At the rate smaller governments and corporations are embracing cryptocurrency and even notwithstanding the fact that the US government is still slow to move towards adoption and approval, a global community of early adopters are fast gaining pace. This begs the question as to the importance relevant platforms have within the wider industry.
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In recent years, cryptocurrency has skyrocketed in its value and renown amongst the public. An array of cryptocurrency trading platforms have recently earned valuations exceeding $1 billion, and the number of blockchain wallets (an equivalent to a bank account) has been almost exponentially increasing since 2016. An explosion in the awareness and interest in cryptocurrency has inflated formerly small-time brokers into household names generating in excess of several million dollars in revenue every single day.
For those hoping to initiate their cryptocurrency trading, it is paramount that the correct exchange is chosen for one’s goals. There is an optimal option for every investor, whether they require a plethora of currencies, a simple experience or the low fees. This article aims to discuss the biggest platforms in the industry in the hope that the conundrum of deciding which to choose may be elucidated.
The Biggest Cryptocurrency Trading Platforms
Binance
Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency trading platform by volume; producing over $1.8 billion in revenue since this year commenced. The Binance platform established itself as one of the top three cryptocurrency exchanges at a mere 143 days of age. The industry giant is close to beating last year’s profits of $800 million, according to the company’s CEO: Changpeng Zao. Widely known as CZ, the founder noted that their company scarcely chooses to calculate its earnings in terms of US dollars, as they are “held in various cryptocurrencies”.
The exchange has a strong focus on the trading of altcoins, offering over 100 unique trading pairs between different cryptocurrencies; fiat-crypto pairs are also available. Due to this focus, Binance is resolutely suited to those planning on investing in less well-known ‘altcoins’. When considering the charting abilities, features and data included with every account, especially when combined with their reasonable fees, the size of this platform is no surprise.
The only factors to consider before setting up an account with this trading platform is that it is more tailored to advanced users. Furthermore, the exchange only allows deposits of $USD by global usering via SWIFT, and is not supported in all states across the US. That being said, it has lower fees than its counterparts and offers a large variety of cryptocurrencies and trading pairs.
Mandala ICO
A revolutionary cryptocurrency exchange, Mandala is attempting to disrupt this booming market with its well-defined, unique values that it claims uphold the company. The focal points of their platform are security, sustainability and simplicity; each of its functions is aimed at enabling users to become ever more profitable.
It does this through myriads of bots, P&L analysis and trading advice alongside easily comprehensible risk management and strategies to seize profit. One quality of this exchange that will not go unappreciated is its educative facet; Mandela has sought to surpass its competitors by making tuition available to its users, should they desire it.
The ethos behind its offering of education in relation to how it is supposed to be used is that a more educated user can trade more efficiently. Therefore, engaging in the education of its new users is a worthwhile pursuit because a more educated user base will better understand the nuances associated with trading cryptocurrency.
These useful features are not limited solely to newer users though - the platform’s advanced features will certainly prove beneficial to the more experienced traders as well. These include simplistic bot trading, analytics and data on trading, signals for entry and exit that are built in.
Coinbase
Founded in 2012, Coinbase quickly became one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the US, and is listed in the two highest in the world for traffic, volume and liquidity. During the first quarter of 2021, Coinbase estimated an asset value of $223 billion was on the platform; 11.3% of the crypto asset market.
This trading platform offers over 50 currencies for its users to trade, with even more available on their premium service; this is far greater than on many other widely-used platforms. Coinbase is available to residents of all states except Hawaii. Regular services on the standard Coinbase platform have a minimum transaction of $2, and a total of $25,000, per day; with Coinbase Pro trade and balance levels are unlimited.
This platform is highly regarded in the industry. Its easy-to-understand interface and other basic services are a joy to use and extremely intuitive, though costs can be difficult to track without the use of the more advanced premium package. The Pro version’s pricing model is far more straightforward since it is based on each user’s monthly trading volume and the asset’s liquidity at the time of purchase. These are all factors to consider.
DayTradingTrainer
DayTradingTrainer is a relative newcomer to the industry that is making waves due to its focus on its users. Its founder, Cody Rose, is more cognizant than anyone of the dangers presented by cryptocurrency: millenials are increasingly using social media platforms for investing advice, this, compounded with the exponentially increased access to the virtual trading floor with smartphones, could render this year’s viral trading craze disastrous.
Despite young investors being able to access the stock market far more easily than previous generations (and at a much lower age on average), a 2020 study by the FINRA Investor Education Foundation discovered that far too few of them rely on actual financial professionals for the investing decisions.
