Best broker for trading cryptocurrency

Recently, nadex started offering bitcoin trading. Many big trading brokers have already added some of these cryptocurrencies.

New forex bonuses

Best Cryptocurrency Brokers for 2021, best broker for trading cryptocurrency.

Everybody can sign up and start trading bitcoin or other crypto coins. This is the easiest and probably the simplest way to invest in cryptocurrency.

Best cryptocurrency brokers for 2021

Daniel ‘harris’ major

I have tested 40+ crypto brokers. You can find the best cryptocurrency brokers below. This is by far the easiest way to get started with cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency trading has become really popular in the past years. It’s growing more ever year.

Many big trading brokers have already added some of these cryptocurrencies. Everybody can sign up and start trading bitcoin or other crypto coins. This is the easiest and probably the simplest way to invest in cryptocurrency.

After trying out most brokers, here are the best cryptocurrency brokers:

Best cryptocurrency brokers (non-US traders only)

Plus500 – top rated trading platform

Plus500 is a big name in the trading industry. They have a really low minimum deposit requirement and a great trading site.

Buy/sell cfds on bitcoin in addition to buying stocks, commodities, forex etc (traded only through cfds). Plus500 is the most complete trading platform.

Trade cfds on bitcoin & many other cryptos

Minimum deposit is only $100

Regulated and trusted platform

Very fast signup process

Live chat

Many payment methods (even paypal)

You cannot withdraw any cryptocurrency

You have to complete a questionnaire, upon sign up

Plus500 disclaimer: 76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

IQ option – lowest minimum deposit ($10)

If you don’t want to make a huge initial investment, then IQ option is the best broker for you. The minimum deposit requirement is only $10. This is by far the lowest in the industry.

You can trade many cryptocurrencies

Minimum deposit is only $10

Best trading platform

Multiple account currencies

Free demo account

Regulated by CYSEC (#247/14)

Etoro – top crypto broker

Etoro is a really popular trading site. They have been around since 2006. Etoro is regulated by CYSEC, FCA and ASIC.

Buy/sell bitcoin on etoro in addition to buying stocks, commodities, forex etc. Etoro is the most complete trading platform.

Trade bitcoin & many other cryptos

Minimum deposit is $200

Regulated and trusted platform

Australian traders are also accepted

Great support team

Many payment methods (even paypal)

You cannot withdraw any cryptocurrency

You have to complete a questionnaire, upon sign up

Etoro disclaimer: 71% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

Highlow – best all-round crypto broker

Due to regulation highlow stopped accepting traders from the EU and UK.

Highlow is an australian trading broker (AFSL no.364264). What I like most about this broker is the intuitive platform. It is so easy to use. Especially new traders will like the clean layout.

I’ve been using highlow for a few years now and I never had a problem. Highlow publishes their number of trades on the homepage. There are millions of trades on this broker each month.

I use the main platform which is web based. This means, that you don’t have to download any software. This platform is stable and safe (they use SSL).

I have also tried the ios app and the android app. They are great, but I just don’t like trading on smartphones in general.

The payouts on highlow are amazing (up to 200%, which is more than on other brokers).

Highlow is a great broker for cryptocurrencies (but only if you are not from EU,UK, US). They have a good reputation, great support team and awesome promotions for new traders.

Trade bitcoin & other cryptos

Minimum deposit is only $50

Regulated and trusted platform

Fastest signup process (no questionnaires)

Multiple account currencies

Free demo account (no registration needed)

Nadex – US traders welcome

Nadex is a CFTC regulated broker. In fact, this is probably the only US broker that has this regulation.

Only US traders are allowed on nadex. Non-US traders check out the next broker.

Update OCTOBER 2019: looks like nadex removed crypto trading. After contacting them I found out that they will add it back soon. Register on nadex now and get updated when they add it.

Recently, nadex started offering bitcoin trading.

Trade bitcoin, forex or binary options

Minimum deposit is $250

CFTC regulated broker

Great support team

Many payment methods (even paypal)

Crypto brokers with most cryptocurrencies

Here are the most popular cryptocurrencies offered by cryptocurrency brokers:

Etoro – bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, dash, ethereum classic, NEO and ripple.

Plus500 – bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, bitcoin cash, ripple, IOTA.

Avatrade – bitcoin, ethereum, ethereum classic, ripple, dash, bitcoin cash litecoin, monero and NEO.

Lowest minimum deposit brokers

These are the best brokers with low minimum deposit requirements:

Etoro – $200

Plus500 – $100

Avatrade – $100

This is really important because the crypto market itself is unregulated. Depositing on a regulated broker means that your money is safe.

We’ve also looked at the support team and the payment methods. You can deposit easily using multiple payment methods on the brokers below.

Top rated brokers that have cryptocurrencies

While we are all familiar with the broad definition of a broker, is there something more to it when it comes to cryptocurrencies?

Simply put, a cryptocurrency broker refers to a website that traders will visit to trade cryptocurrencies at a set price. In many ways, they are similar to forex brokers whose services are a lot more familiar to the general public.

Etoro disclaimer: 71% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

You still can’t decide which broker is best for you?

How to choose your cryptocurrency broker

Is leverage really necessary? Cryptocurrency markets are volatile in nature with prices fluctuating immensely thereby generating high profits even in the absence of leverage. But for some traders, the desire for more earnings justifies the use of leverage.

Before choosing your broker, settle yourself on whether the already immense profits that come from a cryptocurrency market are enough for you or you would like to use leverage to enhance them even further, bearing in mind, of course, that will also significantly increase the risk factor to your funds.

Negative balance protection: it is always advisable to trade with a broker that affords the negative balance protection facility. That way, you will never be at risk of losing more than what you invested in case you sustain very heavy losses.

How suitable is the required capital for you? This is another subjective part to your decision. Do you prefer trading with a small capital or bigger one to help you zero in on bigger returns? Find out what size trades your broker is offering before you open an account.

Narrow spreads for the win: let us be honest, it is only fair that your broker gets a cut from the money you generated having provided you with the essential facilities for it and all. But let us be honest, you definitely want every last dime for yourself.

A spread refers to the difference between the buying price and selling price of a trade and it varies with each broker. The spread is what counts as fees for your broker so the smaller it is, the lower the cost will be on your part.

Lets go into what aspects you as a trader must consider when choosing a broker to trade cryptocurrencies.

Which cryptocurrencies are you interested in trading?

Make sure you have decided on which cryptocurrencies you want to trade in before signing up with your broker.

If your choice is a prominent cryptocurrency like bitcoin (official site), litecoin (official site), or ethereum(official site), there will be a relatively broad availability of brokers that have trading options for those. However, less prevalent examples like monero, IOTA, or zcash may be a little harder to come by.

So study the cryptocurrencies being offered by a broker before you sign up for an account.

Pros and cons of cryptocurrency brokers

Here are some features that these broker have or don’t:
pros

Signup up with a crypto broker is probably the fastest way to get started with cryptocurrency trading

If you are less tech-savvy then a broker is safer for you

You can start buying cryptocurrency while traditional exchanges don’t always accept this payment method

Most of the time you can’t withdraw cryptocurrencies from a broker. You have to exchange it back to fiat money (USD/EUR etc.)

Cryptocurrency brokers – what to look for

Here are some of the more understated details about your cryptocurrency broker that could make your trading experiences so much more efficient and successful.

1. What are the weekend hours like?

This is a key detail that distinguishes cryptocurrencies from other prominent trading markets like forex, futures, and equity. Cryptocurrency brokers operate during the weekends as well.

There is virtually no difference in purchasing bitcoin at the end of the week as opposed to the middle of the week during peak hours.

But there is a catch. While digital currency exchanges are available during the weekend, your broker may not (why is the stock market closed on the weekend?). So in effect, if there is considerable movement within your relevant cryptocurrency market during a weekend when your broker is not operating, you may not have the ability to respond in any way.

2. How is it hedging?

Your broker is probably not keen on revealing if it is hedging cryptocurrency traders but it is important information for you to know.

Why is it so important for you to know?

Because, as a trader, you want to be absolutely in the clear regarding the policies for risk management being followed by your broker. Let us not forget that cryptocurrency markets are extremely volatile and an unhedged broker is more easily prone to major losses incurred by its clients. Naturally, those costs will warrant compensation via fatter spreads and additional costs for traders. It will be best to sign up with a broker that will not withhold the relevant information from you.

