Despite the relative reliability of popular and fairly respected exchanges that specialize in digital assets, a trader should pay attention to a number of other criteria, wondering how to choose a cryptocurrency exchange. Knowing the features of the functioning of crypto exchanges will allow even a novice trader to choose the best service for working with cryptocurrency.
It is interesting that the specifics of the operation of crypto platforms is significantly different from the business model of Forex brokers. So, when getting acquainted with the digital asset industry, in some cases it will be prudent not to pay attention to factors that are important for working with traditional financial services.
Content
Criteria that are not of particular importance
Period of existence
If we talk about over-the-counter brokers, then this factor would be almost decisive. In the world of cryptocurrencies, everything is slightly different – for example, the Kraken platform began operations in 2011, and Binance in 2017. Nevertheless, Binance effectively entered the top three among crypto exchanges with the maximum daily cryptocurrency turnover.
Country of registration
The crypto market is not regulated by law, so if necessary, the cryptocurrency holder will not be able to contact the law enforcement authorities with these or those requirements. However, it is worth knowing that some states have introduced bills that are aimed at protecting the rights of crypto traders. So, reliable jurisdictions from this point of view can be: USA, Japan, Switzerland, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore.
Trading platforms that are considered reliable for users, as a rule, are independently responsible to their customers, in particular, they work to ensure the proper level of protection of their funds and confidential information. Therefore, cryptocurrency holders should pay attention to what technologies the company uses to guarantee security, what terms of trade and storage of funds it offers, and, of course, to customer reviews of the exchange.
What you should pay attention to?
How to choose a cryptocurrency exchange? Finding a suitable trading site is a responsible task, however, if you know exactly what criteria are decisive, the process will turn into an easy and exciting quest, even for a beginner!
Liquidity
The higher the daily volume of cryptocurrency trading, the more opportunities for traders to profit from coin pricing. To date, the Bithumb platform is the leader in terms of trading volumes. The daily trading volume averages $ 620 million. Moreover, the site interface must meet the requirements and preferences of the user. Russian-speaking clients should pay attention to whether the official website of the platform has a version that supports the Russian language.
Commissions
When choosing a site, you need to consider the amount of fees for transaction processing, deposit and withdrawal of funds. For replenishment of accounts on some platforms, such fees are not provided. It is desirable that the size of the commission for users who have passed verification does not exceed 0.1%.
Security
At the beginning of 2018, there was a series of hacker attacks on fairly well-known crypto exchanges; attackers managed to seize fairly decent amounts of funds. Companies continue to work hard to increase the level of service security; today they have achieved significant results. So, for example, now clients have the opportunity to bind the IP address to their account, to carry out advanced two-factor authentication settings, etc. Modern solutions are considered reliable enough, the main thing is that they are provided on the selected platform.
Verification
Confirmation of identity when creating an account is a mandatory requirement for users, provided for by the international AML policy. Most, at least well-known exchanges, abide by it. Some sites still provide access to trade without an identity verification, but you should be aware that verification can significantly save on commission fees.
Leverage
This criterion is worth paying attention to those traders who do not have significant capital in order to realize all their trading strategies. Through borrowed funds, the user has a chance to increase the income potential. Most platforms provide their customers with a low level of financial support compared to the same Forex brokers. On average, you can find such leverage indicators as 1: 2-1: 10. It is possible, however, that some crypto exchanges may offer unique offers to users. For example, BitMEX offers a leverage of 1: 100. Do not forget that this type of activity is accompanied by risks, therefore it is important to approach the formation or selection of a trading strategy with common sense.
Stability
When choosing a service for trading, it is important to pay attention to how stable the exchange is. It is worthwhile to find out how quickly applications for withdrawing funds are processed, how often the service goes to maintenance – you can find out this information on specialized sites dedicated to reviews of such exchanges.
