Are you looking to invest into the BOOMING world of Cryptocurrencies? Here is how to purchase your first coins!

This article is mainly aimed at beginners.
There are tons of cryptocurrency exchanges out there, so in this post I will focus on 3 of the big digital currency exchanges I have personal experience with.

📢 Before purchasing any cryptocurrency please read my recent post on 🔗How to STORE cryptocurrency SECURELY?

DISCLAIMER: I'm not a financial expert or advisor and I'm purely sharing my personal experience, so please do your own research. Do not invest more then you can afford to lose.

What is a Currency Exchange?

"Bitcoin currency exchanges work in a manner similar to banks. One first deposits amounts of money in the currencies supported by the exchange, to his own account in the exchange, uses these balances to trade with other users of the exchange and then withdraws that money. Unlike over-the-counter transactions, there is no risk of losing money due to people not fulfilling their part of the deal, as long as the exchange itself does not commit fraud or withhold money."
From the bitcoinwiki Currency exchange

Here is the 3 Currency Exchanges I have used

🔵Bitfinex

Bitfinex, which calls itself the "worlds largest and most advanced bitcoin trading platform", is in my eyes geared towards users who want to trade with cryptocurrencies on a regular basis. This is reflected in the dark, chart based interface that gives you precise information about your desired currency movements.

One of the advantages of Bitfinex is that it offers access to newer cryptocurrencies like IOTA, which is a big plus if you are looking for non-standard crypto investments.

🚩Fees
Trading:
$0.00 or more traded: 0.100%-0.200%, $500,000.00 or more traded: 0.080%-0.200%
Deposit:
Crypto: 0%
Bank wire: 0.100% of the deposit amount, with a minimum fee of $20.00
Withdrawal:
Crypto: 0%
Bank wire: 0.100% of the withdrawal amount, with a minimum fee of $20.00
Express bank wire (within 24 hours on business days): 1.000% of the withdrawal amount, with a minimum fee of $20.00

📢 My opinion on Bitfinex

I would personally only use Bitfinex to buy cryptocurrencies that are not available anywhere else but never use it for permanent storage of a large amount of value in any kind of form. Bitfinex had a major security flaw in 2016 which enabled the theft of roughly 120,000 Bitcoins. Since then, Bitfinex has made security improvements including a cold storage wallet that according to them holds 99.5% of user funds.

🔵Kraken

Kraken is a the largest exchange in euro volume and also trades in Canadian dollars, US dollars, British pounds and Japanese Yen. It's major advantage is the very high security with two factor authentication and PGP/GPG encyption.

🚩Fees
Trading:
Maker, Taker based on volume. Check fees on their official site.
Deposit:
Crypto: 0%
Fiat deposit fees can be seen here.
Withdrawal:
Fiat and digital currency withdrawal fees can be seen here.

📢 My opinion on Kraken

Being based in Europe, the verification process until I could deposit fiat money, took about 1 week. I would say this is a good thing, hinting at high security measures. They also feature a two-factor authentication on login and store user funds in encrypted cold storage. I also love that apart from Bitcoin, they offer a large variety of different altcoins for trade.

🔵Coinbase

Coinbase is a large online exchange currently offering the trade of Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.
Apart from their great design and ease of use, Coinbase also features a mobile app that allows you to access your funds on the go and even buy & sell currency.
Coinbase is one of the few exchanges that is under official regulations and in addition to security features like 2 factor-authentication and 97% of user funds kept offline in cold storage, it also has an insurance on deposits.

🚩Fees
Trading:
Payout Method for Purchase / Effective Rate of Conversion Fee (after waiver):
U.S. Bank Account / 1.49%, with a $0.15 minimum
Coinbase USD Wallet / 1.49%
Credit/Debit Card / 3.99%
Deposit:
ACH Transfer: Free
Wire Transfer: $10
Withdrawal:
Wire Transfer: $25
All Coinbase fees can be seen here.

📢 My opinion on Coinbase

Coinbase was my exchange of choice to purchase my first Bitcoins and I still use it constantly to make fiat money deposits and buy Bitcoins, Ethereum or Litecoin with it. The main advantage of Coinbase for me is the ease of use and great design (especially of the mobile app), as well as the deposit insurance. With Coinbase I'm confident that my hard earned money will not suddenly disappear 😊
That being said, I only store a small amount of digital currency on Coinbase, which I mainly use for purchases.
DEFINITELY consider using a means of storage that allows you to be in control of your private keys (which is kind of the whole idea of decentralised cryptocurrencies 😉) .

I recently wrote a post on 🔗How to STORE cryptocurrency SECURELY?

📢If you use this 🔗Coinbase referal link to sign up, both you and I will earn $10 USD in Bitcoins if you buy at least $100 USD worth of crypto currency.

THANKS for reading! If you want to share your own experiences, feel free to leave a comment below.

If you are interested in 🔗how I invest my money into Bitcoin, take a look at my previous post:

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