More great features you could be interested in

Commissions and trading on margin – an important thing to note while trading cryptocurrencies is that their prices tend to be more similar to equities than they are to real currencies. So your broker could be charging you commissions in addition to a wide spread on each trade. That, of course, raises the cost probably a bit much for your liking.

Another similarity with equities is that the margin conditions with cryptocurrencies are significantly more than they are with forex or cfds. Consequently, leverage is usually up to 10x. How considerable the margin rate will be for traders is down to what trading strategies and risk management they subscribe to.

Authenticity of market data – aside from merely evaluating how it influences spreads, market data for cryptocurrency CFD prices can be a good indicator of how the quality of the product will be in the future.

One of the more recent examples of this is BTC-e which was an immensely popular platform for trading bitcoin before it was shut down by feds. BTC-e was the first bitcoin exchange to incorporate forex trades and so made their exchange accessible via MT4 and supplied cryptocurrency liquidity for brokers.

But once it was shut down, every broker that depended squarely upon BTC-e was left with no hedging options or market data to put a price on its crypto cfds.

Are short sales available? For many traders, shorting is a crucial strategy option, the lack of which can be a deal breaker with a potential broker. Many brokers tend to offer ‘long’ only since there are only a few hedging solutions when opening short trades.

As you see, investing in cryptocurrencies can be a truly lucrative venture for you but only if you get it right.

And a lot of that is down to which broker you decide to trade with.

Ready to start trading?

Trade with the cryptocurrency brokers listed above to make sure that your money is safe, you pick a broker with a stellar reputation and you keep the fees low. Excel at trading bitcoin by creating your own trading strategy.

These cryptocurrency brokers make it really easy to trade bitcoin and other coins. You don’t have to be a trading expert. It helps if you know what a blockchain is or how the ledger and transactions work, but this is all optional.

Top cryptocurrency brokers for 2021

We found 11 online brokers that are appropriate for trading cryptocurrency.

Best cryptocurrency brokers guide

Are you interested in investing in cryptocurrency?

If the answer to this is a yes, then you will need to find the right cryptocurrencies brokers whocan accommodate you with the best facilities to trade on the cryptocurrency markets.

Before proceeding, lets cover the real definition of cryptocurrency.

Defining cryptocurrencies

In short, cryptocurrencies are digital or virtual currencies.

These currencies are reliant on cryptography to ensure the security and verification of each digital transaction.

Cryptography can control the number of units and prevent the change of code of the cryptocurrency unless some conditions are met.

The important characteristics of the cryptocurrencies

For some people, cryptocurrencies are the savior of the economy. This is because these can give the perks that not all banks or other financial institutions can provide.

Here are the unique characteristics of the cryptocurrencies which you cannot find in the conventional means of transactions.

No third party involved

There will not be third parties like financial institutions, governments, or any other third party organizations which govern the transactions between you and your recipients, and vice versa.

There is no third party that will intervene in your transaction. And it is a win-win solution with the P2P or peer to peer network. You can send cryptocurrencies through the P2P network and the other users will also be able to do the same for you.

Cryptocurrencies have more transparency

The problem with the conventional transactions is that one can ask for a refund and this will procure such unfortunate things to only one party.

As an example if your buyer has sent you a payment and you have delivered the goods but before the goods reach their destination, your buyer reverses the transaction your result could be that you will not receive the money you are owed and your buyer may have lead you.

You can avoid this issue with the cryptocurrencies transactions as these transactions are irreversible.

Not a single party can alter your transactions and this is why it can offer you more transparent transactions than the conventional fiat currencies.

Decentralized

There is no centralized place to transact at all so you can eliminate the high rates of fees when transferring money.

The cryptocurrency is maintained through the ledger technology called the blockchain. The blockchain prevents all other entities from tarnishing the data. Not a single person can alter the system so that your transactions will be safe and sound. We will discuss blockchain next.

Blockchain definition

Blockchain is bitcoin technology comes in the list of recorded data blocks, which are gathered by cryptography.

The recorded data in the blockchain is referred to as ledger. When there is a new data exchange, usually a transaction, a new block is added to the ledger or the blockchain.

In summary, the blockchain or ledger contains important information.

Cryptocurrency brokers

The era of virtual coin is upon us and is paving a golden path for traders. When trading cryptocurrency it is important to trade through reputable cryptocurrency brokers.

We list some notable cryptocurrency brokers below:

Etoro - being one of the top-rated cryptocurrency brokers it offers several currencies including ethereum, ripple, bitcoin and dash.

XTB - XTB too has a good name among traders and offers a wide range of such virtual currencies including litcoin, ethereum and bitcoin. It is placed as one of the top 5 cryptocurrency brokers in the industry.

Plus500 - it offers crypto throughout the day and night with good leverage for the most popular currencies like litecoin, ripple, neo, ethereum and bitcoin.

What is cryptocurrency?

Cryptocurrency is a virtual coin and is traded on cryptocurrency exchanges through cryptocurrency brokers.

Lately, cryptocurrency has continued to gain popularity. This has opened up lots of new trading tools and ways to trade including contracts for difference (CFD). They earn from the difference between the cost of an asset at the present time and what value it could become in the future.

Cryptocurrency wallets

Similar to other wallets this too facilitates storing, sending and receiving the currency. We explain the three types of cryptocurrency wallet below:

The hardware wallet

The hardware wallet is the most secure crypto wallet as all the data is stored offline. A few of the good examples are trezor, keepkey and ledger nano S.

The paper wallet

A paper cryptocurrency wallet is popular and it is secure. However, it is not as convenient as the hardware wallet.

The software wallet

The software wallet is the most conveniant among the three and can be managed from a desktop or mobile phone device. Some of the cryptocurrency wallets of note are exodus, jaxx and electrum.

Cryptocurrency exchanges

A cryptocurrency exchange is a place where buyers and sellers meet for the purpose of buying, selling or trading the virtual coins with the help of couple of cryptocurrency brokers.

Binance exchange is the most famous cryptocurrency exchange in the world and it offers crypto to crypto trading.

Combase is popular too and it offers trading on 100s and 1,000s of virtual currencies like litecoin, ethereum classic and bitcoin.

Localbitcoins, on the other hand, offers over-the- counter trading of virtual coins. Traders can post a currency for sale on its websites mentioning the rate and payment methods.

ICO and token

Abbreviated for initial coin offering the ICO is a kind of fundraising for a start-up. It is done by selling underlying tokens against ethereum or bitcoin.

ICO is similar to IPO in which traders buy company shares. Investors take an entry at early stage of the project and so are capable of making a profit with the success of the company.

However, one basic difference between the two is that any person from any place in the world can take part in the ICO.

Token meanwhile is a kind of cryptocurrency too but represents a specific asset. It is sometimes used as loyalty points that can be redeemed against discounts. It can also represent something uncommon like one token is 5 bitcoins.

The cryptocurrency mining

Just a little different with the fiat currencies, the cryptocurrencies are usually mined by miners. So, there is a phrase to describe the activity as the cryptocurrency mining.

To define it, it is a process in which the miners use powerful resources, in this case computers and adequate hardware to solve mathematical problems. These complicated problems need to be solved in order to attain the rewards.

To make it more challenging, these mathematical problems have cryptographic hash functions which are linked to the block which contains the information of the transaction.

These mathematical problems are tempted to solve with multiple miners.

So, when figuring out solutions for the problems, miners are competing with other cryptocurrency miners. It is about winning and losing. The winners will get small amounts of cryptocurrency.

The reward comes from the transaction fees the users pay. At least that is how major cryptocurrencies conduct and the other factor which also gives the rewards to the miner is the release of new cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency wallet

The cryptocurrency wallet is a digital wallet which the users use to deposit, store, hold, send, and receive digital currency or cryptocurrency.

Do not mistake it with concepts like paypal, payza, or various other digital currency systems. The crypto wallets do not serve as the storage of the cryptocurrency. The wallets only store the information in the form of public and private keys.

Meanwhile, the crypto itself is inside the blockchain. The users do not necessarily store their cryptocurrencies in their wallet. In summary, the cryptocurrencies wallet stores the important information which you can use to access your crypto assets.

