Bitcoin brokerage

Etoro is a really popular trading site. They have been around since 2006. Etoro is regulated by CYSEC, FCA and ASIC.

Top forex bonus list

Best Cryptocurrency Brokers for 2021, bitcoin brokerage.

And a lot of that is down to which broker you decide to trade with.

Best cryptocurrency brokers for 2021

Daniel ‘harris’ major

I have tested 40+ crypto brokers. You can find the best cryptocurrency brokers below. This is by far the easiest way to get started with cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency trading has become really popular in the past years. It’s growing more ever year.

Many big trading brokers have already added some of these cryptocurrencies. Everybody can sign up and start trading bitcoin or other crypto coins. This is the easiest and probably the simplest way to invest in cryptocurrency.

After trying out most brokers, here are the best cryptocurrency brokers:

Best cryptocurrency brokers (non-US traders only)

Plus500 – top rated trading platform

Plus500 is a big name in the trading industry. They have a really low minimum deposit requirement and a great trading site.

Buy/sell cfds on bitcoin in addition to buying stocks, commodities, forex etc (traded only through cfds). Plus500 is the most complete trading platform.

Trade cfds on bitcoin & many other cryptos

Minimum deposit is only $100

Regulated and trusted platform

Very fast signup process

Live chat

Many payment methods (even paypal)

You cannot withdraw any cryptocurrency

You have to complete a questionnaire, upon sign up

Plus500 disclaimer: 76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

IQ option – lowest minimum deposit ($10)

If you don’t want to make a huge initial investment, then IQ option is the best broker for you. The minimum deposit requirement is only $10. This is by far the lowest in the industry.

You can trade many cryptocurrencies

Minimum deposit is only $10

Best trading platform

Multiple account currencies

Free demo account

Regulated by CYSEC (#247/14)

Etoro – top crypto broker

Etoro is a really popular trading site. They have been around since 2006. Etoro is regulated by CYSEC, FCA and ASIC.

Buy/sell bitcoin on etoro in addition to buying stocks, commodities, forex etc. Etoro is the most complete trading platform.

Trade bitcoin & many other cryptos

Minimum deposit is $200

Regulated and trusted platform

Australian traders are also accepted

Great support team

Many payment methods (even paypal)

You cannot withdraw any cryptocurrency

You have to complete a questionnaire, upon sign up

Etoro disclaimer: 71% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

Highlow – best all-round crypto broker

Due to regulation highlow stopped accepting traders from the EU and UK.

Highlow is an australian trading broker (AFSL no.364264). What I like most about this broker is the intuitive platform. It is so easy to use. Especially new traders will like the clean layout.

I’ve been using highlow for a few years now and I never had a problem. Highlow publishes their number of trades on the homepage. There are millions of trades on this broker each month.

I use the main platform which is web based. This means, that you don’t have to download any software. This platform is stable and safe (they use SSL).

I have also tried the ios app and the android app. They are great, but I just don’t like trading on smartphones in general.

The payouts on highlow are amazing (up to 200%, which is more than on other brokers).

Highlow is a great broker for cryptocurrencies (but only if you are not from EU,UK, US). They have a good reputation, great support team and awesome promotions for new traders.

Trade bitcoin & other cryptos

Minimum deposit is only $50

Regulated and trusted platform

Fastest signup process (no questionnaires)

Multiple account currencies

Free demo account (no registration needed)

Nadex – US traders welcome

Nadex is a CFTC regulated broker. In fact, this is probably the only US broker that has this regulation.

Only US traders are allowed on nadex. Non-US traders check out the next broker.

Update OCTOBER 2019: looks like nadex removed crypto trading. After contacting them I found out that they will add it back soon. Register on nadex now and get updated when they add it.

Recently, nadex started offering bitcoin trading.

Trade bitcoin, forex or binary options

Minimum deposit is $250

CFTC regulated broker

Great support team

Many payment methods (even paypal)

Crypto brokers with most cryptocurrencies

Here are the most popular cryptocurrencies offered by cryptocurrency brokers:

Etoro – bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, dash, ethereum classic, NEO and ripple.

Plus500 – bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, bitcoin cash, ripple, IOTA.

Avatrade – bitcoin, ethereum, ethereum classic, ripple, dash, bitcoin cash litecoin, monero and NEO.

Lowest minimum deposit brokers

These are the best brokers with low minimum deposit requirements:

Etoro – $200

Plus500 – $100

Avatrade – $100

This is really important because the crypto market itself is unregulated. Depositing on a regulated broker means that your money is safe.

We’ve also looked at the support team and the payment methods. You can deposit easily using multiple payment methods on the brokers below.

Top rated brokers that have cryptocurrencies

While we are all familiar with the broad definition of a broker, is there something more to it when it comes to cryptocurrencies?

Simply put, a cryptocurrency broker refers to a website that traders will visit to trade cryptocurrencies at a set price. In many ways, they are similar to forex brokers whose services are a lot more familiar to the general public.

Etoro disclaimer: 71% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

You still can’t decide which broker is best for you?

How to choose your cryptocurrency broker

Is leverage really necessary? Cryptocurrency markets are volatile in nature with prices fluctuating immensely thereby generating high profits even in the absence of leverage. But for some traders, the desire for more earnings justifies the use of leverage.

Before choosing your broker, settle yourself on whether the already immense profits that come from a cryptocurrency market are enough for you or you would like to use leverage to enhance them even further, bearing in mind, of course, that will also significantly increase the risk factor to your funds.

Negative balance protection: it is always advisable to trade with a broker that affords the negative balance protection facility. That way, you will never be at risk of losing more than what you invested in case you sustain very heavy losses.

How suitable is the required capital for you? This is another subjective part to your decision. Do you prefer trading with a small capital or bigger one to help you zero in on bigger returns? Find out what size trades your broker is offering before you open an account.

Narrow spreads for the win: let us be honest, it is only fair that your broker gets a cut from the money you generated having provided you with the essential facilities for it and all. But let us be honest, you definitely want every last dime for yourself.

A spread refers to the difference between the buying price and selling price of a trade and it varies with each broker. The spread is what counts as fees for your broker so the smaller it is, the lower the cost will be on your part.

Lets go into what aspects you as a trader must consider when choosing a broker to trade cryptocurrencies.

