Hi Everyone,
This is part 2 of my blog, What would help the adoption of cryptocurrencies.
Maybe because I am older than your average bear, easy-to-use, simple customer experience is key. If you're looking at how easy it is to apply for a bank account at a bank, registering for a new crypto account or wallet should be just as easy or easier.
Let me stop here for a moment, as I want to make a clear differentiation between an account at a centralised organisation (e.g. Coinbase) and a wallet that you're managing (e.g. a cold LEDGER Nano S wallet). Most beginners will use a central entity, so in this article I will focus on them.
I have tried a large number of exchanges and other central entities to see how easy it is to set up a new account. Most of the legitimate companies require detailed verification (known as KYC = Know Your Customer), which might seem like a hassle, but it is a legal requirement against fraud and money laundering. So, if you want to buy crypto, you will need your identification documents and quite often the exchanges will require you to send them a selfie with some pretty detailed instructions (e.g. they might give you a unique number and a text to write down and include it in your selfie that you are required to send them). While this might scare off some of the new users, I think it's a reasonable practice to identify new customers and avoid scammers.
Coinbase is one of the most well-known crypto organisations. While they charge quite hefty fees, their user interface is very customer centric, and they also provide an easy-to-use mobile app. They are known of high security standards. If you're new to crypto, you might end up with them. They also support credit/debit cards, which is not true for all large organisations. I believe, we'd need similar organisations with similar support level for getting more people into cryptocurrencies.
- Cons: They have limited amount of coins/tokens, High charges
- Pros: Easy to use, great customer experience, giveaways
Here is a referral code (we'd both get ~13 AUD).
Other leading exchanges are Binance, Kraken. I've only used BINANCE and there is a reason they are so large - they provide a good user experience and a growing number of services. I haven't yet used Kraken, but only heard good things and watched their people in several videos.
There are quite a few that had some negative news recently, e.g. KUCOIN (recent hack), Huobi, Okex (had problems with withdrawals), Bitfinex, Poloniex. Poloniex actually was one of the most popular exchanges 5-6 years ago, but almost disappeared by now. I used Kucoin, Huobi and Bitfinex and while their user interface is more complicated, they might be a good choice as well.
Crypto.Com is another interesting one, they had a unique program for new users with high referral bonuses (which is about to halve). They also provide a VISA card which might be appealing for new users. CRYPTO.COM is only accessible through your mobile. Unfortunately recently they also had some bad reviews, due to their change of payment partner that caused quite a bit of disruption for new users. Also because they ask new users to lock Crypto.com's own currency for 6 months (initially MCO, then CRO), people who got in early are selling their CRO now - causing significant headache to those users who registered later. While the VISA card I received (after 3+ months waiting) is pretty cool, I wouldn't recommend them any more to my friends.
Since I am from Australia, I'd like to recommend all Australians Swyftx, which has the lowest rates and the most tokens to buy in Australia - and great customer service (the link includes my referral code to be transparent). Other organisations are Coinspot and Cointree, they have some cool features too (I use swapping regularly at Coinspot, Cointree can manage portfolios from different tokens and coins).
As a summary, for mass adoption I think we need to be more like Coinbase. Easy-to-register and easy-to-use, provide earning programs, accepting credit card payments. While I didn't intend to make marketing for this company and nowadays I am using METAMASK lot more often, I think for mass adoption we need a similar experience to what CB offers.
Which exchange would you recommend for people who don't know crypto yet?
Photo by Adrianna Calvo from Pexels
