FAQs
What are crypto exchanges?
A crypto exchange is an online platform that enables you to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, operating much the same way in which an online broker facilitates stock trading. The exchanges need to hold physical inventory of digital assets both belonging to customers and to process deposits and withdrawals, and can be subject to theft by hackers.
Ideally, the crypto exchange should be regulated in countries with trustworthy regulation to reduce your risk of dealing with a scam broker, and should have robust security and be sufficiently collateralized to stay solvent.
What crypto exchanges are available in the US?
There’s a growing number of crypto exchanges in the U.S. To legally offer crypto trading, exchanges must be licensed as Money Service Businesses (MSB) with FinCEN, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. But just being regulated doesn’t mean a broker is a great choice, as there are other factors that are important in assessing which to trust with your assets. In our research, the best crypto brokers with crypto exchange services in 2025 include the following brokers:
Decentralized exchanges, which are entirely smart-contract-based — that is, they offer direct person-to-person crypto trading — are best avoided due to low volumes, high slippage, and a lack of best execution mechanisms to prevent front-running.
Is crypto a good investment?
While it’s not a safe investment, whether crypto is good or bad for you can depend on a variety of factors, such as your goals and tolerance for risk, as well as how you plan to invest or trade this asset class (say, day trade versus long-term investing).
In addition, investing in nascent or emerging crypto tokens (akin to penny stocks) compared to more established crypto assets (akin to large cap companies) can have drastically different outcomes.
One characteristic of nearly all cryptocurrencies is the potential for extreme volatility; this makes it a highly risky investment where proper position sizing and diversification can be crucial for reducing potential risk.
Factors to consider include whether you want to have exposure to the underlying cryptocurrencies or through a derivative, such as a futures contract or CFD, or by holding an exchange-traded fund (ETF) or other structured product.
How can I trade crypto with no fees?
Currently, the lowest fee for trading crypto is at Fidelity, where only a 1% fee is added atop the bid/ask spread.
Some crypto brokers will claim to offer free trading, but you end up paying fees in the form of the spread, which is the difference in price between the bid and ask (the rate at which you buy and sell are slightly different, which creates a spread fee).
Order types: Certain order types can be more expensive when you trade at certain brokers, such as when placing a market order (which takes away liquidity, known as a taker order), compared to a limit-order (which adds liquidity, known as a maker order). However, it’s important to note that not all brokers provide different pricing by order type, such as at Webull or Robinhood, where the rate is the same.
Active trader tiers: Finally, the best crypto brokers provide discounted fees when you trade higher volumes, where the most active traders can even reach a zero-commission rate when adding liquidity as a maker (using limit orders).
How do I start day trading crypto?
While it may seem easy to open a crypto account and start trading, given the number of crypto brokers available, there are a few tips traders should keep in mind to reduce risk of falling victim to potential scams.
Choose a suitable broker: The first and most important step when starting your crypto day trading journey is to choose the best broker that is also properly licensed to hold your money and begin with a small amount of risk capital.
Research blockchain public data: There are also data points relevant to crypto investors, such as on-chain data and fundamental news from social media and projects that can impact cryptocurrency market prices. For example, traders may track the wallet activity showing large transactions moving in or out of crypto exchanges, as potential signals of market direction, in addition to using technical analysis.
Develop a trading strategy: the way you operate your trading account as a day trader, including deciding when to open and close positions and how you manage the potential risk/reward of each trade — including deciding on the expected trade duration or how long to stay in each trade — will be the most crucial factors in determining your success.
This is where you want to spend time looking at formulas to determine what your win/loss ratio must be in order to increase your chances of success, and when calculating the size of each position as that will impact the size of any potential profits or loss over time for a given strategy.
For example, a smaller trade size can still risk as much as a larger trade, but the smaller position may take a longer time to reach that level, whereas a larger trade can have a greater impact much faster on your bottom line, resulting in a potentially larger profit or larger loss.
Here are some key questions to answer when day trading crypto:
- Which crypto assets should I trade?
- When should I enter and exit the crypto market?
- What is the ideal crypto trade size?
- How long should my expected crypto trade duration be?
- What are the ideal risk/reward levels I should use per crypto trade?
- What is my maximum risk per day, and ideal profit target day trading crypto?
- What win/loss ratio do I need trading crypto to succeed for a given risk/reward ratio?
- What other rules can I develop to stay on track and disciplined?
- How can I fine-tune the strategy based on my historical results?
- What amount should I test the crypto trading strategy with before scaling it higher?
Use trading tools for day traders: Becoming familiar with the trading tools and platform available from your broker will allow you to maximize your trading performance with all available resources.
Also consider whether you want to take on the risk of day trading at all. For a holistic perspective on the topic, check out our article on ten reasons you may want to avoid day trading.
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Steven Hatzakis is a well-known finance writer, with 25+ years of experience in the foreign exchange and financial markets. He is the Global Director of Online Broker Research for Reink Media Group, leading research efforts for ForexBrokers.com since 2016. Steven is an expert writer and researcher who has published over 1,000 articles covering the foreign exchange markets and cryptocurrency industries. He has served as a registered commodity futures representative for domestic and internationally-regulated brokerages. Steven holds a Series III license in the US as a Commodity Trading Advisor (CTA).
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