10 Best Crypto Exchanges and Platforms of January 2022

Also worth noting...

Cash and payment apps

A number of cash and peer-to-peer payment apps now allow users to buy and sell bitcoin. On balance, these apps are more limited in what they offer than the exchanges and brokers above.

CashApp

CashApp, a peer-to-peer money transfer system run by Square, allows users to purchase and sell bitcoin. Unlike other cash apps noted here, Cash App allows users to transfer their bitcoin to their own cryptocurrency wallet. Cash App charges a fee depending on price volatility and market trading volume, which it reveals at the time of purchase.

Cash App limits Bitcoin withdrawals up to $2,000 a day or $5,000 within any seven-day period.

PayPal

PayPal allows users to purchase and sell bitcoin, but must be stored on PayPal’s site: Users can’t transfer crypto to their own digital wallet. Fees include an estimated 0.5% trading fee (this may vary depending on market conditions) and a tiered transaction fee depending on the amount of crypto purchased, ranging from 2.3% for amounts between $25 and $100, and 1.5% for purchasing or selling more than $1,000 of bitcoin. Purchases below $25 are charged 0.5%. Users can purchase up to $20,000 a week, but no more than $50,000 during any one-year period.

PayPal allows purchases to be made with bitcoin where available, but you will need to pay taxes on the sale of bitcoin on top of any taxes related to the purchase of the goods or service.

Venmo

Venmo is the latest cash app to introduce cryptocurrency sales and purchase, but unlike other providers gives a choice of four coins: bitcoin, ether, bitcoin cash and litecoin. Venmo’s fee structure mirrors PayPal: estimated 0.5% trading cost, plus tiered transaction fees of 2.3% for crypto trades of $25 to $100, lowering to 1.5% for trades more than $1,000 (0.5% charged on crypto purchases below $25).

Limits are $20,000 a week, and no more than $50,000 in a 12-month period.

How is investing in crypto different from traditional investment in stocks, bonds and funds?

Trading cryptocurrencies is different from traditional investing in several ways:

• Compared to traditional investing, which has seen fees steadily decline in recent years, trading in cryptocurrencies costs much more. For example, depending on the method of payment you could pay 5% or more in fees when trading bitcoin. Purchasing investments through a robo-advisor, however, can cost as little as 0.25%, keeping more of your cash invested.

• Crypto is a new and burgeoning industry, and customer service has lagged behind what's available at traditional brokerages. Want to speak to a person concerning questions or account issues at crypto exchange? No pure crypto exchanges we review provide that service.

• You have more responsibility for protecting your crypto from theft with cryptocurrency exchanges, especially if you use your own digital wallet. While exchanges protect you from losses due to sitewide hacks, you won’t be protected from individual attacks on your account — for example, a phishing email attack in which you unwittingly reveal your passwords to cybercriminals.