Which cryptocurrencies are you interested in trading?

Make sure you have decided on which cryptocurrencies you want to trade in before signing up with your broker.

If your choice is a prominent cryptocurrency like bitcoin (official site), litecoin (official site), or ethereum(official site), there will be a relatively broad availability of brokers that have trading options for those. However, less prevalent examples like monero, IOTA, or zcash may be a little harder to come by.

So study the cryptocurrencies being offered by a broker before you sign up for an account.

Pros and cons of cryptocurrency brokers

Here are some features that these broker have or don’t:
pros

Signup up with a crypto broker is probably the fastest way to get started with cryptocurrency trading

If you are less tech-savvy then a broker is safer for you

You can start buying cryptocurrency while traditional exchanges don’t always accept this payment method

Most of the time you can’t withdraw cryptocurrencies from a broker. You have to exchange it back to fiat money (USD/EUR etc.)

Cryptocurrency brokers – what to look for

Here are some of the more understated details about your cryptocurrency broker that could make your trading experiences so much more efficient and successful.

1. What are the weekend hours like?

This is a key detail that distinguishes cryptocurrencies from other prominent trading markets like forex, futures, and equity. Cryptocurrency brokers operate during the weekends as well.

There is virtually no difference in purchasing bitcoin at the end of the week as opposed to the middle of the week during peak hours.

But there is a catch. While digital currency exchanges are available during the weekend, your broker may not (why is the stock market closed on the weekend?). So in effect, if there is considerable movement within your relevant cryptocurrency market during a weekend when your broker is not operating, you may not have the ability to respond in any way.

2. How is it hedging?

Your broker is probably not keen on revealing if it is hedging cryptocurrency traders but it is important information for you to know.

Why is it so important for you to know?

Because, as a trader, you want to be absolutely in the clear regarding the policies for risk management being followed by your broker. Let us not forget that cryptocurrency markets are extremely volatile and an unhedged broker is more easily prone to major losses incurred by its clients. Naturally, those costs will warrant compensation via fatter spreads and additional costs for traders. It will be best to sign up with a broker that will not withhold the relevant information from you.

More great features you could be interested in

Commissions and trading on margin – an important thing to note while trading cryptocurrencies is that their prices tend to be more similar to equities than they are to real currencies. So your broker could be charging you commissions in addition to a wide spread on each trade. That, of course, raises the cost probably a bit much for your liking.

Another similarity with equities is that the margin conditions with cryptocurrencies are significantly more than they are with forex or cfds. Consequently, leverage is usually up to 10x. How considerable the margin rate will be for traders is down to what trading strategies and risk management they subscribe to.

Authenticity of market data – aside from merely evaluating how it influences spreads, market data for cryptocurrency CFD prices can be a good indicator of how the quality of the product will be in the future.

One of the more recent examples of this is BTC-e which was an immensely popular platform for trading bitcoin before it was shut down by feds. BTC-e was the first bitcoin exchange to incorporate forex trades and so made their exchange accessible via MT4 and supplied cryptocurrency liquidity for brokers.

But once it was shut down, every broker that depended squarely upon BTC-e was left with no hedging options or market data to put a price on its crypto cfds.

Are short sales available? For many traders, shorting is a crucial strategy option, the lack of which can be a deal breaker with a potential broker. Many brokers tend to offer ‘long’ only since there are only a few hedging solutions when opening short trades.

As you see, investing in cryptocurrencies can be a truly lucrative venture for you but only if you get it right.

And a lot of that is down to which broker you decide to trade with.

Ready to start trading?

Trade with the cryptocurrency brokers listed above to make sure that your money is safe, you pick a broker with a stellar reputation and you keep the fees low. Excel at trading bitcoin by creating your own trading strategy.

These cryptocurrency brokers make it really easy to trade bitcoin and other coins. You don’t have to be a trading expert. It helps if you know what a blockchain is or how the ledger and transactions work, but this is all optional.

Best online brokers for bitcoin trading

The best crypto exchanges for US bitcoin trading offer three essential benefits. The first, and most important, is robust security with two-factor authentication, cold storage, and integrated safe wallets. Second is a user-friendly website and platform. Third, they provide access to trading a variety of cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum.

In our assessment and ranking of cryptocurrency exchanges, we focused on traditional exchanges headquartered and regulated in the united states, as well as the incumbent online brokers in the US, which are expanding to offer bitcoin trading on top of regular stock trading (e.G. Buying shares of apple or google).

Best bitcoin trading platform

Tradestation - best trading platform

Coinbase - best crypto exchange

Etoro - low fees

Kraken - maker-taker fee schedule

Bittrex - most altcoins

Gemini - offers gemnini dollar

Robinhood - best mobile app

Here's a breakdown of some of the best online brokers for US crypto trading.

Best trading platform - open account
promo offer: commission-free trades on stocks, etfs & options trades

As a trading technology leader, tradestation supports casual traders through its web-based platform and active traders through its award-winning desktop platform, all with $0 stock and ETF trades. Tradestation crypto allows you to buy, sell, and trade bitcoin, litecoin, ethereum, bitcoin cash and XRP. Tradestation crypto caters to both institutional and recreational clients. Read full review

Best crypto exchange

Founded in june of 2012, coinbase is the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange, housing over 20 million users. Coinbase is best known for its easy to use website and crypto trading platform, coinbase pro. Coinbase supports 14 different cryptocurrencies for trading, including bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), and litecoin (LTC), among others.

Low fees - open account
promo offer: 0% commission stocks

Etoro is great for traders seeking zero-commission stock and ETF trades, an efficient platform, and access to copy trading. That said, there are hidden fees, education is sub-par, and etoro doesn't offer the same range of investments as traditional brokers. Etoro's crypto offering includes 16 different coins. Although crypto fees are cheap, you can only withdraw your crypto assets with a dedicated etoro wallet.

Maker-taker fee schedule

Kraken was founded in july of 2011 and offers trading on 18 different cryptocurrencies, including monero (XMR), ripple (XRP), and dash (DSH). Kraken currently offers a web platform but does not have a mobile app.

Most altcoins

Bittrex was founded in seattle, washington in 2014. Although bittrex doesn’t provide a mobile or desktop platform, it still offers over 100 tradeable coins, including bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), and litecoin (LTC).

