Crypto Tools
The crypto industry has exploded in recent years. More and more people are becoming cryptocurrency traders and consider themselves savvy crypto investors. Seems like everyone you talk to has their own crypto trading strategy. Many of them seem convinced that crypto prices will only continue to rise - a dangerous assumption, but one which is certainly driving unprecedented numbers of crypto transactions each day.
Whatever happens to crypto prices in the future, one thing is for certain: users with the right trading tools and an informed crypto strategy have a huge advantage over those without. The number and variety of services, apps, and other paraphernalia related to crypto is multiplying at a dizzying rate. Whether it’s a phone app or browser extension, each promises users the best technical analysis and best crypto insights with the easiest user interface and - of course - real-time data on everything.
Let’s take a brief look at some of the services absolutely essential to anyone entering the world of crypto trading, a few services crypto traders might find useful but don’t absolutely need, and one or two which professional traders may enjoy but you can probably live without.
Keep in mind that cryptocurrency is still a relatively new and very uncertain financial product! None of these descriptions or recommendations are intended to suggest you should invest in crypto; they’re meant to be a convenient reference for some of the services available if you do.
Essentials For Any Cryptocurrency Investor
There are a few crypto tools and services that are essential for crypto transactions, whether you’re looking for serious long-term investments or simply experimenting with different coins to see what happens.
CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGES (CENTRALIZED)
For most people interested in buying or selling crypto, a relationship with at least one reliable online exchange is essential. You can’t buy or sell most crypto without going through a cryptocurrency exchange. You have several choices to make about the TYPE of exchange you want to use even before you decide on which one. Your biggest choice is between centralized exchanges or decentralized exchanges.
A centralized crypto exchange is a little bit like a stock broker who insists on holding on to your money while executing trades on your behalf. You make the decisions and the exchange carries them out for a small fee - with your crypto, naturally.
It seems like we conduct most financial transactions electronically these days. Nevertheless, there’s an important difference between money “saved” in your local credit union and virtual coins invested in someone else’s virtual hands. Most major exchanges “hold” your digital assets for you. This makes it much easier to buy and sell efficiently, but also opens you up to greater risks. Centralized exchanges are a popular target of hackers. Unlike your traditional savings or checking accounts, the FDIC doesn’t cover loss or theft of cryptocurrency.
If you choose a centralized exchange, you’ll want to consider fee structures (what it will cost you to buy, sell, or trade), ease of use (including what happens if you want to withdraw your digital funds), and its track record with security. At the moment, some of the best overall crypto exchange options are
- coinbase.com (user friendly for newer crypto traders)
- binance.us (often the lowest fees)
- crypto.com (great security, silly ad campaign)
CRYPTOCURRENCY EXCHANGES (DECENTRALIZED)
The tradeoff is that decentralized exchanges are less convenient. As with most things, the easier it is to use, the greater the potential drawbacks. The more secure and personalized, the more potential difficulties. Decentralized exchanges don’t handle transactions for you so much as they give you the tools to manage them yourself. That means a greater time commitment on your part and more than a few clicks each time you wish to make a trade.
A decentralized exchange is less of an institution and more of a system or service. Guided by the same basic philosophy behind the rest of the crypto sphere, it uses a series of procedures to guide peer-to-peer transactions without the intrusion of a third party. Decentralized exchanges tend to be far more secure; your funds remain in your digital wallet of choice and fewer parties handle your information during transactions.
Decentralized exchanges (DEX) are still more of an ideal than a practical reality. Different exchanges have some degree of institutional structure in place out of necessity, although they continue to evolve rapidly. If you choose a decentralized exchange, you’ll want to consider how easy or difficult it is to use and its track record when it comes to finding buyers or sellers for the other end of your crypto transactions.
Popular DEX options:
- bisq.network (convert almost anything into Bitcoin or Bitcoin into anything else)
- curve.fi (used exclusively with stablecoins)
- uniswap.org (Ethereum based tokens for smart contracts)
CRYPTOCURRENCY WALLETS
Most trading exchanges offer a free version of “wallet” with your membership. The most obvious advantage is the ease of buying and selling through your preferred exchange. These free wallets aren’t always entirely secure, however, and there’s some question as to whether or not you even legally “own” crypto stored this way.
There are other online wallets users can access, usually for a small fee. These may be more secure or offer related services while still remaining relatively convenient to access. Only you hold the “key” to your wallet, but if you have a connected device, you can get to your “hot” wallet from anywhere.
