Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more.
Crypto trading can be engaging, especially once you understand the basics. For beginners in particular, getting started in the world of trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum often seems complex. But how exactly does crypto trading work and how can I learn it? If you're asking yourself those two questions, you're in the right place.
In this guide, we explain what crypto trading is and you'll learn the basics. You'll also find out where you can trade crypto coins and tokens, and we'll take a look at the challenges involved in trading cryptocurrencies – including recommendations for appropriate security measures.
Crypto trading with coins and tokens like Bitcoin is highly speculative.
As a crypto trader, you're personally responsible for your cryptocurrency holdings.
Before buying a cryptocurrency, you should thoroughly research the opportunities and risks of the project.
Cryptocurrency prices are subject to high volatility.
When you trade crypto, you buy coins and tokens on an exchange and later sell them again with the aim of taking advantage of price changes. Just like stock trading, you observe market movements, analyse price trends and react to price changes.
A key feature of crypto trading is its high volatility. The prices of Bitcoin, Ethereum and other crypto projects can change significantly within a short period of time. This makes crypto trading exciting, but also somewhat risky.
If you want to start trading crypto, it usually takes just a few steps:
Choose a platform for your crypto trading
Set up your account and complete the verification
Use a demo version or start investing with small amounts
Learn the basic functions of your platform
Develop a simple strategy that aligns with your personal investment goals
Monitor your first crypto trades and learn from them
Register your account today!
To make it easier for you to get started with crypto trading and help you avoid mistakes, we’ve put together additional content and tips for you here.
To learn crypto trading, you’ll need time, patience and the right tools. Especially as a beginner, it helps to proceed in a structured way and gather information before diving into trading cryptocurrencies. Here you’ll find essential basics and our tips for crypto trading:
When selecting a suitable trading platform, you can choose between a crypto broker and an exchange. Brokers act as intermediaries between crypto traders and the market. They enable trading with crypto coins and tokens like Bitcoin or Ethereum at fixed prices, but charge fees for doing so. This makes brokers especially attractive for beginners who want to start buying cryptocurrencies.
Exchanges, on the other hand, are marketplaces that offer a platform for direct trading. This gives you more control, but also requires a deeper understanding of the market.
When comparing different brokers and exchanges, look out for the following criteria:
Fees: consider transaction, deposit and withdrawal fees that can affect your profits
Licensing and regulation: check the platform’s regulatory compliance and licensing to ensure it’s trustworthy and has the ability to protect your investments
User-friendliness: an intuitive user interface is important for efficient trading
Available currencies: make sure the platform offers a wide selection of cryptocurrencies
Security features: strong protocols include two-factor authentication and cold storage
User reviews and infrastructure: read experiences of other crypto traders and find out about the platform’s technical stability to avoid outages or delays during trading
Learning from history: Historical collapses of trading platforms
Historic collapses like Mt. Gox in 2014, where Bitcoins (BTC) worth hundreds of millions of dollars were stolen due to security gaps, and the fall of trading platform FTX in 2022 due to liquidity issues and management failures, highlight the risks of crypto trading. These events underscore the importance of checking the security practices and financial stability of crypto brokers and exchanges.
When choosing your trading provider, security is paramount. Look for platforms with advanced security features. This helps protect your cryptoassets from unauthorised access and cyberattacks.
Common security features include:
Two-factor authentication (2FA): to log in, you’ll need a second factor (e.g. your smartphone) in addition to your credentials
Cold storage: your crypto is stored offline to prevent online theft
Encryption techniques: secure your data and transactions by encoding them to prevent unauthorised access
Regular security audits: platforms should regularly test for vulnerabilities and update security measures accordingly
Choosing a regulated trading provider is crucial to ensure safety and compliance in crypto trading. Brokers and exchanges with official licences that follow strict regulatory standards help ensure users trade in a secure, compliant environment. They also provide transparency and reliability.
As an investor, consider regulatory compliance as a key criterion when deciding on a platform. This ensures your trades take place in a secure and regulated environment.
In crypto trading, psychology plays a huge role alongside market analysis. Beginners often underestimate how emotions like fear, greed or crypto FOMO ("fear of missing out") can influence their behaviour. These emotions can lead to rushed decisions such as selling in panic or buying without analysis.