Offers gemini dollar

Founded in 2015 by the winklevoss twins, gemini is a licensed digital asset exchange and custodian built for both individuals and institutions. Gemini lets users buy, store, and sell bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), litecoin (LTC), bitcoin cash (BCH), and zcash (ZEC), as well as the self-named gemini dollar (GUSD).

Best mobile app

Robinhood crypto allows users to trade bitcoin (BTC), ethereum (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH), litecoin (LTC), dogecoin (DOGE), ethereum classic (ETC), and bitcoin SV (BSV). Ten additional coins can be added to a watch list. Robinhood crypto is best-fitted for users who trade multiple classes of assets. Read full review

Pricing details

Below is pricing information for each of the top online brokers for bitcoin trading. Each company uses a different structure.

Tradestation - open account
promo offer: commission-free trades on stocks, etfs & options trades

Headquartered in plantation, florida, tradestation is a wholly owned subsidiary of monex group, inc., one of japan’s largest online financial services providers. (1). Tradestation's roots date back to the 1982, when the company was formed under the name omega research. The company's flagship tradestation platform was launched in 1991, and tradestation group was a NASDAQ listed company from 1997 - 2011, until it was acquired by monex group (2).

Tradestation crypto features a simple pricing structure. Account balances below $100,000 pay a 0.50% maker fee and a 0.50% taker fee. Account balances over $100,000 don’t pay a maker fee, paying either a 0.25% or 0.125% fee based on account size. At this commission rate, it would cost $5.00 to buy $1,000 worth of bitcoin (BTC).

Coinbase - coinbase.Com

If buying bitcoin from a linked ACH account, the average commission is

1.49%. If buying bitcoin by selling another cryptocurrency you already hold in your coinbase wallet (or vice versa), then the average commission is

.50%. For example, buying $1,000 worth of bitcoin would cost

$15 from a linked bank account.

Etoro - open account
promo offer: 0% commission stocks

As an early pioneer in social copy trading, etoro was founded in israel in 2006 as a financial trading technology developer. After launching its first product, it has since grown to service over 9 million users with an innovative platform that continually evolves to be one of the largest social networks globally, with clients in over 170 countries.

Etoro charges no fees for sending or receiving transactions. Blockchain fees are applicable for sending and receiving. However, etoro does charge a conversion fee of 0.1%, set to market rates. Minimum withdrawal amounts and fees are also imposed for each type of cryptocurrency. The minimum bitcoin withdrawal amount is 0.0086 BTC and the withdrawal fee is 0.0005 units.

Kraken - kraken.Com

Kraken uses a maker-taker fee schedule with price incentives based on your trading volume over the last 30 days. For example, the average customer who trades less than $50,000 a month will pay $2.60 in fees for every $1,000 in trading volume. Fees for market makers range between 0% and 0.16%, while fees for takers range from 0.10% to 0.26%. This fee schedule, is more competitive than competitors like coinbase and gemini.

Bittrex - bittrex.Com

Bittrex has a simple pricing model, and charges a flat 0.25% on all trades. At this commission rate, it would cost $2.50 to buy $1,000 worth of bitcoin (BTC). Higher-volume traders, those trading more than $25,000 a month, should look at kraken for discounted pricing.

Gemini is much more expensive than other exchanges, charging between $0.99 - $2.99 on transactions under $200, and 1.49% on orders over $200. This means it would cost $14.90 to purchase $1,000 worth of bitcoin (BTC). Overall, gemini is the most expensive crypto exchange included in this guide, charging more than five times what other exchanges would charge for the same transaction.

Robinhood

Robinhood crypto does not charge a commission for placing crypto trades; however, it generates tiny profits from each order as it is routed. This routing practice, known as payment for order flow (PFOF), is also how robinhood makes money from stock trades. In their user agreement, robinhood crypto states that they may receive activity-based rebates from crypto exchanges, brokers, and market-makers, among other crypto intermediaries. Bottom line, since robinhood is not transparent with its pricing structure, there is a possibility the all-in costs per trade are actually much higher than some competitors. Unfortunately, there is no way to know for certain.

Pricing details per exchange

Final thoughts

Trading cryptocurrencies is becoming more widespread as investors around the globe become more comfortable with blockchain technology and the exchanges that offer online crypto trading. Security enhancements for digital wallets continue to improve as well, providing traders more confidence that buying bitcoin is safe.

Safe and reliable bitcoin brokerage

Welcome to bitbroker, UK’s premier online destination for bitcoin traders. We provide a simple, fast and secure way to buy bitcoins in the UK.

Whilst bitcoins are highly volatile, many people earn money by trading in a timely manner. By frequently looking at the price charts, you can determine if it is the right time to buy bitcoins. If you are ready to trade, create your account today and let us know if you need any assistance. We are more than willing to guide you every step of the way.

Quick and exceptional trading experience is our promise

At bitbroker, we believe that buying bitcoins should be as easy as possible for clients, which is why we use a secure and reliable platform. We have a team of friendly and trusted brokers who sell bitcoins online in the UK via bank transfers. We release bitcoins as soon as the money reaches us, which is usually instant with most banks. With over 40000 trades completed and 15000 happy customers, we are confident that you will have an exceptional trading experience through us.

Whether you are new to this trade or you are a trader who has completed many transactions before, you are in the right place. Find out how our online bitcoin trading process works and get started immediately by creating your own personalised account.

Bitmain’s contingency announcement: fuel on the fire?

25 june 2017

If you’re anything like me, you may have struggled to get through bitmain’s recent contingency announcement regarding BIP148 (a.K.A. Segwit activation) and its prediction of an imminent UASF (user activated soft fork). It was long, technical, and honestly, a little boring. Maybe that was deliberate on their part – because when you strip it down, it’s hard to deduce what their real objectives and motivations are.

Bitbroker is a trading name of bitbroker limited, a company registered in england and wales (no. 09964675).

Mailing address: 10 park place, manchester, greater manchester, M4 4EY

Contact number: +442081440023

Broker touts exotic bitcoin bet to wring income from crypto

As cryptocurrency pushes into mainstream finance and attracts billionaire tycoons, one U.K. Brokerage is offering the merely wealthy a potentially safer way to play bitcoin. The price: giving up any hope of the kind of stratospheric gains the digital coin is famous for.