Cryptocurrency exchange

When you have the cryptocurrencies assets, you may want to sell it to other users or, you could want to trade the cryptocurrencies. Here is where you will need to use a cryptocurrency exchange.

The cryptocurrency exchange is a platform which allows the users to buy, sell, or trade the cryptocurrencies.

Some exchanges only provide crypto-to-crypto trades, but some also allow the crossover currencies so that you can trade from crypto to fiat or fiat to crypto.

There are many cryptocurrencies exchanges that you can find on the internet. Some of them offer the trades for common cryptos such as BTC, ETH, BNB, USDT, and so on. But some also offer more wider array of currencies exchange.

Cryptocurrency brokers verdict

In current times, it is not exaggerating to say that cryptocurrency is the most volatile asset class that you can find.

It is due to the fact that it comes with the high speculative market not to mention that it currently disrupts the conventional economy so that many established players don�t see it to have inherent value.

Therefore, it is still safe to use the cryptocurrencies but in addition to fiat currencies.

We've collected thousands of datapoints and written a guide to help you find the best cryptocurrency brokers for you. We hope this guide helps you find a reputable broker that matches what you need. We list the what we think are the best cryptocurrency brokers below. You can go straight to the broker list here.

Reputable cryptocurrency brokers checklist

There are a number of important factors to consider when picking an online cryptocurrency trading brokerage.

Check your cryptocurrency broker has a history of at least 2 years.

Check your cryptocurrency broker has a reasonable sized customer support of at least 15.

Does the cryptocurrency broker fall under regulation from a jurisdiction that can hold a broker responsible for its misgivings; or at best play an arbitration role in case of bigger disputes.

Check your cryptocurrency broker has the ability to get deposits and withdrawals processed within 2 to 3 days. This is important when withdrawing funds.

Does your cryptocurrency broker have an international presence in multiple countries. This includes local seminar presentations and training.

Make sure your cryptocurrency can hire people from various locations in the world who can better communicate in your local language.

Our team have listed brokers that match your criteria for you below. All brokerage data has been summarised into a comparison table. Scroll down.

Our brokerage comparison table below allows you to compare the below features for brokers offering cryptocurrency brokers.

We compare these features to make it easier for you to make a more informed choice.

Minimum deposit to open an account.

Available funding methods for the below cryptocurrency brokers.

What you are able to trade with each brokerage.

Trading platforms offered by these brokers.

Spread type (if applicable) for each brokerage.

Customer support levels offered.

We show if each brokerage offers micro, standard, VIP and islamic accounts.

Top 15 cryptocurrency brokers of 2021 compared

Here are the top cryptocurrency brokers.

Compare cryptocurrency brokers min deposits, regulation, headquarters, benefits, funding methods and fees side by side.

All brokers below are cryptocurrency brokers. Learn more about what they offer below.

You can scroll left and right on the comparison table below to see more cryptocurrency brokers that accept cryptocurrency clients

Best cryptocurrency brokers

Luke jacobi

Contributor, benzinga

Want to jump straight to the answer? The best crypto platform for most people is definitely etoro.

Many people believe that cryptocurrencies are the future of finance. When you’re ready to leap into crypto, choosing a broker to trade or invest in cryptocurrencies is one of the most important steps to your success in the crypto market.

Get started now with benzinga’s picks for the best cryptocurrency brokers to choose the right one for you.

Best crypto brokers and trading platforms:

Best for social trading: etoro

Best for ease-of-use: gemini

Best for new investors: coinbase

Best for gold investments: itrustcapital

Best for high volume forex traders: cryptorocket

Best for accessibility: altrady

Best for multiple exchanges: voyager

Best crypto brokers

Since different brokers have different strengths, you need to figure out what kind of broker best suits your cryptocurrency interests. Some brokers provide a social trading platform where you copy other cryptocurrency traders’ trades in your own account. Others can offer the ability to make transactions in a broader selection of altcoins.

Choosing the best crypto broker depends largely on addressing your needs as an investor or trader. The following list crypto brokers been selected for different reasons to meet the needs of differing cryptocurrency trading and investing styles.

Commissions

Account minimum

Etoro fundamentally changed the way many people trade and invest with its social trading platform. Social trading involves mirroring another trader or investor’s transactions in a special social trading account. While you make the same amount proportionally as the trader you’re copying, you also take the same percentage of losses the trader takes in their account.

In addition to its regular crypto trading platform, etoro offers an advanced cryptocurrency exchange platform called etorox. This platform is designed for algorithmic traders and institutional grade investors. It offers traders access to tight-dealing spreads, and its algox application programming interface (API) can be used to create custom automated trading tools.

Commissions

Account minimum

2. Best for ease-of-use: gemini

Stay on top of market trends, build your crypto portfolio and execute your trading strategy with gemini’s easy-to-use tools. The gemini app is available on all the major app stores, and it puts the industry’s best crypto exchange and wallet in your hands.

Gemini’s app is easy to use. You can track asset prices and real-time market prices and set price alerts so you can act fast on price movements for individual assets. You can also schedule recurring buys on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Invest with peace of mind with gemini’s solid cybersecurity and custody solutions. Create a free account and make your 1st buy in as little as 3 minutes.

Commissions

Account minimum

3. Best for new investors: coinbase

Coinbase is 1 of the largest and oldest cryptocurrency exchanges. It currently services 35 million customers worldwide. Coinbase has extensive educational resources and an intuitive interface ideal for new traders and investors.

The exchange also provides clients with a hosted wallet and offers global customer support. Coinbase is an excellent choice for those new to the cryptocurrency market who do not wish to use social trading services.

Pricing

Account minimum

4. Best for gold investments: itrustcapital

Itrustcapital is 1 of the few cryptocurrency brokers that lets you trade and hold physical gold in your individual retirement account (IRA). You can also trade bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC) and bitcoin cash (BTH) in your IRA. Itrustcapital provides you with a personal wallet by curv for your crypto transactions.

While itrustcapital has no minimum trade or account size, the company charges account holders a flat fee of $29.95 per month. This amount includes all IRA fees, asset custody charges and access to its trading platform, although all cryptocurrency trades carry an additional 1% transaction charge based on the trade size.

If you’re planning for your retirement and want to add physical gold to your cryptocurrency portfolio as an inflation hedge, then itrustcapital is a solid choice.

5. Best for high volume forex traders: cryptorocket

Cryptorocket offers straight through processing (STP) to its trading clients. This means you deal directly with the crypto and forex markets and not through intermediaries or market makers. This broker model is ideal for high volume forex traders who tend to be sensitive to dealing spreads.

In addition to the 35 crypto pairs offered, you can trade 55 fiat currency pairs, 64 major stocks and 11 indices. If you are based in a jurisdiction with relatively lax retail forex trading regulatory oversight, you may even be able to take advantage of cryptorocket’s 500:1 maximum leverage ratio for forex trades.

Cryptorocket also supports the popular 3rd-party metatrader4 trading platform.

6. Best for accessibility: altrady

Altrady is built by crypto traders for crypto traders. It makes cryptocurrency trading accessible for beginner, intermediate and advanced traders.

You can get the tools that professional crypto traders use without the expensive price tag. Altrady’s platform is intuitive and easy-to-use. Its crypto trading software platform adapts to your needs.

It combines 10 connected exchanges. It also offers immediate price alerts, portfolio manager, break-even calculator, and customizable trading pages by allowing traders to manipulate widgets to create preferred layout in order to trade comfortably, limit ladder order, gain quick access to market tabs, and integrated market scanners.

Commissions

Account minimum

7. Best for multiple exchanges: voyager

Voyager connects to more than a dozen of the most trusted and secure crypto exchanges so you have access to the largest crypto trading market available anywhere. Voyager gives you faster, more reliable execution, plus:

Access to multiple exchanges: voyager partnered with over a dozen of the most trusted and secure crypto exchanges and liquidity providers. Voyager’s exchange connectivity offers you competitive prices on your trades and faster, more reliable execution.

Commission-free trading: voyager operates commission free to save you money. You save money on trades through its extensive crypto market and best execution technology. Voyager achieves price improvement on over 90% of customer orders.

Start trading at a better price today! Download the voyager app today.

