Crypto community 2019

Buggyra Coin Zero is a young cryptocurrency that has been launched less than a year ago. Despite being placed at the 200-something spot on CoinMarketCap, BCZERO displays some serious price action, spiking to $0.06 in February before entering a correction. It is characterized by relatively high volatility which is great for trading. Too bad that BCZERO is listed only on four little known exchange, whereas two of them display no trading volume whatsoever.

Aion is just another "Ethereum killer" that didn't quite make it. -86% ROI and almost no significant price action throughout the year resulted in Aion being deservedly placed below Top 100. The coin is featured on many exchanges but the real trading activity happens only on Latoken, which is responsible for almost 50% of the overall trading volume of Aion. The AION/ETH pair appears to have the largest volume, which oftentimes reaches $1 million/day. The volumes on other exchanges (Binance, CoinBene) are way lower, often failing to reach $500 million. All in all, I don't think that Aion has any real prospects unless we get into another crypto craze, like the one that happened in 2018.

If you are looking for a highly volatile coin to trade against for fast profits, then Bytecoin is surely one of the best options. BCN has had as many as five huge spikes in price (from around $0,0005 to $0,00058) over the course of the last day, showing almost 10% gains while most of the market has been in the red. Today is not an exception: Bytecoin's entire price history looks like a rollercoaster. So, if you are trading on Poloniex or HitBTC, pay attention to BCN.

Right now, Ardor, like any other altcoin, has very little chance of showing significant gains, not with such an overriding Bitcoin dominance that the market sees at the moment. It may have had a small 5% growth over the last couple of days, but that's only because someone dumped a boatload of Bitcoin for alts. But that should be short-lived as BTC will soon regain its dominance and begin the uphill struggle to reach the all-time highs. That's the only time when ARDR and other alts will provide decent profits.

Ark had a great run at the tail end of 2018 when its price had almost reached $10. I have been holding something around 300 ARK at that time and even managed to sell them all at a price of $7,45, right before the 2018 crash began in full swing. It wasn't due to some sophisticated trading strategy and planning - I just needed money for our grand anniversary. I look back at that time with joy and relief as the current price of ARK is something around $0,2. My condolences to all those who held ARK, or any other altcoin for that matter, hoping that it will bounce back. The recovery is going to be long and tedious.

The idea of decentralized cloud storage where data is being dispersed in tiny fractions among multiple devices, while only the owner has access to it via private keys, reminded me a bit of the concept behind PiedPiper from the popular sitcom Silicon Valley. It's cool that such "fictional" ideas turn out to be viable in real life. Storj is included in the trading pairs on many popular cryptocurrency exchanges, such as Binance, Poloniex, and Huobi, and it shows a decent price action on a regular basis. It might be a good alternative option if you are tired of trading major coins.

Now is the right time to stack up on some EOS because it is geared up to be very bullish in the coming weeks, mainly because of the new upgrade of the EOS network that is due to be released on September 23. Once the upgrade is in place, dApps developed on that blockchain will become capable of paying users in crypto for their CPU power. This will undoubtedly serve as a major driver for the price of EOS, so I have already placed several sell orders way above the $5 mark.

Bancor (BNT) has good fundamentals which are based around the marketplace that grants extra liquidity to various digital assets. Although Bancor's ROI hasn't been particularly impressive, in fact, it's -90,72% as of now, this coin has a lot of upside potential for a crypto that is on the wrong side of Top 100. I predict that it will increase in value by at least 15% by the end of the year, so I have allocated 5% of my trading portfolio for this coin.

MonaCoin actually has quite an interesting history. It first featured on Japanese news, in a story which told about a man who purchased a piece of land in the Nagano prefecture using this very coin. MonaCoin survived the market rise and crash of 2018 and now is traded at around $1 per coin. Naturally, MONA is popular among Japanese crypto enthusiasts, proven by the fact that the hottest trading action involving MonaCoin occurs on the Japanese crypto exchange BitBank, where the daily trading volume often reaches $3 million. MONA is usually traded against Japanese Yen there.

