How Does Cryptocurrency Work

I have been closely watching the performance of cryptocurrencies for some time to get a feel for where the market is headed. The routine that my elementary school teacher taught me – when you wake up, pray, brush your teeth and eat breakfast has shifted a bit to waking up, praying and then going online (starting with coinmarketcap) just to know which cryptos assets are in the red.

The start of 2018 has not been great for altcoins and related assets. Their performance was crippled by bankers’ frequent opinions that the crypto bubble was about to burst. However, ardent followers of cryptocurrency are still HODLing and frankly, they are reaping big profits.

Bitcoin recently bounced back to almost $5,000; Bitcoin Cash approached $500, while Ethereum found peace at $300. Virtually every coin was struck except for the newcomers who were still in the excitement stage. As of this writing, Bitcoin is back on track and trading at $8,900. Many other cryptocurrencies have doubled since the start of the uptrend, and the market cap is $400 billion from a recent peak of $250 billion.

If you are slowly warming up to cryptocurrencies and want to become a successful trader, the tips below will help you.

Practical tips on how to trade cryptocurrencies

• Start modestly

You’ve heard that cryptocurrency prices are skyrocketing. You’ve also probably gotten the news that this uptrend may not last long. Some skeptics, mostly respected bankers and economists, generally label them as get-rich-quick schemes with no solid foundation.

Such news can cause you to invest hastily and fail to apply moderation. A little analysis of market trends and currencies to invest in can guarantee you good returns. Whatever you do, don’t invest all of your hard earned money in these assets.

• Understand how stock markets work

I recently saw a friend of mine post a feed on Facebook about one of his friends who went on to trade a stock market that he had no idea how it worked. This is a dangerous move. Always review the site you intend to use before you sign up or at least before you start trading. If they provide a dummy account for you to play with, then take this opportunity to learn what the dashboard looks like.

• Don’t insist on trading everything

There are over 1400 cryptocurrencies to trade, but it is impossible to handle them all. Spreading your portfolio across a huge number of cryptocurrencies than you can effectively manage will reduce your profits. Just select a few of them, read more about them and how to get their trading signals.

• Stay sober

Cryptocurrencies are volatile. This is both their curse and their blessing. As a trader, you must understand that wild price fluctuations are inevitable. Not knowing when to make a move makes one an ineffective trader. Use hard data and other research methods to be sure when to execute a trade.

Successful traders participate in various online forums where cryptocurrency discussions are held regarding market trends and signals. Of course, your knowledge may be sufficient, but you must rely on other traders for more relevant data.

• Diversify meaningfully

Virtually everyone will tell you to expand your portfolio, but no one will remind you to work with real-world currencies. There are some crappy coins you can deal with for some quick cash, but the best cryptocurrencies to work with are the ones that solve existing problems. Real-world coins tend to be less volatile.

Don’t diversify too early or too late. And before you make a move to buy a crypto-asset, make sure you know its market capitalization, price changes, and daily trading volumes. Maintaining a healthy portfolio is the way to reap big profits from these digital assets.

Introduction: To Invest in Cryptocurrencies

The first cryptocurrency to emerge was Bitcoin, which was built on Blockchain technology and was probably launched in 2009 by a mysterious person, Satoshi Nakamoto. At the time of writing this blog, 17 million bitcoins have been mined and it is estimated that a total of 21 million bitcoins can be mined. The other most popular cryptocurrencies are Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Golem, Civic and hard forks of Bitcoin such as Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold.

Users are advised not to put all their money into one cryptocurrency and try to avoid investing at the peak of the cryptocurrency bubble. It has been observed that the price suddenly dropped when it was at the top of the crypto bubble. Since cryptocurrency is a volatile market, users should invest the amount they can afford to lose as there is no government control over cryptocurrency as it is a decentralized cryptocurrency.

Steve Wozniak, co-founder of Apple predicted that Bitcoin is real gold and will dominate all currencies like USD, EUR, INR and ASD in the future and become the world currency in the coming years.

Why and why not invest in cryptocurrencies?

Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to emerge and after that around 1600+ cryptocurrencies were launched with some unique features for each coin.

Some of the reasons I experienced and would like to share, cryptocurrencies are built on the decentralized platform – so users don’t require a third party to transfer cryptocurrency from one destination to another, unlike fiat currency where the user needs a platform like a bank to transferring money from one account to another. Cryptocurrency built on very safe blockchain technology and almost zero chance of hacking and stealing your cryptocurrencies as long as you don’t share your important information.

You should always avoid buying cryptocurrencies at the highest point of a cryptocurrency bubble. Many of us buy cryptocurrencies at their peak hoping to make a quick buck and fall prey to the hype of the bubble and lose our money. It is better for users to do a lot of research before investing the money. It is always good to put your money in several cryptocurrencies instead of one as few cryptocurrencies have been observed to grow more, some on average, if other cryptocurrencies go into the red zone.

Cryptocurrencies in focus

In 2014, Bitcoin held 90% of the market and other cryptocurrencies held the remaining 10%. In 2017, Bitcoin still dominated the crypto market, but its share fell sharply from 90% to 38%, and altcoins such as Litecoin, Ethereum, Ripple grew rapidly and took most of the market.

Bitcoin still dominates the cryptocurrency market, but it is not the only cryptocurrency to consider while investing in cryptocurrency. Some of the main cryptocurrencies to consider:

Bitcoin

Litecoin

pulsations

Ethereum

Throne

Civil

A big one

Monero

Where and how to buy cryptocurrencies?

While it was not easy to buy cryptocurrencies a few years ago, now users have many platforms available.

In 2015, India has two main bitcoin platforms Unocoin wallet and Zebpay wallet where users can buy and sell only bitcoins. Users should only buy Bitcoin from the wallet and not from another person. There was a price difference in the buying and selling rate and users had to pay some nominal fee to make their transactions.

In 2017, the cryptocurrency industry grew tremendously and the price of Bitcoin skyrocketed, especially in the last six months of 2017, which forced users to look for alternatives to Bitcoin and crossed 14 lakhs in the Indian market.

As Unodax and Zebpay are the two major platforms in India that dominated the market with 90% of the market share – which only dealt with Bitcoin. This enables other organization to grow with other altcoins and even forced Unocoin and others to add more currencies to their platform.

Unocoin, one of India’s leading cryptocurrency and blockchain companies, has launched an exclusive UnoDAX Exchange platform for its users to trade multiple cryptocurrencies apart from trading Bitcoins on Unocoin. The difference between the two platforms was – Unocion provided instant buying and selling of Bitcoin only, while in UnoDAX, users can place an order in any available cryptocurrency and if it matches the recipient, the order will be fulfilled.

Other major exchanges available for cryptocurrency trading in India are Koinex, Coinsecure, Bitbns, WazirX.

Users have to open an account with any exchange by registering with an email address and submitting the KYC details. Once their account is verified, one can start trading coins of their choice.

Users should do their research before investing in coins and avoid falling into the cryptocurrency bubble trap. Users should explore the exchange’s reliability, transparency, security features, and more.

All exchanges charge some nominal fee for each transaction. There are two types of fees – creation fee and claim fee. Apart from the transaction fee, one has to pay the transfer fee if you want to transfer your cryptocurrencies to another exchange or your personal wallet. The fees depend solely on the coins and the exchange as different exchange has a price difference module to transfer the coins.

Major altcoins other than Bitcoin

As mentioned above, Bitcoin dominates the market with 38% market share, followed by Ripple, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash. Exchanges like UnoDAX, Bitfinex, Kraken, Bitstamp have listed many other coins like Golem, Civic, Raiden Network, Kyber Network, Basic Attention, 0X, Augur, Monero, Tron and many more. If any of the coins matches your portfolio, you should buy it.

But you should invest the money in the market that you can afford to lose because the cryptocurrency market is very volatile and no government has control over it.

When should I buy?