Crypto advantages vs. Disadvantages

Trading and investing in cryptocurrencies often carry a considerable degree of risk, as you may have observed given the volatility of bitcoin and some other digital currencies. Despite the disadvantages currently associated with cryptos versus fiat currencies (like lower liquidity and minimal payment options), the advantages of holding cryptocurrencies will increase as they become a more common form of payment.

Here’s a quick shot of crypto advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages

Security. Technology advances typically lead to increased intrusion into your privacy. In contrast, all identities and transactions are strictly secured in the digital currency environment. While most cryptocurrency transactions are very secure, you still could be vulnerable to cybercriminal actions, like hacking.

Low transaction fees. Because of the elimination of intermediaries like financial institutions, cryptocurrency transaction fees are generally quite low.

Decentralized. The lack of a central exchange or authority overseeing cryptocurrencies is one of their defining characteristics. Many people consider this among the biggest advantages of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.

High potential returns. You only have to look at a long-term bitcoin price chart to get an idea of the returns you can make investing wisely in digital currencies. The crypto world is still developing and expanding, so investing in the right digital currency now could translate into considerable returns in the future.

Disadvantages

Acceptance. Because digital currencies have not yet become mainstream, most businesses will not accept them as payment for goods or services. This situation will eventually change as public perception makes digital currencies more acceptable as forms of payment. For example, paypal has recently allowed customers to hold bitcoin balances and has plans to allow payments using that cryptocurrency by early 2021.

Volatility. The market volatility observed in some digital currencies can lead to large gains or large losses. Trading and investing in crypto is not for everyone, especially those with a low pain threshold or aversion to risk.

Taxes. The internal revenue service (IRS) states on its official website that “virtual currency transactions are taxable by law just like transactions in any other property.” that IRS web page also links to a guide about how existing general tax principles apply to transactions made using digital currencies.

Illegal activities. Due to the fact that digital currency transactions generally provide identity security, many people operating outside the law are thought to use digital currency for illegal activities. These activities could include money laundering, “dark web” transactions, and drug and human trafficking.

Cryptocurrency vocabulary

Like many other financial markets, the cryptocurrency market has evolved its own jargon. Some of the key terms used by market operators are defined below.

Block. A collection of transactions permanently recorded on a digital ledger that occur regularly in every time period on a blockchain.

Blockchain. A constantly growing list of blocks in a peer-to-peer network that records transactions.

Cryptocurrency exchanges. Also called digital currency exchanges, these generally consist of online businesses that allow customers to exchange cryptocurrencies for fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency wallet. A secure digital account used to send, receive and store digital currencies. Crypto wallets can either be cold wallets that are used for storing cryptos in an offline environment or hosted wallets that are hosted by 3rd parties. Hosted wallets store your private keys and provide security for your digital currency balances.

Distributed ledger. A network of decentralized nodes or computers that connect to a network where transaction data is stored. Distributed ledgers do not have to involve cryptocurrencies and can be either private or permissioned.

Fork. Also known as a “chain split,” a fork is a split that creates an alternate version of a blockchain that then leaves 2 blockchains running simultaneously. For example, bitcoin and bitcoin cash came about due to a fork in the original bitcoin blockchain. Another type of fork is known as a “project” or “software fork.” this occurs when cryptocurrency developers take the source code of an existing altcoin project and create a new project. For example, litecoin is a project fork of bitcoin.

ICO. An initial coin offering (ICO) occurs when a new digital currency or token is sold, typically at a discount, to its first set of investors. An ICO lets issuing cryptocurrency companies raise funds from the public to support their coin’s development and maintenance.

Mining. A computationally-intensive process performed within a cryptocurrency network where blocks are added to the blockchain by verifying transactions on its distributed ledger. Miners are rewarded with digital coins as compensation for their successful computational efforts.

Are you ready for the future?

Digital currency and the blockchain appear to be the future of finance. Despite their current typical volatility and lack of widespread acceptance as a payment method, cryptocurrencies seem destined to become increasingly used for online payments. They could therefore make an interesting long-term investment, especially if you have a strong appetite for risk.

Where we will be in 20 years is anyone’s guess, but cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology show growing promise as forces to be reckoned with in the financial world. Get started today with 1 of our recommended crypto brokers.

Try gemini

Gemini builds crypto products to help you buy, sell, and store your bitcoin and cryptocurrency. You can buy bitcoin and crypto instantly and access all the tools you need to understand the crypto market and start investing, all through one clear, attractive interface. Gemini crypto platform offers excellent account management options. You can manage your account at a glance, view your account balance 24-hour changes and percent changes. Get started with gemini now.

Best online brokers for buying and selling cryptocurrency in january 2021

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Cryptocurrency, especially bitcoin, has proven to be a popular trading vehicle, even if legendary investors such as warren buffett think it’s as good as worthless. Part of cryptocurrency’s popularity is due to its volatility, since these swings allow traders to make money on the price moves.

For example, at the start of 2017, the price of bitcoin broke through the $1,000 barrier. By the end of the year, the digital currency had reached nearly $20,000. Almost a year later, bitcoin was hovering around $3,200. But it sprung back to life in 2019, rising to more than $10,000 and has continued significantly higher since then — crossing the $20,000 level toward the end of 2020.

It’s this kind of price movement that has attracted traders looking to ride the waves to profit. While some traders like to own the currency directly, others turn to the futures market. Futures may be an even more attractive way to play the volatility of digital currencies such as bitcoin, because they allow traders to use leverage to magnify their gains (but also magnify losses).

Where can you buy and sell cryptocurrencies?

Traditional brokers have the advantage of offering a wide selection of investible securities, though typically you can’t trade bitcoin directly, only futures. Meanwhile, crypto exchanges are limited to digital currencies, though you can own the currencies directly and can often buy several, rather than simply bitcoin or bitcoin futures, as you would with a general broker. And paypal has also gotten in on the act, allowing U.S. Users to buy and sell cryptocurrencies.

Here are the best brokers for cryptocurrency trading, including traditional online brokers, as well as a new specialized cryptocurrency exchange. You might also want to check out which brokers offer the best bonuses for opening an account to determine where you can get a little extra.

Overview: best brokers for cryptocurrency trading

Robinhood

Robinhood is a great option for buying cryptocurrency directly. Not only that, you’ll get to take advantage of the broker’s wildly popular trading commissions: $0 per trade, or commission-free. And if you’re into more than just cryptocurrency, you can stick around for stock and ETF trades for the same low price. Robinhood’s slick app makes trading so easy, though those looking for a full-featured trading experience will be disappointed.

Commission: $0

Account minimum: $0

TD ameritrade

TD ameritrade is one of the top full-service brokers on the market, and not only does it offer access to traditional products such as stocks and bonds, but it’s expanded its offering to include bitcoin futures. However, TD ameritrade does not allow trading directly in the digital currency. You’ll need to meet the account minimum to get started with bitcoin futures. (charles schwab has purchased TD ameritrade, and will eventually integrate the two companies.)

Commission: $2.25 per contract

Account minimum: $25,000 for futures

Interactive brokers

Interactive brokers allows you to buy bitcoin futures rather than owning the currency directly. And in this broker’s case, you can actually buy futures on the chicago mercantile exchange, with all-in contracts costing $15.01 with five bitcoins per contract. In addition, interactive brokers brings its full suite of investment offerings, so you can buy almost anything that trades on an exchange.

Commission: $15.01 per contract

Account minimum: $0

Charles schwab

Charles schwab is routinely one of bankrate’s picks for top broker, and this investor-friendly company offers trading in bitcoin futures. Schwab also has no account minimum, but any futures contracts you trade will require some minimum margin to hold them open. Schwab offers an attractive commission of $1.50 per contract, and if you’re able to bring big money to the table, you’ll receive a welcome bonus, too.

Commission: $1.50 per contract

Account minimum: $0, futures margin depends on contract

Tradestation

Traders have a couple options at this broker, which has rolled out direct currency trading via tradestation crypto, with commission-based pricing for traders. Pricing is based on your account balance with the broker and whether your order is directly marketable. Normally pricing ranges from 0.25 percent of your order to 1 percent. Traders can also buy and sell bitcoin futures as well as take advantage of substantial volume trading discounts.

