The cryptocurrency market hit the stratosphere in Q4 2017 when the price of Bitcoin peaked at $20,000 per unit. Since then, increasing the adoption of digital currencies and attendant blockchain technologies has taken place at a steady clip. Casual traders, investors, and technology aficionados have poured time and effort into understanding the inherent value in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, and Bitcoin Gold, et al.
At the time of writing, there were some 2136 cryptocurrencies populating the industry, with a combined market capitalization of $146 billion. Bitcoin’s dominance remains an impressive 50% + of the cryptocurrency market. At a price of $4150 per unit, BTC remains the industry leader – the proverbial gold standard of the cryptocurrency market. Traders and investors can dabble in Bitcoin at multiple exchanges and cryptocurrency trading platforms. However, only a handful of trading platforms are fully licensed and regulated, respected, and credible operators.
Over the years, multiple exchanges have come under scrutiny for misconduct, hacking, and other violations. This listing of 5 best cryptocurrency exchanges and trading platforms for buying Bitcoins has been fully vetted by industry-leading experts, traders, and investors alike. This listing features the 5 top-ranked Bitcoin exchanges and trading platforms.
#1 – eToro Cryptocurrency Trading Platform
eToro is an internationally respected social trading platform. The recent growth in crypto popularity has led many nascent and experienced traders straight to eToro. It’s quite an interesting platform for trading crypto as it has the social trading feature which is further discussed in www.wikitoro.org, a dedicated guide for eToro traders.
As the world’s leading social trading platform, eToro offers a comprehensive selection of cryptocurrencies to all registered traders. These include a Crypto CopyPortfolios™ offering and a host of leading cryptocurrencies. The company was founded by brothers Ronen and Yoni Assia and David Ring in 2006 with operations in the UK, Cyprus, and Israel. Watertight security protocols are in place to guarantee the integrity of client funds, and personal information at all times.
eToro boasts a complete cryptocurrency offering. The crypto markets include Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Ripple (XRP), DASH (Dash), Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Cardano (ADA), IOTA (MIOTA), Stellar (XLM), EOS (EOS), NEO (NEO), TRON (TRX), ZCASH (ZEC), and Binance Coin (BNB) among others. By signing up for an eToro account, traders can navigate to the cryptocurrency platform Trade Markets and choose to buy or sell any of the financial instruments available. A total of 66+ crypto results is available, including crypto/fiat pairings like BTCEUR, EOSGBP, XRPGBP, ETHGBP, ETHJPY, ETHXLM, and BTCAUD.
The 3-step process to getting started requires creating an account, completing the profile, and confirming payment to finalize the purchase. eToro allows signups with Google and Facebook. Clients will be heartened to know that this cryptocurrency trading platform is fully licensed and regulated to offer legitimate crypto trading courtesy of the Cyprus Securities Exchange Commission (CySEC) under license to eToro Europe Ltd. eToro offers in-depth information on each cryptocurrency asset available on-site, including transparent prices and transaction fees. Clients can easily add crypto-assets to their portfolio or watchlist at eToro alongside a host of other financial instruments including commodities, indices, forex, stocks, and ETFs.
#2 – Bitstamp
Bitstamp is an established cryptocurrency exchange. It now offers Tradeview Beta. This digital currency trading exchange provides a range of services including payment institutions and exchange services in Luxembourg and the United Kingdom respectively. The company’s offices are located in New York, NY under the trading name Bitstamp USA Inc. The pre-stated objective of the Bitstamp CEO (Nejc Kodrič) is to provide reliable easy-to-use service for companies and individuals to exchange Bitcoins.
This Bitcoin exchange offers a range of crypto-assets including BTC/USD, BTC/EUR, XRP/USD, XRP/EUR, XRP/BTC, LTC/USD, LTC/EUR, LTC/BTC, ETH/USD, ETH/EUR, ETH/PTC, BCH/USD, BCH/EUR, and BCH/BTC. Traders can buy and sell Bitcoin, Ripple, Litecoin, Ethereum and Bitcoin Cash via several different types of orders. These include instant orders, market orders, limit orders, stop orders, and credit card purchases. Clients can use their credit cards to purchase varying amounts of BTC, XRP, LTC, ETH, and BCH. Both USD and EUR are fully supported at Bitstamp.
The trading platform at Bitstamp is particularly impressive and is known as Tradeview. Clients can toggle the features to view different timeframes, price movements, order types, order books, and other details. Bitstamp makes it easy to buy cryptocurrency from the trading platform by simply clicking on the green ‘Buy’ button. Cryptocurrency trading is available to institutional clients and individual clients, courtesy of a volume-based fee structure. Bitstamp also offers FIX, Websocket, and HTTP API connectivity.
#3 – Bittrex International
Bittrex International was founded in 2014 by a team of cybersecurity aficionados, including Bill Shihara, Richie Lai, and Rami Kawach. This cryptocurrency trading platform is based in the US and provides top-tier security, reliable cryptocurrency wallets, and rapid trade executions. Among others, Bittrex is revered for its high-end security. This is evident in the multi-stage wallet strategy which is leveraged for maximum security. Two-factor authentication protocols are in place to safeguard the integrity of client accounts and add additional security layers to this cryptocurrency exchange. This online trading platform fully endorses established blockchain technology and innovative new blockchain technology, allowing users to reap the rewards of change and development.
The Bittrex International exchange offers multiple markets to traders. These markets are segmented according to the following categories: initial exchange offerings, USD markets, Bitcoins markets, Ethereum markets, and USDT markets. The Bitcoin markets include BTC-TTC, BTC-ANKR, BTC-DOGE, BTC-XRP, BTC-GO, BTC-BLT, BTC-ADA BTC-SOLVE, and scores of others. The Ethereum markets are less heavily traded than the Bitcoin markets and include the following options: ETH-DASH, ETH-XRP, ETH-ETC, ETH-ADA, ETH-POLY, ETH-ANT, ETH-BCH and other options. USDT markets include a limited selection such as USDT-NEO, USDT-LTC, USDT-ZRX, and USDT-OMG among others.
All trades are subject to a 0.25% commission at Bittrex, and paper copies come with a $10 + $1 per page fee for shipping and handling in the US. This Bitcoin brokerage offers corporate accounts to qualified traders and it is even possible to submit your token to Bittrex for listing, provided you meet with their criteria. The FAQ section at Bittrex offers valuable insights and information into how this exchange platform works. The customer support team is highly attentive to trader needs and responds in a timely fashion to queries.
As a bonus, more and more people are turning to physical assets for their investments like Bullion Box subscriptions. Gold, silver, platinum, and other precious metals is a great substitute for monetary investments and stock due to their proven stability.
This listing of the top 3 cryptocurrency trading platforms provides a glimpse into the inner mechanics, features and functionality of the world’s premier Bitcoin exchange platforms. It is by no means an exhaustive listing, since many other top-tier crypto exchanges are available to traders. These highly ranked Bitcoin trading platforms are a great place to start for a new trader or an experienced professional.