There is no hard and fast rule when to buy your favorite cryptocurrency. But the stability of the market must be examined. You shouldn’t, except at the peak of a cryptocurrency bubble or when the price is constantly crashing. Always the best time is considered when the price is stable at a relatively low level for some time.

A method of storing cryptocurrencies

Before buying any cryptocurrency, you need to understand how to keep your cryptocurrency safe.

Generally, all exchanges provide storage facilities where you can store your coins safely. One should not share one’s username, password, 2FA when holding cryptocurrency on exchanges.

Paper wallet, hardware wallet, software wallet are some of the channels where one can store his cryptocurrency.

Paper Wallet: A paper wallet is an offline cold storage method to keep your cryptocurrency. It prints your private and public key on a piece of paper where a QR code is also printed. One has to simply scan the QR code for their future transactions. Why is it safe? No need to worry about your account being hacked or being attacked by malicious malware. You just need to keep your piece of paper in a safe place in a locker and, if possible, keep two to three pieces of paper in the wallet, all under your complete control.

Hardware Wallet: A hardware wallet is a physical device where you store cryptocurrency safely. There are many forms of hardware wallet, but a commonly used hardware wallet is USB. When you keep your cryptocurrency in a hardware wallet, you just have to keep in mind that you should not lose your hardware wallet because once it is lost, you cannot recover your cryptocurrency.

One famous incident where a person mined over 7000 bitcoins and stored it in his hardware wallet and stored it in another hardware wallet. One day he dropped the hardware wallet in which he stored his cryptocurrency instead of damaged hardware and lost all his bitcoins.

What can be bought from cryptocurrencies in India?

Most people assume that buying and selling any cryptocurrency is only for investment and getting high returns in the long and short term. Bitcoin influencers and investors believe that in the coming years, Bitcoin will dominate all fiat currencies and be accepted as an international currency.

Dell is one of the largest e-commerce businesses accepting Bitcoin as payment. Expedia and UNICEF are other examples.

In India, Sapna Book Mall accepts Bitcoin as payment using the Unocoin merchant service. People booked movie tickets through BookMyShow or recharged their mobile phone through the Unocoin platform. According to the report, they have stopped the service but plan to start it again in the near future.

Conclusion:

Cryptocurrency is one of the growing investment sectors and has given good returns from real estate, gold, stock markets, etc. in the past. You can buy the cryptocurrency and hold it long term to get good profits or go short term for a quick profit as we have seen many coins grow 1000%+ in the past. Because cryptocurrency is a volatile market and there is no government control over the industry. One should invest the amount in any cryptocurrency that one can afford to lose.

You can store your cryptocurrency in a hardware wallet, paper wallet, software wallet if you don’t want to hold on the exchange you trade from.

Cryptocurrency trading software package is an integrated management system for all aspects of cryptocurrency trading platform, such as all types of crypto buying, selling, exchanging, lending, MLM and affiliate management, converting, comparing and analyzing the live market, etc. .n.

Important features to consider:

Buy, sell and exchange: Nishue is the impressive trading management system that offers a smooth and secure methodology for your users to effortlessly buy, sell and exchange cryptocurrencies.

Lending System Management: This system is completely convenient for brokerage, there is a management system for the crypto lending service, such as creation, offer management, maintenance and moderation, etc.

Unique Administration Module: Nishue contains a secure and advanced administration module to control your cryptocurrency exchange end-to-end.

Separate Client Profile: A separate client profile module that helps your users easily track and verify all open deposit or withdrawal orders, records, transactions, etc. with just one click.

MLM and Affiliate Management: These marketing-ready automation tools make it easy to manage your affiliate commission, contribution history, and documents by level.

Market comparison and converter: Two additional systems are integrated for live crypto comparison, conversion and depth analysis.

How cryptocurrency trading software helps grow your crypto platform:

Coin Deposit and Withdrawal: A crypto trader has to support huge deposit and withdrawal requests on a daily basis. Trading utility software to manage your activity with its auto-setting algorithm.

