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How to choose the Best Cryptocurrency Exchange or Broker?

Looking for the best place to buy Bitcoin? There is a wide range of cryptocurrency exchanges on the market, which doesn’t make the decision easier. If you want to buy and sell Bitcoin you need an exchange with low fees, good liquidity, and the best platform.

We help you compare exchanges and choose the best cryptocurrency exchange platform.

Bitcoin Exchange VS. Bitcoin Broker

It’s a common mistake to confuse an exchange with a broker. You need to understand the difference to choose the best place to buy Bitcoins. Which place is best will depend on your purpose for buying cryptocurrency.

Do you want to use or invest in Bitcoin? In that case, you should buy Bitcoin at a cryptocurrency exchange. Want to earn money from trading Bitcoin? In that case, open an account on a cryptocurrency broker.

TradingView

First thing first, before you decide on a broker, one of the most important arsenal you must have is a chart tool. It is used to analyze price history which helps you to buy/sell at a good price. An essential tool in addition to your exchange. The most popular chart tool on the market is TradingView. We use it daily and recommend it to everyone.

How did you Evaluate These Bitcoin Exchanges?

We focus mostly on:

Number of markets – Direct digital currency exchange is only one of the many ways to trade bitcoin for profit.

Security – The crypto market is not as regulated as the stock market. This means that you have more responsibility for security. A cryptocurrency exchange is used to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. NOT to store your Bitcoin/cryptocurrency. IMPORTANT! Buy a secure Bitcoin Wallet such as Trezor and Ledger to protect your cryptocurrency.

Payment methods – The more deposit methods available, the better. Especially for first-timers from the USA, to be able to buy bitcoins with a credit card often is the only conceivable way.

Bitcoin exchange rate – For many, the best crypto trading sites are good because of competitive cryptocurrency exchange rates and nothing else.

Volume of trade – It’s important with high trading volume on exchanges to reduce the spread (the difference between buying- and selling price). If the exchange doesn’t have enough trading volume, this becomes a hidden fee. However, as long as you choose a big Bitcoin exchange, you don’t have to worry about this. Read on for our recommendations.

Bitcoin trading app – Mobile support is a must nowadays and the best cryptocurrency exchanges are quick to develop robust mobile apps for their users.

Fees – An important factor when you buy and sell Bitcoin is the fee. However, all exchanges use different types of fees and costs. This includes buying- and selling fees (either a percentage or fixed price), order fee (market orders are more expensive than limit orders), transaction fees and more.

Customer support – Not all cryptocurrency exchanges offer fast and reliable customer service. Is there customer support 24/7? Do they offer phone support, chat support or both?

Reputation – This is a bit harder to judge. Discussions on bitcoin trading on Reddit and other forums give idea about a site’s trustworthiness and correctness but online stories are also tricky to verify.

Our Top Recommendations

Kraken

Having been around since 2011, Kraken has developed a reputation as a secure and reliable crypto exchange, and is one of the most viable alternatives to Coinbase. The Exchange is regulatory compliant, and offers both a simple and complex trading terminals, which appeals to new crypto traders and veterans alike. Users can trade Spot, Margin, and Futures, all in one place. The high liquidity levels, Grade A security, and complete transparency, makes it especially appealing to institutions and high frequency traders. It is also one with the lowest fees in the industry.

>> SIGN UP TO KRAKEN HERE

Coinbase

Coinbase is our go-to site when purchasing Bitcoins because it is the world’s most popular exchange platform and is simple to use.

Features:

  • Top crypto assets such as BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH
  • Offers insured Bitcoin deposits
  • Offers instant buy feature
  • High liquidity
  • Easy to use
  • API Support

>> SIGN UP TO COINBASE HERE

LocalBitcoins

LocalBitcoins is a peer-to-peer exchange site where buyers and sellers directly communicate to buy/sell Bitcoins at different prices and rates.

Features:

  • Escrow service to ensure trades are completed and both buyers and sellers are protected
  • Merchant services to receive Bitcoin from customers
  • Enables online or face-to-face Bitcoin transactions by matching people based on location
  • View profile and feedback history of your counterparty to assess them before a trade
  • Accepts almost any payment method acceptable to the community
  • No ID verification required
  • Pay with physical cash

>> SIGN UP TO LOCALBITCOINS HERE

Bybit

Bybit is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that allows you to trade perpetual futures. With ByBit you can open positions with up to 100x adjustable leverage. The exchange has a reported uptime of 99.99%, fees are relatively fair and support seems to be doing a good job addressing customer complaints.

Bybit is the first exchange to really challenge the market dominance of Bitmex. Bybit was built to address many customer frustrations with derivatives trading platforms especially the issue of platforms going offline during periods of particularly high demand. From its Singapore headquarters, it now serves hundreds of thousands of users and it’s climbing website traffic and trading volumes now challenge the industry leaders.

