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A beginner’s guide to trading cryptocurrencies

Cryptocurrency trading

Cryptocurrency trading is becoming more and more popular and many investors are jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. However, it is essential to understand that trading cryptocurrencies is not necessarily a ‘Get rich quick scheme’. Before you start investing in cryptocurrencies, it is important to do your research. Read our guide and find out all you need to know about trading cryptocurrencies.

What are cryptocurrencies?

Cryptocurrency is a digital or virtual currency that uses cryptographic techniques to secure transactions and control the creation of additional units of the currency. Cryptocurrencies are a digital asset and exist only in an electronic form.

What are the most common cryptocurrencies?

The most common cryptocurrencies are Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Dash, Monero, and Zcash.

What is the blockchain?

The blockchain is a decentralised, digital technology of all cryptocurrency transactions. It is constantly growing as the most recent transactions are recorded and added in chronological order. The first blockchain was developed in 2008 with bitcoin.

Any blockchain will work with a digital currency, also called a token. Transactions between network users are grouped into blocks. Each block is validated by the ledger keepers of the network, known as ‘miners’, according to techniques that depends on the type of blockchain. When the block is validated, it is added to the chain of blocks and the transaction can be seen by the receiver as well as the whole network. The validation process takes some time depending on the type of blockchain.


For more detail : A beginner’s guide to trading cryptocurrencies

How to buy cryptocurrencies through an exchange: a step-by-step guide

If you are interested in buying cryptocurrencies, there are many crypto exchanges operating all around the world that allow you to buy cryptocurrencies. It is a good idea to register and verify your accounts with multiple exchanges. The reason for this is that the process can take time if there is an increase in registrations every time there is an increase in the price of Bitcoin. Different crypto exchanges have different features, fees, policies and coin listings. Leading brokers usually allow clients to use fiat currencies to buy cryptocurrency. These are traditional currencies such as Euros, Dollars and the British Pound.

A guide for buying cryptocurrencies

Once you have a basic understanding of cryptocurrencies, you can follow the steps below in order to start building your own portfolio.

1) Open an account with a cryptocurrency exchange

The first thing you need to know is where to buy cryptocurrencies. If you want to buy Bitcoin, there is a wide range of exchanges to choose from. Make sure your required cryptocurrency is listed on the exchange. Always research your chosen cryptocurrency exchange and read reviews.

2) Choose the cryptocurrencies you want to invest in long-term

You can invest in multiple cryptocurrencies. However, it is advisable to start with one currency first. There is a wide range of cryptocurrencies to choose from. There are thousands of cryptocurrencies available on exchanges around the world.

If you want to invest, you should enter initially with small amounts to familiarize yourself with the basic functions of the exchange.

It is also important to get used to the market volatility so that you don’t panic sell. During a rapid fall in prices, price swings can be huge in a very short period of time.

3) What price is your chosen cryptocurrency trading at?

An important thing you need to take into account is the price of your preferred cryptocurrency. For instance, you need to determine if it is cheap, at a high price or a low price. You should never make a purchase based only on the price. You should consider other factors as well. These factors are valuation, the available supply of currency, the technology it uses and the targeted market.

In order to maximize your gains, it is important that you apply the ‘buy low, sell high’ principle. This is a successful cryptocurrency trading strategy.


For more detail : How to buy cryptocurrencies through an exchange: a step-by-step guide

Samsung joins cryptocurrency bandwagon

Samsung reveals plans to create mining chips as it officially enters cryptocurrency arena


Samsung have announced that their foundry business makes chips designed for cryptocurrency mining. The move was reported by Korean newspaper The Bell who revealed the chips will be application-specific integrated circuit (Asic). It marks the first official move by Samsung into cryptocurrencies.


Garrick Hileman, a cryptocurrency researcher from the University of Cambridge, said the move indicates that Samsung does not see Bitcoin as a bubble that is about to burst.


