expected multiple digit profits will always depend on the criteria I already outlined above. After you have purchased a token, the value of the ‘crypto advisor’s and ‘technical whizkids’ go to zero in relation to the potential of your tokens to moon.

Following this reality, I think a smart crypto buyer or investor should focus less on how many crypto advisors a project has or how technically sound the team is (unless the underlining business of the company is technical in nature) and focus more on the managerial, marketing and potential customer base of the company raising funds through an ICO.

In other words, allocate more points on the business and management side of the ICO rather than the technical jargons which won’t help your token in the marketplace when the money has been raised!

The price of bitcoin skyrocketed in the year 2017. Coinbase, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, was in the right place at the right time to capitalize on the spike in interest. Even so, Coinbase isn’t interested in taking its crypto gains for granted. To stay ahead in a much larger cryptocurrency market, the company is plowing money back into their master plan. Up until 2017, the company’s revenue was reported at $1 billion and over $150 billion of assets were traded across 20 million customers.

Coinbase, a San Francisco based company, is known as the leading cryptocurrency trading platform in the United States and with its continued success, landed at the No. 10 spot on the CNBC Disruptor list in 2018 after failing to make the list the previous two years.

On their path to success, Coinbase has left no stone unturned in poaching key executives from New York Stock Exchange, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. In the current year, the size of its full-time engineering team has almost doubled.

Earn.com was bought by Coinbase this April for $100 million. This platform allows the users to send and receive digital currency while replying to mass market emails and completing micro tasks. Currently, the company is planning to bring a former Andreessen Horowitz venture capitalist, Earns founder and CEO as its first-ever chief technology officer.

According to current valuation, Coinbase valued itself at about $8 billion when it set out to buy Earn.Com. This value is much higher than the valuation of $1.6 billion which was estimated at the last round of venture capital financing in the summer of 2017.

Coinbase declines to comment on its valuation despite the fact that it has more than $225 million in funding from top VC’s including Union Square Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and also from the New York Stock Exchange.

To meet the needs of institutional investors, the New York Stock Exchange is planning to start its own cryptocurrency exchange. Nasdaq, a rival of NYSE is also contemplating a similar move.

• Competition is Coming

As competing organizations look to take a bite out of the Coinbase’s business, Coinbase is looking to other venture capital opportunities in an attempt to build a moat around the company.

Dan Dolev, a Nomura instant analyst, said that Square, a company run by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey could eat into Coinbase’s exchange business because it started trading cryptocurrency on its Square Cash app in January.

According to the estimates by Dolev, Coinbase’s average trading fees were roughly 1.8 percent in 2017. Fees this high could drive the users to other cheaper exchanges.

Coinbase is looking to become a one-stop shop for the institutional investors while hedging its exchange business. To lure in that white glove investor class, the company announced a fleet of new products. This class of investors has been especially cautious to dive into the volatile cryptocurrency market.

Coinbase Prime, The Coinbase Institutional Coverage Group, Coinbase Custody and Coinbase Markets are the products launched by the company.

Coinbase feels that there are billions of dollars in institutional money which can be invested in the digital currency. It already has the custody of $9 billion in customer assets.

Institutional investors are concerned about security despite knowing Coinbase has never suffered a hack like some other global cryptocurrency exchanges. Coinbase president and COO said that the impetus of launching the Coinbase custody last November was the lack of trusted custodian to safeguard their crypto assets.

• Currently Wall Street Shifts from Bashing Bit to Cryptocurrency Backer

According to latest data available from Autonomous Next Wall Street’s, interest in cryptocurrency seems to be increasing. At present, there are 287 crypto hedge funds, while in 2016, there were only 20 cryptocurrency hedge funds that existed. Goldman Sachs has even opened a cryptocurrency trading desk.

Coinbase has also introduced Coinbase Ventures, which is an incubator fund for early-stage startups working in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space. Coinbase Ventures has already accumulated $15 billion for further investments. Its first investment was announced in a startup called Compound which allows one to borrow or lend cryptocurrency while earning an interest rate.

At the beginning of 2018, the company launched Coinbase Commerce, which allows merchants to accept major cryptocurrencies for payment. Another bitcoin startup was BitPlay, which recently raised $40 million in venture money. Last year BitPlay processed more than $1 billion in bitcoin payments.