Read more: Bybit Review (2021 Updated)

>> New users can receive up to $1000 Bonus upon deposit + $10 Coupon regardless the deposit amount.

>> SIGN UP TO BYBIT HERE

Coinmama

Coinmama, known for being the oldest Bitcoin brokers in the industry, this Israel based broker is an exchange site you can purchase Bitcoins from with a credit card from close to anywhere in the world. If you want a safe, secured transaction to purchase Bitcoins, Coinmama is a great alternative.

Features:

  • Live pricing in USD or EUR
  • Allows the purchase of fractions of BTC
  • Easy to review your orders and transactions
  • Purchase crypto directly from the site
  • Multi-language support

>> SIGN UP TO COINMAMA HERE

MEXC Global

MEXC is based in Seychelles but most of its team is in Singapore. It’s one of the best and fastest centralized exchanges (CEX). MEXC Exchange serves over 6 million customers in over 70 countries. They’ve also gone through licensing in some of the traditionally difficult jurisdictions like Australia and the US. And that’s a big win. MEXC offers almost 4x as many coins (1331 vs 364) and more pairs (1847 vs 1448) than Binance does. All that while earning CoinGecko’s highest trust score.

>> SIGN UP TO MEXC HERE

OKX Exchange

OKX, formerly OKEx, is one of the biggest crypto exchanges on the market. Based on Coinmarketcap, OKX is currently ranked second in derivatives trading volume per 24 hours, only behind Binance.

Supporting over 600 cryptocurrencies with various features and tools (Spot, Derivatives, Options,…), OKX provides a solid infrastructure for everyone to trade assets, among other flexible options like bot trading or block trading.

Many people choose OKX over other CEXs for its wide range of supported assets, attractive fees as well as diverse features.

>> SIGN UP TO OKX HERE

Blockchain.com Exchange

Blockchain Exchange is a crypto exchange from the Netherlands that has been active since 2019. The company behind Blockchain Exchange is Blockchain.com. Blockchain.com has been a prominent player on the crypto arena for a long time.

In an email to its users sent on 22 April 2020, they declared that 2.4 million new Blockchain.com wallets had been created during the first quarter of 2020, bringing the total number to over 47 million. Wow.

Blockchain Exchange claims to be the world’s fastest crypto exchange.

Blockchain Exchange’s trading fees for takers are 0.40%. This fee is in line with industry average. The exchange also offers a 50% discount to makers, who trade at a fee of 0.20%. This is especially beneficial for the investors not interested in picking up existing orders from the order book.

>> SIGN UP TO BLOCKCHAIN Exchange HERE

CEX.IO

If you are looking for low fees alongside 99.999% availability whenever you need it, then CEX.IO might be the exchange for you. Although this exchange isn’t available in a lot of locations, if you are in a location where service is available, you’ll be able to benefit from this exchange.

>> SIGN UP TO CEX.IO HERE

Changelly

If you are looking for a Bitcoin exchange that can also help you purchase other crypto coins as well, then Changelly might be the best bitcoin trading platform for you. Changelly is a unique exchange that is both a Bitcoin and altcoin exchange. As there aren’t many exchanges that offer the features that Changelly comes with, it is one to strongly consider.

>> SIGN UP TO CHANGELLY HERE

BitMex

Bitmex.com is a very dynamic bitcoin marketplace. You can trade crypto against plenty of fiat and other digital currencies over at this Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange. One limitation is the deposit form – only BTC is accepted.
Even though the interface is very well laid out, BitMEX is hardly a place for novice traders. The platform is ideal for seasoned crypto investors, who know how to use the tools at their disposal to the fullest.

>> SIGN UP TO BITMEX HERE

Paxful

While not the biggest exchange out there, Paxful is quite popular with US crypto traders. It is another peer-to-peer exchange which supports a mesmerizing array of payment methods, including – you heard it here first – Amazon gift cards.

>> SIGN UP TO PAXFUL HERE

xCoins

xCoins.io is not a typical bitcoin exchange. It is a bitcoin lending service which, odd as it sounds, allows for instant transactions and some decent trading opportunities. Take your time to read the FAQ section of xCoins.io before producing your favorite payment method.
Thanks to its unique business model, xCoins accepts all popular credit cards and PayPal.

>> SIGN UP TO XCOINS HERE

Binance

One of the newest cryptocurrency exchanges, Binance.com appeared in mid-2017 with a surprisingly well thought-through product. The Chinese site comes with basic and advanced charts and statistics that can help you get your bearings very quickly and even, if you are so inclined, outline strategies for future investments.