London-based marex spectron group ltd. Is selling a structured product known as an autocallable to people with at least $200,000 to invest, according to a term sheet. If the cryptocurrency stays relatively stable for awhile, marex claims investors could reap an annualized return of as much as 70% via monthly coupons.

If bitcoin keeps multiplying in value, autocallable investors don’t get to participate in that upside: they’ll just get their capital back early, plus their coupons. And if bitcoin crashes again -- as it did three years ago -- investors would lose, but less than they would by trading bitcoin directly.

“the idea that you want to sell out all the upside in order to get a coupon and 30% downside protection seems pretty unintuitive -- but these kind of structures in general are wildly popular,” said benn eifert, chief investment officer of hedge fund QVR advisors . “I imagine they’ll find demand.”

Marex solutions began marketing the autocallables this week, according to nilesh jethwa, who heads the division. Marex spectron, which is active in the commodity and energy markets, is owned by JRJ group, the private-equity firm of former lehman brothers bankers jeremy isaacs and roger nagioff.

“bitcoin is becoming mainstream,” said jethwa. The marex product is reserved for professional investors and is being distributed via private banks and family offices.

The popular autocallable structure gained notoriety about two years ago when natixis SA lost $200 million on the products in korea after mismanaging the risks of equity market turmoil. Still, the products are a mainstay of the structured products universe, and attract retail investors, especially in asia, who have large piles of savings and seek regular income.

Bitcoin surpassed $40,000 for the first time on thursday before falling to $38,685 at 8:30 a.M. Friday in london. It has more than quadrupled in the past year, with prominent money managers like guggenheim investments’ scott minerd predicting the gains have just started.

That kind of return far exceeds what marex’s autocallable can provide. But that’s a reasonable trade-off for the reduced downside, jethwa said.

“we are transforming the risk from a speculative investment,” he said. “investors can decide how much appetite they have for a crash and the yield they want.”

The development highlights how bitcoin’s months-long rally is luring new investors far from its roots in the tech community, day-traders and people of an ideological bent that sought an alternative to conventional currency. Last year, the chicago mercantile exchange started offering options contracts on bitcoin futures.

Hedge funders like alan howard are becoming involved in an asset class that was once too fringe for the mainstream, betting that crypto is a gold-like hedge against pandemic-driven loose fiscal and monetary policy debasing fiat currencies.

”the reason to own bitcoin is because things like this can always go up a lot more than they can go down,” QVR’s eifert said. “they’re quite unlikely to remain stable over any material period of time.”

— with assistance by donal griffin

Best cryptocurrency brokers for 2021

Daniel ‘harris’ major

I have tested 40+ crypto brokers. You can find the best cryptocurrency brokers below. This is by far the easiest way to get started with cryptocurrencies.

Cryptocurrency trading has become really popular in the past years. It’s growing more ever year.

After trying out most brokers, here are the best cryptocurrency brokers:

Best cryptocurrency brokers (non-US traders only)

Plus500 – top rated trading platform

Plus500 is a big name in the trading industry. They have a really low minimum deposit requirement and a great trading site.

Buy/sell cfds on bitcoin in addition to buying stocks, commodities, forex etc (traded only through cfds). Plus500 is the most complete trading platform.

Trade cfds on bitcoin & many other cryptos

Minimum deposit is only $100

Regulated and trusted platform

Very fast signup process

Live chat

Many payment methods (even paypal)

You cannot withdraw any cryptocurrency

You have to complete a questionnaire, upon sign up

Plus500 disclaimer: 76.4% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

IQ option – lowest minimum deposit ($10)

If you don’t want to make a huge initial investment, then IQ option is the best broker for you. The minimum deposit requirement is only $10. This is by far the lowest in the industry.

You can trade many cryptocurrencies

Minimum deposit is only $10

Best trading platform

Multiple account currencies

Free demo account

Regulated by CYSEC (#247/14)

Etoro – top crypto broker

Etoro is a really popular trading site. They have been around since 2006. Etoro is regulated by CYSEC, FCA and ASIC.

Buy/sell bitcoin on etoro in addition to buying stocks, commodities, forex etc. Etoro is the most complete trading platform.

Trade bitcoin & many other cryptos

Minimum deposit is $200

Regulated and trusted platform

Australian traders are also accepted

Great support team

Many payment methods (even paypal)

You cannot withdraw any cryptocurrency

You have to complete a questionnaire, upon sign up

Etoro disclaimer: 71% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

Highlow – best all-round crypto broker

Due to regulation highlow stopped accepting traders from the EU and UK.

Highlow is an australian trading broker (AFSL no.364264). What I like most about this broker is the intuitive platform. It is so easy to use. Especially new traders will like the clean layout.

I’ve been using highlow for a few years now and I never had a problem. Highlow publishes their number of trades on the homepage. There are millions of trades on this broker each month.

I use the main platform which is web based. This means, that you don’t have to download any software. This platform is stable and safe (they use SSL).

I have also tried the ios app and the android app. They are great, but I just don’t like trading on smartphones in general.

The payouts on highlow are amazing (up to 200%, which is more than on other brokers).

Highlow is a great broker for cryptocurrencies (but only if you are not from EU,UK, US). They have a good reputation, great support team and awesome promotions for new traders.

Trade bitcoin & other cryptos

Minimum deposit is only $50

Regulated and trusted platform

Fastest signup process (no questionnaires)

Multiple account currencies

Free demo account (no registration needed)

Nadex – US traders welcome

Nadex is a CFTC regulated broker. In fact, this is probably the only US broker that has this regulation.

Only US traders are allowed on nadex. Non-US traders check out the next broker.

Update OCTOBER 2019: looks like nadex removed crypto trading. After contacting them I found out that they will add it back soon. Register on nadex now and get updated when they add it.

Recently, nadex started offering bitcoin trading.

Trade bitcoin, forex or binary options

Minimum deposit is $250

CFTC regulated broker

Great support team

Many payment methods (even paypal)

Crypto brokers with most cryptocurrencies

Here are the most popular cryptocurrencies offered by cryptocurrency brokers:

Etoro – bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, dash, ethereum classic, NEO and ripple.