Support Service Efficiency
Customer support service is needed so that the user can quickly get answers to his questions or tips on eliminating certain problems with the site, accounts, cards. Representatives of the support service of certain Forex brokers can give answers only to general questions, and topics that are related, for example, to losses incurred as a result of a system crash, are discussed by separately contacting the service via e-mail – a response can be expected within two days . Fortunately, it is more pleasant to communicate with managers of crypto exchanges – you can get feedback within an hour, they respond to messages written in English more quickly.
Platform adaptability
It’s good if the service will be adapted for various devices. The presence of an application for gadgets on iOS and Android indicates that the company cares about customers who will have an excellent opportunity to use the services using the device, which is always at hand, that is, customers can monitor their funds and operations with them all the time.
Integration with various useful tools
The advantage of any trading platform is the availability of support services that are designed to track and analyze the dynamics of cryptocurrencies. Using such platforms will save the trader from wasting time using third-party professional software to more effectively track charts and follow strategies.
Account replenishment options
Depending on your needs, you should consider factors such as the possibility of replenishment of the account using fiat funds, support for replenishment using certain payment systems, services or applications.
Number of Assets Supported
Here, one should rather consider not the total number of assets that were listed on the exchange, but the presence on it of the necessary cryptocurrency specifically for the user. Some platforms support only a limited number of coins, which, for example, are included in the TOP-20 cryptocurrencies in terms of market capitalization. On some, you can find the so-called shitcoins – if a trader, for example, needs access to one of these shitcoins, then, naturally, when choosing a site, you should take into account, in addition to all of the above criteria, this one.
Some crypto exchanges also offer useful features such as:
- margin trading;
- the possibility of obtaining interest on deposit;
- access to the referral system.
It is noteworthy that Asian exchanges in the crypto industry are considered the most reliable. Most platforms operating in this region provide users with cold storage services for crypto funds. However, not all Asian crypto exchanges are open to citizens of foreign countries. For example, the BitMAX exchange, which is based in Singapore, provides good functionality for traders without restrictions.
TOP 5 best cryptocurrency exchanges for 2019
Binance
Features:
- the largest service in terms of trading volumes;
- the exchange started its operations in 2017, however, it surpassed its competitors in a short period of time;
- low commission – 0.1%;
- rapid development – having your own successful BNB token;
- high performance – about 1.4 million orders are processed every second;
- support for the most popular assets, the ability to create a wallet for each of them;
- no commission for entering digital coins;
- Verification is not a prerequisite for work;
- there is support for smartphones;
- traders have access to specialized tools for analytics, building strategies.
EXMO
Features:
- the Russian-language exchange, which is worried about customer safety, only the most promising assets are listed;
- there is the possibility of withdrawing profits in USD, EUR, RUB;
- efficiency: it takes a few seconds to process an operation, 5-30 minutes to withdraw funds;
- transaction fee is only 0.2%.
- withdrawal of funds: Payeer (0%), AdvCash (0%), PerfectMoney (0.5%), bank (1%), WebMoney (2%);
- replenishment: Bank (1%), Payeer (4%), AdvCash (4%), Yandex (5%), Qiwi (5.9%).
BTC-Alpha
Features:
- There are two options for two-factor authentication;
- trading with a commission of 0.1% is available;
- in the listing over 100 coins, 200 trading pairs are available;
- implemented the ability to enter and withdraw traditional currencies;
- zero commission when transferring money within the system;
- smartphone support;
- round-the-clock support.
Huobi
Features:
- reliability and demand (5 years of experience, the amount of user funds exceeds $ 10 billion);
- user funds are in cold storage;
- there is a customer protection fund;
- multilingualism;
- Support for Android, iOS, Windows, Mac;
- cashback – 30% of the commission of attracted users.
KuCoin
Features:
- no mandatory verification;
- insignificant withdrawal fees; for some coins they are not provided at all;
- proper level of security, as well as protection of user tools and data;
- trade commission – 0.1%;
- the presence of professional mechanisms for analyzing the market situation, a web terminal with charts from TradingView.