Commission: 0.25-1 percent

Account minimum: $0, but futures margin depends on contract

Coinbase

Coinbase is a specialized cryptocurrency-focused platform that allows you to trade digital currencies directly, including bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and bitcoin cash. In total, you’ll have access to more than three dozen cryptocurrencies. You’ll also be able to store your coins in a vault with time-delayed withdrawals for additional protection. The exchange’s commission structure is steep. It charges a spread markup of about 0.5 percent and adds a transaction fee depending on the size of the transaction and the funding source.

Commission: at least 1.99 percent of the transaction value

Account minimum: $0

Bottom line

Whenever you’re selecting a broker, it’s important to consider all of your needs. And for new traders in cryptocurrency, you’ll want to figure out whether you want to own the virtual currency directly or whether you want to trade futures, which offer higher reward, but also higher risk.

You’ll also need to consider whether you want to trade more than bitcoin, which is what the majority of traditional brokers restrict you to. If not, you may want to turn to a cryptocurrency exchange, since they offer more choice of tradable cryptocurrency.

Fxdailyreport.Com

Over the last few years, cryptocurrency trading has become one of the most attractive niches in forex trading. Other than it being extremely profitable, the lack of regulation is its biggest appeal. Still, cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ethereum ripple, dash, and litecoin are dynamic, unstable instruments that need to be handled cautiously and in the most optimal way. To achieve this, you need to choose a trustworthy, well-established broker to carry out your cryptocurrency trading.

This is crucial to getting on the right track from the beginning when trading cryptocurrencies. When choosing a broker, it is important to note that not all are the same. A broker that meets the needs of another trader may not meet yours. Here are a few tips to help you choose the best forex broker for cryptocurrency trading:

Regulation and reputation

To avoid dealing with an unprofessional broker and being scammed, you need to make sure all your crypto trades are made solely with a regulated broker. When choosing a forex broker to work with, make sure they are regulated within your jurisdiction to legally offer you their services. Regulated forex brokers are under constant supervision of the regulatory body. If you are in the UK, make sure to trade with a broker that is regulated by the FCA. If in europe, ensure they are regulated by the cysec. In case you are in australia, they should be regulated by the ASIC.

An efficient trading platform

It is important to note that cryptocurrency trading is more volatile than forex. Therefore, it demands that the platform is superbly responsive to be able to make moves in time. A good broker’s platform should be efficient to use. To beat the competition, the best cryptocurrency brokers work to attract clients by creating an intuitive trading platform that is suitable for both experienced and new traders. They offer technical analysis tools and basic risk management features like take profit or stop loss. Other sites also offer additional features, including price alerts, social trading networks or advanced educational centers. The crypto trading platform should allow you to trade in the market manage your accounts, perform technical analysis, and receive the latest news on all cryptocurrencies.

Top recommended crypto forex brokers in 2021

info	bonus	open account
min deposit: $5 spread: from 0.2 pips leverage: 500:1 regulation: FSA (saint vincent and the grenadines), cysec	50% deposit bonus, real contest 1st prize luxury car BMW X5 M, copy trading, trade&win.	Visit broker
min deposit: $1 spread: from 0 pips leverage: 3000:1 regulation: cysec, IFSC	$100 no-deposit bonus, 100% deposit bonus	visit broker
min deposit: 0 spread: non-spread, fee 0.1% per trade leverage: non-leverage regulation: -	visit broker
min deposit: $1 spread: from 0 pips leverage: 2000:1 regulation: FCA UK, cysec, FSP, bafin, CRFIN	35% of the account deposit	visit broker
min deposit: $100 spread: starting 0 pips leverage: up to 400:1 regulation: FCA UK, NFA, CFTC, ASIC, IIROC, FSA, CIMA	visit broker
min deposit: $300 spread: floating, from 0 pips leverage: 500:1 regulation: FCA UK reference number 579202	visit broker
min deposit: $200 spread: starting 0 pips leverage: 500:1 regulation: ASIC australia, FCA UK	visit broker
min deposit: no minimum deposit spread: 1.2 pips leverage: 50:1 regulation: CFTC, NFA, FCA, MAS, ASIC, IIROC	visit broker
min deposit: $10 spread: leverage: regulation: cysec	-	visit broker
min deposit: $200 spread: from 3 pips leverage: 400:1 regulation: NFA, FCA, cysec	visit broker

Transparent fees and commissions

All brokers, whether trading crypto coins or forex, charge commissions and offer margin accounts to traders. A reliable forex broker for crypto coins should inform you precisely the type of fees and commissions they charge as well as the risks involved. The common fees and charges made by brokers include:

• wallet fees
• transaction fees
• trading fees

Competitive technology

The last thing you want as a crypto trader is to get margin called simply because you could not log in to close an order. The cryptocurrency trading market is a 24/7 global market. The prices keep moving and are not limited to your time zone. Hence, when choosing a broker, you need to choose one whose platform offers full-time access.

For instance, when trading cryptocurrencies, mobile apps are a necessity as you may need to make or break deal-critical decisions throughout the day. If possible, consider using a reputable broker with a mobile app so that you are able to make successful trading decisions even while in transit.

Access to crowd wisdom

Today, there are some broker platforms that let you leverage the wisdom of seasoned cryptocurrency traders. This feature can go a long way in improving your returns on investment. Such a trading platform lets you observe the hottest trading trends of other seasoned and successful traders in the market.

Digital currencies trading keeps growing in popularity by the day. More and more people, be it speculators or beginner traders want to be able to make key decisions on time, every minute. Therefore, they need to have a setup ready as soon as they are verified by a broker. When choosing a cryptocurrency broker to trade with, consider one that can quickly get you started so that you can begin trading with minimal downtime.

User-friendly platform

This is one of the most important features to consider when choosing a trading platform to trade with. Digital money trading can be unclear, especially when a technical language is used. Also, because digital money works a little bit differently from any traditional money system. A good broker should be able to understand blockchain and cryptography terms. They should make an effort to explain it in their platform to make it easy to understand by a layman.

They should include clear notifications about the spreads offers, leverage available, deposit methods, the minimum cryptocurrency deposit to trade and the least amount that can be placed in a trade. Make sure you are able to establish all these details before registering with a broker.

High-quality customer service

Cryptocurrency trading occurs 24/7. This demands the need for round the clock customer support. Better still, live support is highly preferred over auto attendants taking into consideration the intricacies involved in trading digital currencies.

Deposits and withdrawals

Make sure to choose a broker that allows deposits and withdrawals through multiple platforms such as wire transfer, credit/debit card e-payment among others.

Good financial backing

A good FX broker for cryptocurrency should have a sound financial backing. This ensures that your digital coins are safe and that the forex broker will not go bankrupt soon after signing up with them.

Cryptocurrency trading is a risky investment. New and fraudulent forex brokers for cryptocurrency trading are emerging every month, launching with crafty marketing campaigns intended to prey on an innocent investor. Therefore, ensure you proceed with caution. Cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile instruments to trade. So, ensure you are in the know of any breaking news, regulatory matters, and rumors which all dictate the market behavior. Above all, make sure you are working with a reputable, reliable and experienced broker.

While it would be easier to point a finger and tell you the best crypto broker, we know and understand that each client has different preferences. Be knowledgeable about all your options and think about how you can spot a broker that is safe now, and in the long-run.

Top 10 online cryptocurrency trading brokers

The pioneer of social trading is now offering an exclusive opportunity for investors who want exposure to the most popular cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, dash, ethereum and more. Trade crypto 24/7 at etoro with no rollover fees!

World's leading social trading platform

Proven track record of security

Unlimited daily withdrawals

Min. Deposit of $200 to get started

Instant trade execution

With over 30 years of trading experience and trades in over 50 countries, city index is a leader in spread betting, CFD and forex trading. Trade in 12,000+ global markets including bitcoin, indices, shares, forex and much more.

Trade on 12,000+ markets including bitcoin

Trade anytime, anywhere. Across all devices

Risk management & transparent pricing

Fast execution on every trade

Thanks to an excellent reputation, high trading standards, and multilingual customer care, avatrade has become one of the industries leading brokers. Offering highly competitive spreads on a wide variety of trading investments.

Get up to 14,000 bonus

No commission/no exchange fees

Trade a wide variety of crypto cfds

With markets.Com get ZERO commission trading on cryptocurrency, forex and commodity cfds with one of the most sophisticated trading platforms in the industry.