Plus500 – bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin, bitcoin cash, ripple, IOTA.

Avatrade – bitcoin, ethereum, ethereum classic, ripple, dash, bitcoin cash litecoin, monero and NEO.

Lowest minimum deposit brokers

These are the best brokers with low minimum deposit requirements:

Etoro – $200

Plus500 – $100

Avatrade – $100

This is really important because the crypto market itself is unregulated. Depositing on a regulated broker means that your money is safe.

We’ve also looked at the support team and the payment methods. You can deposit easily using multiple payment methods on the brokers below.

Top rated brokers that have cryptocurrencies

While we are all familiar with the broad definition of a broker, is there something more to it when it comes to cryptocurrencies?

Etoro disclaimer: 71% of retail CFD accounts lose money.

You still can’t decide which broker is best for you?

How to choose your cryptocurrency broker

Lets go into what aspects you as a trader must consider when choosing a broker to trade cryptocurrencies.

Which cryptocurrencies are you interested in trading?

Make sure you have decided on which cryptocurrencies you want to trade in before signing up with your broker.

So study the cryptocurrencies being offered by a broker before you sign up for an account.

Pros and cons of cryptocurrency brokers

Here are some features that these broker have or don’t:
pros

Signup up with a crypto broker is probably the fastest way to get started with cryptocurrency trading

If you are less tech-savvy then a broker is safer for you

You can start buying cryptocurrency while traditional exchanges don’t always accept this payment method

Most of the time you can’t withdraw cryptocurrencies from a broker. You have to exchange it back to fiat money (USD/EUR etc.)

Cryptocurrency brokers – what to look for

Here are some of the more understated details about your cryptocurrency broker that could make your trading experiences so much more efficient and successful.

1. What are the weekend hours like?

This is a key detail that distinguishes cryptocurrencies from other prominent trading markets like forex, futures, and equity. Cryptocurrency brokers operate during the weekends as well.

There is virtually no difference in purchasing bitcoin at the end of the week as opposed to the middle of the week during peak hours.

2. How is it hedging?

Your broker is probably not keen on revealing if it is hedging cryptocurrency traders but it is important information for you to know.

Why is it so important for you to know?

More great features you could be interested in

But once it was shut down, every broker that depended squarely upon BTC-e was left with no hedging options or market data to put a price on its crypto cfds.

As you see, investing in cryptocurrencies can be a truly lucrative venture for you but only if you get it right.

And a lot of that is down to which broker you decide to trade with.

Ready to start trading?

Compare the best bitcoin brokers

When it comes to bitcoin trading, you need a bitcoin broker you can trust. We’ve compared all your options to help you make the right choice.

Where can I find the best bitcoin brokers?

Right here. We have reviewed all the best and most reliable bitcoin trading platforms out there to help you buy bitcoin. Have a read through our reviews and see what you think. If you’re not ready just yet, scroll down and continue reading to learn more about choosing the best bitcoin broker.

Access the world’s most popular crypto assets including bitcoin, ETH, LTC, XRP

Automatically copy the trades of top crypto traders

Deposit using paypal + 9 other deposit options available

Access the world’s most popular crypto assets including bitcoin, ETH, LTC, XRP

Automatically copy the trades of top crypto traders

Deposit using paypal + 9 other deposit options available

Margin trading with full legal compliance

Various payment options

Margin trading with full legal compliance

Various payment options

Huge range of cryptocurrencies

2 factor authentication

Huge range of cryptocurrencies

2 factor authentication

Fully automated platform with instant transactions

A wide variety of payment options

Fully automated platform with instant transactions

A wide variety of payment options

Safe & secure cryptocurrency exchange

Liquidity accepted in over 200 countries

Safe & secure cryptocurrency exchange

Liquidity accepted in over 200 countries

Live support in 23 languages

Secure and easy to use with fast KYC process

Live support in 23 languages

Secure and easy to use with fast KYC process

What is a bitcoin broker?

A bitcoin brokerage is a middleman for buying and selling bitcoin. In the same way that you’d use a bureau de change at an airport to exchange your currency to another, a broker is a company that will buy and sell bitcoin at a fixed price. Bitcoin brokers are also one of the only options that allow you to buy a very large amount of bitcoin at a time (for instance if you want to invest £50,000 or more).

How do brokerages work?

Brokers or trading platforms allow you buy bitcoin at a set value, which the platform or broker holds for you. Technically, using this method you do not own the coin itself, rather you own the value-change of it. Therefore, its a trade. If you buy bitcoin at £1,000 and it goes up to £1,100, you could sell it and keep the extra £100. Simple really.

How do I use a bitcoin broker?

It’s easy. Just go to the broker site and it will have the current rate at which they’re selling bitcoin displayed. If you’re happy with the bitcoin price then set up an account, select how much you want to buy, then enter your payment details and get moving.

What should I look for in a broker?

Design and ease of use

The purpose of a broker is to make the process of buying bitcoin easier. You want to make sure the bitcoin broker is designed in such a way as to make it as simple as possible for you to navigate through and make your BTC purchases.

Price

Different bitcoin brokers will charge a different amount for buying bitcoin, as any commission charged by a platform will be included in the price listed, referred to as spread. To find the best rate it’s a good idea to compare multiple platforms.

Payment charges

You want to make sure you’re getting a good deal on your purchase. Depending on the platform and your chosen payment method, there could be fees of 0% to 5% of the purchase amount, with credit card being the most expensive option.

Reputation

You will want to be sure you are sending your money to a company that will not disappear with your cash. In the UK, brokers must be regulated so look out for this when reading reviews. There are many platforms that have been around for a while and have good reputations. Some of the common options you should consider include etoro and coinmama.

Variety of coins

If you want to buy more than just bitcoin, you can find brokers with a range of cryptos. Platforms will usually offer all the top coins, and will often be more than happy to assist you in buying.

Do I have to verify my identity?

Yes, you have to verify your identity to register with a bitcoin broker. Usually you’ll have to provide proof of your ID (such as a passport and a driving license) and address (such as a utility bill or bank statement). Typically you’ll have to provide a selfie of you holding your photo ID to prove it’s yours.

What’s the difference between a bitcoin broker and an exchange?

