A Guide to Crypto Trading Platforms10-min read

Introduction to Crypto Trading Platforms

The rise of inflation and people’s need for decentralisation has shifted the narrative of wealth creation from fiat to crypto assets. It has resulted in the emergence of some of the biggest crypto trading platforms over the past decade.

What is a trading platform? A trading platform is a web portal that allows investors to buy and sell their tangible or non-tangible assets. Crypto assets fall under the non-tangible category, with a high degree of volatility. Therefore, crypto trading platforms provide more tools and technical indicators to ensure investors can react to rapid market changes.

This guide reviews the best cryptocurrency trading platforms in India based on their trade offerings, ease of use, and security features.

Best Online Platforms for Crypto in India and Abroad for December 2024

Here is the list of the best crypto trading platforms in India tried and tested repeatedly by crypto experts to yield profits in a matter of days.

These crypto trading platforms have great offerings, including a long list of cryptocurrencies, technical indicators, and security features that allow easy investing for veteran and novice traders.

Be warn that there are many fake websites impersonating legitimate crypto bot brands. It is important to access these websites through the official links above as by merely using search engines (Google, Bing etc) to reach them, the odds of inadvertently ending up on one of those fake websites are quite high. The illegitimate sites are scams and have entire teams of professionals working 24/7 to ensure that they outrank even the authentic, official brands on search engines. 

Featured Exchange: CEX.IO

CEX.IO provides two methods for buying cryptocurrency: a trading platform and a brokerage facility. The brokerage service is tailored to the needs of new users, making it easier to buy crypto at a higher cost. For more advanced users, the trading platform is the preferred option, as it offers significantly lower fees with a maker-taker arrangement. The maker pays a lower fee than the taker, with a maximum fee of 0.25%. This exchange has emerged as one of the leading platforms in the past year. Although preached for use only by experts, with its straightforward and user-friendly interface, even novice users can comfortably purchase cryptocurrencies. However, it is important to consider the fees and verification process associated with larger Bitcoin purchases. Other than that, the platform boasts a huge customer base, 24/7 customer service, and robust security.

Binance: Overall, One of the Best Cryptocurrency Exchange in India

Binance is the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange, with over 120 million registered users, upwards of 350 crypto assets, and a $76 billion 14-hour trading volume.

Three factors make Binance one of the best exchanges for crypto in India. The first is the cryptocurrencies available on the platform. All crypto assets listed on Binance must go through a rigorous listing procedure that involves an assessment of their trading volume and history. Historically, Binance has had the least number of cryptos that were part of the “pump and dump” scheme.

The second reason is the wide variety of features, including staking and crypto savings accounts. Investors who don’t want to deal with the volatility of the crypto market can use interest accounts to earn passive gains over time. This feature is known as the Binance earn. Active investors can use high-risk-high reward features like dual investments to earn triple-digit Annual Percentage Returns (APR).

The third reason is the low fees and accessible user interface. Binance only charges a 0.10% fee for conducting traders on the platform. This cost can reduce based on the monthly trading volume of the users. Another way to reduce price is owning BNB – Binance Coin – the native crypto of the Binance Smart Chain. In terms of security, Binance has implemented strict sign-in protocols, cold storage, and an insurance policy.

Overall, Binance is one of the best crypto trading platforms in India. In August 2022, it was found that there are upwards of 15 million Indian crypto traders on Binance, which is roughly 18% of the total number of users on the platform.

Libertex: Best Crypto Trading Platform for Crypto to Crypto Exchange in India

Advanced and new traders alike are drawn to Libertex due its unparalleled user experience, offering a dashboard that is so smooth and easy-to-adjust to. Even though they had originally started as a stock and forex trader, they have quickly become the go-to broker for new traders who can quickly practice and then turn a profit in no-time, once switching from the Demo account to Standard.

Admiral Markets: Over 8,000 Trading Instruments, Spreads as Low as 0.5 Pips and up to 500:1 Leverage

Admiral Markets is a global forex and CFD broker that provides traders with access to a wide range of financial instruments, including stocks, indices, commodities, and cryptocurrencies. The platform offers a user-friendly trading experience with a variety of tools and features designed to help traders make informed investment decisions.

With Admiral Markets, traders can access a range of educational resources, including webinars, tutorials, and market analysis. The platform offers a variety of account types, including a demo account, which allows users to test their strategies before investing real money. Moreover, the platform provides excellent customer support and a range of deposit and withdrawal options to ensure a smooth and secure trading experience.

Overall, Admiral Markets is a reliable and secure trading platform that is popular among traders worldwide. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced trader, Admiral Markets’ advanced features and user-friendly interface make it an excellent choice for those looking to invest in stocks and other financial instruments.

What Is an Online Crypto Trading Platform?

An online crypto trading platform is an online broker/exchange that allows investors to access crypto assets from their homes and assess the crypto markets to buy or sell cryptocurrencies. They do this by being inclusive; that is, online crypto trading platforms ensure that users can trade using their desktops or on the go while on their mobile phones.