Bitcoin may be the biggest and most popular cryptocurrency today. However, it has been joined by many others over the years with new coins being launched regularly. Samsung’s chip manufacturing decision is clearly influenced by more than Bitcoin. The combined market value of cryptocurrencies has gone from less than $20bn to more than $540bn making it impossible to ignore.


The South Korean company’s semiconductor business is booming. It overtook Intel to become the world’s biggest chipmaker last year. Asic chips are designed to carry out a single task, which in this case is mining.


Demand for chips grows with cryptocurrency


The demand for these chips has grown in parallel to the value of cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin is created by solving mathematical problems, with these calculations also maintaining the integrity of the transactions.


As more Bitcoins are mined, these problems become more difficult. Miners who used to use normal integrated graphics cards switched to GPUs designed for gaming. However, they are now turning to specially built ASICs.


Mining is how transactions are verified and added to the blockchain public ledger. Mining is also how new cryptocurrencies are released.


The recent shortage of high-end GPU cards has increased their prices, making Asic technology more appealing.


Samsung believes part of its popularity is down to its memory chips, with high demand from the computer server and mobile device storage markets in particular.




For more detail : Samsung joins cryptocurrency bandwagon

Is this the best time to get into cryptocurrency?

Rumours about exchanges being shut down in South East Asia and regulatory restrictions have affected cryptocurrency markets and seen prices fall. Does this make it the best time to invest in them?

Headlines about cryptocurrency have filled the news for months and helped fuel price increases in Bitcoin and others virtual coins.

While plenty acted quickly and got in on cryptocurrency, many other potential investors have cautiously considering held back. They feared the opportunity had gone when Bitcoin reached $20,000 and others like Ethereum and Ripple started making big gains.

Warnings about bubbles, regardless of who was making them, have largely gone unheeded. New price records have been set then broken on a regular basis. However, a market correction was always going to happen.

Rumours of a cryptocurrency ban

It’s been nothing like the drastic fall some commentators have predicted (remember Bitcoin was valued at around $900 in December 2016). However, on January 17 Bitcoin tumbled to $10,000 after reports of a potential ban on cryptocurrency trading in South Korea. Fears of a regulatory crackdown sparked a domino effect on the cryptocurrency market. Ethereum dropped 23 per cent and Ripple 33 per cent on the same day.

Some view this as the beginning of the end of cryptocurrency trading. However, it’s more likely to be the breather this market takes while the new financial instruments growing up around cryptocurrencies settle in and the authorities firm up their decisions on how virtual coins will be regulated.

Prices are set to fluctuate further on fears of a collapse and others try to get out of cryptocurrency altogether. This is why it could be exactly the right time to make a shrewd investment in cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency set to stick around

The evidence that cryptocurrency will be around for a lot longer is hard to ignore.

Bitcoin futures have only just come into play. CME Group have launched their own futures contract. Just days ago, Goldman Sachs gave Bitcoin its biggest credibility boost yet. Bloomberg reported that Goldman Sachs is setting up a cryptocurrency trading desk. They also published the report Bitcoin as Money predicting cryptocurrency will be bigger this year than it was in 2017.

Even JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon said he regrets calling Bitcoin a fraud. And according to Forbes JP Morgan will position themselves as a future cryptocurrency clearinghouse.

Blockchain technologies are the backbone of the crypto world and it seems increasingly likely that this technology will go mainstream. The likes of Microsoft, IBM, Maersk and even Kodak are investigating methods on how to implement blockchain.


For more detail : Is this the best time to get into cryptocurrency?

Bitcoin takes a big stride away from fringes of finance

Bitcoin’s value surged past $7000 on November 2 setting a new high on the back of news that CME Group will offer a futures option later this, the move may be a pre-curser to Bitcoin becoming an exchange-traded fund and acceptance by mainstream finance

CME Group’s October 31 announcement to offer futures on Bitcoin this month sent the cryptocurrency surging past $6,400. The move brings Bitcoin closer to mainstream finance, placing it alongside CME’s futures on interest rates, indices, commodities and currencies.