Coin Package and Loan Offer: Keep your various coin packages and loan offer available to the customer. You can create, manage and promote your offer using a well-designed package.

Level Commission: If you are following the MLM strategy of rewarding your affiliates and worried about determining their commission? Ok, it’s ready to automatically calculate their commission according to the level.

Notification and Risk Management: Every crypto trading platform should organize a targeted notification system to keep itself and its client informed about many worrisome issues, thereby helping to eliminate risk. In this case, the system design is completely perfect.

Multiple Payment Gateway: You can integrate your cryptocurrency wallet, local currency, Payeer Even mobile banking system as a payment method within this software to make your transaction seamless.

Daily, Weekly and Monthly ROI: Are you worried about maintaining the ROI as you said. This cryptocurrency trading management software can automatically calculate ROI, commission and more according to your instructions.

Free Responsive Website: Must have integrated a fully responsive, SEO optimized dynamic website with our system and is completely free. This will help you run your enterprise smoothly.

Crypto Comparison, Conversion and In-Depth Analysis: Live crypto market cap and coin converter add system is integrated for live crypto comparison, conversion and in-depth analysis

100% Secure System: The trading software is designed keeping the security issue in mind. Secure integer framework, two factor authentication and many other security systems are implemented in this cryptocurrency trading software.

The absolute package exclusively for spot cryptocurrency trading that allows users to trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin through Coinbase. Built on the same technology that powers Nishue software, it includes proven market-leading tools developed over 25 years to provide both professional and active cryptocurrency traders with a better experience than what is currently available. offers from other crypto-only trading solutions.

A cryptocurrency exchange or digital currency exchange is a business that involves exchanging cryptocurrency for other assets, such as money or another digital currency. It is a web service that provides electronic transactions in electronic forms and collection of fees for them.

All transactions or operations to Digital Currency Exchange can be done by debit and credit cards, postal money order or any other type of money transfer. This article is to discuss the various cryptocurrency exchanges that facilitate cryptocurrency trading for beginners and what they offer in terms of availability, ease of use, security, deposit/withdrawal methods, and fees. We hope this cryptocurrency trading guide can help you get started with cryptocurrency trading.

Coinbase/GDAX

Coinbase is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges based in San Francisco, California. It is available in 32 countries and currently serves over 10 million customers. Launched in 2012, it has an easy-to-use interface that makes Digital Currency Exchange an easy task for a non-technical person. Also available for iOS and Android. Unfortunately, Coinbase does not provide cryptocurrency mining for beginners and is only an exchange.

It currently offers four coins, Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin. It exchanges digital currency with US dollars, euros and British pounds. With minimal transfer fees, Coinbase has never had a security breach, making it an ideal digital currency exchange platform. In addition to this, Coinbase also offers a fully developed advanced exchange called GDAX. It offers more advanced features and different and better trading fees than Coinbase.

Bitstamp

Bitstamp is another platform that provides digital currency exchange. It is relatively easy to use and offers more advanced features through TradeView. Bitstamp offers coins like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and ripple. It exchanges digital currency with US dollars and Euros. You can put into practice all the latest cryptocurrency trading techniques on this exchange.

It offers fixed deposits through bank transfers and supports debit/credit cards. Perhaps the only downsides to be found with Bitstamp are the slightly high fees and the fact that it has suffered one security breach in 7 years of operation. However, it is one of the most reliable exchanges. It is available on both iOS and android.

Gemini

Gemini is a UK-based company founded in 2015 by the Winklevoss twins. It is available in several countries including the US, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea. One of the disadvantages of this platform is that it is not very user-friendly. So it is not recommended for beginners to use this platform.

It offers two coins and 1 FLAT currency Bitcoin Cash, Ehtereum and USD. Gemini follows strict protocols when it comes to security and has not encountered a single security breach as of 2018, making it one of the most secure and reliable digital currency platforms. However, it is important to have digital currency investing strategies before you start trading.

Digital bookmarks

Digital ticks is a modern crypto exchange that aims to change the game in this sector. They have implemented many of the latest techniques that make it easy for anyone to start trading.