No commission trading

Use paypal to trade bitcoin futures

Advanced innovative trading platforms

Easymarkets was formed by bankers and forex experts and has been serving the forex market for 16 years, with transparent pricing, fixed spreads and no commissions on deposits or withdrawals. Now with cryptocurrency cfds!

Demo account is unlimited

Trade bitcoin with no slippage - ever!

No commissions or sneaky fees

T&C's apply to each of the offers above, click "visit site" for more details.

Risk warning: users should be aware that all investment markets carry inherent risks, and past performance does not assure future results. Trading of any kind is a high-risk activity, and you could lose more than you initially deposited. Cfds are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 73-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading cfds. Please be sure you thoroughly understand the risks involved and do not invest money you cannot afford to lose. Your capital is at risk. Advertiser disclosure: topbrokers.Trade is an independent professional comparison site funded by referral fees. The compensation topbrokers.Trade receives is derived from the companies and advertisements featured on the site. Due to this compensation, we can provide our users with a free comparison tool. Unfortunately we are unable to list every broker or exchange available, however, we do our best to review as many as possible.

How to get started in cryptocurrency trading

As the trade volumes are reaching billions of dollars a day and the market caps are hitting tens of billions of dollars, it is no wonder that cryptocurrencies fuel the modern day gold rush. Today is an age of digital currencies, with hundreds of cryptocurrencies birthed within the decade. There are already more than a thousand cryptocurrencies in the market, and almost daily a new initial coin offering (ICO) appears.

What is cryptocurrency?

Today, the most famous cryptocurrency is bitcoin. Its inventor attempted to build a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system”. Many have tried this system many times before. However, the main difference between bitcoin and the previous efforts, like digicash, was that it was to be entirely decentralized. Since no overarching entity is controlling the currency, the notion of “trust” would be eliminated from the system.

To combat “double spending”, the major problem in all the digital cash systems at that point, satoshi nakamoto, bitcoin’s inventor, proposed the blockchain technology. The blockchain technology is a revolutionary technology that records all the transactions made with this currency.

For any single balance, transaction, or change to the network to take place, there needs to be a consensus amongst those who validate the network – the miners. Since the invention of bitcoin, many programmers have attempted to use the model and change it to provide what they consider a more functional form of digital cash.

The other kinds of cryptocurrencies include monero, new economy movement, litecoin, and ether. Many of these cryptocurrency efforts tailor their currency for an individual and particular purpose. Some of the most common purposes are speed, privacy, and price.

What are cryptocurrencies used for?

Since cryptocurrency is such a new technology, it may be that people have not used it yet for its eventual use. Still, today people utilize it for many various purposes. These purposes include, but aren’t limited to the following: trading, remittances, payment for goods and services, investment, gambling, private monetary transactions, and as a hedge against national currencies which are suffering from rapid devaluation (greece, venezuela for example).

As the whole cryptocurrency space begins to expand, it’s likely that we will see some additional applications joining the list of purposes for the crypto currency. There are already young services such as steemit, which aims to revolutionize the way people pay for content on social media, in addition to services like musicoin which attempts to find a more equitable way to pay artists without the need for a middleman.

What is the difference between bitcoin and ethereum?

All cryptocurrencies have their own characteristics. However, recently one coin has come to challenge bitcoin more than ever before. Ethereum is the new player on the market. The reasons that it is a challenge to bitcoin are easy to understand.

Ethereum emerged as an effort to try to correct some of the main criticisms made towards bitcoin – especially regarding security.

What ethereum has accomplished to do was to provide transactions that are safer, more flexible contracts that are compatible with any wallet, with short block times for negotiating (where the confirmations are easier). Also, ethereum is available more than bitcoin. Whereas more than two-thirds of bitcoin has already been mined, access to ethereum is still widely available. Another main difference between these two cryptocurrencies is that ethereum allows for different developers to raise funds for their projects. It can, therefore, be in itself a kickstarter for some projects.

One of the main advantages to ethereum is that it’s a more secure, easy to use, flexible, and transact coin. In addition to this advantage, it has brought innovations in terms of entrepreneurship and investment. And this is posing a serious challenge to bitcoin’s market cap.

What is the difference between a cryptocurrency exchange and a cryptocurrency broker?

You can invest in cryptocurrency in two ways. First, cryptocurrency can be bought and sold at a cryptocurrency exchange and stored in a digital wallet. The second method would be to invest in crypto as a CFD with regulated cryptocurrency brokers. With CFD cryptocurrency trading, the digital currency is treated as a speculative investment and traded as a contract for difference (or CFD), through brokers.

Platforms that allow traders to buy and sell cryptocurrencies are cryptocurrency exchanges. Dues to the fact that it is a very recent – and booming – market, the majority of these platforms are relatively new. But, of course, one of the essential questions that people ask is how to know if a particular platform is safe or not.

The only way that you can find out is to check if the exchange provides transparent data of the coins that are in cold storage. What this means is, whether it has the reserves that it requires to provide liquidity to its activities. You can find check this easily by checking whether an exchange is regulated or not.

Trade cryptocurrency online using CFD services

If you are interested in trading because of the opportunity to profit from the incredible volatility of cryptocurrency, your best option is to use an online trading platform that allows CFD services. Currently, there are very few CFD platforms that allow this kind of trade, so to see available options refer to our recommendations above.

CFD brokers are a great option if you want to trade cryptocurrencies with the option to accept multiple forms of payment. If you want to buy cryptocurrency with paypal, you can, and these forums also accept major credit cards and wire transfers as well. Furthermore, if you choose to trade through a forex or CFD platform, you will pay the lowest commissions possible. That is in comparison to other investment alternatives. CFD and forex companies use an exchange rate that is an aggregate of different crypto exchanges.

Trading cryptocurrencies – getting started with cfds (contracts for differences)

Cryptocurrency cfds allow you to trade digital coins without actually owning any. Crypto cfds were generated to give traders exposure to the cryptocurrency market without the need for ownership.

Contracts for differences, also known as “cfds,” represent a contract between trader and exchange. Cfds declare that the difference between the price on entry and the price on exit will be a trader’s profit or loss. Basically, cfds are an agreement held between two parties that simulate an actual asset.

How to make money trading crypto

There are several ways to make money cryptocurrency trading. The most popular is trading bitcoin against the US dollar, known in market terms as the BTC/USD pair. The first method is to find a top cryptocurrency broker and to invest in a digital currency in the same way that you would do with a physical currency – by buying low and selling high. Since cryptocurrency is highly volatile, you should be able to identify the dip with studying and market research.

Read on to learn how to find the best cryptocurrency brokers. Be sure to review the platforms we suggest above, all are fully-registered and come highly recommended. For additional information regarding trading cryptocurrency as a CFD, check out our guide on “the basics of cfds“. It’s important that you remember that leverage works both ways and it will magnify the gains and losses.

How to choose the best cryptocurrency trading broker online

Because there’s so much competition in the market as well as having countless cryptocurrency brokers to choose from, it can be difficult to know which option will be best for you. Here are a few key points we suggest keeping in mind when deciding how to best invest:

Regulation

Each country has its own regulatory body. The regulatory body develops rules, services and programs to protect the integrity of the market. The regulators protect traders, and investors as well as the cryptocurrency brokers themselves. Their main obligation is to help members meet regulatory responsibilities. Due to potential safety concerns regarding deposit, you should exclusively open accounts with regulated firms.

Customer service

Cryptocurrency trading takes place 24 hrs a day, so customer support should be available at all times. Ideally, you will want to speak with a live support person rather than a time-consuming auto-attendant. Give a call to the customer service centre to get an idea of the type of customer service provided. Check on wait times and find out the representative’s ability to answer questions regarding spreads and leverage, trade volume, and company details.

Account types

Your ideal cryptocurrency trading broker should be able to offer either multiple account options or an element of customizability. Look for cryptocurrency brokers that offer competitive spreads and easy deposits/withdrawals.

Currency pairs

Cryptocurrency brokers can provide a selection of cryptocurrency pairs. However, it is most important is that they provide the variety of pairs that interest you. While there are many digital currencies available for trading, there are only a few get the majority of the attention, and as the result, trade with the highest liquidity.