Features:

  • Multi-Device Support
  • High Performance
  • Multiple Language and Country Support
  • Adopted Technology
  • API Support
  • Experienced Team

>> SIGN UP TO BINANCE HERE

CoinExchange

This is an interesting one. From many angles, Coinexchange.io looks like the ideal place to trade cryptocurrencies. A large number of markets and coins supported, the interface is informative enough without being overwhelming for novices, the verification process and transaction levels are reasonably well organized.

However, the company definitely lacks transparency about its modus operandi and mission and some Bitcoin exchange Reddit threads have raised serious questions about their integrity. They are not numerous enough to sound truly alarming but are sufficient to cast a shadow of doubt over Coinexchange’s integrity.

>> SIGN UP TO COINEXCHANGE HERE

PrimeXBT

Prime XBT recently launched with much anticipation as the newest and most advanced crypto trading platform to offer as much as 100x leverage on the top 5 crypto-assets. As well as providing access to an impressive feature suite and facilitating highly profitable trading possibilities, the Prime XBT platform also aggregates liquidity from 12 different top providers.

With these features and many more, Prime XBT aims to alleviate many of the pain points that traders face today on existing crypto trading platforms.

>> SIGN UP TO PRIME XBT HERE

KuCoin

KuCoin is an international cryptocurrency exchange that aims to simplify cryptocurrency trading for new users. KuCoin has both a web and mobile presence with the latter having basic trading features when compared to the website.

The platform has a low trading fee of 0.1 percent which can be covered using the sites native cryptocurrency known as KuCoin shares (KCS). The KCS tokens operate like shares of the company and anyone holding the token gets to receive dividends from the company’s profits.

>> SIGN UP TO KUCOIN HERE

More Comparison

Here is a comparison table of different cryptocurrency exchanges — including some that we have spoken about today and some others you might want to look at.

Source: quora.com/how-do-i-buy-bitcoin

Get Started Now – Buy/Sell Cryptocurrency

If you want to use or invest in Bitcoin, choose an exchange and open an account. If you’re going to trade Bitcoin and cryptocurrency, we recommend a cryptocurrency broker. However, we recommend using a complete solution. You don’t need to choose between an exchange/broker if you open an account at an All-in-one Platform.

No matter what you choose, you should use a chart tool. It is used to analyze price history which helps you to buy/sell at a good price. An essential tool in addition to your exchange. The most popular chart tool on the market is TradingView. We use it daily and recommend it to everyone.

NOTE! Don’t forget that you are responsible for the security of your cryptocurrency. Buy a secure Bitcoin wallet to store your cryptocurrencies. Follow these steps to exchange cryptocurrency safely:

  • Step 1: Open account at an exchange.
  • Step 2: Buy/sell Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
  • Step 3: Move cryptocurrency to a private wallet – Trezor or Ledger

Vantage Forex Broker Review

Vantage is a multi award-winning Australian broker primarily known for its forex trading. Founded in Australia in 2009 and regulated by two internationally recognized institutions (both tier 1), Vantage offers you a reliable brokerage to trade CFDs on forex, commodities, indices, shares, and some cryptocurrencies. It offers good customizability on its web platform and also a mobile app that is somewhat secure and relatively easy-to-use.

Platforms

Vantage offer a variety of top trading platforms including the popular MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5) developed by MetaQuotes. MetaTrader is freely available on desktop (Windows / Mac), web and mobile (iPhone / iPad / Android / Tablet). All of the platforms update simultaneously so that you can open, manage and close positions in real time from multiple devices. The broker also has their own proprietary Vantage mobile trading app.

Vantage App

The Vantage App allows you to access the global markets and trade from anywhere at any time. It offers traders easy, yet powerful mobile access to hundreds of FX Pairs, Commodities, Indices, Share CFDs and more. The Vantage App is available for both iOS and Android devices and is equipped with a suite of trading and investing tools.

Vantage Mobile Trading App (photo)

I found it very user-friendly and easy to navigate. However, I felt that it didn’t have the advanced market analysis capabilities of the MetaTrader apps. That being said, it would be absolutely fine for checking market prices and managing positions from the comfort of your mobile device.

Security and Regulation

Trust and security are of vital importance no matter who you are trading with, or in which market. With a forex broker, this is also the case and an area that Vantage FX clearly treats as a top priority to ensure you the best possible trading environment.

The broker has in place regulation from several well-respected regulatory bodies around the world. These include oversight from ASIC in Australia, the FCA in the UK, and offshore from the CIMA in the Cayman Islands, and VFSC in Vanuatu. This positions them well as a broker with top-tier regulation in place but also allows them to offer a degree of flexibility through the additional offshore regulatory bodies.

Key Features

As a broker for more experienced traders, Vantage provides good features to help those that need support when opening an account, featuring copy traders, demo accounts, video tutorials, and many charting tools.