It has a unique feature called Single Portfolio View that will allow traders to view all positions held in a single portfolio. It would be easy for traders to make informed decisions about cryptocurrency exchange using this unique feature. It also supports Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Dashcoin.

Kraken

Kraken is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchange platforms. Launched in 2011, kraken is the largest exchange in terms of volume and liquidity for euro trading pairs. Serves worldwide, including the US.

Kraken offers a variety of coins including Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Monero, Augur, Litecoin and many more. It also supports deposits/withdrawals via bank transfers and cryptocurrencies. Having a not so friendly interface, it also suffers from stability and performance issues, but it is still a good cryptocurrency exchange platform.

Bitfinex

Bitfinex is the largest cryptocurrency exchange platform. Launched in 2012, it has an easy-to-use interface and offers advanced number of features like margin trading, margin financing, etc. It is available for both iOS and android platforms. It offers BTC, BCH, ETH, LTC, IOTA, XMR and NEO.

Just like previous cryptocurrency exchanges, it supports withdrawals using USD and EUR through bank transfers. Bitfinex suffered two security breaches, the first in May 2015, which resulted in a loss of $330,000. And the second in August 2016, which resulted in a loss worth $72 million.

EtherDelta

EtherDelta is a decentralized exchange that directly supports peer to peer connection. It is very different from the previously discussed cryptocurrency exchange platform. Here, funds are stored in a smart contract on the Ethereum network, from which you are fully responsible for depositing and withdrawing. Currently, EtherDelta only supports Ehtereum based tokens.

EtherDelta has a rather confusing interface that makes it difficult for users to perform cryptocurrency exchange operations. In one case, someone tried to buy 750 Kyber for 0.007 ETH each, but ended up buying 0.007 KNC at 750 ETH.

Conclusion

After looking at the various cryptocurrency exchange platforms, we can safely say that Coinbase and Bitstamp stand out in terms of their good features such as security, user-friendly interface, multiple withdrawal/transfer methods and much more.

I wouldn’t call them perfect, but I would suggest that this is the safest bet you can make. Each cryptocurrency exchange platform is unique in its own way and has both advantages and disadvantages. We just have to choose the one that suits our needs. We hope this guide to basic cryptocurrency exchanges and trading will give you a head start on your cryptocurrency trading journey.

Bitcoin cryptocurrency is spreading all over the world whether you are on the internet or any other media. This is one of the most exciting and craziest things to happen in just the last few years. More importantly, you can earn great returns by trading Bitcoin or you can keep it for the long term.

You may have heard about stocks, commodities, forex, and now a new currency called bitcoin trading that is greatly affecting our lives. In this beginner’s guide to Bitcoin cryptocurrency, you will be introduced to the Bitcoin alphabet.

About bitcoin cryptocurrency

The origin of Bitcoin is still unknown, but in October 2008, an article was published under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, held by Japan. His identity is still unknown and he is believed to own approximately one million bitcoins worth over $6 billion as of September 2017.

Bitcoin is a digital currency known as cryptocurrency and is free from any geographical boundaries. It is not regulated by any government and all you need is an internet connection. As a beginner, Bitcoin technology can be confusing and a bit difficult for you to know about. However, I will help you understand more deeply and how you can make your first Bitcoin trade with peace of mind.

The Bitcoin cryptocurrency works on blockchain technology, which is a digital public ledger and is shared by everyone in the world. You will find your transactions here when you do any bitcoin trade and anyone can use the ledger to verify them. The transaction made will be fully transparent and verified by blockchain. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency are part of blockchain and are a great technology that only works on the internet.

Key Terms Related to Bitcoin Cryptocurrency

Before you are ready to own your first bitcoin, it is better to know the basic terms related to bitcoins. It is also called as BTC which is part of Bitcoin and 1 Bitcoin is equal to 1 million bits. With the advent of Bitcoin, some other alternative cryptocurrencies have also developed. These are popularly called altcoins and include Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), Ripple (XRP), Monero (XMR) and many others.