On a bitcoin exchange you buy and own bitcoin directly from other people, it’s peer-2-peer, whereas with a broker you’re buying the value of the coin from the platform. Exchanges are much more complicated to use as they have cryptocurrency price charts and constantly refreshing order lists; there’s a huge learning curve. A broker platform however handles the whole process for you and provides a fixed price.

Do brokers charge commission or fees for buying bitcoin?

Yes, but these are included in the BTC price displayed. The price advertised is the price you pay, without any percentage commission being added when you’re entering your details. The only additional fees will be if a platform charges a fee for specific payment methods (e.G. Credit cards).

Can I buy multiple cryptocurrencies through a broker?

Yes, most brokers sell a variety of cryptocurrencies, including the major coins such as bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ethereum, litecoin, and ripple at the very least.

Do I need a wallet to use a bitcoin broker?

No, as the platform holds all values for you.

Should I use brokers to buy and sell bitcoin?

Well, it depends. If you want an easy and seamless way to capitalise on the growth and price fluctuations of bitcoin, this is the best and most simple option. If however you’re looking to hold your bitcoin personally; to use, spend or otherwise – then an exchange is the better option.

10 reasons bitcoin is a terrible investment

The cryptocurrency kingpin has been on fire in 2020, but belongs nowhere near investors' portfolios.

It's been a challenging year for wall street. We've witnessed the quickest bear market decline of at least 30% in history, as well as the most ferocious comeback of all time, with the benchmark S&P 500 taking less than five months to reach new highs.

But one investment that hasn't been phased by the coronavirus pandemic or heightened volatility is the cryptocurrency bitcoin. On a year-to-date basis, through wednesday evening, oct. 14, bitcoin was up just shy of 60%.

Image source: getty images.

Why is bitcoin outperforming in 2020?

Why does bitcoin continue to outperform equities? For one, there's the idea of scarcity. Only 21 million bitcoin tokens can be mined, which creates a level of scarcity that pushes up the value of these digital tokens.

Another reason bitcoin has done so well is the expectation of a digital revolution. This is to say that bitcoin buyers believe the utility of paper money has come and gone. This could prove somewhat accurate with the pandemic highlighting the potential for physical cash to be a carrier of harmful germs. With the rise of peer-to-peer payment platforms, bitcoin looks to become the superior digital currency.

Bitcoin also benefits from its first-mover advantage in the cryptocurrency space. It was the first digital token to catch on with investors, and happens to be the largest on a market-cap basis by a significant amount (it's five times the size of ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap). Today, bitcoin serves as the intermediary asset on a number of crypto investment platforms if you want to purchase a less-common token (i.E., anything not named ethereum or ripple).

Image source: getty images.

Buying bitcoin could be a big mistake

But as good as bitcoin has been for investors in 2020, my blunt opinion is that it's a terrible investment. Here are 10 reasons you should avoid bitcoin like the plague.

1. Bitcoin isn't really scarce

First of all, bitcoin is only as scarce as its programming dictates. Whereas physical metals, such as gold, are limited to what can be mined from the earth, bitcoin's token count is limited by computer programming. It's not out of the question that programmers, with overwhelming community support, could choose to increase bitcoin's token limit at some point in the future. Thus, bitcoin offers the perception of scarcity without actually being scarce.

2. It has a utility problem

The king of cryptocurrencies also has a utility problem. To date, only 18.51 million bitcoin tokens are in circulation, with an estimated 40% of these held by small group of investors. Even considering the fact that fractional token ownership exists, roughly 10 million to 11 million tokens in circulation aren't going to go very far. For context, global gross domestic product was $81 trillion in 2017. Meanwhile, bitcoin has approximately $114 billion to $125 billion in tokens freely circulating and not held tight by investors. There's minimal utility here.

3. There's a low barrier to entry

Bitcoin may enjoy first-mover advantage at the moment, but the barrier to entry in the cryptocurrency space is especially low. All it takes is time and coding knowledge for blockchain -- the digital and decentralized ledger that records transactions -- to be developed and a digital token to be tethered to the network. There's nothing unique about bitcoin's underlying blockchain that other businesses couldn't one-up.

Image source: getty images.

4. Few (if any) tangible means to value bitcoin

Another beef with bitcoin is that there's no tangible way to value it as an asset. For instance, if you want to buy shares of a publicly traded company, you can scour income statements, its balance sheet, read about industrywide catalysts, and listen to management commentary from recent conference calls and presentations. In other words, you can make an informed decision.

With bitcoin, there is no tangible data for investors to wrap their hands around. There's transaction settlement times and total circulating token supply, but neither of these figures tells us anything about the value or utility of bitcoin.

5. Fiat currencies may work on blockchain

I believe investors are also placing their faith in the wrong asset. Over the long term, blockchain technology is where the real value lies. Blockchain can be used to reinvent supply-chain management and expedite overseas payments. But when folks are buying into bitcoin, they're gaining ownership in digital tokens with zero ownership of the underlying blockchain.

To build on this point, companies are also testing blockchain that's tethered to fiat currencies. For example, mastercard (NYSE:MA) was awarded a patent in july 2018 "for linkage of blockchain-based assets to fiat currency amounts." this implies there may not be any need for a made-up digital token to be used at all on blockchain networks.

6. Blockchain is years from being mainstream

A sixth issue is that blockchain is still years away from gaining real relevance. Three years ago, when blockchain companies and cryptocurrency stocks were the hottest thing since sliced bread, it was expected that blockchain technology would be quickly adopted. Little did investors foresee the catch-22 that would arise. Specifically, no businesses are willing to make the costly and time-consuming switch to blockchain without the technology being broadly tested -- yet companies aren't willing to make this initial leap to test the technology and prove its scalability.

In short, blockchain is years away from being a mainstream technology.

Image source: getty images.

7. Fraud/theft is a serious issue

By no means are cryptocurrencies the only asset to be hacked by thieves, but there are serious fraud and theft concerns that accompany bitcoin. For instance, novice bitcoin investors may not understand the need to store their tokens in a digital wallet, thereby leaving them susceptible to theft by hackers.

Additionally, it's been hypothesized by numerous blogs and publications that north korea has turned to bitcoin mining and theft to funnel money into its isolated economy. Bitcoin is commonly viewed as the "currency" of choice for criminal organizations.

