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 takes payments for them.
Any transactions or operations on the Digital Currency Exchange can be done by debit and credit card, postal money order or any other type of money transfer. This article is about discussing different cryptocurrency exchanges that 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 cryptocurrency trading guide will help you get started with cryptocurrency exchanges.
Coinbase/GDAX
Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges based in San Francisco, California. It is present 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 iOS and Android. Unfortunately, Coinbase does not offer crypto currency mining for beginners and is only an exchange.
Currently, it offers four coins, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, and Litecoin. It exchanges digital currency for US dollars, Euros and Great British Pounds. With minimum transfer fees, Coinbase has never experienced any security breach making it a perfect platform for digital currency exchange. In addition to that, Coinbase also offers a fully advanced exchange called GDAX. It offers more advanced features and variety and better trading fees than Coinbase.
Bitstamp
Bitstamp is another platform that provides digital currency exchange. It is easy to use and offers more advanced features through TradeView. Bitstamp offers coins like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and ripple. It exchanges digital currency for US dollars and Euros. You can practice all the latest crypto currency trading techniques on this exchange.
It offers Flat deposits through bank transfers and supports debit/credit cards. Perhaps the only drawback that can be found in 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 iOS and android.
Gemini
Gemini is a UK-based company launched in 2015 by the Winklevoss twins. It is available in several countries including the US, Canada, Hong-Kong, Singapore and South Korea. One of the downsides of this platform is that it is not very 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 in 2018, it has not encountered a single security breach thus making it one of the most secure and reliable 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 sector. They implement many of the latest techniques that make it easy for anyone to start trading.
It has a unique feature called a Portfolio View that enables traders to view all holding positions in a portfolio. It is easy for traders to make informed decisions about cryptocurrency exchange by 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 EUR trading pairs. It serves worldwide including the US.
Kraken offers a variety of coins including Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Monero, Augur, Litecoin and more. It also supports deposit/withdrawal via bank transfers and cryptocurrencies. Having a less 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 an easy-to-use interface and offers an advanced number of features such as margin trading, margin funding and more. It is available for iOS and android platforms. It offers BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, IOTA, XMR and NEO.
Like previous cryptocurrency exchanges, it supports withdrawals using US dollars and Euros through bank transfers. Bitfinex suffered two security breaches, the first in May 2015, resulting in a loss of $330,000. And the second one was in August 2016 which resulted in a loss of $72 million.
EtherDelta
EtherDelta is a decentralized exchange that directly supports peer to peer connections. It is very different from the previously mentioned cryptocurrency exchange platform. Here, funds are created in a smart contract on an Ethereum network where you are responsible for depositing and withdrawing. Currently, EtherDelta only supports Ehtereum-based tokens.
EtherDelta has a somewhat 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 for 750 ETH.
Conclusion
After looking at different cryptocurrency exchange platforms, we can safely say that Coinbase and Bitstamp stand out in terms of its good features such as security, user friendly interface, multiple withdraw/transfer methods and many more.
I wouldn’t call them perfect but I would recommend it as 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 choose the one that suits our needs. We hope this basic guide to crypto currency exchange and trading gives you a head start on your Cryptocurrency trading journey.