• Thankfully these days it’s relatively easy to invest in crypto currencies all you need to do is sign up to a reliable and recognised cryptocurrency exchange using the internet, it can even be done on your smart phone.
• Typically the platform that you are using will ask for your details like name, address, bank account you intend to use in order to receive funds, along with identification like photo ID, utility bill and possibly record a video of your face at different angles for further verification.
• After this is complete you may have to wait a few days before the checks have been made by the exchange to verify your account details.
• Then you can deposit money i.e. USD, GBP or EURO etc usually by bank transfer into your cryptocurrency account, the payment details i.e. sort code, account number etc will be found on the website and from there you can purchase whatever cryptocurrencies are available on your chosen platform be it Coinbase, Binance or whatever you’ve gone for.
• Personally I recommend going with one of the major platforms as your investments are safer, because there are a few dodgy ones out there! I’ve listed the ones I’ve found safe and secure, which are in the top 5 worldwide most used and have the largest market share.

Is probably the easiest and most well known cryptocurrency exchange to buy and sell on. It’s layout makes it very easy and simple to use, which is great when you are starting out investing in a new area.

It has the option of Learn to Earn as a great way for beginners to accumulate cryptocurrency and at the same time learn about their uses. Various cryptocurrencies provide videos and users are asked to watch and answer questions as they gain knowledge and in return they are rewarded with cryptocurrency from that particular crypto.

Coinbase was founded in 2012 and has grown to become the second largest cryptocurrency exchange, ranked number 2 in the world, in 2020 it’s headquarters was in San Francisco, USA but then changed this to officially having no physical hq and work is carried out remotely.

It has added to its influence by buying up various blockchain and cryptocurrency ventures over the years. In 2019 due to a phishing attack it suspended all trading for Ethereum Classic. Also in 2018 it experience what it describes as a vicious cyber attack but fortunately Coinbases’ security team blocked the attack and no cryptocurrency was stolen.

A more advanced version is Coinbase Pro which is available as a app for those who wish to use limit orders, so users can buy or sell at prices which they decide on as opposed to buying or selling at the current market price.

Binance was initially founded in China, in 2017 but moved its HQ to Seychelles, Cayman Islands after increased cryptocurrency regulations by the Chinese government.

Its currently under investigation by the United States Department of Justice and Inland Revenue of allegations of money laundering and tax offenses. and banned from all activity there.

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ordered Binance to stop all activity in the UK in June 2021.

Japan, Thailand and Germany’s government’s have all issued warnings to the exchange about operations in their respective countries.

Despite this Binance has released the successful cryptocurrency Binance Coin (BNB), in June 2017, which is a utility token for purchasing cryptocurrency on the Binance exchange, it was initially launched as a ERC 20 token on the Ethereum blockchain. Binance later released an equivalent to the Ethereum blockchain allowing users to build smart contracts on the Binance Smart Chain (BSC), in September 2020 and moved the BNB token onto the Binance blockchain. The BNB token is now the forth most valuable cryptocurrency in the world behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USD Tether and alongside being used as payments for transaction fees, is used in entertainment, travel bookings, online services and financial services.

Binance is by a substantial amount the most used, stores the most amount of crypto and is the most popular cryptocurrency exchange in the world, ranked number 1.

Seems to have more choice of cryptocurrencies than Coinbase and also less expensive to make purchases and also allows users to use limit orders, staking and auctions, they are also planning on selling NFTs.

It was founded in San Francisco, USA in 2011 after the owner visited the Mt Gox exchange in Japan as a replacement if Mt Gox was to ever go down, which it did in 2014 due to a serious hack. Kraken was appointed by the court residing over the Mt Gox bankruptcy to oversee the investigation of returning cryptocurrency to its owners due to its proven track record and high levels of professionalism having not ever experiencing any hacks.

In 2018 it was under investigation from the New York Attorney Generals office regarding measures taken by cryptocurrency exchanges to protect customers from money laundering and market manipulation. Kraken was not compliant and the case was handed over to the New York Department of Financial services and in 2021 it was announced Kraken would pay $1.25 million for unregistered margin trading.

As it stands Kraken is ranked number 4 in the top cryptocurrency exchanges by coinmarketcap.com/rankings/exchanges. There is also Kraken Pro available as an app aimed at more experienced traders.