In the beginning, crypto trading platforms started simple, allowing investors to swap their crypto assets. As time went by and cryptocurrencies began breaking through the traditional trade markets, crypto exchanges became more technical. They now provide technical indicators such as Relative Strength Index, Bollinger Bands, Moving Averages, and other indicators to provide clients with a strategic advantage when trading.

Due to this will, the cryptocurrency market is massive by market capitalization compared to its relative youth. It is partly because of the availability of crypto assets that offer practical use cases and cryptocurrency exchanges such as Binance and Libertex expose such useful assets to the general public.

Another reason crypto exchanges have grown in vogue is those in the mainstream pushing for financial independence. These include major corporate giants like Disney, Starbucks, and Nickelodeon. Disney, for instance, has recently launched VeVe, Disney-based NFTs. Starbucks has also created a blockchain-based loyalty program and NFT platform. Nickelodeon NFTs were sold out in record time. These projects have increased crypto adoption, and cryptocurrency exchanges have emerged to cater to them.

Why Should You Invest in Cryptocurrencies?

Here are the following reasons to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Hedging Against Inflation

Hedging refers to mitigating the risk by selecting a middle-ground option. Pandemic-driven economic measures created a high inflationary environment within the fiat ecosystem. In India, for instance, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised the repo rate by 50 bps (basis points) to 5.90%, which has led to a reduction in people’s buying power. With cryptocurrency, however, this is not an issue. Most cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, are deflationary. That is, their number reduces over time, increasing their scarcity and long-term value. Not investing money in these assets that customers can hedge against crypto can reduce purchasing power.

Most Projects Have Huge Upside Potential

Cryptocurrencies are not novelty assets anymore. They are tied to DeFi, GameFi, Web3, and FitFi projects that have huge potential upside in the future. A large number of them have grown in value over the past year. Decentraland is a crypto project whose native crypto – MANA – has experienced a significant uptrend even during the bear market. It entered into a partnership with Coca-Cola – the soft drink company that introduced its own line of NFTs to be worn by characters in Decentraland. Such alliances are increasing blockchain adoption at a rapid pace, ensuring the market’s growth.

Diversifying Investment Portfolios

Shrewd investors must diversify their investments to generate profits even during bearish market scenarios. Crypto investments allow investors to do that.

A Beginner’s Guide to Investing Through an Online Broker

Here are the steps to invest through an online broker

1. Choosing a Crypto Broker
2. Creating an Account
3. Depositing Funds
4. Searching for the crypto
5. Buying the cryptocurrency

Here is a complete explanation of the steps mentioned above.

Choosing a Crypto Broker

The first step is to choose the right broker. Every cryptocurrency exchange has different offerings that users must consider before selection. However, the best crypto trading platforms offer a great interface, good payment options, and technical indicators to make the trading process easier. Binance fits all those boxes. So, for the tutorial, this guide focuses on Binance.

Creating an Account

Binance account creation process is easy. Users only have to go to the official website, open the account and enter the details. Once they provide the initial information, Binance asks for account verification or KYC. The user must then upload a government-issued ID to start trading.

Depositing Funds

After creating the account, the user must deposit the initial funds. Investors can start trading on Binance if they have as low as $10. To deposit the amount, users can choose between credit/debit cards.

Searching for the Right Crypto

Once the user has deposited the amount, they can go to Spot trading and search for the cryptocurrency they want to purchase. The spot trading chart has technical indicators that advanced investors can play around with to analyze the current market decisions before investing. More advanced traders can also set up trading bots to automize their trades on Binance.

Buying the Cryptocurrency You Want to Invest In

Once the user has searched for the token, they can buy it using fiat. The transaction process involves two-factor authentication. Once the transaction is complete, the cryptocurrency will be transferred to the user’s account.

What Makes a Good Investment?

Here are the points that make a good crypto investment.

1. A great team behind the project: The biggest factor determining a crypto project’s quality is the team behind it. If the team is comprised of members that are transparent and have doxed their identities on social media platforms, then they can be trusted. Investors should also run a background check and see the projects with which the team members were previously involved.

2. Real-world Utility of the project: Cryptocurrency being a peer-to-peer network digital currency, isn’t a novel concept anymore. People are now looking for real-life use cases of cryptocurrencies. Crypto with a real-world utility has a higher chance of increasing the adoption rate and, therefore, has a bigger opportunity to grow.

3. Technical advantages of blockchain: The cryptocurrency should have a technological edge. Such as, it should be scalable, and the technology behind it should be optimal and capable of operating a large network. Investors must also find out if blockchain technology has a better adoption rate.

4. Supply and Demand of the project: No cryptocurrency can hit the ground running or reach its potential if it doesn’t align with economic principles. Investors must learn the demand of the underlying crypto before investing in it.

5. Quality of the backers of the token: Backers of the tokens aren’t necessarily founders. They are advisors or directors with the marketing mileage to back this token enough so that its demand can increase.

