When it comes to selecting the best crypto exchange, the options are seemingly endless. But not all crypto exchanges are created equal.
In addition, the process can be somewhat intimidating for newcomers. While most traditional investment avenues involve third-parties like brokers, cryptocurrency exchanges are decentralized and have no intermediary.
Avesta will be available to trade on exchanges as early as Q4 2018. Using account numbers rather than tokenized addresses will make the experience of using Avesta more user-friendly than that of other cryptocurrencies. We expect the result to be increased adoption of crypto and crypto exchanges.
The Two Types of Crypto Exchanges
When talking about the best crypto exchange, it’s important to differentiate between the two types of exchanges. There are crypto exchanges that only deal in crypto-to-crypto trades and those who deal in fiat-to-crypto trades.
Poloniex and Binance are pure crypto exchanges – they allow users to trade different cryptocurrency pairs.
Coinbase allows users to link a bank account and convert fiat currency to a Bitcoin or a handful of large-market cap altcoins.
Poloniex
Poloniex is one of the oldest and most reliant crypto exchanges out there. It advertises itself as “one of the largest most active cryptocurrency exchanges in the world.”
Founded in 2014, Poloniex supports many of the largest coins by market cap including DASH, DOGE, NEO, Stellar, BitShares, Ethereum, Litecoin, and many more.
Poloniex lost many customers after struggling to accommodate a surge of new users during the early-2017 crypto rush. Since then, they have been acquired by Circle and Goldman Sachs. Many people believe that this acquisition will only improve their services.
Binance
Binance is the largest crypto exchange by trading volume. They even have their own cryptocurrency – Binance Coin.
As the largest crypto exchange in the world, Binance supports many different languages including French, Russian, Chinese, Japanese Korean, French, and English.
Binance does not support some smaller coins like DOGE, for example. But they do have a very large selection and support many of the largest coins by market cap.
Coinbase and Coinbase Pro
These two are listed as one because they are two sides of the same company.
Coinbase is the largest U.S.-based fiat on-ramp for cryptocurrency.
Most Americans (and citizens of many other countries as well) get their first Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, or Bitcoin Cash through Coinbase. Coinbase also plans to introduce a fifth crypto – Ethereum Classic – in the near future.
We are pleased to announce our intention to add support for Ethereum Classic (ETC) on Coinbase in the coming months.https://t.co/bUG4iLUr2J
— Coinbase () June 12, 2018
Coinbase provides a simple, user-friendly interface and is the best option for those who are new to cryptocurrency.
Coinbase Pro (formerly known as GDAX) is for institutional investors and big-time day-traders. The minimum account requirement is a whopping $10,000 USD.
Notes About the Best Crypto Exchanges
It’s important to note that it’s not safe to keep large amounts of coin on any exchange. While held in an exchange’s wallet, the private keys to your coins are not your own. If the exchange gets hacked or doesn’t have the liquidity to cover your balance, you lose your funds and have no recourse.
Many early bitcoin enthusiasts learned this lesson the hard way in 2013 when Mt. Gox went belly up.
For long-term holdings, cold storage is the only option. You can invest in any number of quality hardware wallets available on the market today. This is the only way to be in control of your keys and store your coins in a manner that is nearly impossible to compromise.
In the end, the best crypto exchange for one person may not be the best crypto exchange for another. It depends on your personal preferences and circumstances. Poloniex, Binance, and Coinbase/Coinbase Pro are three of the best crypto exchanges. Most users will find at least one of them to be useful.