Bitcoin’s price has soared. It started the year at $966, broke $5,000 on October 11 before settling at $6,362.65 on October 31.

Futures are derivatives contracts that investors typically use to speculate on prices or hedge risk against turns in the market. Other major markets like stocks, bonds, commodities and currencies all have derivatives based on them. CME’s futures option would allow investors to hedge that Bitcoin’s price will rise, something that is difficult at present.

Bitcoin price index based futures contract

The move is significant because CME Group is the world’s largest derivatives exchange. CME explained that the futures will be cash-settled and based on their CF Bitcoin Reference Rate.

The news comes as a surprise because in September CME president Bryan Durkin told Bloomberg: “I really don’t see us going forward with a futures contract in the very near future.”

However, Terry Duffy, CME Group chairman and chief executive officer, explained that they were simply responding to increased interest in Bitcoin and that the new vehicle “will provide investors with transparency, price discovery and risk transfer capabilities.”

Garrett See, DV Chain CEO told CNBC that CME’s announcement showed “cryptocurrencies are gaining more legitimacy in the financial marketplace. It’s really exciting. I think it’s going to bring a lot of liquidity.”

Regulatory approval

The Bitcoin futures contracts is contingent on CME receiving approval from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Duffy said on CNBC’s “Closing Bell” that he is “confident” the CME’s self-certification process at the CFTC and full application process will go through. “We’ve been working with the regulator. They understand our application. And they understand our model very, very well.”

The CFTC declared cryptocurrencies a “commodity” in 2015, enabling it to police futures contracts based on them. The agency recently warned that unregistered cash bitcoin markets are susceptible to “bucket shop” schemes, “Ponzi schemers” and “fraudsters seeking to capitalise on the current attention focused on virtual currencies”.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has a vocal legion of sceptics and critics who have repeatedly warned of its potential dangers.

Joe Saluzzi, a principal at Themis Trading told CNBC says he likes Bitcoin and the concept behind it. But, warned: “I have a problem that on Wall Street the innovators are trying to package something up (Bitcoin) and put a derivative label on it when they really don’t know what’s underneath. It reminds me of the financial crisis all over again.”


For more detail : Bitcoin takes a big stride away from fringes of finance

Cryptocurrencies and gold: You need to take a position

Cryptocurrencies and gold are often written about as either / or positions for an investor’s portfolio as they act as an alternative to currencies but they have can work well in combination

Any trader looking to make money on cryptocurrencies and gold markets needs to invest time researching before taking a position.

If you do a search on cryptocurrencies it won’t be long before you’ll see an article that compares their merits against gold.

Should you invest your hard-earned money in gold or cryptocurrencies? They ask, and variations on that theme.

The number of these articles implies that they are somehow in competition with each other.

But it’s a phoney war. Both have a different role to play in the world of finance and in your portfolio.

Gold offers stability

One of the reasons gold has stood the test of time is the stability it offers against the unpredictability of currencies and the sudden collapses that have taken place throughout history that can wipe out fortunes in an instant.

Gold is the perfect way to hedge against risk, impervious to natural, financial or political disasters.

Cryptocurrencies also offer a viable alternative to traditional currencies because they are decentralised, meaning no central authority can take it away from you.

But they differ in tangibility. Gold has been around forever and relied upon for centuries. Cryptocurrencies have no history, they are so new people are still waking up to them and their possibilities.

The sense of value that comes in physically holding gold can’t be replicated by cryptocurrencies. They don’t ‘feel’ as safe as gold because they rely on an internet connection, they can’t be seen, they can’t be held.

Cryptocurrencies are the future

But in reality, very few people reading this will have actually bought anything with gold. The likelihood is that most never will. However, there is a strong possibility that some will make a transaction with a form of cryptocurrency in the future.

