Trusted Crypto Exchanges Are Surprisingly Rare: Stick to These 2 Top Choices
No matter where you are on your crypto investing journey, you’ll inevitably need to use an exchange.
A crypto exchange is just a website where traders can buy and sell cryptos in much the same way that stocks are traded on Wall Street. That might sound simple enough…
But the challenge for crypto investors of any experience level is choosing which exchanges are trustworthy enough to use. (Hint: it’s not many.)
It’s not a decision that should be taken lightly.
See, exchanges operating in the United States fall under anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) laws, which means opening an account will require you to surrender a lot of sensitive personal information. That usually includes your birthday, home address, and Social Security number, along with images of personal identification such as a driver’s license or a passport.
They’re one of the rare instances where crypto activity is regulated, yet thieves still managed to loot hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of crypto from exchanges over the past decade.
There are dozens of options at your fingertips, but the ones we can trust – we can count them on one hand.
These are our top two exchanges of choice where you can find most (if not all) of the cryptos you’re looking to invest in…
Crypto Exchange No. 1: Kraken
Launched in 2013, Kraken has long been a favorite among veteran crypto traders. But in its early years, Kraken wasn’t particularly beginner-friendly. Kraken still isn’t quite as easy to use as Coinbase, but it has made enough progress that beginners won’t get lost.
On the other hand, Kraken gives every user easy access to more advanced features when they feel they’re ready.
One major drawback is the need to wire fiat money into the exchange, although you can fund your account with a credit card.
- Pros: Large selection of coins, strong security, one-click access to more advanced features, lower fees than other beginners’ exchanges, mobile app.
- Cons: Less handholding for beginners, harder to move fiat money in and out.
Crypto Exchange No. 2: Coinbase
Many investors know of Coinbase now because of its initial public offering (IPO). The company has made a serious effort to make investing in cryptocurrencies easy for beginners – and it shows.
Getting fiat money (U.S. dollars) in and out is a simple ACH transfer once you’ve linked your Coinbase account to your checking account.
The website walks you through the steps of buying, selling, and transferring cryptocurrencies to hide as much of the behind-the-scenes complexity as possible.
- Pros: Intuitive website, offers a more sophisticated “pro” version, offers recurring purchases, mobile app, offers a way to generate an annual report for tax purposes.
- Cons: Charges above-average fees, site known to crash when demand rises during major rallies or crashes on the crypto markets.
With our top two exchanges in hand, your next step depends on where you are on your crypto investing journey.
Crypto Pros: If you already have a Coinbase account, you’re ready to identify your next big winner. Look no further than right here for a better and cheaper option than Bitcoin (BTC). Many people refer to it as the “silver” to Bitcoin’s gold – and realistically, it could go up more than 15,000% in the next five years. (Details here.)
Crypto Newbies: Coinbase is where you should start your journey. We’ll walk you through how to set up a Coinbase account in this step-by-step guide. Then, once your Coinbase account is set up, here’s what Chief Crypto Strategist Nick Black recommends you do BEFORE you put any real money into crypto…
New to Crypto? Start by Earning Free Crypto on Coinbase
Coinbase has a Learn and Earn feature, where you can earn free crypto by completing a series of video lessons. The cryptos you can earn as of this writing are The Graph (GRT) and Amp (AMP). They rotate in and out, so you’ll have plenty of opportunities to earn other cryptos in the future.
To get started earning free crypto, all you have to do is visit Coinbase.com/earn, and you can pick and choose what lessons you want to complete.
You can also get there by logging into your Coinbase account and navigating to the “Learn and earn” section on the left-hand side of your home screen, where you’ll find a variety of different lessons you can complete to earn your free crypto.
Click “Start lesson” for the crypto you’d like to earn. Once you’ve completed the quiz, any cryptos you earned will be direct-deposited into your Coinbase account and appear in your portfolio.
Once you have your free crypto, THIS is what you should use to test the waters – move it to a wallet, watch prices for a few days, trade it…
There’s a lot to learn about crypto investing, and what you don’t want to do is send your own money into hyperspace because you made a rookie mistake.
Use the free crypto instead.
And before you make your first (or next) crypto investment, go back to basics with these nine tips from Nick.
Up Next: Crypto Wallets
Crypto exchanges are only one piece of the puzzle. Next, you’ll want to set up a wallet where you can keep your crypto safe. Keep an eye out for our upcoming Crypto Wallets Guide to hit your inbox over the next few days!
Take care,
The Alternative Wealth Daily Research Team
Comments
28 responses to “Trusted Crypto Exchanges Are Surprisingly Rare: Stick to These 2 Top Choices”
Leave a Reply
April 07 2022
How do you feel about Gemini? This is the one I use. New coins are being added consistently, and they are very amenable to adding others upon recommendation. They also allow you to earn interest on most of the coins you hold with them (maybe the other exchanges do as well?). The problem is I had a Coinbase account years ago and trying to reopen it is not easy at all!
It’s your preference about what exchange you use, exchanges with good staking opportunities are very good.
Gemini has same essential “pros” and none of the “cons” of either Kraken or Coinbase. Curious as to why it didn’t make your cut?
Each exchange has different options as far as staking.
How the heck do you go with Coinbase over Voyager? How amateur. Voyager is easy, can be funded via all means. Pays you to hold coins there, offers added % for holding VGX, allows direct deposit, and now has a debit card. It also has easy trading and is very secure.
It’s your preference on what exchange you use. Coinbase is the best for getting people educated in crypto with videos and free crypto.
I am a lifetime AW member, I know everyone praises Coinbase but I could use some professional help with my account that has been TOTALLY restricted for over two months from any ability to Sell, Buy trade in anyway which also prohibits my ability to close my account. I have over $200,000 in crypto being held hostage and have had over 5 customer support cases opened and closed with NO resolution.
Any assistance would be very much appreciated!!!!
Dennis
Keep trying to contact customer service. Emailing them is a good way.
Had crypto hacked on Coinbase, now using Robinhood, Etoro and Binance. They were unable to find the hacker or refund my losses.
DrJ
Keep trying
Thanks
Very welcome
Good information.
Thank you
I was reading the digital book am on page 70 something and got sidetracked by my wife and now I cannot find the book. Can you tell me where to go?
Look in your history
Someone said if you put your crypto in your wallet, it will not increase in value, I was going to put bitcoin in it. Or was that true?
Your crypto will accumulate while in your wallet.
Please give me the steps to add Kraken to my crypto files.
Kraken.com or download Kraken app
Where is my Kraken exchange used to fund it to purchase coins on my Kraken exchange?
Kraken.com or download Kraken app
I had my entire account disappear from coinbase. I had 6 different coins totaling only a few hundred dollars, and then I suddenly had no account at all
Contact customer service and tell them about it.
Kraken is not operating in the Washington State where I live, and Coinbase customer support is terrible, they resend you the same pre-writing message each time to contact them. My account has been restricted for purchase for several months, they are reviewing it and they don’t give me any reason for that.
The reason for the delay usually means that there are thousands of people with this same issue and you are literally in a digital line be patient because there are people from all over the world trying to get in crypto as well.
For some reason after applying to join Coinbase and going through all the steps they refused to allow me to join. When I asked why they never gave me an answer. Just the same pre printed message multiple times because I asked multiple times. I am in Crypto.com. 😞 This article has me wondering.
Keep reaching out to customer service.