A helpful tool here is the Fear and Greed Index, which gauges market sentiment using various indicators to show whether traders are currently fearful or greedy. For beginners, it offers guidance to better understand emotional market phases and act more rationally.
To avoid impulsive decisions, you can train yourself to control your emotions. Pause before trading and ask yourself whether your impulse fits your analysis and strategy. Keep a trading journal to track emotional decisions and learn from them. Also, set clear entry and exit rules to prevent reactive trading.
Unexpected losses in crypto trading can trigger intense emotions. Emotional discipline strategies (as mentioned above) help. But it’s just as important to mentally prepare for worst-case scenarios.
Know that unforeseen events—like new regulations or a rival crypto’s technological breakthrough—can result in significant losses. That’s why you should only allocate what you’re comfortable risking.
Not sure how much of your portfolio a single crypto like Bitcoin should occupy? Position sizing (trade size based on total capital) is a useful guideline. Diversifying your portfolio also promotes responsible trading. You should not invest all your capital in one asset—spread it across different ones to lower the risk of large losses.
Sudden market shifts or unexpected events can increase loss risks in crypto trading. That’s why risk management strategies are essential. Depending on your broker or exchange, the following methods help secure your portfolio and support a long-term strategy:
Stop-loss orders: automatic sell orders triggered when a price drops below a certain threshold
Diversification: spreading your investments across various assets
Position sizing: tailoring trade size based on your total capital
Take-profit orders: automatic sales to lock in profits at pre-set price levels
Trailing stops: dynamic stop-losses that adjust as prices rise
Hedging: opening counter-positions to reduce losses in volatile markets
To protect your trading accounts and wallets:
Use strong, unique passwords
Enable two-factor authentication
Regularly review your security settings
Blockchain transactions are irreversible—once crypto is sent to another wallet, it can’t be undone. Always double-check transaction details, such as the recipient’s wallet address and the amount, before confirming.
Transaction fees are also important. Miners verify and add transactions to the blockchain, earning fees and newly mined coins/tokens for their efforts. These fees incentivise miners to keep the network running securely.
If you’d like to learn more, read our Academy article on transaction fees for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Do you want to learn more about cryptocurrencies and their various applications? The crypto knowledge hub offers in-depth articles, tutorials, and resources to help you become a crypto expert.
Once you've mastered the basics of crypto trading, you may want to explore more advanced strategies to refine your trading approach as your knowledge grows. That includes learning about:
Market and limit orders
Candlestick patterns
Such strategies help experienced traders spot upward trends and optimise profits. However, they require deep market knowledge, understanding of leverage, and solid risk management—and may come with higher risks.
Many seasoned traders conduct thorough technical and fundamental analysis before investing. Technical analysis examines patterns and trends in price movements, while fundamental analysis looks at external events and economic indicators that may affect value.
If you’re entering the world of crypto trading, technical analysis will be a great help. It involves analysing price charts and trading volumes to identify patterns that hint at future movements. Useful tools include the moving average and the Relative Strength Index (RSI). You’ll find more details in our technical analysis guide.
Fundamental analysis in crypto trading focuses on external events and financial factors to determine a currency’s true value. This includes examining news, economic indicators and technological developments that influence the market. It evaluates a crypto's long-term growth potential based on fundamentals rather than short-term price speculation.
Crypto trading offers high profit potential due to market volatility but also carries an increased risk of losses. Technical issues on the platform, security vulnerabilities or human errors when placing orders can also become a problem. Added to this is the limited regulation of some crypto trading platforms, which makes it difficult for beginners to identify trustworthy providers.
Unlike, for example, trading shares, cryptocurrencies aren’t tied to regular stock exchange hours and can be traded around the clock. The high liquidity of the crypto market also enables fast transactions. Overall, trading cryptocurrencies often presents lower entry barriers than traditional financial markets.
Crypto trading is a complex field that requires knowledge and caution. To make a successful start in trading, you should be familiar with and use different strategies. The combination of choosing the right trading provider, using a thorough method of analysis, having a solid understanding of security and being aware of the psychological aspects of trading forms a good basis for long-term success. When trading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and others, you should be prepared to keep learning and adapt your strategies to the changing conditions of the crypto market. This approach helps you navigate opportunities in crypto while managing risk responsibly.
Here we answer the most frequently asked questions about crypto trading with Bitcoin and other coins and tokens.