Demo Account

For a trial period users can download the desktop platform or trade on the web trader as a simulation. This offers valuable time to understand the platform and get to grips with the interface before putting in any of your money.

Copy Trading

There are four alternative platforms available for social copy trading that Vantage have partnered up with, including ZuluTrade, DupliTrade, MetaTrader Signals and Myfxbook.

Charting Tools

There is a good range of charting tools available to users like indicators, drawing tools, and trade form charting.

Commissions and Fees

When calculating the fees you will incur using Vantage, it’s crucial to know what account you are going to be using, as this will determine the rate you pay. There is a mix between low commission accounts with higher spreads and slightly higher commission accounts with better spreads but for heavier traders.

Check out the specific rates below:

  1. Standard STP: This account features zero commissions, but has the highest spreads (1.1 pips); on the other hand the standard account offers rebates of $8 per standard lot.
  2. Raw ECN: Spreads here are more favorable (0.08 pips), but incur a commission of $3 per side (totalling 0.68 pips).
  3. Pro ECN: The cheapest option; commission fees are $2 per side, and those that can deposit $20,000 or more will get the best rates. The Pro ECN is also competitive with many others in the industry.

Additionally, there are zero non-trading fees, which is a great feature for a broker (usually discouraging traders to hold assets for longer periods of time). In terms of cryptocurrency, the CFD trading stocks are average-high when compared to its market competitors. All deposits and withdrawals are free, but with some exceptions (details above).

Customer Support

Customer support on Vantage is average, while it has a live chat it’s not 24/7 and can be unreliable. Here are the features offered:

  • Live chat (not 24/7)
  • Phone Support
  • Poor email support
  • Contact time is Monday to Friday (9am-5pm)

Conclusion

Overall, Vantage is a multi-regulated CFD broker with a great choice of industry leading platforms and very powerful trading tools. There is everything you would need to conduct professional market analysis. You can copy other traders, develop your own strategies and run automated systems. I like that they have a reasonable selection of trading instruments across multi-asset classes but think they could perhaps add some more. That being said, you will find most of popular assets available to trade with accounts that have low spreads and no commission fees. I found the customer support to be prompt, polite and efficient. Finally, you can choose from a convenient selection of funding options.

Bitcoin Investment… does this virtual financial tool brings profits?

Bitcoin is cryptocurrency payment system in decentralized format. It was publicly released in 2009.

Bitcoin gained its popularity started in 2013 and gained over 3x appreciation from 2011 to 2012. Venture capital firms and investors around the world continue to bet on this cryptocurrency. 

The simplest way to invest in Bitcoin is to outright buy some. Many established trading firms provide buying and selling services.

While you are start thinking to invest in Bitcoin, you might start asking how Bitcoin is valued. Bitcoin is measured against fiat currency, such as American Dollars (BTCUSD), Chinese Yuan (BTCCNY) or Euro (BTCEUR). It appears superficially similar to any symbol traded on foreign exchange markets.

The factors that generally determine Bitcoin’s price is supply and demand. Inspired by the rarity of gold, Bitcoin was designed to have a fixed supply of 21 million coins, over half of which have already been produced. Miners currently produce around 3600 bitcoins a day, some portion of which sold to cover electricity and other business expenses. The daily power cost of all mining is estimated to around $500K. Dividing the total by the current BTCUSD price provides an approximation of the minimum number of bitcoins which miners supply to markets daily.

Bitcoin supply is inflating at around 4% annually from mining activities. The rate will drop sharply  in 2020 when the next reward halving occurs. That Bitcoin’s price is rising despite such high inflation indicates extremely strong demand. Buyers absorb the thousands of coins offered by miners and other seller everyday.

Bitcoin wallet can be a lot safer than a bank account at times. Greece imposed strict capital controls in 2015, Greeks were subjected to a daily withdrawal limit of 60 EUR. Bitcoin demonstrated its value as money without central control. Soon after Greek crisis, China began to devalue the Yuan. Chinese savers turned to Bitcoin to protect their accumulated wealth.

It worths to note that Bitcoin is an experimental project, a highly risky asset. There are many negative influencers of price, ie. legislative risk of a major government banning or strictly regulating Bitcoin business. The emergence of a credible competitor, perhaps with the backing of major central banks could see Bitcoin loosing its market share in the future.

well, Bitcoin is ultimately worth what people will buy and sell it for. This is often as much a matter of human psychology as economic calculation. Don’t allow your emotions to dictate your actions in the market; this is best achieved by determining a strategy and sticking to it.

If your aim is to accumulate Bitcoin, a good method is to set aside a fixed, affordable sum every month to buy bitcoins, no matter the price. Over time, this strategy (known as Dollar-cost averaging), will allow you to accumulate bitcoins at a decent average price without the stress of trying to predict the sometimes wild gyrations of Bitcoin’s price.