8. There's no regulation

Bitcoin is also an unregulated asset. Though this lack of regulation is actually a selling point for today's crypto investors given that it provides some degree of anonymity, it's bad news if something ever goes wrong. Since the majority of cryptocurrency trading and transactions occur outside the borders of the united states, the securities and exchange commission is very limited in what it can do if your digital tokens are ever stolen.

9. The tax situation is a nightmare

If you think preparing your federal income taxes stinks now, try preparing them after investing in and/or using bitcoin in any transaction. The internal revenue service expects you to report capital gains and losses tied to investment activity, as well as gains and losses associated with purchasing goods and services.

For example, if you bought a single bitcoin token at $11,000, then used a fraction of your bitcoin to buy a new smartphone for $1,000, you'd have to calculate the value of your bitcoin used at the time of the transaction and recognize capital gains or losses relative to your cost basis. It's a gigantic headache.

Image source: getty images.

10. All bubbles eventually burst

Last, but not least, all next-big-thing investment bubbles eventually burst. No matter how excited investors are about bitcoin and its underlying blockchain, history suggests it won't be enough to match lofty expectations.

Mind you, we've already witnessed multiple 80%-plus declines in bitcoin throughout its history. Extreme volatility is a given with digital currencies like bitcoin, and history would suggest that significant downside from its current price is a near certainty as well.

Beware this ‘celebrity’ bitcoin scam

Losses of up to £200,000 are being reported by victims of a sophisticated global investment fraud

Criminals are exploiting trusted global websites to post fake celebrity endorsements for cryptocurrency, in one of the most prolific internet scams which? Has seen.

Victims of a prolific bitcoin scam are reporting individual losses of up to £200,000 after following links on AOL, MSN, yahoo and facebook.

Which? Has spoken to dozens of people who’ve encountered the scam – which falsely claims celebrities have backed a bitcoin investment scheme – while browsing legitimate sites.

In many cases, the fake advertorials are convincingly designed to look like pages from the BBC or mirror websites.

Read on to find out how the scam works, how to avoid falling for it, and why which? Is calling time on legitimate sites hosting dodgy links.

Celebrity ‘endorsements’ used to ensnare investors

Celebrities used in these fake advertorials include deborah meaden and peter jones from dragon’s den, ant mcpartlin of presenting duo ant and dec, billionaire businessmen lord sugar, sir philip green and sir james dyson, presenters simon cowell and holly willoughby, and former love island contestant charlie brake.

To be clear, none of these celebrities are responsible for the fraud, but their images and reputations are being ruthlessly abused by organised scammers.

We’ve found countless variations of the scam still live at least three years after it first surfaced, but most of them proceed in a similar way.

How the scam unfolds

Imagine you’re browsing AOL.Co.Uk. On the sidebar you spot a picture of dragons’ den star deborah meaden, with a black eye.

There’s nothing obvious to suggest it’s an advert – it looks like an image from a legitimate news story.

Clicking on it takes you to a news story on a third-party page, which seems like a respectable news site for investors. It describes how meaden and her fellow dragons were impressed with a bitcoin investment scheme on an episode of the show.

The strange photo of meaden’s black eye is forgotten as you read how the dragons chose to invest and reaped the financial rewards. At the bottom of the page is a web form where you can express interest in joining the investment scheme.

Heeding the warnings that the scheme will soon close to new investors, you submit your name, email address and phone number.

The buy-in

A short while later, you receive a phone call from your ‘investment manager’. She or he encourages you to make a surprisingly modest initial investment to purchase £250 worth of bitcoin.

By email you receive a link and login details to the ‘trading platform’ where your bitcoins are being held. Over the coming weeks the value of your bitcoin holdings appears to increase, and your investment manager calls you frequently, encouraging you to buy more.

When you refuse to pay anything further and mention that you’re thinking of cashing out, your investment manager releases £40 to your bank account so you can ‘enjoy the profits’. Reassured, you carry on investing.

Months later, you’ve sunk £5,000 into the scheme – although your bitcoins are valued at £50,000 on the trading platform.

Now you decide it’s time to enjoy your returns, so your manager directs you to deposit their commission – a further £5,000 – into a bank account and await a phone call releasing your funds.

This was the appalling experience of one which? Reader, who has asked to remain anonymous.

The scale of the problem

We’ve obtained exclusive data from police fraud reporting centre action fraud, which shows the huge scale of the problem.

There were 1,560 cases of cryptocurrency investment frauds reported in the first six months of 2019 alone. In the same period, there were 212 reports of investment fraud where celebrity endorsement was specifically cited by the victim as an enabler of the scam.

Action fraud is a self-reporting tool now no longer used in scotland, so it’s likely that these alarming figures are in fact underrepresenting the scale of the problem.

What is bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a cryptocurrency – a form of digital money which can be bought with other currencies, traded for them and (where retailers accept it) used to buy goods and services. Cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin run on a technology called blockchain – essentially a huge online database of transactions.

Blockchain’s great strength is that it’s considered unhackable. This is because rather than transactions being recorded on a traditional centralised database which someone could manipulate, they’re recorded and updated in many locations simultaneously.

Bitcoin is far from the only cryptocurrency to be targeted by scammers. In july 2018, we explored the sometimes murky world of ‘initial coin offerings’. Unlike bitcoin, which has achieved some respectability and is accepted by some retailers, there is no guarantee that investors will be able to spend these newly established cryptocurrencies anywhere.

How to stay safe

This scam proceeds along classic psychological principles – appealing to authority (using celebrities and trusted sites), starting out with small demands (£250) before gradually escalating and releasing a nominal sum to trick you into thinking you can get the rest.

All the traditional investment advice applies. Be extremely sceptical of grandiose claims, and seek advice from a financial adviser registered by the financial conduct authority if you’re not sure about something.

Novice investors should consider traditional investments first and aim to build wealth gradually through a diversified portfolio.

The websites respond

We’re extremely concerned to hear reports of legitimate websites serving up scam adverts – some of them in recent weeks – and we put our allegations to them.

A facebook spokesperson said: ‘we don’t tolerate fraud on our platform, which is why we’re taking action to stop scams wherever they appear. We have donated £3m to citizens advice to deliver a new UK scam action programme, and we have created a new scam ads reporting tool on facebook in the UK, supported by a dedicated internal operations team.

