Welcome to this week’s info post!
Previously, I talked about onramping and other ways to get some crypto, so I’m going to assume you have a seed for your investment.
Next, the big question is where to put that money so you can earn – onto an exchange.
Exchanges come in two types: CEX and DEX, centralised and decentralised.
DEXs are better because you don’t deposit your crypto. You maintain ownership of your funds and only use the DEX to facilitate buying and selling, directly from your crypto wallets on your computer. That’s great, but true DEXs are rare and frankly a bit crap. No one’s come up with a system that’s as easy as using a CEX, mostly because it’s so hard to integrate dozens of different blockchains. Many DEXs require technical knowledge and ability that’s beyond a lot of beginners, from installing and maintaining local wallets to connecting them into the DEX system.
There are also big, reliable “exchangers” like PancakeSwap and Uniswap that are classed as DEXs, though you’re using smart contracts and an online Web3 wallet like MetaMask, which comes with its own risks. That’s a middle ground that you might easily find acceptable, as your funds are still in your wallet (even if it’s not a wallet that’s only on your computer, as such). They just don’t have all the features I’m using for my run to £1,000,000. There are also many predatorial websites that suck money out of online wallets if you’re not careful – close all tabs except the exchange, keep the wallet locked until absolutely necessary to unlock, lock it again immediately after, unload the extension if you’re not doing exchange stuff.
So the choice is really about trust.
Which CEX do you trust to hold your funds, not to rug you, not to disappear with your money like so many scammers do?
Most people go for Binance because it’s big, legal and a familiar name.
I hate the place. It’s the Amazon of crypto – run by assholes who don’t care about anything but profit (theirs, not yours), who go to jail for ignoring the law then buy pardons from corrupt politicians. I’ve avoided it since it opened. Why would I trust money-grabbing scumbags with my money? But yeah, it’s safe enough, it’s heavily regulated and it has some neat features.
My personal recommendation is MEXC. Their trading fees are tiny, there’s no enforced KYC (you can do that for higher limits), it has a lot of liquidity (big traders, easy to buy/sell) and has a feature I’m gonna suggest using later on. It gets a 10 trust score, too. Referral: promote.mexc.com/r/lDmaLBdp
I also have a soft spot for StakeCube. They’ve had a rough time recently (the owner walked, leaving a huge amount of debt) and they’re very low volume but they do a lot of staking coins (that earn while you hold them) and they’re nice folks. No KYC there, either. shorturl.at/tKbAO
If you’re not sure where to set up, CoinGecko has an excellent list of exchanges with trust ratings (also a list of DEXs). Pay attention to daily volume (you’ll want a lot if your investments are in the thousands, tens of thousands or more), security evaluations, any incidents (hacks) and, of course, whether they work in your country!
So head on over to MEXC, get set up and we’ll start talking about HOW we’re all gonna get rich…!
