The realm of link building is multifaceted, and backlink companies employ a diverse array of strategies to enhance online visibility and authority. By understanding and implementing these techniques effectively, businesses can navigate the digital landscape with confidence, driving organic traffic and achieving sustainable growth.

Binance: Master of the Global Crypto Trading Space

Binance is arguably one of the most well-known and widely used cryptocurrency exchanges. With many available trading pairs and outstanding liquidity, Binance becomes an attractive choice for beginners and experienced traders alike. It also offers many products including Binance Spot for regular trading and Binance Futures for margin trading.

Coinbase: The Entrance Gateway to the Crypto World for Beginners

Coinbase is an exchange focused on beginners, offering a simple interface and an easy way to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrencies. It is often recommended for those who are just starting out in the world of cryptocurrencies. However, it is worth noting that the selection of trading pairs is limited compared to more advanced exchanges.

Kraken: For Experienced Traders and Investors

Kraken is known for its vast array of cryptocurrency pairs and advanced features for experienced users. It offers a variety of order types and advanced analytical tools. In addition, Kraken is also positioned as an exchange with high security standards.

Bitfinex: Advanced Trading Features

Bitfinex is a platform for experienced traders, offering a wide range of cryptocurrency pairs and advanced margin trading features. It is also one of the few exchanges offering access to stable coin trading.

Choosing a cryptocurrency exchange depends on your goals, experience, and preferences. Binance is great for a wide range of traders, Coinbase is convenient for beginners, Kraken provides more options for experienced users, and Bitfinex is for those looking for advanced trading tools.

Do not forget that each exchange has its own features and advantages, so before making a decision, it is worth studying their features and conditions in detail.

The post Comparison of Popular Cryptocurrency Exchanges: Choosing the Perfect Trading Partnership appeared first on Coin_SMD.

• Managing emotions: Various emotions can arise while trading, such as fear, greed, impatience and frustration. It is important to learn how to recognize and manage these emotions. Fear and greed can lead to taking too risky decisions or closing positions too early. Traders must learn to remain objective and make decisions based on facts, not emotions.
• Stress Management: Trading can be stressful, especially during periods of market volatility. Successful traders develop strategies to manage stress, such as practicing meditation, physical activity, or socializing with other traders to share experiences and support. Effective stress management helps you maintain mental clarity and make informed decisions.
• Setting realistic expectations: The cryptocurrency market is known for its high volatility and uncertainty. Traders need to have realistic expectations about their performance. Constantly striving for high profits can lead to unwise decisions and excessive risk taking. It is important to realize that trading is a long-term process and success comes with careful planning, discipline and gradual skill development.
• Discipline and Planning: Discipline is a key aspect of successful trading. This includes following a trading strategy, establishing rules for entering and exiting positions, and controlling risk. Planning is also an important element that helps traders define their goals, time frame and resources.

In conclusion, the psychology of cryptocurrency trading is essential to achieving success in the market. Traders who can control their emotions, manage stress, have realistic expectations and be disciplined have a better chance of achieving stability and success in this dynamic field of trading.

The psychology of cryptocurrency trading is a multifaceted realm characterized by emotional highs and lows, cognitive biases, and risk management challenges. Backlink companies leverage their understanding of traders’ psychological nuances to deliver targeted content and support services, enriching the trading experience and fostering sustainable growth within the cryptocurrency ecosystem. As traders navigate the complexities of this dynamic market, a nuanced understanding of its psychological underpinnings is indispensable for achieving lasting success and prosperity.

The post Psychology of Cryptocurrency Trading appeared first on Coin_SMD.

Most of them may be difficult to understand for beginners. But there are also effective strategies that have gained great popularity among novice traders due to their simplicity.In this article, we will talk about such strategies, which will not be difficult to understand for a beginner, but at the same time they will help in trading.

How to use indicators

Technical indicators reflect real market indicators and help to identify key support/resistance levels, overbought/oversold, trend direction and much more.

With the help of indicators, crypto traders can find optimal market entry points and receive signals to buy and sell cryptocurrency with a certain accuracy.

Traders create their own strategies based on indicators. As a rule, indicators are combined for more accurate signals so that the trader can see a more comprehensive picture of what is happening in the market. This eliminates unnecessary noise and allows you to extract the necessary information faster and better.

As a rule, crypto exchanges’ terminals contain preconfigured basic indicators that a trader can use in his trading, such as SMA (moving averages), MACD, Volume and others.

For example, Binance charts have 3 moving averages with different periods and a Volume indicator pre-installed.MA indicators smooth out price fluctuations and calculate average price values, allowing you to understand which way the trend is currently directed. And the Volume indicator reflects the current market activity: whether buyers (bulls) or sellers (bears) prevail.

Traders can independently add, delete and customize the necessary indicators according to their individual preferences in trading. But for beginners, the standard settings will be enough – they are recommended by the creators of these indicators and are often used by professional traders. As you gain experience, you will learn how to customize the parameters for yourself. Next, we will consider popular trading strategies and explain how to use them in crypto trading.

Scalping

Scalping is not the easiest strategy for beginner crypto traders, but with proper risk management it can bring good results. The essence of scalping is to make many trades during the day to get a small profit of up to a few percent. However, cryptocurrencies are highly volatile assets, and their price during one day can change by 10% to 50% or more. But this carries increased risks for traders, especially beginners.

How to trade

This means that it is important for a trader to determine at least two key parameters: support/resistance levels and trend direction. With the help of support and resistance levels, a trader can determine when it is best to open/close positions. When the price bounces off the lower boundary, it is a buy signal, and a bounce off the upper boundary is a sell signal.

