Cryptocurrencies have surged in value in the last few years. In 2017, Bitcoin rose more than 1,000% and Ethereum grew an astounding 10,000%, and for this reason, a lot of people are getting into cryptocurrency investing and trading. But this does come with risks including regulatory risk, market risk and security risk.
In addition to being highly volatile, cryptocurrencies are still in their early stages, as Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Ethereum, reminded us last month.
“Reminder: cryptocurrencies are still a new and hyper-volatile asset class, and could drop to near-zero at any time. Don’t put in more money than you can afford to lose,” he wrote in a tweet. “If you’re trying to figure out where to store your life savings, traditional assets are still your safest bet.”
But for those in Singapore who really want to get into the crypto game and are wondering to themselves “How do i buy cryptocurrencies in Singapore?”, here’s several exchanges and trading platforms to get started with your first cryptocurrencies trade.
Exchanges and trading platforms to buy cryptocurrency in Singapore
A popular platform in Singapore is Quoine. Quoine is a cryptocurrency exchange operator headquartered in Japan with offices in Singapore and Vietnam. Its crypto-fiat exchange Quoinex supports services for cryptocurrencies and fiat currency pairs in JPY, USD, EUR, HKD, PHP, and SGD, among others. Cryptocurrencies supported include Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum. Quoine also operates a crypto-only exchange called Qryptos.
Quoinex
Another option is ItBit, a company headquartered in the US with an international office in Singapore. ItBit develops and operates an Internet-based Bitcoin exchange and OTC trading desk for institutional and retail investors.
Other platforms that offer cryptocurrency/SGD pair and which are based in Singapore include CRXzone, by Intellect Market which supports Bitcoin and Litecoin, Coinhako, which supports Bitcoin and Ethereum pairs in SGD and MYR, and NuMoney, which supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Monero, Ripple, Litecoin, Neo, Ethereum and Ethereum Classic.
NuMoney is in the midst of opening a new retail office in Raffles Place, in addition to its current office near Tai Seng MRT. These retail offices would be staffed with dedicated and experienced employees to assist in setting up wallets, answering any cryptocurrency-related questions and facilitating instant transactions without the need to wait for verifications.
Another option is Luno, a Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange platform with offices in Singapore, London and Cape Town.
Several foreign companies are providing platforms which Singapore locals can use to purchase cryptocurrencies. These include Coinbase, a leading US-based operator serving more than 30 countries including Singapore and which supports Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin trading against the SGD, and Gemini, another renowned US-based operator.
Gemini
Singapore-based broker IG Asia offers an online trading platform supporting forex, shares, indices and commodities. The company launched cryptocurrency trading last year, supporting Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Ripple. As with most products offering by the broker, clients can either trade the cryptocurrencies in the form of spread betting or as a Contract for Difference (CFD).
IG
In accordance with a notice released by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), most sites will require users to verify their identity.
And for those who prefer to go the over-the-counter route, Localbitcoins.com is a popular peer-to-peer exchange platform to purchase bitcoin. For Ethereum, there is Localethereum.com.
Once users own their first cryptocurrencies, typically Bitcoin or Ethereum, they can use these to purchase smaller cryptocurrencies such as Tron, Qtum, or Lisk, which are often uniquely tradable against other bigger cryptocurrencies rather than national currencies.
Popular cryptocurrency trading platforms include Poloniex and Bittrex, both based in the US, but also Binance from China, and Qryptos, as mentioned earlier. These crypto-only platforms support a lot of cryptocurrencies: Poloniex, for instance, lets users trade more than 40 cryptocurrencies against Bitcoin, and 12 cryptocurrencies against Ethereum. For Binance, it’s even more: over 100 cryptocurrencies against both Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Binance trading platform
Featured image: Cryptocurrencies, Pixabay.
