The American frontier is often known as the “Wild West.” My best friend told me that getting into cryptocurrency trading is the new Wild West, a frontier time in the U.S. but also around the world as countries and individuals wrestle with how to manage and regulate cryptocurrencies.
NOTE: This post is not financial advice and is for educational purposes only.
As a business owner responsible for my own retirement funds, I have used and explored a variety of investments from traditional stocks and mutual funds to real estate and other riskier forms of investing. I had yet to venture into crypto trading, but it seemed time to expand and try to understand this new world. Of course, I know I’m a bit late to the gold rush, but I wondered what app I might use to get started.
As a primer, I highly recommend this section here on Forbes: The Best Crypto Exchanges Of 2021 (updated just a few weeks ago). In this section, you will find reviews on the various top exchanges:
You know from the title that I found Coinbase to be one of the top rated apps and a strong contender to consider. Many of the exchanges mentioned above also offer crypto trading apps, but according to my research and MobileAction, a Mobile App Intelligence platform, Coinbase rates number seven on Google Play with almost 630,000 ratings (over 10 million downloads) and Coinbase is number four on Apple’s App Store with 1.6 million ratings (68 million users).
From the Coinbase app pages: “We’re the world’s most trusted cryptocurrency exchange, with over 68 million users across 32 countries worldwide. Coinbase allows you to securely buy, store and sell cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin, and many more on our easy, user-friendly app and web platform.”
As the Forbes review linked above states, the Coinbase exchange is one of the largest and safest, but that brings some degree of slightly higher costs (in comparison to other exchanges). From a mobile app experience perspective, although other apps appear to be higher ranked, they have fewer total ratings or reviews. So, that’s how I decided on Coinbase as a safe mobile app — a high number of users with loads of decent reviews.
I will add that since testing the waters, including downloading and using the Coinbase iOS app, we have also have used web-based apps or tools to access various crypto exchanges and services due to security reasons (outside the scope of this review, but “hard” wallets are often safer than “soft” wallets and the former is a USB stick that is highly encrypted and physical, meaning in your hand versus online only). With Coinbase, they have a couple of levels of user access and, again, not offering financial advice here, but the Coinbase Pro has an overall lower fee structure compared to the basic account which Forbes Advisor review points out as well, (both basic account levels are free, before trading costs).
Coinbase and other crypto apps and services all require multiple steps in determining your identity, bank account access, and other security steps to protect you. It can sometimes be overwhelming to jump through all the hoops but given the Wild West nature and reputation of many cryptocurrencies and companies, this seems a small price to pay to gain access to the platforms and exchanges.
Of course, just because an app is easy to use and can help you navigate, crypto investing involves a ton of study and education. There are many areas where the “gold rush” or “Wild West” seems apropos and real — it is a crazy idea, digital currency, and logical at the same time. But for those who are considering investing in cryptocurrency, Coinbase is one of the top apps and services you should research and consider.