buying

This section is all about how to to get started buying Cryptocurrency with FIAT money.Moving money from the established banking system into the world of Cryptocurrency is the first, and often most confusing step, to buying, selling and trading crypto.

It is relatively easy to move money into the crypto space, with consumer level intermediaries accepting credit and debit card payments with instant transfer, though they may charge fees or a percentage above the rate at which the Cryptocurrency can be bought on an exchange. Moving money back out from crypto to a FIAT bank account can involve more in security, proving identity, delays and more fees.

Initially getting an account with some of the major exchanges can involve a verification process that can take a week, or even longer for some, to be able to transfer funds into an account and use it to buy cryptocurrency. There can be an even more in depth process of KYC (know your customer) for withdrawing funds, and it is becoming common for transferred funds to be locked for a short period to ensure security. Coinbase has recently introduced a period of five days in which newly transferred funds can not be transferred out again, though they can be used to buy and trade crypto immediately.

There are moves being made to make buying cryptocurrency as easy as buying an online book with the introduction of integrated payment via credit card into software wallets, such as the mobile app based Button Wallet, that will allow users to purchase crypto easily within the app itself.

Buying Crypto with GBP

Getting into the cryptocurrency world with US Dollars is relatively easy, with a lot of options. For UK based investors and traders with GBP as their FIAT currency the options are much more limited. One route to converting GBP to Bitcoin is the Binance Jersey company which facilitates the transfer of GBP or EUR and buying of Bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH) which can then be transferred to the main Binance exchange or elsewhere. Use this link to sign up with Binance JE.

Where do you go to buy and trade cryptocurrency? With the internet and online world comes connectivity to a vast range of digital applications via a web browser or mobile app. A Cryptocurrency Exchange is basically a website with sophisticated software in the background that runs in the browser, or mobile app, to facilitate the buying, selling and trading of cryptocurrency.

Exchanges vary in the exact features they offer, above the obvious ability to buy and sell cryptocurrency. Currently there are over 18 thousand markets (trading pairs) available, on over 250 exchanges listed on CoinMarketCap. Important features for trading should include good charts with built in indicators and drawing tools, market orders, limit orders, and stop loss orders, and clear views of the order book and open trades.

Top Crypto Exchanges

Even though there are over 250 cryptocurrency exchanges listed on CoinMarketCap many of them will have very small trading volume or availability of trading pairs (or both), and may be questionable in security, or the ability to recover funds transferred to them. The lower the trading volume on an exchange the harder it is to get limit orders filled for both buying and selling, and the effective spread (the difference between the bid and ask price) could be large. 

The top few crypto exchanges have daily trading volume in excess of $2 billion and over 400 markets (trading pairs). The top exchange overall, and one of the best known, is Binance (sign up here) with $2.5 billion in daily trading volume and 486 markets. with HitBTC the largest in number of markets at 795 and $1.4 Billion in daily trading volume.

Full, up to the minute lists with rankings against daily, weekly and monthly volume, and trading pairs or markets, can be found online at:

• CoinMarketCap
• CoinCap