“Crypto rewards active participation” is an adage that many participants of this innovation believe in and have proof of the saying. However, it is crucial to actively pursue your goals, as waiting alone may not yield the desired results. Due to this fact, you need to find an objective you want out of your involvement with the crypto sector.
Do you want to save? Invest for the long term or trade your way into gains? That’s one important part to decide upon. If you have taken that step, you are significantly ahead of those who are still establishing themselves. At the same time, you are likely undecided about which platform to use or register on. But there’s no need to bother about that. This article will discuss ten highly reliable platforms that can help you with savings, investment, or trading. But before we move further, let’s distinguish between crypto savings, investment, and trading.
Saving, Trading, and Investing In Crypto
Defining saving, trading, and investing in cryptocurrencies is also similar to the same way it is done in traditional markets. However, we will still do our best to describe and differentiate each.
Crypto savings revolves around keeping your assets in cryptocurrencies instead of fiat currencies. But cryptos like Bitcoin or Ether are not the only assets you can save in. For some people, these assets can be too volatile. Hence, you can look toward stablecoins to avoid some level of volatility.
Investing, however, is different from savings. While you may not expect an ROI on your savings, you would when you invest in crypto. However, the thing is that you may need to wait for a long period before your expected returns add up to your capital.
In trading, you depend on slight price movements for potential short-term gains. However, there are several kinds of trading: spot trading, options, or futures trading. Irrespective, you should be careful of this journey as inadequate education can fast-track your path to liquidation. Now that we know what these concepts are, let’s look at the several platforms that you can do any of these.
1 Coinbase
Led by Brian Armstrong, Coinbase is still one of the leading crypto platforms in the world. Many people may find this assertion surprising, especially as the firm has had a series of layoffs recently. Nevertheless, that has not taken away the impressive benefits the platform provides its customers. For starters, Coinbase offers its own custodial wallet. This is one feature that many of its competitors have found difficult to replicate. It also has a savings program dedicated to its United States customers. However, Coinbase offers benefits to users in other countries. For example, you can get a 4% Annual Percentage Yield (APY) on USDC savings.
Beginners also have the opportunity to be rewarded with the Coinbase learn to program. If you scale through the hurdle and pass the test, Coinbase can reward you with some cryptocurrency that you will dedicate to trading. As for its trading fees, Coinbase charges from 0% to 0.5%. However, transaction fees can be as high as 2.49% if you withdraw.
2 Bitcoin Loophole
This platform differs from the rest. Unlike most of the platforms listed, Bitcoin Loophole is not a cryptocurrency exchange. Rather, it is a tool through which traders and investors can access great trading software with the help of globally verified brokers.
You may be wondering why a platform as such was able to make the list. Well, the antecedents are there for you to see. First, Bitcoin Loophole is part of the few that offer demo trading to its users. So, if you are a complete newbie to trading the market, the platforms, through their partners, offer you the chance to practice.
It also does not end there. Experienced traders also get the chance to play their part as you can access both the platform’s manual and automated trading features. Whichever you choose to use, the platform also provides the option to use trading robots if you are familiar with them. If you are not, it would be in your best interest to avoid trying them out on a live trade.
Unless you get proper training on understanding the signals, you should really steer clear of using the bots. As regards savings, their partners do not offer this feature. But you can access other markets and assets besides those listed in the crypto space. So, if you plan to trade crypto, stocks, and also commodity options, then the trading platforms provided by Bitcoin Loophole’s partners have all of these in one place.
3 Binance
If Binance had not made the list, there is a high chance that you might not consider this article reliable enough. Well, here we are, naming the world’s largest exchange as one of the best platforms to use in 2023. Interestingly, Binance can be mentioned in whichever goal you have in crypto. Whether you plan to trade, save or invest, Binance has all the features.
In investing, you can just select out of the thousands of cryptocurrencies on the Binance exchange and buy. If you plan to hold for the long term, that’s okay. If you plan to only invest for the short term, that’s fine.
However, know that you need to conduct your own research before buying a particular cryptocurrency. As regards trading, the exchange has an incredible number of pairs that you can choose from. So, if your choice is BTC/USDT or ETH/BUSD, the Binance exchange has everything to meet your demands. There are, however, drawbacks to using Binance. Sometimes, it takes quite an unusual amount of time for the exchange to confirm the Know-Your-Customer (KYC) details. But it can be solved in minutes if you can reach out to the Binance help team or its support on Twitter.
4 Kucoin
Like Binance and Coinbase, Kucoin is one of the most popular crypto exchanges worldwide. Interestingly, the platform is similar to Binance in terms of the P2P feature and the number of cryptocurrencies available to trade. It is even more interesting that some gems (as investors like to call them) are listed on Kucoin while they are non-existent on the Binance platform.
If you intend to save or invest in Kucoin, you can take advantage of the 6% APY it offers on long-term USDT holdings. For cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Kucoin offers as low as 0.64%. But at the same time, you can access different offers concerning altcoins on the Kucoin official website or app. Yes, you may come across advertisements that say you can earn a 12% APY but it largely depends on your chosen asset.
Regarding trading fees, Kucoin offers one of the lowest in the crypto space. However, transaction fees on withdrawals are similar to the ones charged by exchanges in the same bracket.
