The first quarter of 2021 has been a good year so far for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and other cryptocurrencies. The crypto exchange you choose to buy your digital currency from can be just as important as the particular digital currency you choose. Factors to consider include security, fees, ease of and geography, among others.
Security
In 2014, Mt. Gox, by far the biggest Bitcoin exchange at the time, had to declare bankruptcy due to the massive theft of its Bitcoin and other digital assets, due to hackers. This event drew the attention of regulators, changed the parameters and created the need for the Bitcoin wallet and other security measures.
The Coinbase Exchange has excellent security and authentication methods because they require to 2FA (2-step verification) for Coinbase users and keep 98% of customer funds in offline cold storage. Furthermore, Coinbase has never been hacked. Coinbase also has its own stable coin, USDC, and provides Coinbase users and Coinbase account holders with access to its Coinbase app.
Payment methods include credit card, debit card and ACH transfer from a bank account. Coinbase users are provided with their own Coinbase wallet for their Coinbase account. Users can withdraw fiat currency from their Coinbase account using ACH transfer to a bank account or by using PayPal and they can also withdraw cryptocurrencies. Coinbase Pro and Global Digital Asset Exchange (GDAX) are also owned by Coinbase, which is based in San Francisco and was founded by Brian Armstrong.
In 2014 Kraken was considered to be such a secure platform that it was chosen to play an assisting role in the Mt. Gox fund recovery. Kraken did, however, suffer a flash-crash in 2021. Binance been hacked many times but it has a great trust record in that when their exchange was hacked, they refunded their users via cryptos that had been set aside just for that purpose. Last but not least, you might want to watch closely and buy ADA Cardano in the years to come. The best minds are constantly working on this digital asset which has a bright future ahead. To get into the nitty-gritty, go to the following link: https://swyftx.com/au/buy/cardano/
Fees
Robinhood commissions are 0% per trade. Gemini fees are a flat 0.5% per trade with an additional $1.99-$2.99 per transaction. While the fees of Coinbase, ranging from 1.49%-3.99%, are not exactly low, the fees of Coinbase Pro are. Kraken is 0%-0.26%. KuCoin is 0.005% to 0.1%. Binance, however, is considered by Cryptovantage to have the lowest transaction fees, as far as the major exchanges are concerned, running you somewhere between 0.015 and 0.1% per transaction.
Ease of Use
For beginner investors, PayPal should also not be overlooked. On PayPal, you can now buy and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). After you sell your cryptocurrencies, you can transfer the fiat currency into your bank account as you would with any other PayPal transaction. Currently, PayPal only allows for market orders, no limit orders, which could be a real problem for daytraders and high volume traders.
Stock traders might feel more comfortable with Robinhood, while margin traders might feel more comfortable with Kraken. Robinhood users are not limited to cryptocurrencies but can also trade other securities, like stocks and gold. Robinhood users might not be comfortable, however, with the fact they cannot withdraw their cryptos directly from the crypto exchange, but instead are required to first sell cryptos and convert them to fiat currencies before they can withdraw from the digital asset exchange. Binance has over 175+ varieties of cryptocurrency including its own Binance coin (BNB). Coinbase has many new features for the benefit of their users, but the digital asset exchange did experience an outage according to the Wall Street Journal.
Select the Best for You
The best crypto exchange for 2021 is really a matter of opinion, depending on the trader. Security obsessives might prefer Coinbase. Low fees enthusiasts might prefer Binance. Best ease of use for an exchange really depends on how you define ease of use, which probably depends on your trading style. What really matters is that when you invest your money, you know some basic factors, so you are not flying blind.