The proponents of blockchain technology believe that in the future, cryptocurrency will be able to eliminate the need for central banking authorities. In the process, it will lower costs and create a decentralized financial solution.

• Regulatory Security Remains Intense

To keep access limited to four cryptocurrencies, Coinbase has drawn a lot of criticism. But they must tread carefully while the U.S. regulators deliberate on how to police certain uses of the technology.

For cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, the matter of concern is whether or not cryptocurrencies are securities which would be subject to Securities and Exchange Commission jurisdiction. Coinbase is admittedly slow to add new coins because the SEC announced in March that it would apply security laws to all cryptocurrency exchanges.

Wall Street Journal reported that Coinbase met the SEC officials to register itself as a licensed brokerage and electronic trading venue. In such scenario, it would become easier for Coinbase to support more coins and also to comply with security regulations.

In the early days of its launch in 2009, several thousand bitcoins were used to buy a pizza. Since then, the cryptocurrency’s meteoric rise to US$65,000 in April 2021, after its heart-stopping drop in mid-2018 by about 70 percent to around US$6,000, boggles the mind of many people – cyptocurrency investors, traders or just the plain curious who missed the boat.

How it all began

Bear in mind that dissatisfaction with the current financial system gave rise to the development of the digital currency. The development of this cryptocurrency is based on blockchain technology by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym apparently used by a developer or group of developers.

Notwithstanding the many opinions predicting the death of cryptocurrency, bitcoin’s performance has inspired many other digital currencies, especially in recent years. The success with crowdfunding brought on by the blockchain fever also attracted those out to scam the unsuspecting public and this has come to the attention of regulators.

Beyond bitcoin

Bitcoin has inspired the launching of many other digital currencies, There are currently more than 1,000 versions of digital coins or tokens. Not all of them are the same and their values vary greatly, as do their liquidity.

Coins, altcoins and tokens

It would suffice at this point to say there are fine distinctions between coins, altcoins and tokens. Altcoins or alternative coins generally describes other than the pioneering bitcoin, although altcoins like ethereum, litecoin, ripple, dogecoin and dash are regarded as in the ‘main’ category of coins, meaning they are traded in more cryptocurrency exchanges.

Coins serve as a currency or store of value whereas tokens offer asset or utility uses, an example being a blockchain service for supply chain management to validate and track wine products from winery to the consumer.

A point to note is that tokens or coins with low value offer upside opportunities but do not expect similar meteoric increases like bitcoin. Put simply, the lesser known tokens may be easy to buy but may be difficult to sell.

Before getting into a cryptocurrency, start by studying the value proposition and technological considerations viz-a-viz the commercial strategies outlined in the white paper accompanying each initial coin offering or ICO.

For those familiar with stocks and shares, it is not unlike initial public offering or IPO. However, IPOs are issued by companies with tangible assets and a business track record. It is all done within a regulated environment. On the other hand, an ICO is based purely on an idea proposed in a white paper by a business – yet to be in operation and without assets – that is looking for funds to start up.

Unregulated, so buyers beware

‘One cannot regulated what is unknown’ probably sums up the situation with digital currency. Regulators and regulations are still trying to catch up with cryptocurrencies which are continuously evolving. The golden rule in the crypto space is ‘caveat emptor’, let the buyer beware.

Some countries are keeping an open mind adopting a hands-off policy for cryptocurrencies and blockchain applications, while keeping an eye on outright scams. Yet there are regulators in other countries more concerned with the cons than pros of digital money. Regulators generally realise the need to strike a balance and some are looking at existing laws on securities to try to have a handle on the many flavours of cryptocurrencies globally.

Digital wallets: The first step

A wallet is essential to get started in cryptocurrency. Think e-banking but minus the protection of the law in the case of virtual currency, so security is the first and last thought in the crypto space.

Wallets are of the digital type. There are two types of wallets.

• Hot wallets that are linked to the Internet which put users at risk of being hacked
• Cold wallets that are not connected to the Internet and are deemed safer.

Apart from the two main types of wallets, it should be noted that there are wallets just for one cryptocurrency and others for multi-cryptocurrency. There is also an option to have a multi-signature wallet, somewhat similar to having joint account with a bank.

