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 offers electronic transactions in electronic forms and collects commissions.
Any transaction or operation on Digital Currency Exchange can be done by debit and credit cards, money order or any other type of money transfer. This article is about the different cryptocurrency exchanges that facilitate cryptocurrency 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 largest cryptocurrency exchanges based in San Francisco, California. It is available in 32 countries and currently serves more than 10 million customers. Launched in 2012, it has a user-friendly 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 does not offer cryptocurrency mining for beginners and is only an exchange.
As of now, it offers four currencies, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin. Exchange digital currency with US Dollars, Euros and Great British Pounds. With minimal transfer fees, Coinbase has never experienced a security breach making it a perfect platform for digital currency exchange. In addition to this, Coinbase also offers a full advanced exchange called GDAX. It offers more advanced features and different and better trading rates than Coinbase.
Bitstamp
Bitstamp is another platform that offers digital currency exchange. It is relatively easy to use and offers more advanced features through TradeView. Bitstamp offers coins like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and ripple. Exchange digital currency with US dollars and euros. You can practice all the latest cryptocurrency trading techniques on this exchange.
It offers flat deposits via bank transfers and accepts debit/credit cards. Perhaps the only downside to Bitstamp is the slightly high fees and the fact that it suffered a security breach in its 7 years of operation. However, it is one of the most reliable exchanges. It is available on both iOS and Android.
Twins
Gemini is a UK-based company launched in 2015 by the Winklevoss twins. It is available in few countries like USA, Canada, Hong-Kong, Singapore and South Korea. One of the downsides of this platform is that it’s not particularly user-friendly. So beginners are not recommended to use this platform.
It offers two coins and 1 FLAT coin Bitcoin Cash, Ehtereum and US Dollars. Gemini follows strict protocols when it comes to security and as of 2018 has not encountered a single security breach, making it one of the safest and most trusted digital currency platforms. 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 industry. They have implemented many of the latest techniques that make it easy for anyone to start trading.
It has a unique feature called Single Portfolio View that would allow traders to view all the positions they hold in a single portfolio. It would be easy for traders to make informed decisions about cryptocurrency exchange using this unique feature. It also supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dashcoin.
Kraken
Kraken is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchange platforms. Launched in 2011, kraken is the largest exchange in terms of volume and liquidity for euro trading pairs. Serves worldwide, including the US.
Kraken offers a variety of coins such as Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Monero, Augur, Litecoin and many more. It also supports deposits and withdrawals via bank transfers and cryptocurrencies. Having a not so friendly user interface, it also suffers from stability and performance issues, but nevertheless it is a good platform for cryptocurrency exchanges.
Bitfinex
Bitfinex is the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform. Launched in 2012, it has a user-friendly interface and offers a number of advanced features such as margin trading, margin financing, etc. It is available for both iOS and Android platforms. It offers BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, IOTA, XMR and NEO.
Like previous cryptocurrency exchanges, it supports withdrawals with US dollars and euros via bank transfers. Bitfinex has suffered two security breaches, the first of which was in May 2015, resulting in a loss of $330,000. And the second in August 2016 which was a loss of 72 million dollars.
EtherDelta
EtherDelta is a decentralized exchange that directly supports peer to peer connection. It is very different from the cryptocurrency exchange platform discussed above. Here, funds are held in a smart contract on an Ethereum network that you are solely responsible for depositing and withdrawing from. EtherDelta currently only supports Ehtereum based tokens.
EtherDelta has a rather confusing interface that makes it difficult for users to perform cryptocurrency exchange operations. On 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 exchange platforms, we can safely say that Coinbase and Bitstamp stand out for their good features like security, user-friendly interface, multiple withdrawal/transfer methods and many more.
I wouldn’t call them perfect, but I’d recommend that it’s the safest bet you can make. Each cryptocurrency exchange platform is unique in its own way and has advantages and disadvantages. We just have to select the one that suits our needs. We hope this guide on basic cryptocurrency trading and exchange gives you a head start on your cryptocurrency trading journey.