Beginner Guide, Avoiding Useless fees In The Crypto World
I remember the demand of friends and relatives asking me questions back in late 2017, “What is Bitcoin, how do I invest?”. The crypto markets were booming at that time and the Fear of missing out on this new opportunity was real.
In this paper, I will not give any financial advice, I’m here to guide and inform you in the basics of how to invest in this world while avoiding paying high amount of fees and trying to provide you with a basic knowledge of this wonderful sphere related to blockchain.
What is Bitcoin?
“Bitcoin uses peer-to-peer technology to operate with no central authority or banks; managing transactions and the issuing of bitcoins is carried out collectively by the network. Bitcoin is open-source; its design is public, nobody owns or controls Bitcoin and everyone can take part. Through many of its unique properties, Bitcoin allows exciting uses that could not be covered by any previous payment system.” You can find information all over the web this paper is not the point.
- Fast peer-to-peer transactions
- Worldwide payments
- Low processing fees
Fees what happened in 2017?
In 2017, a lot of people used Coinbase for investing since everybody was using it. Coinbase was one of the Bitcoin exchanges with the highest fees (1.49–3.99%) while for example Kraken fees were (0% to 0.26%) a big difference. But what made Coinbase users increase so much at that time was the User-Friendly experience with Coinbase while Kraken was more “Technical” But honestly with a 30 minutes video you could easily close this high fee gap which is totally worth it in the long term. However, Since June 2018, Coinbase Pro was launched with reduced fees (0% to 0.5%).
- Kraken Pros & Cons
Pros
- One of the best safety and security record of any exchange on the market
- Strong liquidity
- Cryptowatch platform allows users to trade across other exchanges
- Lower fees than Coinbase
Cons
- Not the simplest user interface for those who want simple “buy” and “sell” buttons
- Mobile app unavailable
Coinbase Pros & Cons
Pros
- Simple and easy to use interface
- Has different options for users depending on their level of trading expertise
- Diverse options for fiat deposits and withdrawals
- High liquidity
Cons
- Platform has struggled keeping up with high trade volume, as recently as March 2020
- Base version of the platform has higher fees than Pro version
Above, is what was happening during the 2017 Bull run. Me and a couple of friends are still trading today, here is how we have been using different exchanges to pay the lowest possible fees and try and accumulate Bitcoin since we believe it will continue to go up in time like it always did since its creation in 2009.
Fiat currencies to Bitcoin
It’s fair to say that Kraken is an option well worth considering thanks to its excellent security features and low transaction fees. It might be complicated to understand it at first, but we have been using it for years it works nicely and the team behind is always here to help.
Kraken is the place where we mostly trade Fiat and Bitcoins. (Coinbase Pro is also an option but higher fees than kraken.)
Investing in altcoins to increase your Bitcoin Position and potentially build wealth
Altcoins are the other cryptocurrencies launched after the success of Bitcoin. Generally, they sell themselves as better alternatives to Bitcoin. The term “altcoins” refers to all cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. As of early 2020, there were more than 5,000 cryptocurrencies
The appeal of investing in an altcoins is simple, the high potential for profit. Altcoins have a considerably lower market cap than Bitcoin and so there can potentially be large gains. But keep in mind that risk is always present, scammers exist. It is internet after all.
This is where we try to increase our Bitcoins positions by trading Altcoins. What platform do we use?
Binance is where most people trade nowadays with a trading volume of €30,906,877,090 EUR. It is a great and friendly space to trade coins I highly recommend this place to start.
I can keep on writing for days but I believe this is a strong beginning to start your research or has a little help on how to approach this market maybe in a different manner than in 2017 I wish you happy trading and warm welcome in the space if you are new! There is a lot more to talk about in this sphere such as:
- Investment strategies
- Leverage trading
- Bitcoin dominance
- Technical Analysis
- Blockchain Technologies
- The great Bitcoin Halving
- New interesting coins
- Stacking possibilities
- Market cycles Knowledge
- And much more. If this paper gets interest I might consider writing and sharing more!
Paolo de Fauconval.
Some sources:
- https://coinmarketcap.com/exchanges/binance/
- https://coinmarketcap.com/charts/
- https://www.lookintobitcoin.com/. Crypto and Data Analytics talks (great content)
- https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCatR7nWbYrkVXdxXb4cGXw https://www.kraken.com/fr-fr/
https://www.binance.com/en https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_wlZr1aBdI - https://www.coindesk.com/jpmorgan-calls-squares-bitcoin-investment-strong-vote- of-confidence-for-the-cryptocurrency
- https://fr.tradingview.com/symbols/CRYPTOCAP-BTC.D/
Ranked list of all coins marketcap and infos https://coinmarketcap.com/