XBT and BTC are the same thing and are usually abbreviated to bitcoin. Mining is another commonly used term and is actually a process performed by computer hardware for the Bitcoin networks.

Things you can do with Bitcoin

You will be able to trade, transact, receive and store bitcoins. You can send it to your friends, request a friend and store it in your digital wallet. Even now you can recharge your mobile/DTH directly by paying through Bitcoin.

The transaction cost is low compared to PayPal, credit cards and other online intermediaries. Moreover, it also protects your privacy which can be leaked on the internet while using credit cards. It is extremely secure and no one can confiscate or steal coins. Due to its transparency in the system it is also not possible to manipulate due to the shared public ledger. You can confirm the transaction from anywhere and at any time.

Demand is likely to increase as the total production of Bitcoins will be limited to only 21 million. Japan has already legalized it and other countries may follow soon and the price may rise even more.

I will cover more about Bitcoin in detail in the coming days where you will learn great things about Bitcoin trading. You can comment your opinions and ask anything related to Bitcoin.

If you found this Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Beginners Guide useful, please share and like it on social media.

In the early days of its launch in 2009, several thousand bitcoins were used to buy pizza. Since then, the cryptocurrency’s meteoric rise to $65,000 in April 2021, following its heart-stopping drop in mid-2018 by around 70 percent to around $6,000, has boggled the minds of many people – crypto investors, traders or just curious who missed the boat.

How it all started

Note that dissatisfaction with the current financial system led to the development of digital currency. The development of this cryptocurrency is based on blockchain technology by Satoshi Nakamoto, a pseudonym apparently used by a developer or group of developers.

Despite many opinions predicting the death of cryptocurrency, Bitcoin’s performance has inspired many other digital currencies, especially in recent years. The crowdfunding boom fueled by blockchain fever has also attracted those seeking to defraud the unsuspecting public, and this has caught the attention of regulators.

Beyond Bitcoin

Bitcoin has inspired the launch of many other digital currencies. There are currently more than 1,000 versions of digital coins or tokens. Not all of them are the same, and their values ​​vary widely, as does their liquidity.

Coins, Altcoins and Tokens

At this point, it will suffice to say that there are subtle differences between coins, altcoins, and tokens. Altcoins or altcoins usually describe something other than the pioneer bitcoin, although altcoins such as ethereum, litecoin, ripple, dogecoin, and dash are considered the “mainstream” category of coins, meaning they are traded on more cryptocurrency exchanges.

Coins serve as a currency or store of value, while tokens offer the use of assets or utilities, an example being a supply chain management blockchain service to validate and track wine products from the winery to the consumer.

It should be noted that low-value tokens or coins offer upside opportunities, but don’t expect the same meteoric increases as Bitcoin. Simply put, lesser-known tokens may be easy to buy, but may be difficult to sell.

Before getting into cryptocurrency, start by learning the value proposition and technology considerations, namely the trading strategies outlined in the white paper accompanying any Initial Coin Offering or ICO.

For those familiar with stocks and shares, this is no different than an initial public offering or IPO. However, IPOs are issued by companies with tangible assets and business experience. Everything is done in a regulated environment. On the other hand, an ICO is based entirely on an idea proposed in a white paper by a business – not yet operational and with no assets – that is looking for start-up funds.

Unregulated so buyers beware

“One cannot regulate the unknown” probably sums up the digital currency situation. Regulators and regulations are still trying to catch up with the ever-evolving cryptocurrencies. The golden rule in the crypto space is caveat emptor, let the buyer beware.

Some countries maintain an open-mindedness by adopting a no-action policy on cryptocurrencies and blockchain applications, while keeping an eye out for detected scams. Yet there are regulators in other countries who are more concerned about the downsides than the upsides of digital money. Regulators are generally aware of the need to strike a balance, and some are looking at existing securities laws to try to deal with the many flavors of cryptocurrency globally.

Digital Wallets: The First Step

A wallet is essential to get started with cryptocurrency. Think electronic banking, but minus the protection of the law in the case of virtual currency, so security is the first and last thought in the crypto space.