Despite lacking physical form, your cryptocurrency has to be “kept” somewhere. This storage is called a “wallet.” Wallets maintained exclusively online are commonly referred to as “hot” wallets. Those which exist on private storage devices (which you remove from your computer and take with you) are “cold” wallets, sometimes referred to as “hardware wallets.”
“Cold” wallets offer the most secure method of protecting your crypto. They must be connected to a device for you to buy, sell, or trade, and users still need private keys to access their crypto assets. When you’re not actively transacting business, however, there’s no known way for hackers or other bad players to access your funds or change anything in your crypto portfolio.
Popular “hot” wallets:
- coinbase.com (user friendly for newer crypto traders)
- binance.us (low fees and great flexibility)
- mycelium.com (excellent with mobile devices)
Popular “cold” wallets:
- ledger.com (several secure options)
- trezor.io (more features and a bit flashier)
CRYPTOCURRENCY TAX TOOLS
If your crypto portfolio does well, be prepared to pay taxes on your success. At the moment, crypto taxes work like taxes on any other “property.”
If you’re not currently taking advantage of a good tax management app, this is a great time to start - whether you’re in the crypto market or not. In the meantime, here are a few apps specifically designed to help you manage your crypto taxes:
Popular “hot” wallets:
- cryptotrader.tax (currently one of the top crypto tools of its kind)
- koinly.io (enables users to not only calculate their taxes, but reduce them going forward)
For our purposes, the difference between crypto exchanges (discussed above) and trading platforms comes down to features and functions. An exchange allows you to buy, sell, or trade crypto. A platform allows you to manage transactions on multiple exchanges, monitor your portfolio, display the relative values of multiple cryptocurrencies in real time, and whatever other bells and whistles your chosen platform may offer.
Useful For The Committed Cryptocurrency Investor
If you’re looking to move past a few basic trial investments and want to commit more time and resources to the world of crypto speculation, you might find the following products or services helpful.
For our purposes, the difference between crypto exchanges (discussed above) and trading platforms comes down to features and functions. An exchange allows you to buy, sell, or trade crypto. A platform allows you to manage transactions on multiple exchanges, monitor your portfolio, display the relative values of multiple cryptocurrencies in real time, and whatever other bells and whistles your chosen platform may offer.
CRYPTO TRADING PLATFORMS
As so often happens in rapidly evolving industries, the terminology commonly utilized can mean different things to different people. The terms “crypto exchange” and “crypto trading platform” have often been used somewhat interchangeably. Anything which allowed users to buy, sell, or trade crypto could be referred to by either term, or both (“a crypto exchange platform”). The alternative was a “broker” who acted in an advisory or coordinating role, or allowed you to speculate on price fluctuations without actually owning the cryptocurrencies in question.
If you’re a serious crypto speculator, you may wish to take advantage of the many features of some of the more popular trading platforms available today. If you’re experimenting with a small investment in Bitcoin or Ethereum to see what happens over the next five years, you probably don’t need anything quite so involved. Find a reliable exchange with reasonable fees and stick with them.
Promising crypto trading platforms at the moment:
- coinbase.com (are you noticing a trend here?)
- binance.us (low fees and great flexibility)
- voyager.com (mobile-friendly, easy-to-use, flexible)
- blockfi.com (interest-earning, borrowing against crypto)
MARKET DATA SERVICES
If you’ve purchased a modest quantity of one or two cryptocurrencies and want to know if their value is rising or falling, you can easily Google that information. If you’re wanting to get a bit more involved, however, you probably need more complete market data.
Market data refers to exactly what it sounds like. What prices are different cryptos selling for today? Where were they yesterday? How much of this or that altcoin is currently in circulation, and how much do experts anticipate being in circulation a month from now?
Having accurate and useful market data at your fingertips doesn’t guarantee anything when it comes to crypto, but it’s a start. Some of the most impressive market data services at the moment are…
- kaiko.com (established in 2014 - an eternity ago in the crypto sphere)
- pync.io (uses crowdsourced data and predictions)
- cryptrata.com (affordable, reliable historical data… because they’re German)
CRYPTO CHARTING TOOLS
The world of cryptocurrency can easily become overwhelming. It’s difficult to keep track of even what the top cryptocurrencies are, let alone how each of them are doing. (See “Market Data” above.) Many traders value the ability to easily visualize not only what’s happening to their crypto assets today, but what’s been happening across the crypto world over the past week, month, or year. That’s what crypto charting tools help you do.
Essentially, these apps allow you to set up price points or other parameters for when you’d like to buy, sell, or otherwise make a change. For example, if you own Ethereum, and the price has been rising - but you’re pretty sure it’s going to dip again soon - you can assign specific “sell signals” for your trading bot to sell as soon as the value hits a certain point. Or, the app enables users to establish preset conditions for buying a specific cryptocurrency, whether the user is active at the moment or not.