Despite these points, it is important to remember that the crypto market is volatile, and the overarching influence plays a big role in the performance of crypto. Therefore, investors must always diversify their assets when investing.

What Are the Signs of a Reputable Crypto Broker?

Following are the signs of a reputable crypto broker:

1. Regulated authorities must audit the cryptocurrency exchange.
2. The crypto broker must have optimal security measures installed.
3. The cryptocurrency exchange must have a good track record among the clients.

To assess a good crypto broker, investors must rely on unbiased resources that focus on all the nuances of crypto exchange – both positives and negatives.

Vetting Our Recommended Brokers

The brokers that we have reviewed in this article have been used and assessed by our experts. We have created accounts, conducted trades, calculated the withdrawal times, and reviewed our investment portfolio. We have also gone through the terms and conditions of each one to ensure that these platforms are regulated. And we have also considered the community’s feedback when creating this list.

Reading about the platforms on review sites like ours for investors to understand the positives and negatives of crypto trading platforms. It is crucial because regulations are still being formulated for crypto brokers, and that delay can lead to the emergence of untrustworthy brokers.

Red Flags: Traits of an Untrustworthy Broker

Cryptocurrency regulations are still in their early stages, but the demand for crypto assets is still high. Certain nefarious elements fill this vacuum, making it important for investors to conduct a comprehensive research about the brokers they want to choose. Here are the common red flags that can help investors spot the bad actors and protect themselves.

1. Not transparent about liquidity: If a cryptocurrency exchange is not transparent about the liquidity of the platform, investors are better off looking the other way.

2. No auditing by major bodies: Cryptocurrency exchanges are always audited – especially centralized ones. Those that aren’t are likely to have some issues.

3. No cold storage: Cryptocurrency exchanges, especially CEX, must offer cold storage to protect crypto assets. Simple online security measures can only watch the assets for a finite time.

4. Terms and conditions spelling mistakes: Every cryptocurrency broker must involve a lawyer to create the terms and conditions. Investors must back out immediately if their policies look like they have been copied.

5. No major cryptocurrencies: if an exchange doesn’t support major-league crypto assets such as BTC or ETH, the investor must take it as a red flag.

The list of red flags is long and exhaustive and shall continue to grow. That is why investors must stay updated with the market before investing.

Unrecommended Crypto Brokers

Unfortunately, not all brokers that we review manage to successfully pass our rigorous testing method. Over the course of six months, our team opens accounts with all brokers that we review, testing them on payment processing methods, levels of encryption and privacy policy, deposit and withdrawal requirements, how diverse their investment portfolio is, as well as the efficiency of their Customer Support team. We also aggregate reviews from professional and new investors alike in order to further examine if there are any recurring issues which we might have missed.

We also rate our brokers on user-friendliness and the extent to which they have regionalised their platforms for the Indian market. Not all crypto trading platforms have unfortunately recognised the immense potential resting within a market which has seen over 421% crypto ownership growth in the past years. As such, these brokers we cannot fully recommend.

Discontinued Brokers

CoinBharat’s review of Paxful highlights the exchange’s user-friendly interface, wide range of payment options, and excellent customer support. However, it is worth noting that Paxful has recently announced that it will be suspending its operations in the near future, citing regulatory concerns and increased competition.

While Paxful’s upcoming closure is disappointing news, the company has assured its users that their funds are safe and can be withdrawn at any time.

Overall, Paxful has been a significant player in the peer-to-peer bitcoin exchange space, and its suspension of operations will undoubtedly be felt by the community. Nevertheless, Paxful will be remembered as a reputable and reliable platform for buying and selling Bitcoin.

Taxation on Crypto Assets

Crypto earnings come under the capital gains tax. The presence of tax for crypto means that the government has accepted it as a legal asset. In India, the crypto tax rests at 30%.

Investing Responsibility

Cryptocurrency is a volatile asset whose price movements follow the emotions of the community and sometimes the fundamentals of the general market. Investors must research before investing, withdrawing, and watching over their crypto assets.

Conclusion

To win at crypto trading, investors must use trusted crypto trading platforms. This guide has reviewed the best exchanges for crypto trade in India. However, before investing, clients must research the cryptocurrency and the trading platform. They must know how to spot the red flags and select the right crypto exchange. Once they find the right one, investors must invest responsibly.

1. Crypto trading must be done on trusted platforms.
3. Crypto investments can help hedge against inflation.
4. Crypto investors must research the crypto asset and the exchange before investing.
5. Investors must invest responsibly and must assess their risk tolerance.
6. Advanced traders can automate trading through a crypto trading bot.

With the rise of digital currencies, performing crypto transactions on a trustworthy and secure platform is critical. Many trustworthy crypto trading platforms now exist, allowing investors to buy and sell a wide range of crypto coins and tokens. Making a well-informed choice is all that’s required when picking one for your digital asset management or crypto trading needs.

Crypto products and NFTs are unregulated and can be highly risky. There may be no regulatory recourse for any loss from such transactions.