Investing in cryptocurrency has become fashionable and technically affordable. You have already chosen a suitable coin, learned the basics of theory, and guided by cryptocurrency exchange rates.
It remains to solve the most difficult problem – to decide on the choice of the platform with which you will work. The number of trading platforms is estimated in hundreds, among them there are companies with experience and very young, reliable and dubious ones.
In addition, trading platforms are subdivided into crypto-exchanges and quick exchange services. The cryptocurrency exchange is a trading platform, with some of them already available for margin trading, pending orders and leverage. Their functionality is gradually approaching the functionality of trading platforms for trading classic assets.
An exchange commission is charged for each transaction, moreover, this often applies to account replenishment and withdrawal operations.
This is not the only disadvantage of crypto exchanges. To work with them, you will have to forget about anonymity – in addition to mandatory registration on many reliable platforms, the same mandatory identification is required.
Crypto exchanges are a very attractive target for hackers, moreover, almost every exchange has suffered from a successful cyber attack at least once in its history. This results in loss of funds from client accounts and leakage of personal data. So what to look for when choosing a site?
Fees
Usually the size of the commission is directly proportional to the trading volume. Large sites often offer low commissions to attract new users. Before registering, you should:
- Compare the size of the commission on different sites. This applies to each of the operations that you are planning in the future. If the offer looks too attractive, look for a reason.
- Study the size of the commission for depositing and withdrawing money in each of the currencies you are interested in. Please note that for some altcoins, they are very high.
Country
The activity of each crypto-exchange is possible exclusively in the legal field of the country where it is located and you need to know this. Also check with which countries of the world the platform you are interested in works with. On many sites, there are bans on trading for traders from North Korea, Syria, Cuba and some other countries.
The least difficulty will be if you find an exchange operating in the jurisdiction of your country.
Security
Study the history of the exchange, especially in terms of hacking. If there were precedents, then how long ago and what measures were taken. This applies not only to hacks, but also to other vulnerabilities and attempted illegal operations.
Then check the following points:
- The link to the site must start with HTTPS. It is a more secure communication protocol compared to HTTP.
- Availability of two-factor authentication option. Whether you connect it or not (it is better to connect it) is your personal decision. But the absence of such an option is an indicator of insufficient reliability of the site.
- Also, a reliable company will not hide its real address, the names of the owners and top managers. Ideally, all of this should be posted on the site of the marketplace.
And yes, the easiest way to check the site is to read the opinions of users on thematic forums. However, it is as simple as it is unreliable. Firstly, each forum participant has his own preferences and purely personal experience.
Second, some unscrupulous platforms hire bots to post “correct” reviews. Taking the opinions of completely unfamiliar virtual characters as the strongest argument is an outright bad idea, especially if you already have doubts about the reliability of the platform.
Bottom line
Remember: anything posted on the Internet can be stolen. There is no 100% protection against hackers. Therefore, never store large amounts on exchanges for too long. If you convert LTС to BTС and are planning to hold Bitcoin, it is better to immediately withdraw funds to a cold wallet.