The choice of wallet depends on the user’s preference whether the interest purely in bitcoin or ethereum, as each coin has its own wallet, or you can use a third-party wallet that include security features.

Wallet notes

The cryptocurrency wallet has a public and private key with personal transaction records. The public key includes reference to the cryptocurrency account or address, not unlike the name required for one to receive a cheque payment.

The public key is available for all to see but transactions are confirmed only upon verification and validation based on the consensus mechanism relevant to each cryptocurrency.

The private key can be considered to be the PIN that is commonly used in e-financial transactions. It follows that the user should never divulge the private key to anyone and make back-ups of this data which should be stored offline.

It makes sense to have minimal cryptocurrency in a hot wallet while the bigger amount should be in a cold wallet. Losing the private key is as good as losing your cryptocurrency! The usual precautions about online financial dealings apply, from having strong passwords to being alert to malware and phishing.

Wallet formats

Different types of wallets are available to suit individual preferences.

• Hardware wallets made by third parties which have to be purchased. These devices work somewhat like a USB device which is deemed safe and only connected when required to the Internet.
• Web-based wallets provided, for example, by crypto exchanges, are considered hot wallets which purt users at risk.
• Software-based wallets for desktops or mobiles are mostly available for free and could be provided by coin issuers or third parties.
• Paper-based wallets can be printed bearing the relevant data about the cryptocurrency owned with public and private keys in QR code format. These should kept in a safe place until required in the course of crypto transaction and copies should made in case of accidents such as water damage or printed data fading through passage of time.

Crypto exchanges and marketplaces

Crypto exchanges are trading platforms for those interested in virtual currencies. The other options include websites for direct trading between buyers and sellers as well as brokers where there is no ‘market’ price but it is based on compromise between parties to the transaction.

Hence, there are many crypto exchanges located in various countries but with differing standards of security practices and infrastructure. They range from ones allowing for anonymous registration requiring just email to open an account and start trading. Yet there are others that require users to comply with international identity confirmation, known as Know-Your-Customer, and anti-money laundering (AML) measures.

The choice of crypto exchange depends on the user’s preference but anonymous ones may have limitations on the extent of trading allowed or could be subject to sudden new regulations in the country of domicile of the exchange. Minimal administrative procedures with anonymous registration let users start trading quickly while going through KYC and AML processes will take more time.

All crypto trades have to be duly processed and validated which can take from few minutes to few hours, depending on the coins or tokens being transacted and volume of trade. Scalability is known to be an issue with cryptocurrencies and developers are working on ways to find a solution.

Cryptocurrency exchanges are in two catergories.

• Fiat-cryptocurrency Such exchanges provide for fiat-cryptocurrency purchase via direct transfers from bank or credit and debit cards, or via ATMs in some countries.
• Cryptocurrency only.There crypto exchanges dealing in cryptocurrency only, meaning customers must already own a cryptocurrency – such as bitcoin or ethereum, – to be ‘exchanged’ for other coins or tokens, based on market rate

Fees are charged to facilitate the purchase and sale of crypto currencies. Users should do the research to be satisfied with the infrastructure and security measures as well as to determine the fees they are comfortable as different rates charged by various exchanges.

Do not expect a common market price for the same cryptocurrency with difference exchanges It may be worthwhile to spend time doing research on the best price for coins and tokens that are of interest to you.

Financial transactions online carry risks and users should factor in the caveats such as two factor authentication or 2-FA, keeping updated on the latest security measures and being aware of phishing scams. One golden rule on phishing is not to click on links provided, no matter how authentic a message or email is.

Cryptocurrency Exchange or Digital Currency Exchange is a business that involves the exchange of cryptocurrency with other assets such as money or any other digital currency. It is a web service that provides electronic transactions in electronic forms and taking fees for them.

Any transactions or operations to Digital Currency Exchange can be made through debit and credit cards, postal money order or any other kinds of money transfer. This article is about discussing the various cryptocurrency exchanges which facilitate crypto currency trading for beginners and what they offer in terms of availability, ease of use, security, deposit/withdrawal methods and fees. We hope this guide to cryptocurrency trading can help you get started with cryptocurrency exchanges.