I am convinced that the sole purpose of Bitcoin Private was to partake in two pump-and-dump schemes, which happened right around the time of its launch in April 2018, and then a couple of months later. After that, BTCP went into a lingering correction that lasts even now. No wonder that this cryptocurrency is performing so poorly since it has a pathetic daily trading volume of $7,000, recorded on Graviex, a backwater exchange with a daily volume of $90,000.

I remember when Bibox was only about to be launched, the team promised that it would be super innovative trading vehicle with incorporated AI technology. In the result, Bibox turned out to be a total clone of Binance, both in terms of functionality and design. Even the daily withdrawal limit for unverified users is the same - 2 BTC. The only thing that’s good about Bibox is it’s slightly smaller withdrawal fee of 0.0004 BTC.

When I first read about LBank, it seemed quite appealing to me, mainly because of low trading fees. I trade quite frequently, often making dozens of trades per day, so fees are very important to me. However, once I went to the platform, my anti-virus began screaming about the present threat of phishing. It’s unlikely that I have used a corrupted link, as I have tried accessing the platform from different websites. That’s a pity because I was really looking forward to trading on LBank. Gonna have to look for another exchange with similar fees.

If you live in a country where crypto regulation is on the softer side, then you should definitely consider trading on BitForex. The reason is that, unlike many other exchanges, BitForex accepts deposits in fiat via banking card, so it relieves newly registered traders from the hassle of buying crypto with fiat and then depositing this crypto to the exchange. As I have already said, the lax regulation, which means that the bank won't start nagging every time you make a deposit, allows traders to use BitForex to the fullest extent.

I like everything about CoinBene, perhaps except for the absence of a referral program. I am a famous crypto blogger with quite a sizable army of followers. So, referrals are one of my small sources of income. I made good money through the Binance referral, so I was hoping to get some more dough on CoinBene, but that was not meant to be. Nevertheless, this exchange has a reasonable fee scheme, excellent interface, and easy registration. Besides, there are no verification requirements for withdrawals of up to 2 BTC. CoinBene wouldn’t be my primary trading platform, but I will use it from time to time.

I have heard some positive things about EXX, most of which had to do with its good trading volumes and the availability of some interesting exotic coins. But I was left deeply disappointed when, after passing the registration process, I've logged to the trading board and found out that it has one of the worst designs I have ever seen. It's unnecessarily dark and very blocky - I was under the impression that it was hastily made by someone of Fiverr for less than a hundred dollars.

I have stumbled across the information on some crypto-related website about BW.com being involved in wash trading (the situation when the overwhelming majority of trades occur inside the spread that vastly benefits the exchange) and falsifying the trading volumes. However, if you can't be bothered with such manipulations and just want to do some quiet trading, then BW might be the right fit for you. It has sufficient liquidity to support mid-sized and large trading volumes, so if you are planning to register there just to make a few hundred bucks, go ahead and do so. Nice trading experience is guaranteed.

Usually, I don't trust Chinese exchanges, even if they offer really lucrative trading fees. The reason is that the authorities in that particular country are too unpredictable and can do a lot of damage to the crypto community, proven by the last ICO ban. They can shut down a crypto exchange, including Bibox, with a snap of a finger. And in that case, everyone can wave their hard-earned crypto assets goodbye. Decentralized exchanges are much safer in that regard, so I might consider Bibox only if they launch some sort of DEX.

Even though BitForex has the backing of such powerhouses of the crypto industry as TRON, QTUM, and Block VC, which was to show the prospects of this platform, it still managed to make a lot of stench because of the alleged involvement in wash trading and volume manipulations. I know that virtually everyone in this industry is "doing that", but that is definitely not the way how the crypto space should evolve. Therefore, I chose to express my protest by switching from BitForex to another platform.

The reason why I decided to transfer my entire trading account to BitMex is that I employ the scalping strategy which requires dozens of trades being made in a span of a day, and the platform's fee policy is of a huge importance to me. BitMex is one of the best platforms in this regard as it imposes the almost negligible fees of 0.0075% for makers and -0.025% for takers. That is a golden opportunity for me to make some good money off scalping, even though the volumes at BitMex are somewhat sub-par.