Platform type

The trading platform is the investor’s portal to the markets. With that in mind, look for a platform that’s easy to use, straightforward and offers an advanced collection of analytical and technical and tools. These features will help to enhance your trading experience.

Here at topbrokers.Trade, we take pride in providing the best possible trading brokers comparison, reviews and ratings. These reviews enable you to select the best trading platform for your needs. We don’t just help you to pick a great place to trade, but also do everything that we can, to show you how to get started. For more information on cryptocurrencies, please see our tutorial: the basics of cryptocurrency

Best crypto brokers

The cryptocurrency market continues to gain traction, not only with social media headline-chasing retail traders, but also with professional ones and fund managers. The maturity of the market adds to capital inflows into the cryptoverse. Bitcoin leads the sector which, as of september 2020, consisted of 6,955 known cryptocurrencies. The total number may exceed it as new projects enter the market at a fast pace. Since scams continue to plague the sector, traders should remain focused on the top 100 currencies for crypto trading. Volatility is one thing each cryptocurrency trader must be comfortable with before proceeding. Price swings of over 50% have occurred, sometimes in a matter of hours or days, and bitcoin is prone to wild moves exceeding $2,000 per wave. It also creates exciting trading opportunities, and price action volatility persists. Unlike in the early wild west days of the sector, the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization evolved from a fledgling asset to respect aspects of trading like support and resistance and breakouts and breakdowns, and technical indicators became more reliable to assist in the analysis, similar to fiat currencies. Trading with one of the best cryptocurrency brokers can enhance the profit opportunities for traders.

While the number of cryptocurrency exchanges continues to grow, they cater more to cryptocurrency investors. They remain ideal for those who prefer to buy and hold, or “hodl”, as it became known across the sector due to a typo on social media by an early enthusiast amid a surge in market volatility, which caught on with the crypto crowd. Cryptocurrency traders remain best served at brokers via contracts for differences (cfds), a derivative that grants full exposure to price action without physical ownership. Cfds became the most used asset for traders, and forex brokers started to add cryptocurrency cfds to their asset list. Trading with a well-established one can eliminate risks like scams, frauds, and losses related to the hacking of cryptocurrency exchanges. Brokers maintain various product and services portfolios, catering to a different type of core clientele. Therefore, traders should find a crypto broker that fulfills their trading needs. Our top list of the best crypto brokers takes the guesswork out for traders seeking a reliable choice with a secure trading environment. The cryptocurrency market will only grow further. Adding this asset class to a well-diversified portfolio can boost the earning potential with one of the most exciting trading instruments created this millennium.

Best cryptocurrency brokers to trade with in 2021

5 popular regulated crypto brokers

Cfds are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage.
Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading cfds.
You should consider whether you understand how cfds work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

The cryptocurrency market is more live than ever. If we want to get on the right track right from the beginning, we need to choose our crypto broker carefully. Every broker offering crypto trading is not the same. If a broker meets the requirements of one particular client, it does not mean that it will also meet yours. There are several aspects to think about when choosing your cryptocurrency broker.

How to go about choosing the best crypto broker

Regulation and reputation

To avoid being scammed or treated unprofessionally you should trade solely with regulated brokers. Only brokers that are regulated in your jurisdiction can legally offer services to you, such companies are under constant supervision of the regulatory body. There are 2 major financial regulators in europe; the cysec and FCA. A broker that is regulated by one european regulator has the right to provide cross-border services to other members of the european economic area.

A broker that is, for example, regulated in cyprus by the cysec provides the same investor protection even for a trader from the UK, germany, netherlands or any other EEA country member.

In australia and south africa, the most prominent financial regulators are the ASIC and FSCA, respectively.

Cryptocurrencies we want to trade

Before you open your trading account at a brokerage company, you have to first to find out whether the broker you are considering offers all the cryptocurrencies you want to trade. Bitcoin, ethereum, and litecoin can be traded almost everywhere. Less popular cryptocurrencies like IOTA, monero, zcash, and others might, however, not be available on every trading platform. In case you want to trade them at any point, keep this in mind and make sure it will be possible.

Leverage – multiplying your capital

Cryptocurrencies are volatile in their very nature, but if you want to trade with bigger capital than you have you can take advantage of leverage. All brokers that are regulated in the EU follow ESMA laws and offer leverage 2:1. Remember, however, that leverage does not only multiply your earnings but also your losses, should your prediction be incorrect.

Negative balance protection – necessity

You probably do not want to trade with a broker that does not include negative balance protection in the package. The negative balance protection feature ensures you never lose more money than you invest. All users that trade with a broker that is e.G. Licensed by the cysec regulator are protected against negative balance.

Appropriate capital according to your possibilities

How much do you plan to trade with? Does your crypto broker offer to trade with a small starting capital? If not, is it an obstacle for you? Or do you plan to trade in big in order to make that big money? Decide for yourself before you choose your cryptocurrency broker.

Fees – as low as possible

Let's face it, no one really likes them, but they are always there. Yes, we are talking about fees. We know that brokers have to finance their operation somehow, but the lower the fees are, the better. In general, most cryptocurrency brokers we know charge your account with a spread (i.E the difference between the ask and bid price) and with an overnight fee. It is quite hard to determine which broker has the lowest fees as they are not fixed and they tend to change according to the current market conditions. They are also quite different for bitcoin as well as other cryptocurrencies, so while one broker might have very competitive spreads on bitcoin, they might charge high spreads on stellar, or other altcoins. For that reason, the best practice is to open a demo with a reputable company to see what spreads a broker charge in real-time on cryptocurrencies you want to trade.

Overnight fees

While the spread is plausibly the most substantial fee you will have to face when trading, you should also know how big is the overnight fee charged by your broker. The overnight fee is deducted from your balance if you stay in a position overnight. This expense should be monitored especially by traders who want to hold on to their cryptocurrencies for a while.

Trading platform

To beat their competition, the world's leading cryptocurrency brokers try to attract clients to an intuitive trading environment suitable for both experienced and inexperienced traders. Almost all brokers include in their offer technical analysis tools and basic risk management features like a stop loss or take profit. Most companies do not, however, limit their offer only to the mentioned necessities and also offer price alerts, advanced educational centres or perhaps even a social trading network. Here are a few special features that one of the top european and australian crypto providers have to offer.

Broker	special features	special features
etoro	allows you to follow and copy other traders	30 crypto pairs
XTB	MT4 & xstation 5	comprehensive educational centre
plus500	price alerts (via an email or SMS), beginner friendly trading platform	trailing stop
IQ option	an award-winning in-house built platform, online chat with other traders	crypto digest videos (twice a week)
capital.Com	A wide range of crypto crosses pairs

5 popular regulated cryptocurrency brokers

Etoro

Plus500

IQ option

Roinvesting

The best crypto broker – FAQ

�� what is the best cryptocurrency broker?

To answer what is the best cryptocurrency broker, we would have to know your needs and preferences. Having said that, you should look for a broker that is regulated in your country, has competitive fees and features cryptocurrencies you want to trade.

Regulation

If you are based in europe, you should look for a broker that is regulated in at least one european country. The most common financial regulator in europe is the cysec which is headquartered in cyprus. If you are based in australia, look for the ASIC regulation (A regulatory body that oversees the financial market in australia). If you are based in the US look for the CFTC regulation.

The number one fee when trading with a CFD broker featuring cryptocurrency trading is going to be the spread. Visit a broker that you look and check their website to see what spreads they charge. You can find this info either directly on their trading platform or on a page that is dedicated to the broker’s fees.

Tradable cryptocurrencies

Each broker features different assets. The most common ones usually have all brokers, but if you are looking to trade some less popular altcoins, make sure your broker offers them.

�� can I try cryptocurrency trading risk-free?

Yes, you with most cryptocurrency brokers you can open a free demo account on which you can trade with play money. No initial deposit required.

⭐ what cryptocurrencies can I trade with cryptocurrency brokers?

It depends on what crypto broker you choose. Nearly all cryptocurrency brokers feature bitcoin, ethereum and ripple, but only some allow trading other-less popular coins. In this article, you could find all cryptocurrencies that some of the best crypto broker feature.

Conclusion – the best crypto broker

It would be easy to point a finger and say this is the best crypto broker for you to choose. We, however, know that each client has different preferences so while one trader might want a trading platform with the lowest spreads to day trade cryptocurrencies, the other might rather appreciate a copy trading system to follow the world’s most successful investors. The brokers featured in this article are one of the most popular regulated cryptocurrency brokers out there, the decision what is the best crypto broker for YOU is, however, in your hands.