Their full role or use hasn’t been fully explored or understood which has led to sceptics expressing caution. Ray Dalio of Bridgewater Associates is concerned that Bitcoin (a leading cryptocurrency) is a speculative market that was a bubble.

JPMorgan chief Jamie Dimon went even further. He described it as a fraud and warning that he’d fire any trader he caught buying or selling it.

But Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are necessary because people are losing trust in money. Gold offers the sense of security people are looking for but it lacks genuine usability.


For more detail : Cryptocurrencies and gold: You need to take a position

Bitcoin mania: Is it too late to join the rush?

Bitcoin’s meteoric rise in value this year has outstripped even high-performing technology stocks tempting more investors to capitalise on the volatility while others steer clear fearful of a crash

When the Wall Street Journal’s headline reads Bitcoin: Even Grandma Wants In On The Action you can’t ignore it.

Bitcoin’s price swings have been prompting volatility-starved investors to join the biggest speculative boom since the 1990s dotcom fever.

Just six minutes into Bitcoin futures trading, the contract expiring in January which opened at $15,000 rose to $16,600. Trading on Monday morning (December 11th) in London the contract was changing hands at $17,500. Bitcoin itself was at $16,635.05 according to CoinDesk. Right now there is no hotter ticket having started 2017 at $968.23.

Is Bitcoin a bubble?

Investment is being tempered by the fear that Bitcoin’s value is speculation driven. They’re wary of putting money into a bubble.

Some are convinced it’s the future. John McAfee – founder of the eponymously named software – doubled down on his previous prediction and claimed: “I’ll eat my own d**k on national TV if Bitcoin doesn’t surpass $1 million by 2020.”

More investors are setting aside Bitcoin’s questionable past and use by criminal elements. Some see it as a viable alternative to gold as an investment. Especially when faith ebbs in fiat currencies.

‘Millions of active Bitcoin users’

“We now have millions of active users,” said Peter Smith, chief executive of Bitcoin services firm Blockchain.info. “We didn’t have a million last year.”

Bitcoin’s meteoric rise has seen interest increase in other cryptocurrencies like Litecoin, Ethereum, Dash and Ripple. Microsoft are reportedly exploring Ripple’s Interledger protocol for their own blockchain toolkit offering.

CME Group Inc., the world’s biggest exchange group, announced they were launching a Bitcoin futures contract next week. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. has also fuelled interest further by announcing intent to introduce products based on the virtual currency. Who knows what the price will be when these financial instruments kick in.


For more detail : Bitcoin mania: Is it too late to join the rush?

Why FXB has chosen Bitpay

FXB Trading is accepting bitcoin payments through Bitpay, a leading Bitcoin payment service provider.

Bitcoin (BTC) is an online virtual currency with no centralized exchange. It is a unique electronic currency which is increasingly popular worldwide.

Advantages of Bitcoin

One advantage of Bitcoin is that there are no transaction costs. All bitcoin transactions are digitally recorded on public networks without banks or clearing agencies playing a role. There are normally no transaction costs involved in bitcoin, even for global transfers.

In addition, bitcoin allows customers to transfer in and out of bitcoin toward any local currency with minimum effort.

Furthermore, Bitcoin is particularly beneficial for traders from developing countries. This is because they have restricted access to wire transfers or credit card payments.

Unlike credit card payments, bitcoin transfers can be as small as a dollar. They are not subject to the frequent credit card declines which affect traders paying from developing countries.

Low transaction costs and instant transfers make bitcoin the ideal payment method.

For more detail : Why FXB has chosen Bitpay

Everything you need to know before you buy cryptocurrencies

You’ve been following cryptocurrencies for a while and seen Bitcoin rise in value from cents to its highest point of almost twenty thousand dollars. You have been thinking about joining the crypto rush but your knowledge is very limited. You want to invest an amount of $500 and are probably wondering which cryptocurrencies to invest in.