Coinbase/GDAX

Coinbase is one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges based in San Francisco, California. It is available in 32 countries and currently serves over 10 million customers. Launched in 2012, it has an easy to use interface that makes Digital Currency Exchange an easy task for a non-technical person. It is also available for both iOS and Android. Unfortunately, Coinbase doesn’t provide crypto currency mining for beginners and is only an exchange.

As of now, it offers four coins, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. It exchanges digital currency with US dollars, Euros and Great British Pounds. With minimum transfer fees, Coinbase has never experienced any security breach which makes it a perfect platform for digital currency exchange. In addition to that, Coinbase also offers a fully-fledged advanced exchange called GDAX. It offers more advanced features and different and better trading fees than Coinbase.

Bitstamp

Bitstamp is another platform that provides digital currency exchange. It is relatively easy to use and offers more advanced features via TradeView. Bitstamp offers coins such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and ripple. It exchanges digital currency with US dollars and Euro. You can put into practice all the latest crypto currency trading techniques in this exchange.

It offers Flat deposits via bank transfers and supports debit/credit cards. Perhaps the only drawback one can find in Bitstamp is slightly high fees and the fact that it suffered one security breach in 7 years of its operation. Nonetheless, it is one the most reliable exchanges. It is available in both iOS and android.

Gemini

Gemini is a UK based company launched in 2015 by Winklevoss twins. It is available in few countries including U.S, Canada, Hong-Kong, Singapore and South Korea. One of the downsides to this platform is that it is not particularly user friendly. So, beginners are not recommended to use this platform.

It offers two coins and 1 FLAT currency Bitcoin Cash, Ehtereum and US Dollars. Gemini follows strict protocols when it comes to security and as of 2018, it has not encountered a single security breach thus making it one of the most secure and reliable digital currency platform. However, it is important to have digital currency investment strategies before you start trading.

Digital Ticks

Digital ticks is a modern crypto exchange that aims to be a game changer in this sector. They have implemented many of the latest techniques which makes it easy for anyone to get started with trading.

It has a unique feature called a Single Portfolio View that would enable the traders to see all the holding positions on one single portfolio. It would be easy for traders to make informed decisions regarding the cryptocurrency exchange by using this unique feature. It also supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dashcoin.

Kraken

Kraken is one of the oldest cryptocurreny exchange platform. Launched in 2011, kraken is the biggest exchange in terms of volume and liquidity for EUR trading pairs. It serves worldwide including the US.

Kraken offers a variety of coins including Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Monero, Augur, Litecoin and many more. It also supports deposit/withdrawals via bank transfers and cryptocurrencies. Having a not so friendly user interface, it also suffers from stability and performance issues but nonetheless, it is good platform for cryptocurrency exchanges.

Bitfinex

Bitfinex is the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform. Launched in 2012, it has an easy to use interface and offers advanced number of features such as margin trading, margin funding etc. It is available for both iOS and android platforms. It offers BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, IOTA, XMR and NEO.

Just like the previous cryptocurrency exchanges, it supports withdrawals using US dollars and Euros via bank transfers. Bitfinex has suffered two security breaches, the first one was in May 2015, which resulted in a loss of $330,000. And the second one on August 2016 that resulted in a loss of worth $72 million.

EtherDelta

EtherDelta is a decentralized exchange that directly supports peer to peer connection. It is very different from the previously discussed cryptocurrency exchanging platform. Here, funds are held in a smart contract on a Ethereum network which you are solely responsible for depositing and withdrawing from. Currently, EtherDelta only supports Ehtereum based tokens.

EtherDelta has a rather confusing interface that makes it difficult for users to perform cryptocurrency exchange operations. In one occasion, someone tried to buy 750 Kyber for 0.007 ETH each but ended up buying 0.007 KNC at 750 ETH.

Conclusion

After looking at the various cryptocurrency exchanging platforms, we can safely say that Coinbase and Bitstamp stands out in terms of its good features like security, user friendly interface, multiple withdraws/transfer methods and many more.

I would not call them perfect but I would recommend that it is the safest bet you can make. Every cryptocurrency exchanging platform are unique in its own way and has both advantages and disadvantages. We just have to select the one that suits our needs. We hope that this guide on basic crypto currency exchange and trading would give you a head start in your journey of Cryptocurrency trading.