Whether or not this sort of charting is necessary depends on your crypto investment approach. If you’re thinking about buying some Bitcoin or Ethereum and sitting on it for a few years to see what happens, you probably don’t need a full color chart showing daily fluctuations in total market capitalization. On the other hand, if you’re determined to juggle a half-dozen cryptocurrencies and remain fairly active in your transactions, a good charting app may be just the thing.
Some of the best charting tools at the moment are offered by…
- cryptowat.ch (crypto charting and a multiple exchange trading platform in one)
- tradingview.com (nice selection of price and service options)
CRYPTO TRADING BOTS
One of the most practical innovations of the past decade is the trading bot. These are not unique to the crypto market; they’re quite popular with investors in just about anything.
Essentially, these apps allow you to set up price points or other parameters for when you’d like to buy, sell, or otherwise make a change. For example, if you own Ethereum, and the price has been rising - but you’re pretty sure it’s going to dip again soon - you can assign specific “sell signals” for your trading bot to sell as soon as the value hits a certain point. Or, the app enables users to establish preset conditions for buying a specific cryptocurrency, whether the user is active at the moment or not.
Automated trading reduces the time you spend watching every fluctuation in every part of the crypto world. That makes it one of the most potentially useful crypto trading tools in your arsenal.
You still make the major decisions and establish your trading strategy. Trading bots merely carry them out, allowing active traders to effectively make adjustments without monitoring minor price fluctuations or other market changes 24/7.
Crypto trading bots aren’t essential, but they are a convenience. Some of your better options at the moment include…
- pionex.com (several free options and good reviews all ‘round)
- cryptohopper.com (also free, and quite flexible)
- coinrule.com (plenty of free strategy templates included to help you get started)
Potentially Useful For More Experienced Investors
We also want to give you some more advanced options. You don’t have to jump on all these tools right away, but it’s good to learn about them.
PORTFOLIO TRACKERS
If you’re a regular at Goalry, you already know the value of an easy-to-use, flexible app which helps you track your investments, monitor changes, and anticipate your financial needs. Crypto portfolio trackers do the same thing, but only for your cryptocurrency investments.
Like market data services and charting tools, it’s all about how much information you want. The “right” answer is different for everyone.
Consider trying out at least two to begin with:
- FTX (formerly known as BlockFolio, serves multiple functions in addition to tracking your crypto portfolio)
- cointracking.info (one of the most popular portfolio tools in the crypto sphere)
CRYPTO CALENDARS
As we’ve mentioned several times already, the world of cryptocurrency can be messy and unpredictable. While there’s not always much you can do about the latter, the former can be managed to some extent.
Cryptocurrency calendar services act as a sort of filtered, targeted news service for all things crypto. New coins on the market, upcoming crypto events, or any other news articles which might impact your investments or impending decisions - all organized by your priorities in one place.
Many traders insist that the right crypto calendar makes them better investors, simplifying the crypto markets and helping them be more strategic about their crypto portfolio. For more experienced investors, it’s one of their essential trading tools - despite being purely informational.
Two of the most popular crypto calendars at the moment:
- coinmarketcal.com (widely used and very reliable)
- kryptocal.com (easily customizable and intuitive to use)
NETWORK STATISTICS
We mentioned market data services and charting tools above.
For crypto fanatics determined to dive even deeper into the world of information and technical specs, network statistics offer up-to-date insight into things like trading volume, average transaction costs, network hashrate (how much computer power is being used in total for all transactions of a specific cryptocurrency), and the like.
While this information is no doubt valuable or interesting to some, it’s probably overkill for the average crypto investor. That said, if you’d like to give it a try anyway, we suggest starting with Cryptomiso to get a feel for things. The landing page hits you with a full color chart as soon as you arrive; you can figure out the rest from there.
RESEARCH REPORTS
You’re the best judge of what you like and how you wish to spend your time, but in general this is far too much information for what most investors want or need. On the other hand, if right now you’re thinking how cool it must be to dive that deep, you have plenty of options, each with their own insights and approach.
These are exactly what they sound like. For a fee, you can access detailed histories, analyses, interviews, and statistical breakdowns of various cryptocurrencies and the organizations behind them.
We suggest starting with the aptly named Crypto Research Report. It’s easy to use and should give you a pretty quick idea whether you wish to dive further.
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That’s why we’re constantly updating this site with information about cryptocurrency and associate financial mechanisms, as well as leapfrogging our own financial tools to support crypto investment and tracking.
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