- 3# crypto chart patterns for day trading
- the best hodling techniques
- how to short any cryptocurrency like a pro

And much more can be found in our crypto section.

2 comments

Hi michael. I’m retired and simply want to augment my pension with some of the crypto gravy. I have no idea where to start, I only now trade some stocks.
I’m getting some ads with amazing sounding promotions. Brokers that promote a 90% win robot, then when you sign up, a broker – usually from london – calls to see if they can help you trade. I want hands off till I learn. Is there anyone licensed you trust that can provide trading for me. I’ll send in some funds, and they can manage it and take a small cut. Is there a good brokerage out there?

Hello ian,
I bet there are many people who would love to trade with your funds, but be very careful. From my experience, 99% of robots do not work and the people behind them are simply scammers. That being said, you have two options if you want to get in cryptocurrencies. You can either learn how to trade on your own (the better option) or you can use a copy-trading system. Etoro has probably one of the most sophisticated copy-trading systems out there, so that could be your pick. Once you log-into to their platform, find a trader who trades cryptocurrencies and has stable performance. After that, you can start copying his/hers trades (this is done automatically). Best of luck ian!

PS: all brokers that are featured on this page are regulated either by the british financial conduct authority or by the cysec in cyprus.

Best cryptocurrency brokers in 2020

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In the cryptosphere, selecting the best crypto broker is not an easy task. There are hundreds of exchange platforms available for buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. And, each one claims to be the best exchange that can be trusted. But, many exchanges fail in that respect and sometimes leads to loss of user’s funds.

Therefore, to make your task cut short and help you to select the best crypto broker, I have come out with a list of best crypto brokers that can be trusted and provides superior trading experience.

Best crypto trading platform to use in 2020

#1. Coinbase

Coinbase is one of the most trusted and biggest brands in the cryptosphere, serving over 30 million users worldwide. The exchange has contributed significantly to redefine the crypto trading segment with its innovative product line.

Founded in 2012 in san francisco, california, coinbase is a one-stop-shop for the management of your crypto assets. It offers trading services in major cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, LTC, BCH, XRP, and few ERC-20 tokens.

Available on both web and mobile platforms, it offers brokerage services, wallets, and pro service for advanced crypto traders. Coinbase supports fiat currencies and its services are available in 102 countries.

The other services include the coinbase index for tracking the financial performance of all coinbase listed assets, custodian services, paradex that lets you trade directly from the wallet, and the USD coin (USDC), a stablecoin built by coinbase.

Since coinbase is regulated and complies with the laws and regulations in each jurisdiction it operates, users need to fulfill the KYC requirements.

Why choose coinbase?

Trusted and reliable platform

Platform integrates advanced security features

User-friendly interface and suitable for beginners

Wide range of crypto support

Supports fiat transactions

#2. CEX.Io

CEX.Io is a UK based exchange launched in 2013 that allows trading in bitcoin, ethereum, and a variety of other cryptocurrencies. It offers cross-platform trading via the web, mobile application, websocket, and API.

The platform is suitable for both beginner and professional traders and allows you to buy cryptocurrencies using a credit/debit card. Its services include instant buy, CEX.Io exchange, CEX.Io broker, and CEX.Io aggregator.

It has a fee schedule based on the user’s 30-day average trading volume and starts from 0.25% as a taker fee and 0.16% as maker fee. The fee gradually decreases with the increase in 30-day average trading volume.

The exchange’s services are available in 99% of the world including 43 states of the united states and have over 3 million registered users. And, since CEX.Io is a fincen registered entity, users have to comply with the KYC guidelines.

Established and reputed platform

Wide range of services and easy buying process

Multiple coin support

Supports multiple payment options including fiat

#3. Paxful

Paxful is a peer to peer marketplace for buying and selling bitcoin instantly with over 300 payment methods. The platform was launched in 2015 to help users to buy bitcoins with almost any payment option.

The platform is very easy to use and the whole transaction process is very secure and transparent. Once a buyer finds the seller on the platform and the seller accepts the buyer’s offer, the bitcoin is moved to paxful’s escrow account and released to the buyer only after the seller confirms the receipt of payment.

Paxful is fully free for buyers which makes it an attractive option. It only charges a 1% plus miner fee from sellers on the total value of the transaction.

There are four buying limits, and the starting or level 1 requires only an email and phone verification and offers a buying limit of $1,500. For higher buying limits, users need to perform enhanced due diligence.

Paxful’s services can be accessed worldwide including the united states and it restricts countries with economic sanctions.

Established and reliable p2p marketplace

Wide range of payment options

Smooth transaction and seller trust rating

#4. Wazirx

Wazirx is an indian cryptocurrency exchange launched in march 2018 but was acquired by binance holding limited in november 2019.

It takes customers from all over the world but the platform is designed particularly for indian users. The platform allows users to trade cryptocurrencies through its exchange platform and buy and sell cryptos through P2P exchange using fiat currencies.

The exchange platform is highly scalable and can handle millions of transactions per second. It is available on all popular web and mobile platforms and has some of the best security measures as per global standards.

Regarding the fee, it charges a flat rate per transaction i.E. 0.25% as taker fee and 0.10% as maker fee. The customer onboarding process is quick with the super-fast KYC process.

Strong backing of binance

Quick registration with the easy KYC process

A secure and highly scalable exchange platform

Competitive fees

#5. Bitit

Bitit is a paris-based cryptocurrency exchange that allows the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies using the traditional mode of finance including credit/debit cards.

Founded in 2015 by three friends to simplify the process to access cryptocurrencies and reach every corner of the world. Bitit supports 52 different cryptocurrencies and stablecoins and can be bought using 15 different fiat currencies which helps to save the cost of conversion for users.

The platform is registered in france and legally operates in 50 countries including all EU countries, the UK, the US, and major economies of the world.

Bitit has a flat transaction fee of 0.25% for both buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. And, the transaction fees for credit/debit card purchase is 3.9%, which is the lowest among its peers.

Supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies and 15 different fiat currencies

Lowest transaction fee for credit/debit card purchase

Regulated marketplace

Strong security framework

#6. Coinswitch

Coinswitch is an india based crypto exchange aggregator platform and primarily caters to asian users. In short, it connects users with multiple platforms to help get the best exchange rate on orders.

Through coinswitch, you can buy, sell, and manage over 400 different cryptocurrencies and a staggering number of trading pairs. The platform supports credit card purchases and users don’t require to register on the platform or go through any KYC verification process.

Users can access the platform either through the web or mobile applications. There is no fixed transaction fee on the platform and is dependent on the exchange type and coin. However, the fee ranges between 0-0.49% for each transaction.

Why choose coinswitch?

Wide range of crypto selection

No registration and KYC requirements

Supports credit card purchases

Competitive fee structure

#7. Okex

The okex is one of the largest crypto-to-crypto exchanges and ranks in the list of top 10 exchanges in terms of the daily trading volume. Its product range includes spot & derivatives trading, onchain wallets, mining pools, and margin trading. Other features include buying with a credit card, up to 100X leverage on perpetual swaps, etc.

Okex is considered one of the safest crypto exchanges due to a strong security framework. Also, it has the lowest fee structure among all the leading exchange platforms. For normal users, the maker fee starts at 0.10% and taker fee at 0.15%. And, it drops to as low as 0.06% as maker fee and 0.09% as taker fee.

Suitable for both beginners and professional traders

Fiat to crypto support

Offers a wide range of trading options

Leverage trading

Supports over 100 cryptocurrencies

Which bitcoin broker to choose in 2020?

You can find many other crypto exchange platforms that offer superior product range and trading experience, but the above-discussed list of best crypto brokers are selected based on the following three factors:

Safety of the platform

Have an established track record

Utility and convenience offered in the platform

The crypto landscape is quite dynamic and intimidating for users, therefore you need to choose an exchange that is trustworthy, secure, easy to use, and offers a quality experience.

So, let's see, what we have: compare the best cryptocurrency brokers. Start trading bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH) ethereum and other coins. Choose safe and legit crypto brokers. At best broker for trading cryptocurrency