Even though BitMax can't boast any significant trading volumes, the daily volume rarely goes above $130 thousand, it is very promising from a technological standpoint, as it is probably the only platform that features transaction mining and an abundance of options, such as margin and OTC trading. They also have a lending program called BitTreasure, a feat which giants like Binance have implemented only recently. Currently, BitMax is doing a system upgrade, so all operations there have been put on hold.

PointPay has a large and competent team with a pool of reputable advisors; the financial plan and the roadmap implementation strategy appear solid, too. However, PointPay tries to serve the dish that we’ve seen on the menu many times before. Literally every month I stumble upon a project that claims to have developed the “first-ever” crypto bank that issues debit cards and so on. None of them were able to capture the attention of the global audience, and I see to prerequisites for PayPoint to be any different at that point.

The project has received quite excellent ratings, and its vision is very interesting. Gambling and betting are a big part of the crypto industry, and some of the largest dApp providers, like TRON, have the majority of their dApps dedicated to crypto gambling. With a platform that can offer a better experience by eliminating the 'house,' this project could easily become one of the most popular betting platforms in the industry.

It's only four days left in the ICO and Nevix only managed to fulfill their financial target by 10%. Obviously, we can scratch this project from out shortlists of interesting token sales. I think that the main reason behind this relative failure - I am certain that the guys at Nevix are immensely talented and will find another place to apply their business skills - is that the team chose to focus only on the Asian market, instead of trying to reach the global audience. Filmmaking is all about being able to reach people across the world, and it seems that Nevix didn't factor it in.

Do I think that Herdius has an interesting technical solution, especially the one that concerns the assembler node? Indeed, they do. But do I reckon that this startup will become the talk of the town? Definitely not. Let me explain. First of all, the overall presentation of Herdius looks like it has been concocted by some college undergraduate, not a professional web designer. I understand that appearance is not of the essence, and it's the product that really matters, but I failed to find an MVP anywhere.

Everything about Helix seems to be great. They offer state-of-the-art security, promises of superior scalability, and seamless interoperability. But then again, such an innovative product will surely come across a lot of bumps on the road towards the impeccable operationality. Therefore, regardless of Helix's appeal, I would approach it with caution, because most tech startups spend years before their product gets financially viable. If you have that kind of patience, then Helix Network might be a good place for your money.

Vivid is a fine product, but only in theory. Judging from the fact that the token sale will be over soon and there's no access to the official website, this project had flopped. That doesn't come as a surprise because the competition in the niche of crypto tracking and market prediction applications is incredibly tough. It appears that Vivid simply decided that they won't be able to bring this product to fruition and ceased their operations. Hope they had the decency to refund ETH which people invested before the startup went sour.

As mentioned, the project does not offer a lot of information, which is not particularly encouraging. It is generally rather difficult to find any information that links this company to its blockchain project, and even its website only offers its official services, with no mention of blockchain.

VMC definitely came up with a very useful solution to a problem that would become more nagging with every passing year. Being an inhabitant of a big city, I understand better than anyone, how the issue of hampered mobility affects our productiveness, and even the pace at which one can develop his business. Therefore, VMC has put a good idea on the table, but I am not sure that they will be capable of following through with it, simply because VMC won't get enough funding.

What I like most about Bitrus is its fee model where the deducted amount is different for takers and makers, as well as for the crypto/crypto and crypto/fiat trading. Also, the fees can decrease when reaching a certain individual monthly trading volume, but no less than 50 BTC/month. This serves as a good incentive for active trading, which I believe will occur on Bitrus because it’s one of the few emerging exchange platforms that allow trading against fiat.

The vision to move tax reports to blockchain technology, could be a good one, however, as important information like that can definitely be kept safe via the blockchain technology. The lack of information and transparency, however, is a problem that the firm needs to settle in order to get proper support.

