The most popular cryptocurrency – Bitcoin – was introduced to the world by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. Back then, there was a lot of mystery surrounding cryptocurrencies. Many people feared to venture in cryptocurrency trading for several reasons some of which include: fear of losing cryptocurrencies to cyber attacks, fear of crackdown on cryptocurrency developers and other security concerns.

In 2009, all the above reasons were valid but thanks to the improvement in technology, cryptocurrencies have risen in terms of popularity and price/value. At the time of writing, Bitcoin was retailing at $4650.71 a slight drop from the $5,000 mark it had attained.

You may be wondering why cryptocurrencies have become popular. Well, their popularity is attributed to lower transaction fees, flexibility, improved security and acceptance by traders, investors and the general public around the world.

As a result, several cryptocurrency exchanges that provide tools for traders and investors to trade in cryptocurrency have been developed.

Coinbase

Coinbase started as a digital currency wallet provider that allowed consumers and merchants to open digital wallets in order to begin trading and transacting with cryptocurrencies. Coinbase was founded in 2012, three years after Bitcoin was developed. Based in San Francisco, it provides trading tools that allow the trading of different cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin among others.

Thanks to the popularity of cryptocurrencies, the company has been able to attain a market cap of $10 B having raised $117 M from top investors around the world for example Andreessen Horowitz, USV and DFJ Growth among others. Today, Coinbase boasts of 9,900,000 users – 33,100,000 wallets, 46,000 merchants and 10,000 developer apps. (2017)

The company developed GDAX, a platform that offers traders and investors a chance to trade in cryptocurrencies. As a fully regulated US based exchange, GDAX provides trading tools such as charts, limit, stop and the ability to place orders. The chart window has an intuitive interface which is familiar with most traders. Just like other exchanges, users can modify a few attributes such as candlestick.

To access the advanced features, you have to create an account. Users are required to provide their full names, email and password. Before submitting the details, one has to certify that they are 18 years and above plus they must accept Coinbase user agreement and privacy policy.

Pros
a. Improved security
b. Reasonable fees
c. Cryptocurrencies are covered by insurance
d. Beginner friendly
e. Intuitive interface

Cons
a. Poor customer support
b. Limited coverage that is supports only 32 countries
c. Limited payment methods

Kraken

The San Francisco based company is one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges in the world in terms of euro volume as well as liquidity. Kraken enables traders and investors to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in Canadian dollars, US dollars, British pounds and Japanese yen. The company has been around for more than 5 years and during this period, it has been rated as the best and most secure Bitcoin exchange.

Kraken is the first Bitcoin exchange to have the trading volume and price displayed on the Bloomberg Terminal. This ensures that the platform gets a first pass to cryptographically verifiable proof of reserve audit. Furthermore, it is a partner to the first cryptocurrency bank. Today, it is trusted by many traders and as a result, it has been selected to be Tokyo’s government court appointed trustee.

When it comes to trading cryptocurrencies, Kraken provides charting tools that enable traders and investors to trade. For starters, the charting tools are intuitive. They help to provide relevant information like bids/asks and spread. Furthermore, you can watch depth which displays both cumulative volume and volume of trades.

An order book is available together with other chart tools. It displays the buying and selling transactions with real time volume and price. That’s not all, you can also check out the recent trades section and learn at what time an order was made, how much was transacted, current price and the order type.

Pros
a. Has a good reputation
b. Has decent exchange rates
c. Requires minimal deposit fees
d. Provides great user support
e. Supports more countries worldwide

Cons
a. Has limited payment methods
b. Interface may not be intuitive for beginners
c. Does not provide more options for its charting tools

Avatrade

Having been founded in 2006, AvaTrade has become a major player in the financial field specifically trading of securities. Not only does AvaTrade have a proven track record but the company has made its mission to provide high quality services to all traders. As a company that works with the client in mind, it has developed a variety of trading instruments plus platforms that ease the way traders buy and sell investment vehicles.

Thanks to the popularity of cryptocurrencies, AvaTrade now offers an opportunity for traders and investors to trade in top ranked digital currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. The company provides trading instruments normally used to trade futures, ETFs and forex among other securities to traders to use in trading cryptocurrencies.

Trading platforms AvaTrade currently offers include MetaTrader 4, AvaOptions, Ava TradeAct, Floating Options and Mirror Traders. Before you begin using the above trading platforms, users are required to sign up. AvaTrade offers three ways for creating an account.

The first option is using the electronic form provided by AvaTrade. You will be required to provide your full names, email, country, phone number, base currency and trading platform. On the other hand, you can opt to sign up for an account using your Facebook account or Gmail address.

Once you have access to your account, you can deposit funds and begin trading via the selected trading platform. The best thing about the available platforms is that they are rich in trading tools such as charts. All you need is to employ different trading strategies and you will get to profit.

Pros
a. Provides access to 6 trading platforms
b. Provides access to learning tools suitable for beginners
c. Makes it easy to create an account
d. Has a proven track record
e. Users have access to devoted account managers with deep market knowledge and who understand 12 languages

Cons
a. Beginners must learn how to use the platforms

Final Thoughts

Cryptocurrencies are the currency of the future. Many people prefer digital currencies because banks and governments do not have direct control over them. Others are attracted to digital currencies because they offer lower transactions fees while others are after the opportunity of investing and making lots of profits from trading cryptocurrencies.

If you are among the latter, then you need to know about the best cryptocurrency trading platforms available today. They are Coinbase, Kraken and AvaTrade. Not only do these companies provide the best trading platforms but they provide high quality customer support, support several payment methods and offer minimal fees.