This service hopes to combat this with the offering of financial advice through their private Discord community. The platform’s private trading algorithm provides signals for the top 50 cryptos in order to provide precise trade setups for each of their users. The website also offers in-depth personal tutoring by extremely educated consultants on a number of topics.
UpBit
UPbit Exchange was founded in South Korea on October 24, 2017, by the company Dunamu Inc. Its debut in the cryptocurrency market took place under an alliance with U.S. company Bittrex, with the purpose of trading bitcoin in the Korean region.
Part of its beginnings was marred with setbacks and several scam accusations of scams, which terminated the partnership with Bittrex. However, this did not impede UpBit continued trading cryptocurrencies. In 2018, the company saw significant growth, ranking first in South Korea’s crypto asset market.
In addition, 2018 was the same year when UPbit became the first platform in Korea to obtain legal certificates from security agencies, allowing it to incorporate Blockchain technology. According toStatista, it became the fourth crypto exchange in November, based on trading volume, reaching $11.72 billion in 24h.
OKEx
OKEx is a multi-currency exchange that allows users to trade cryptos and tokens backed by fiat. It also offers futures based on digital assets with multiple leverage options, and it has also created a set of algorithmic trading tools designed for professional traders.
Also, it is a leader at providing advanced financial services to global investors through blockchain. Founded in 2017, in Hong Kong, it has earned millions of dollars in investments from leading companies in the industry.
OKEx provides hundreds of currency pairs and futures for trading, helping traders optimize their strategy. It is also one of the top exchanges with the highest volumes of operations –$8.77 billion in 24h–, and holds a solid base of millions of users in more than 100 countries.
Its strong foundation has attracted technology and business experts from the world's leading organizations, enabling the exchange to offer secure, stable, and reliable business services over the internet and mobile solutions.
FTX Exchange
FTX is a cryptocurrency exchange and token trading house formed by a group of technology experts who come from the Wall Street quant market, and from companies such as Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) or Google –Alphabet Inc Class A (NASDAQ:GOOGL).
The company took off with the support of the market’s biggest names –as well as some venture capital firms– such as Binance, The Circle, Alameda Research, True USD, Paxos, Fenwick & West, HUSD, Proof of Capital, FBG Capital, and Galois Capital.
Trading at $2.9 billion in 24h, FTX is much more than a cryptocurrency exchange –its name could indicate some Forex trading. However, this company specializes in tokenization, including shares. In addition, it is one of those exchanges that offers derivatives trading of the critical market with very high leverage for speculators who love futures and operations on margin.
The Quant Zone –a special feature– allows the development of automatic trading that can be connected to the FTX and many other platforms. Any programmer with programming skills can create trading strategies that can be automated and used on this exchange.
Why They Are Important
Cryptocurrency is here to stay; through its fast transactions and digital, secure and global nature, cryptocurrency has established its necessity. They are made important not only by their numerous benefits (such as how they minimise fraud and should not result in inflation), many large banks are not investing either through collaboration with pre-existing cryptocurrency clients, or by producing their own digital currency.
The cryptocurrency market is difficult to navigate; with the well-respected providers of investment services known in the traditional market, the digital one can seem quite murky and confusing in comparison. Bitcoin and Ethereum are not the only tokens worth investing in, and many other high quality coin issuers offer many more worth considering.
Such platforms (e.g. those listed above) have excellent backers and management with stable procedures in place and an effective business model; they represent a safe method through which to get started or continue investing in digital currencies. As the effective equivalents of the notable banks and other financial investment service companies that the public regards as trustworthy, these are credible institutions to entrust with your money, but this is not true of all platforms.
Yet with that being said, there are also many unreliable and untrustworthy websites out there that are. Such services act as a strong indicator for the need for regulator “buyer beware” notices, as well as for the need for research before investing. The Treasury Department has made releases about the dangers of cryptocurrency in the past.
This extremely young industry offers many concurrent opportunities and risks due to its novelty, so it is important to navigate it carefully; big trading platforms such as those explored above can help with this, as their renown acts as a security to people that ensures them they are a trustworthy website to pour money into.
Concluding Remarks
On balance, choosing the optimal cryptocurrency trading platform requires one to first evaluate what one needs it to provide. Many of the biggest exchanges will be geared towards those with a pre-existing foundation in trading. For new investors, it is important to consider the exchanges which include financial education as part of their services.
Such big cryptocurrency trading platforms are extremely important to the wider industry because they represent clear and safe options through which to choose to invest. This is paramount for an industry in its infancy still trying to find its feet, and certainly one that will only become more intertwined with society as time goes on.
These online providers dispel any fears and qualms of whether that might be racing through a person’s head when deciding which institution is credible enough to be trusted with their money.
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