The last 10 weeks of my life have been an exciting and emotional rollercoaster of getting involved with cryptocurrencies. In mid June a good friend invited me to a conference in Cancun sponsored by Dash and the content and information that was shared sparked a connection in my brain that made me visualize the future in a very different way.
Cryptocurrencies sound like something from the future, but we have to be well aware that the road has been paved since 2009 and that as we speak, people are enjoying the benefits of being part of the cryptoworld. Whether it is by making money from trading or saving money and fees by transferring digital currency across the world instead of making a traditional bank transfer that costs much more and takes a lot longer to actually changing the way we communicate and work...cryptocurrency has opened up a world of possibilities and potential that I plan to be fully immersed in for the rest of my life.
If you are new to this space, then you will want to know how to get your hands on some digital currencies and start making some profits but be aware that there is a lot of volatility in the market, so as much as there is a possibility to make 1000% gain, there is also the possibility to loose 100% of your investment. I know, it sounds horrible...but it is necessary to inform you of the best and worst that can happen in this space.
Fortunately I have had a very good learning curve and after maybe hundreds of hours and research and continuous studying, I have managed to make 2 times gain on my initial investment. Not too bad, right?
Anyway, a very important factor to being able to trade is actually having a solid platform to do it safely. That is what exchanges are for and while many experts in the industry always recommend to keep your coins in cold storage, you need to have what you are willing to trade ready on the exchanges.
For that reason, I decided to make a list of the exchanges I have used and what my experience has been like so that hopefully you can enjoy the experience of buying and selling or holding as much as possible knowing what the pros and cons are for each exchange. And remember, if you are holding a coin/token for the long term, make sure you transfer it to a paper wallet or cold storage. DON´T store it on the exchanges.
Bittrex
Bittrex is so far my favorite exchange. Not only because it is friendly and easy to use, but because of the basic analysis tools that it has available. I personally like the way it looks and feels. It feels safe to use with the two factor authentification and it is clear and simple. Setting up a buy or sale is user friendly and I think anyone can easily learn how to do it.
On the negative side, which actually has nothing to do with Bittrex, there are some idiots who set up www.BIttrex.com (with a capital I) and they are stealing people´s money.
Another down side is that it is very strict when receiving new coins, so not all currencies are available and I have had to open accounts on other exchanges to trade coins like EOS, DNT and BQX.
Coin Exchange
This is definitely NOT my favorite and the only reason I use it is to trade BQX. I learned about their ICO and I think they solve a real problem in the crypto space, so the only way to invest more or sell some of it at profit is on CoinExchange. ( Check out the coin by the way, I have made quite a decent profit on it and plan to hold until they release the working platform for Bitquence)
When you use Coin Exchange, make sure to mute the website, as it has a sound for every transaction made and it gets annoying.
Cryptopia
I have to be very honest. I only used this exchange ONCE and it was on a day I saw IOU shoot up like a rocket. I got in and sold three hours later for 80% profit. I doubt I will use it again unless I see another opportunity such as this one.
Binance
Binance is new, and I am excited about it. I just set up my account and I have no holdings there, but it looks promising. DNT is available, which I am interested in, but currently trading DNT on Liqui. It was 50 DNT´s to withdraw from Liqui to Binance and I did not feel like paying it.
Anyway, I have heard only great things about this and looking forward to trade there soon.
Poloniex
I have mixed feelings about this. I like the way it looks, but I heard so much crap about it, I decided to go for the safer option and use Bittrex. I still use Poloniex to check out market behaviour, but I am currently not trading there. I like the way the graphs look and how simple it is to trade, but like I said...too much crap about it.
I did upgrade to the highest level there and verified myself, so if I ever make a few million, I will have to withdraw from Poloniex.
Kraken
Kraken is pretty cool. I really like the name, which is very subjective...but I also like the way it looks and feels. It is easy to use, easy to set up and quite direct.
Bitso
Bitso works in Mexico and you can fund your account with pesos at the 7 Eleven and then buy ETH, BTC, BCC or Ripple with it. I think it is expensive and charges high fees, but it is a good way to get cash into exchanges.
Volabit
These guys and Bitso are competitors. Volabit works quite well and it has an easy to use app. I have used it to transfer directly to my bank and it was immediate. So far, so good.
HitBTC
In my opinion, this is a crap exchange. Why do I have it? Because I made a crap decision 2 months ago and participated in the Polybius ICO. The first exchange it was available on after the ICO was HitBTC so once I had my tokens available to trade, I sent them to HitBTC to watched them turn into 2 dollars each. After a while I got fed up and sold them at around 60% loss, which I happily made on the same day elsewhere.
If you can avoid this one...do it.
I hope this information helps you and your trading and I wish you luck and success. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to share and follow.
Peace.
I like you story, you explain very well. @diegotorrescolo