Crypto: Trying Things Out
Updated: Aug 27, 2020
Hello there, it has been awhile.
As previously mentioned in one of my monthly update post, I had been playing around in the crypto world to grasp a better understanding on how certain things work for the past few weeks. Although crypto has been around for more than 10 years, some information could still be hard to find for newbies like me. Hence, I decided to compile whatever I had learnt so far from Youtube, articles etc. into multiple posts.
1. Fiat-to-crypto exchange
I used Binance Singapore to exchange fiat currency for crypto because its low 0.6% trading fee which is lowest among all exchanges, with CoinHako coming in at second place. Other exchanges accepts funding via credit cards which charges a hefty fee of almost 4%.
I'm not too sure about our local banks but I read online that overseas users who tried to purchase crypto via credit card, had their bank account frozen because the banks regarded it as some kinda "illegal activity".
Funding the account was easy, just have to complete the KYC (Know Your Customer) process and link your bank account to Xfers. For your info, KYC is the verification of your identity through submission of photos of IC/passport/driver's license and a selfie. The approval will take some time before users can begin transferring funds.
The downside of using this funding method (probably for whales) is that Xfers limits your daily transfer to $5000 and can only hold a maximum of $5000 at any given time.
In terms of selections, only 6 other tokens are listed on Binance Singapore besides Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH). In order to buy other alt coins, you would have to check with CoinGecko to find out which exchange it is listed, the trading pair, its volume and trust score.
Another important point is to bookmark the website to avoid clicking on phishing links/websites.
2. Crypto-to-crypto exchange
I tried Binance as it has one of the exchanges with the large amount of listed coins. Trading fee is at 0.1% which can be reduced further depending on the amount of Binance coin (BNB) held. According to their blog, a total of 184 tokens were listed and 591 trading pairs as of 2019.
Likewise, new applicants have to go through KYC before doing anything on the platform. Compared to Binance SG, the process can be done via their mobile app which was faster and more advanced.
Took the time to play around with it, sending and receiving coins back and forth between the two exchanges. Depending on the network, transaction can take some time (around 15 - 30 minutes for me). So, it is best to keep some ETH/BTC/stable coins because by the time transaction completes, prices might have changed rather drastically. There is also fees associated with withdrawals.
It is good practice to send a small amount of money to the desired destination before sending the full amount to make sure nothing goes wrong. Else, you run the risk of sending your precious money into the abyss.
Magically disappear haha
Apparently, Binance can be funded with SGD but I have yet to try it so no comments for now.
Closing thoughts
What if Binance doesn't have the alt coins that you want?
You can choose to open account with another exchange that has it listed and go through KYC again. However, if you are lazy like me, you might want to try Decentralized Exchanges (DEX) such as 1inch. I will talk more about 1inch in a subsequent post.
Currently, I had placed small money into crypto, currently holding BTC, ETH, CEL and BAT. ETH has been doing well, I'm currently up 20% at the point of writing. Not much change on BTC. Some CEL tokens (which has been dropping) because I'm trying out Celsius Network. BAT coins because I use Brave browser. Last month I got about USD $6 worth of BAT from clicking on ads. Do check out my post on Brave if anyone is interested.
So far, the crypto space has been really interesting and I look forward to learn more.
Disclaimer: The information listed here is strictly my personal opinion. It should not be regarded as investment advice. Please do your own due diligence.
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