Which platform should I use to buy crypto ? — Crypto Adventure #3
Introduction
The platform, you MUST choose…
Fun aside, there is a LOT of platforms out there nowadays to get you started on crypto, this post is going to be dedicated to the main ones ( too much to cover in one post ), and mostly help you on how to choose yours.
You also aren’t stuck to one platform by the way, feel free to try them all out.
Keep in mind that this post is not financial advice and you should comply with your local law ( for taxes or account openings as they may be different or not accessible from your country).
I’ve selected 3 main criteria for this post which are;
- “User Friendly”, the User Experience or how easy is it to use or make a purchase, this is mostly to know if the platform is novice friendly.
- “Fees” amount of fees per transaction, this is important depending on your plan, do one transaction a month VS transactions per day. As you guessed, it could be $$.
- “Offers / Possibilities”, what the platforms allows you to do as well, can you stack ? can you do futures ? how many coins does the platform support ? The volume exchange on the platform ?
List of platforms that I am going to approach here:
Coinbase, Binance, eToro, Kraken, Gemini, Crypto.com, Swissborg, Ascendex, BlockFi, Phemex, Gate.io
This is not an exhaustive list of all the platforms out there, I’ve linked at the end of this post a useful website where you can check them all.
Also, some of those platforms might not be available in your country.
Things to know
On any of the platforms mentioned above, you’d probably have to do a KYC in other words “Know Your Customer”.
If you aren’t familiar with the process, it’s a requirement for platforms to comply with laws. You’d have to prove your identity (by providing your id & a selfie ), where you reside as well sometimes.
Note, that you might not be asked immediately after opening your account, and you would instead be limited until you are a “Verified” user ( passed the KYC step ).
I believe as soon as you are happy with the platform, you should try to get that out of the way, so you won’t be limited
Another important note for your own sake, if the platform security allows you a 2 factor identification, please activate it (Ascendex, Binance, etc. ).
I am insisting here, as this can sometimes be overlooked, it’s for you own sake, so make sure to activate that. This will make it harder for people to steal your account.
User Friendly
I started by this criteria, as I think it’s probably going to depend on your experience and how much time you want to actually spend learning how to use the platform or how to use “trading tools”.
If you want a tutorial on that, feel free to let me know and I’ll add it to the crypto adventure posts roadmap. Leave a comment ❤
As a general rule, ( not necessarily true every time ) but the easier the interface is to use, the higher the fees.
This doesn’t still mean you need to jump in a pro-tool just because it’s cheaper. A mistake on some “pro platforms” could cost you way more money.
I’m just giving you all the information, so you could switch platforms when you feel more comfortable.
Platforms like :
Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini, Crypto.com, Swissborg
Are very very easy to use, two small inputs & a button to click and you’ll be the proud owner of a crypto nothing to worry about
Whereas platforms like :
Binance, eToro, Ascendex, BlockFi, Coinbase Pro, Gate.io, Bybit are for more advanced people.
It’s not too hard to get a handle on but it would probably require a bit of time from your side.
Note that Binance has for example in the mobile app a “lite version” to make it easier to use, the best thing for new comers
Don’t worry there will be a little recap table to help you, but don’t jump there yet, keep reading to learn more.
Fees
To me and probably to most of you reading this, it’s the most important criteria, you wanna lose as least as possible from your transaction.
Example below with a 1.5% fee on a small buy & sell transactions.
Buy Tokens for $100 (1.5% fee) = $1.5 (you get $98.5 tokens)
Sell Tokens for $98.5 (1.5% fee) = $1.48 ( you get $97.02 )Paid fees = $2.98 (~$3)
As you can see for $100 buy, and then sell, you paid around $3 in fees.
You’d probably want to optimise the amount of fee you are paying if you are doing loads of transactions.
I’ve attached in the recap, fees per platform, but before you jump to recap, there is something else you also need to know to complete understand ( explained below ). Note as well that the fees in recap are subject to change based, so make sure to double check since this might be outdated.
As mentioned higher earlier, some of those platforms would give you more of “pro tools” which lower the cost of the transactions as you’d control it more, whereas “user friendly” interface would try to do that for you keeping a safe net for the platform for performing that transaction. I can go into more details in another post if that helps ( explaining maker/taker, placing orders or stop losses)
Offers / Possibilities
By now you already have a better idea and probably made already your choice, now it’s not about the platform, and they all have advantages.
In the recap provided, I’ve been mostly grouping into those type of benefits:
- Trading Volume (24h), amount of $ exchanged in the platform, this is important as you want ‘liquidity’ meaning enough people buying or selling
- Tokens Catalog, how much different tokens does the platform offers you to buy
- Web support / App support
Conclusion & Recap
I hope you enjoyed this post and hope to have you reading my next post.
I’ve left as well some referral links to some of those platforms if you want to support me.
Thank you, as promised the recap below
You can also check other crypto exchanges not tackled in this post here:
Other alternatives: You can always start by online banks like Revolut ...