EasyMarkets is a well-established broker that has been operating for nearly 20 years. What I like about this broker is that it ensures fixed spreads, though they tend to be a bit higher than that of competitors, the absence of slippage, and very reasonable commissions. As for crypto trading, EasyMarkets accommodates only three cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, all of which are traded against the US Dollar. The broker offers good leverage options with the maximum leverage being of the 50:1 ratio. Probably the only downside of EasyMarket is that there is no trading on Sundays due to platform maintenance.

Bithoven is a fledgling cryptocurrency trading platform that has all the necessary feats, such a personal wallet, a variety of trading tools, and margin with the leverage of up to 1:20, with Bitcoin being the nominal margin currency. The platform supports more than a hundred cryptocurrencies, affords for instant trading, and ensures the security of all operations thanks to the TLS/SSL encryption and 2FA. The only disadvantage of Bithoven is that all deposit/withdrawal operations can be carried out using only cryptocurrencies.

I began getting involved with cryptocurrencies while trading spot metals on FXTM. I consider this broker to be a good place for trading Bitcoin against fiat or other 3 cryptos, or even try your hand at CFDs trading if feeling confident about such a risky endeavor. Although if you are more on an altcoin guy, then you could be dissatisfied with the range of alts presented here, that's a fact. But everyone's focus right now is on Bitcoin, so there is a lot of action going on MetaTraders right now.

If you value such traits in your broker as good reputation and rich company history, then Henyep Markets (HYCM) should be right on your list of options. It was established more than 40 years ago and rightfully considers itself to be one of the top brokerage firms. HYCM received a Best Forex Broker in Europe reward from FXDailyInfo two years ago, which the type of recognition that speaks for itself.

Grand Capital has been in the brokerage business for 12 years. Over that period of time, it has proven to be a reliable and responsible provider of financial services. I am a die-hard cryptocurrency trader who loves crypto for the thrill that is born out of its volatility. However, I don't place a lot of trust in numerous crypto exchanges which are the prime target for hackers. Besides, I love MetaTrader 4, so when Grand Capital introduced crypto along with the ECN technology, I immediately jumped on board. Although there are only 18 pairs, I find it sufficient mainly because I can trade BTC against fiat.

In my opinion, OctaFX affords probably the best means for cryptocurrency tradings. I usually trade on MT4 but those who give preference to MetaTrader 5 will be able to find this platform here. OctaFX currently offers only three crypto trading pairs: Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin against USD, which is not much but sufficient for those who aren't particularly fond of digging into altcoins. The spread in these pairs is the following: BTC/USD is around 2.2 pips; ETH/USD - 2.4 pips, though the one in the LTC/USD is substantially wider - 9.1 pips.

The most appealing thing about XM Group broker is that offers a full platform suite of MetaTrader 4 and 5 (desktop and web version) while other brokers have only the 4th edition. In addition, XM Group offers quite a lucrative pricing even on zero accounts, though standard and micro accounts have higher spreads compared to other firms. However, I've heard some complaints about their bonus system. XM Group has CFDs on 5 major cryptocurrencies which is a standard set across the industry.

After spending some time with HotForex, I can say that the cons of this broker outweigh the pros. To start with, the broker doesn't offer the full set of opportunities to trade crypto CFDs. Right now, CFDs aren't traded during the weekends which puts crypto traders at a disadvantage because the crypto market is live around the clock, so why limit it only to weekdays? To finish on a positive note, HotForex does have a pleasant bonus of 100% on the first deposit, a rare feat for a mainstream broker.

I have heard both good and bad things about Fibo Group. There were instances when Fibo Group showed great attentiveness towards traders' needs, allowing to switch freely between different withdrawal methods, including cryptocurrencies, whilst providing an abundance of trading and analysis tools. On the flip side, this broker has also been accused of canceling withdrawals but failing to duly notify the account holder of such occurrences. People waited for their money for weeks before realizing that the withdrawal request had been canceled.

If you value such traits in your broker as good reputation and rich company history, then Henyep Markets (HYCM) should be right on your list of options. It was established more than 40 years ago and rightfully considers itself to be one of the top brokerage firms. HYCM received a Best Forex Broker in Europe reward from FXDailyInfo two years ago, which the type of recognition that speaks for itself.