5 Nexo
Nexo is one platform known to offer users crypto savings and crypto loans. An interesting fact about the platform is that it is highly regulated despite the decentralization calls of the crypto community. In saving, Nexo offers users the chance to lock their funds and provides yearly yields for those involved.
Nexo offers about an 8% yearly yield for those who lock assets like Bitcoin. Due to the volatility of the market, you can say that this is a relatively good ROI. But if you opt for stablecoins savings like USDC or USDT, Nexo’s yield for users is 12%. This is understandable, especially as stablecoins hardly have price inconsistencies. But you should note that the primary target audience of Nex is residents of the United States. It is the same reason its 6.9% interest loans are mainly offered to those in the region.
6 Crypto.com
Boasting over 70 million users globally, Crypto.com is one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges. Although it lags behind Binance, the platform allows users to own or trade over 250 cryptocurrencies. Well, you might consider this a little small but it is more than what Coinbase offers.
In addition, if you are a fan of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), Crypto.com might be the ideal platform for you. That is if you do not prefer excluding NFT trading platforms like OpenSea and Magic Eden. So, as you know, Crypto.com also offers trading and savings features. They offer some of the highest rates in the industry as yield can be as high as 14.5% yearly. However, you should know that this yield is not on all assets. It differs for stablecoins, and the other 15 cryptocurrencies have separate interest rates. When it comes to deposits, Crypto.com charges no fee. However, it is not the same with withdrawals, as fees can be up to 0.40% depending on the volume.
7 Gemini
Founded in 2014 by the Winklevoss Twins, Gemini is one of the best places to trade cryptocurrencies and access some digital collectibles. The platform prides itself on offering secure crypto wallets and an enticing savings proposal.
For savings on Gemini, you can earn up to 8.05% depending on the asset involved. While stablecoins get a higher yield, the APY on Bitcoin can be lower than 3% on the platform. When it comes to trading, Gemini does not offer a plethora of cryptocurrencies.
However, users have confirmed that most of the gems in the crypto world can be found on the Gemini exchange even though they are only a bit over 50. There are no withdrawal fees, but transaction fees can go as high as 1.49%. Gemini also offers bonuses on large-volume deposits and the unique thing about the exchange is that users can access their savings at any time.
8 Paxful
Despite offering fewer cryptocurrencies on its platform than others, Paxful is a leading exchange that pioneered easy P2P transactions. Because of this, it would be wrong on our side not to list it as one of the top ones you can use.
In addition, it is part of the few that provide up to 300 payment methods. So whichever country you may reside in and as long as Paxful is legal to use, there is a high chance that you find a suitable payment method without any hassle.
While it also supports over 140 fiat currencies, buying and selling of cryptocurrency on the platform is incredibly easy and fast. As for the fees charged, Paxful can take up to 1% depending on your payment method and trading volume. Also, you should be informed that the P2P fees charged depend on the buyers and sellers involved. So, it’s best to look for the ones you’re comfortable paying.
9 Hodlnaut
This Singapore-based platform primarily offers excellent interest rates for users who want to earn on their cryptocurrencies. As of this writing, the platform offers about 12.7% yield on these assets. But apart from the interest rates, Hodlanut also provides its users the chance to get bonuses on deposits above $1000. However, if approved, this bonus should be used for trading and can’t be withdrawn until you get a yield or profit from it.
Regarding fees, Hodlnaut has a unique way of charging users. Instead of taking fees per transaction, the platform takes one withdrawal fee per month depending on how frequently you have traded on the platform. The APY offered also varies. If you deposit a large volume, your APY becomes greater than that of someone who could not match up.
10 Bundle
Bundle is one of the crypto platforms on this list that does not work across several continents. The platform, launched in 2019, was mostly built for the African market. However, the fact that it focuses on Africa does not make it less of an exchange. With an excellent user experience and interface, Bundle offers users the opportunity to trade Bitcoin and altcoins, and some meme coins are available on the platform.
Another reason the platform makes this list is due to the features it possesses. In Africa, you would hardly find a platform that is not one of the global ones but provides a peer-to-peer (P2P) feature. This is one part where Bundle edges out its competition per locally built African platforms.
So, if you reside in countries like Nigeria or Ghana and are looking for a reputable platform to help you invest or trade cryptocurrencies seamlessly, then you can consider Bundle. However, we must admit that it has its own flaws too, especially when it comes to consistent upgrades. There might be times when you want to make a quick trade, but the app would tell you that you need to update before anything else.
11 Bybit
Bybit has become a reliable alternative to Binance and Coinbase in several parts of the world. And with FTX becoming extinct, the exchange has added another round of users.
Interestingly, there are other reasons why users have been trooping to Bybit apart from counting their losses from the FTX crash. With the experience gained from using the Bybit exchange, we discovered that getting liquidated is difficult for you unless you trade with a greedy intention. So, if you are the type that sticks to the 10x, 20x instead of the 100x, you should hardly become a victim of liquidation. Still, you should know that if you trade in contrast with the market trend for an extended period, it might not save you from losing money.
Conclusion
Finally, you know some of the top trading and investment platforms to help you achieve your trading objectives in 2023. If you were confused before, we are sure this list has been brought to light. At the same time, you may find other suitable options instead of the ones we listed, which is completely fine.
We can’t tell you if one is better than the other. This decision is entirely in your hands. However, we recommend you review some, if not all, of the platforms and see for yourself. This will help you make an informed decision without relying on hearsay alone.