However, before you buy, you should do your research in order to find out everything there is to know about cryptocurrencies. To help you, we have compiled our own research. Read on to find out more.

What is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a popular digital currency created and stored electronically. It is digital money that is not linked to any financial institution, banking or currency system which can be transferred between individuals without any financial intermediaries.

What makes Bitcoin valuable?

Bitcoin gets its value because many people want to trade and accept it. It follows the basic rules of supply and demand. As people hear about others making money from cryptocurrencies, they buy their own and this makes the price increase.

Is Bitcoin unique?

No. There are more than 1300 other cryptocurrencies that investors can buy.

Which is the best way to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies?

The best way to start buying is by opening a wallet with one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange websites (online). You can buy most of the popular cryptocurrency and keep them in the same wallet.

What is a wallet?

A cryptocurrency wallet is a software program that is used to store, send, receive and keep a record of the balances of cryptocurrencies. Wallets also interact with different blockchains to complete transactions. They also store the private and public keys needed to make these transactions.


For more detail : Everything you need to know before you buy cryptocurrencies

The financial advice you wish you’d received at 18

We’ve all experienced moments when we wished we’d been better informed and able to avoid a tough situation involving money. Fortunately, this financial advice will help you make better decisions whatever your age and especially if you have a family

Good financial advice is priceless, and the sooner you get it and apply it the better off in life you’ll be.

Today’s 18-year-olds who are preparing to go to university do so knowing that they are going to rack up a sizeable amount of debt by the time they graduate.

Has anyone sat down with them and fully explained the impact debt has on their life?

The benefits of getting a good education are echoed everywhere but strangely young people get little formal financial advice. Aside from their parents, who aren’t always the best at giving financial advice, they learn by experience.

The internet offers lots of financial advice in return for a couple of clicks but it’s mostly confusing and contradictory.

The financial challenges faced today make being engaged with the world of money more important than ever. Job security is something we reference in history books. Banks are a very different entity to what they once were. The world is evolving at a far greater pace and these changes are impacting people more quickly than ever before.

Top 10 financial advice tips

1. Be a saver not a debtor

Few people truly understand debt and its implications. The first real exposure to debt in life is usually the aforementioned student loan. However, they aren’t a true reflection of debt. It’s actually more like a graduate tax. The amount is paid off over 30 years and how much you repay depends on how much you earn. If you earn less than £21,000 a year, you don’t pay back a penny. According to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, more than two-thirds of graduates will never repay their entire student loan which hopefully makes you think a bit more carefully about what you choose to study. This is explained more fully in point 3.

Saving, especially savings which earn interest, seems to be like an endangered species to people under a certain age. If you have kids open a savings account today, instead of presents (or as well as) ask gift givers to make a deposit into their account and let that snowball gain momentum. By the time they’re 18, you will have already opened up so many more options for them even if going to university isn’t on the agenda. While your savings will be your fall-back position in case something unexpected comes along which requires immediate funding. As for debt it’s not all bad. If the debt you take on leads to an additional income that covers your debt payment it’s a good thing. However, any other debt should be avoided if possible.

2. The sooner in life you learn the value of money the better

Getting a job at an early age might be one of the best things a parent can do for a child because there’s nothing like having to work to make you appreciate the real value of money. The less you earn and the harder the work, the better this lesson becomes.

3. Make yourself valuable

Gaining knowledge is great, but having skills generates a salary. Whatever you choose to learn, make sure you understand its value in the market place and how much potential employers value it. The best education is the one that combines your natural talents with knowledge and makes you sought after. Being better than others at doing something naturally increases your value. And if you’re also doing what you love you’re as close to finding the meaning of life as anyone usually gets. This applies to more than the education you get in school or university. Some people just aren’t cut out for academia, but that doesn’t mean they not smart or can’t benefit from education. Getting financially educated will also make you more valuable. However, this will be explored later.


For more detail : The financial advice you wish you’d received at 18