‘if people see something on facebook they think is a scam, we urge them to report it by clicking on the top right of any ad they see.’

A microsoft spokesperson explained that ‘the issue of “ad cloaking” is a challenge across the online advertising industry’ and that microsoft is ‘working…to address the techniques scammers use and detect, block and remove advertisements more effectively.

In the meantime, we urge customers to remain vigilant and only engage with brands they trust and recognise.’

A spokesperson for verizon media, the parent company of AOL and yahoo, told us: ‘deceptive and misleading ads are not acceptable, and we expect our partners to comply with all laws, regulations and our policies.

‘we will take action to block ads in violation of our policies, as well as bad actors who work to circumvent our human and automated controls.

‘we have a new, simplified adfeedback reporting tool for our users to identify anything they believe to be “misleading or a scam” through a simple thumbs up, thumbs-down icon on ads served through our platforms that is rolling out now. Our teams will remove any ads identified and confirmed as such.’

The full investigation appeared in the december issue of which? Money magazine. You can try which? Money today for just £1 to have our impartial, jargon-free insight delivered to your door every month.

Best bitcoin brokers to trade crypto in canada

Current top broker deals for you:

Here you see the best bitcoin brokers for canadian citizens at a glance. On those platforms your are welcome to trade bitcoin from canada. Unfortunately, for legal reasons the province of québec is usually excluded from bitcoin margin brokers.

Current coupons for bitcoin trading in canada:

Summer 2018 – canada publishes official draft of new crypto-regulation with focus on KYC/AML

Other countries are beginning to define their positions on virtual currencies and crypto services. This time, the canadian government has published a draft outlining its position towards crypto brokers and payment processors.

In summer 2018 the canadian government has published an official draft for new regulations for cryptocurrency and payment processors via the canada gazette.

These new regulations aim to address problems identified by the financial action task force (FATF) following its initial assessment between 2015 and 2016. The aim is to strengthen canada's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws.

Critical voices regarding crypto trading in canada

The new regulations count virtual currency exchange as a money service business (MSB). This classification requires these exchanges to report all transactions above $10,000 CAD ($7700 USD).

In addition, the "know your customer" (KYC) limit is set at $1,000 CAD ($770 USD), which means that traders cannot trade more than $1,000 unless they provide their name, address, phone number, occupation and date of birth.

Bitcoin ownership in canada on the rise

On 14 december 2017, stephen S. Poloz, president of the central bank of canada, used these words to warn against cryptocurrencies and bitcoin:

"there is one more thing that keeps me awake at night that I should perhaps mention, and that's all I hear about cryptocurrencies, especially bitcoin. There's a lot of hype about bitcoin and the markets are evolving to give people access to bitcoin [. ]. So perhaps you will allow me to make a few comments.

At first we should look at the term 'cryptocurrency', which is a wrong term - 'crypto', yes, but 'currency', no. For something to be considered a currency, it must be a reliable investment and you should be able to simply spend the currency. These properties are not the case at cryptocurrencies, so they are not 'money'."

Nevertheless, it turned out that bitcoin is becoming more and more popular in canada. The number of bitcoin owners rose from 2.9 percent in 2016 to 5.0 percent in 2017.

The canadian central bank wanted to understand why and whether people see bitcoin as a currency or an investment. A two-year study and survey was conducted that began in 2016 and aimed to better assess the use, acceptance and knowledge of bitcoin in canada.

Bitcoin as an investment

The main reason for owning bitcoin has changed in the last two years. In 2016, people bought bitcoin because they were interested in new technology (29 percent) and to make transactions for purchases or remittances (39 percent). Only 12 percent saw bitcoin primarily as an investment. Technology and the currency aspect were the main reasons for ownership.

This changed in 2017. Only eight percent are still interested in the new technology and only ten percent use bitcoin mainly for purchases or remittances. The main reason for owning bitcoin is for investment purposes (58 percent). This change of mood can be attributed to the incredible price development towards the end of 2017.

How banks react on bitcoin trading platforms in canada

Canadian banks restrict bitcoin buyers as peer-to-peer trading explodes

The bank of montreal, one of canada's largest banks, followed other banking institutions and restricted crypto buyers.

In april '18, internals of the BMO leaked out and appeared on reddit. The bank is preventing customers from making direct debits via mastercard and interac online payment to "better protect the security of their customers and the bank".

This makes BMO not the only canadian bank to restrict crypto purchases. Scotiabank has blocked all purchases of cryptocurrencies with credit cards and another major service provider, the toronto dominion bank, is also preventing customers from buying crypto assets with credit cards because such purchases "could expose them to much higher debt levels than they can repay".

Banks facing crypto trading platforms in canada: fear of competition

Not only canadian banks are trying to defend themselves against the crypto industry, financial institutions such as citigroup, commonwealth bank and danske bank are also taking action against cryptocurrencies - some user accounts are frozen without warning.
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However, this approach has been unsuccessful, at least in canada. Instead of using banks for crypto shopping, we simply use forums or sites like localbitcoins (prohibited in germany, bitcoin-treff.De for german users). And the localbitcoins website has seen a dramatic increase in canadian customers this month.

P2P stock exchange portals, bitcoin atms and local credit unions can always be used to buy cryptocurrencies. And as long as the demand for cryptocurrencies continues or even increases, the companies offering such services will continue to flourish.

Mining companies are also interested in canada as a location: the electricity is cheap and the cold temperatures keep the mining equipment cool.

However, canadian government relies on blockchain technologies

Of course, there are also other companies that do not want to take action against cryptocurrencies. The TMX group, for example, is planning its own service for cryptocurrencies.

Also the canadian government sees the blockchain technology further as positive. In january '18 the "national research council canada" announced the "first test of the public blockchain technology (ethereum) for the transparent administration of government orders".

Canada is also working with the world economy forum to implement a blockchain-based ID system called traveller digital identity.

Since both systems are still in the initial planning and testing phase, it may take a while for both projects to be ready for the masses.

So, let's see, what we have: compare the best cryptocurrency brokers. Start trading bitcoin (BTC), bitcoin cash (BCH) ethereum and other coins. Choose safe and legit crypto brokers. At bitcoin brokerage