We all know that getting started with crypto can be a daunting experience, and one of the first big decisions you will need to make is "which crypto exchange will I join and use"? We review and provide instructions for how to join many of the more popular exchanges on our site www.comparebitcoinexchange.com , but we thought it might be useful to write a separate post about choosing the correct one.  As a beginner, these are five of the most important points to consider when you are signing up to an exchange.

FIAT ON-RAMPS & OFF-RAMPS

For a long time it was quite difficult getting your money onto and off exchanges, but thankfully this is slowly changing. But this should be the first thing that you check when you are considering which exchange to join. The ability to move quickly and cheaply between digital currency and fiat currency is quite important. If the exchange is local, then most likely you will be able to direct deposit and withdrawal to a local bank account with minimal fees and almost instantly. This is by far the best situation, for people in some countries. If you cannot find a local crypto exchange that suits your needs, then you will need to consider wire transfers or credit card payments, neither of which are ideal. There can be significant delays in time processing both of these and most definitely there will be higher fees. So, the very first thing you need to check is the fiat on-ramps and off-ramps to the exchange.

FEES

Exchanges make their money through fees and they do vary from one to another. If you are not trading a lot or moving a lot of tokens around then this may not be a big concern, but fees can add up under certain situations. The first main fee to consider is the trading fee. This will vary, but should be somewhere around 0.25% per trade, so this needs to be factored in. The next will be the withdrawal fees for tokens. If you are trading Ethereum in particular or tokens on the Ethereum chain (ERC-20), then moving these off the exchange can take a significant bite out of your wallet. Moving tokens on Ethereum may cost anywhere from $5-$20. Bitcoin may also attract similar fees.

EXCHANGE SECURITY

While this is largely out of the control of the user, you need to consider the security of the exchange you are trading on. We discuss this risk in greater detail in our article about CRYPTO RISKS. you should check what systems the exchange has in place to secure your funds. Do they require 2FA for withdrawals (good), do they send a withdrawal confirmation to your email (also good). Also, does the exchange have any history of hacks and how did they deal with them. 

SUPPORT

If you plan to trade crypto, then at some time it is most likely that you will require some assistance from support. A good exchange should offer a variety of methods for support and the best exchanges will offer live support in a variety of languages. Trust us, trying to locate a missing deposit on a Chinese exchange with no English language support will test the best of you. Do some googling and find out if issues are dealt with in an efficient and timely manner. If the exchange help desk is slow and unhelpful in solving problems then people will usually become vocal about it on social media. Nobody likes to be messed around when it comes to money. 

LIQUIDITY & CHOICE

So, let's talk about choice first. What choices of coins/tokens and trading pairs does the exchange offer. It can be quite disappointing to go through the effort of joining an exchange to discover that they don't trade the token that you are looking for, so check this first! Next, what is the liquidity on the exchange like, how much volume do they trade? Good liquidity not only means that you bids/asks (buy/sell) will fill quickly, it also means that you are more likely to be trading at a price that is closest to the true value. 

Although there are many more things that we could discuss, we feel that these are some of the things that should be considered before joining any cryptocurrency exchange. For more Beginner's Guides and How-to's, please be sure to visit us at www.comparebitcoinexchange.com