Wallets are of digital type. There are two types of wallets.

• Hot wallets that are connected to the Internet that expose users to the risk of hacking

• Cold wallets that are not connected to the internet and are considered more secure.

Apart from the two main types of wallets, it should be noted that there are wallets for only one cryptocurrency and others for multi-cryptocurrency. There is also the option of having a multi-signature wallet, somewhat similar to having a joint bank account.

The choice of wallet depends on the user’s preference whether the interest is purely Bitcoin or Ethereum, as each coin has its own wallet, or you can use a third-party wallet that includes security features.

Wallet notes

A cryptocurrency wallet has a public and private key with private records of transactions. The public key includes a reference to the account or address in cryptocurrency, not unlike the name needed to receive a check payment.

The public key is available for everyone to view, but transactions are confirmed only after verification and validation based on the consensus mechanism applicable to each cryptocurrency.

The private key can be thought of as a PIN, which is commonly used in electronic financial transactions. It follows that the user should never reveal the private key to anyone and make backup copies of this data that should be stored offline.

It makes sense to have minimal cryptocurrency in a hot wallet, while the larger amount should be in a cold wallet. Losing your private key is as good as losing your cryptocurrency! The usual safeguards for online financial transactions apply, from having strong passwords to being on the lookout for malware and phishing.

Wallet formats

Different types of wallets are available according to individual preferences.

• Hardware wallets made by third parties that must be purchased. These devices work somewhat like a USB drive, which is considered safe and only connects to the internet when needed.

• Web-based wallets, such as those provided by crypto exchanges, are considered hot wallets that expose users to risk.

• Software-based wallets for desktop or mobile are mostly available for free and may be provided by coin issuers or third parties.

• Paper wallets can be printed carrying the relevant data of the cryptocurrency held with public and private keys in QR code format. They should be kept in a safe place until they are needed in the course of the crypto transaction and copies should be made in case of mishap such as water damage or fading of printed data over time.

Crypto exchanges and markets

Crypto exchanges are trading platforms for those interested in virtual currencies. Other options include direct trading websites between buyers and sellers, as well as brokers, where there is no “market” price, and it is based on a compromise between the parties to the transaction.

Hence, there are many crypto exchanges located in different countries but with different standards of security practices and infrastructure. They range from those that allow anonymous registration, requiring only an email to open an account and start trading. Still, there are others that require users to comply with international identity verification, known as Know-Your-Customer, and anti-money laundering (AML) measures.

Choosing a crypto exchange depends on the user’s preferences, but anonymous ones may have restrictions on the scope of allowed trading or may be subject to sudden new regulations in the exchange’s country of residence. Minimal administrative procedures with anonymous registration allow users to start trading quickly, while going through KYC and AML processes will take longer.

All crypto transactions must be properly processed and validated, which can take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, depending on the coins or tokens being transacted and the volume of the trade. Scalability is known to be a problem with cryptocurrencies and developers are working on ways to find a solution.

Cryptocurrency exchanges fall into two categories.

• Fiat Cryptocurrency Such exchanges provide the purchase of fiat cryptocurrency through direct transfers from bank or credit and debit cards, or through ATMs in some countries.

• Cryptocurrency only. There are cryptocurrency-only crypto exchanges, meaning that customers must already own a cryptocurrency – such as Bitcoin or Ethereum – in order to be “exchanged” for other coins or tokens, based on the market rate

Fees are charged to facilitate the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies. Users should do their research to be satisfied with the infrastructure and security measures and determine the fees that are convenient as different rates charged by different exchanges.

Don’t expect a common market price for the same cryptocurrency with different exchanges. It may be worth your while to research the best price for coins and tokens that are of interest to you.

Financial transactions online carry risks, and users should consider warnings such as two-factor authentication or 2-FA, update themselves on the latest security measures, and be aware of phishing scams. A golden rule of thumb for phishing is to not click on provided links, no matter how authentic a message or email is.