If you are considering getting your hands on some Bitcoin, then looking into Bitcoin exchanges are a must. Bitcoin exchanges are websites that offer you different ways to purchase Bitcoin. Whether it be through credit card payment, gift cards, or even cash, there are many ways that are offered.To make Bitcoin exchanges a bit easier to understand, think of the exchange as the New York Stock Exchange. Although they aren’t the same, they are similar in the sense that you are trading money for an asset. Instead of getting stocks in return for your money, you are getting a certain amount of Bitcoin proportionate to the amount it is worth when you purchase it.
What is a Cryptocurrency Exchange?
A crypto exchange is a place where you exchange a certain cryptocurrency for a different crypto coin. The most common cryptocurrency exchange occurs with Bitcoin being the main coin being traded for other coins. Crypto exchange sites are a bit quicker to use compared to fiat (USD, EUR, etc) to Bitcoin exchanges as you do not need to use a bank, ATM or other payment methods where it takes a day (or up to 5 days) to complete the transaction.
However, there is one thing to keep in mind when using a crypto exchange. There are fees that you must deal with when transferring Bitcoins from wherever you bought it to the crypto exchange site. Due to the surge of transaction fees, it will be costly if you are transferring small amounts.
1.Coinmama
2.Coinbase
3.Switchere
4.Bithoven
5.Cex.io
6.Paxos
7.Changelly
8.Coinhouse
Link: https://www.coinmama.com
is an American publicly traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Coinbase is a distributed company; all employees operate via remote work. It is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States by trading volume.The company was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam.
In May 2020, Coinbase announced it would shut its San Francisco, California headquarters and change operations to remote-first, part of a wave of several major tech companies closing headquarters in San Francisco
Link: https://www.coinbase.com
Switchere is one of the most reliable online exchanges for buying cryptocurrencies. The company is a licensed provider of financial services, with guaranteed legal compliance and a secure infrastructure system for fast crypto exchange services at fair prices.
Switchere.com makes the crypto exchange process amazingly fast. It is the best spot for online exchanges, where you can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and other leading coins in a few mouse clicks. Use any payment method (Visa/Mastercard/Maestro debit or credit cards) for crypto buying or exchange crypto-to-crypto. Switchere.com is the one and only platform made for your convenience.
Link: https://switchere.com/
Bithoven.com was launched back in 2019 and initially offered the spot and margin trading services. Subsequently, the company reoriented to rendering exclusively leveraged trading services because this direction grants more trading opportunities, provides highest liquidity and access to multiple markets like Forex, commodities, etc.
Link: https://bithoven.com/en/
At CEX.IO, we are the place where people reach their goals with cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology. We do that by offering a full scope of secure solutions to buy, store, trade, sell, send, and earn digital assets.
We started in 2013, back when the total market cap of the crypto industry was still under $1 billion. Our team spent the last decade building products that remove operational and technical complexities out of crypto.
Link: https://cex.io/
Today’s financial infrastructure is archaic, expensive and risky—supporting a system that leaves out more people than it lets in. So we’re rebuilding it.Paxos is redefining financial infrastructure. Our blockchain solutions tokenize, custody, trade and settle assets for enterprise clients, enabling the trustworthy and instantaneous movement of any asset at any time.
As the economy evolves more rapidly than ever before, we are committed to the innovation that will make its new financial system a reality – and by working within regulatory frameworks, we’re creating an ecosystem built with integrity.We encourage the financial industry to service transparently, raise the bar and discover new ways to serve more people.
Link: https://www.paxos.com/
Changelly brings an ecosystem of products and services that allow customers to have a one-stop-shop experience for purchasing, selling, swapping, and trading cryptocurrencies.
Since 2015, Changelly has been providing an intuitive platform for fast crypto exchanges. Driven by the goal to bring the day of mass adoption closer, Changelly is continuously developing to offer its users a flawless experience and new services.
Link: https://changelly.com
Coinhouse is a French company which has been providing cryptocurrency management transaction services since 2015.
French authorities have recognized our seriousness and the quality d of our compliance operations. Therefore, we are the first PSAN registered with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers.
Link: https://www.coinhouse.com
How to Choose the Best Bitcoin Exchange
1) Features
2) Security
3) Transaction Fees
4) Exchange Reputation
5) Payment Options
6) Security of the Exchange
1) Features
As there are many different types of exchange sites available with different kinds of features available, it is important to look at what type of features are offered at the site you are interested in. Some features include filtering (peer-to-peer exchanges), different payment methods, and built-in crypto exchange (to avoid fees).
2) Security
This is the most important factor to look out for as if the security of the site is low, your coins can get stolen out of your wallet at any time. To avoid this issue, the best way is to get a hardware wallet, but since this guide is about Bitcoin exchanges, it won’t be covered here. To check the security of the exchange, research how the coins are encrypted and what the company does to ensure your coins stay safe.
3) Transaction Fees
Some sites offer Bitcoins for sale for extremely low rates while some sites offer extremely high rates to profit from those that aren’t experienced with purchasing Bitcoin. Most of the sites we will be reviewing below have decent rates, but for peer-to-peer exchanges, the rates will be a bit higher. PayPal payment methods also come with higher transaction rates due to higher risks.
4) Exchange Reputation
This is one of the most important factors that you have to consider when you are looking for an exchange to conduct your transactions on. The one that you go with should have an excellent reputation, and while there are always going to be some negative reviews, you have to check for the weightage of the negative and the positive ones.
Another thing that you should check out is that the good exchanges always have a high trading volume. This is directly proportional to the speed of the trades. Higher trading volumes mean that there are some traders looking for digital assets.
5) Payment Options
A good exchange would have a variety of payment options. Another thing that most of the exchanges pride themselves on is the security of the payment options. Usually, a normal exchange would accept payment in the form of bitcoins rather than any fiat currency.
A very good exchange, on the other hand, will have options for fiat currency as well as both the bitcoin and other altcoins as well. There are some which make use of the wallets like PayPal, Skrill, etc.
Using these wallets makes it easy for the users to conduct the transactions since the wallets are usually directly linked to their bank accounts and they do not have to enter their account information on the trading exchanges.
This protects their information since only their wallet ID is shared in the database of the exchange. Payment options that involve direct transfer of the cryptocurrencies in the exchange wallets is even more secure since they are based on the blockchain technology.
6) Security of the Exchange
Since it is a matter of the finances, security is one of the most important things that have to be considered when you are selecting the exchange that you want to conduct your business on.
There is a public history of all the exchanges that have been hacked over the years and you should avoid the ones with similar security issues. Also, avoid the exchanges that have been hacked in the past. This is because there is a pattern which is almost always repeated.
An exchange that has been hacked once can be hacked again. This can be avoided if the developers of the exchange upgrade the security of the platform completely. Go for the exchanges that have advanced security measures like two-factor authentication.
Usually, when you have logged into an exchange from one IP address, you don’t need to log in time and again each time you wish to access your account. However, if the IP address changes, you will need to log in again.
Below are our bitcoin exchange reviews of the top few exchange sites that we love. We recommend that you use the ones on our list because using our recommendations are a lot safer than going blind and using some random exchange that you found online. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, then it most likely is