Special attention should be paid to moving averages. MA crossing can indicate both local and global change of trend. The Volume indicator will additionally help to form a picture of the market and indicate bearish and bullish divergence. For example, if the indicator displays red, but on the chart it is green, it indicates that the strength of the bears is running out and the price is preparing for a breakout.

What indicators to use

Since you need to determine the trend direction and key support and resistance levels, trend indicators, as well as volume and momentum indicators are suitable for trading:

• SMA;
• MACD;
• Parabolic SAR;
• RSI;
• Volume.

The trend can change at any moment and it is impossible to predict it. Therefore, it is important to make sure that trend indicators keep their direction.

Tip. Binance and many other popular platforms use charts of the popular Tradingview service. To add an indicator to a chart, you need to click on it with a mouse click and start typing the indicator name in the field. Then select the desired indicator in the displayed list.

Trend Trading

Another popular strategy among novice traders is trend trading. In this case, you need to determine in which direction the price is moving at a given time. Trends can be local and global. Global trends are suitable for medium and long-term trading.

How to realize that the trend is uptrending

During an uptrend, the price moves in a narrow channel and may slightly go beyond its limits. As a rule, each local minimum is higher than the previous one. The same is true for local highs.

How to trade

So, when you have determined that the trend is directed upwards, it is necessary to identify the key support and resistance levels – we will start from them. Accordingly, the support zone will be suitable for opening long positions, and the resistance zone – for closing.

As you can see in the picture, the price of cryptocurrency fluctuates in a narrow corridor. And the local minimums and maximums are higher than the previous ones (in the screenshot, the minimums are marked with white horizontal lines).

In a downtrend, the signal to start trading will be the breakdown of the resistance level. However, sometimes the breakdown may turn out to be false. If the price after the breakout quickly rolled back and returned to the initial position, it may indicate a false breakout. At this time, it is better to wait for a clear trend to emerge. We will talk more about the strategy based on the breakdown of levels in the next paragraph of the article.

What indicators to use

Since the strategy under consideration provides for trend trading, it is logical to use trend indicators:

• MA (SMA, EMA, etc.);
• Stochastic RSI;
• MACD.

Breakout of resistance level

This strategy is used when a new trend has not yet formed, but the breakout of a key level may indicate its change. During a certain period of time, the price may bounce from support and resistance levels for a long time.

But sooner or later, the market forces shift to the other side: the price cannot move only in one direction. When the rate grows significantly, the buyers weaken and the bears actively join the game. The opposite is also true.

How can you tell if the trend is about to change?

When approaching this point, the amplitude of the price begins to decrease, that is, the price is in a sideways movement or flat. The beginning of the uptrend can be indicated by the breakdown of the resistance level. Before that, sellers “push” the price closer and closer to the resistance level.

One of the characteristic signs of a trend change can be observed when the resistance level practically does not change, and the support level approaches it, closing the chart in the form of some semblance of a wedge. At a certain moment the resistance level is broken and the price starts to grow, indicating the emergence of a new uptrend. At the same time, it is important that the price does not immediately roll back to the previous level – this phenomenon is called a false breakdown.

How to trade

There is no need to hurry and open a position immediately after the price broke above the resistance level. It is necessary that the condition is fulfilled: the new support level formed should not be lower than the previous resistance level. In this case, you can open a long position and then trade on the trend.

What indicators to use

Again, trend indicators are suitable here. But in addition to them it is better to use momentum and volume indicators. The list of suitable indicators for key level breakout strategy:

• MA (SMA, EMA, etc.);
• RSI;
• Parabolic SAR;
• Volume.

Strategy on MACD

MACD (moving average convergence/divergence) is one of the most popular and simple indicators in trading. The simplicity of its use is the reason why the indicator is so popular.

How to trade

The signal to buy cryptocurrency will be the crossing of the fast and slow MA lines below the MACD zero level. At the same time, the fast moving average should cross the slow MA from bottom to top – this is what signals the price reversal to growth.

The signal to sell, respectively, will be the crossing of the slow MA from top to bottom. It is not necessary for this crossover to be above the MACD zero level.

What indicators to use

As we wrote earlier, two basic indicators with standard settings are enough for this strategy:

• MA (included in MACD);
• MACD.

Crypto arbitrage

Not all trading strategies can be based on indicators, although they can imply their use as an additional tool. During periods of high volatility in the crypto market, there is often a difference between quotes on different exchanges and in different trading pairs. The difference between quotes can reach 5% or more.

Types of cryptocurrency arbitrage

There are two main types of crypto arbitrage:

• Inter-exchange;
• Intra-exchange.

Inter-exchange arbitrage works like this:

• You buy cryptocurrency on the first exchange at a lower price.
• Transfer the coins to the second crypto exchange.
• Sell at a higher price.

In this case, you need to calculate the commissions when withdrawing cryptocurrency from the exchange and for the exchange. In addition, there are still risks that the rate of cryptocurrency will change sharply in a period of high volatility, and you will not only lose profit, but also incur losses. This is especially true for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum: their blockchains have expensive and slow transactions that can take up to an hour or more to complete. During this time, the exchange rate can change dramatically.

Intra-exchange arbitrage involves the use of an intermediate trading pair within a single exchange. The exchange rate in different pairs can also vary widely. An example of intra-exchange arbitrage:

• Exchanging BTC for ETH;
• Buying LTC for ETH;
• Selling LTC for BTC.

It turns out to be a kind of triangle. In this case, the profit is made due to the price spread. As a rule, the higher the liquidity, the lower the spread. But such pairs as LTC/ETH or BTC/LTC are less liquid, so the spread can be much higher, which opens good opportunities for crypto arbitrage. But with lower liquidity, orders can take longer to execute, which is the main risk of intra-exchange arbitrage.

These are just some of the trading strategies that beginners use.

There are many equally popular trading strategies based on the Bollinger Band, Fibonacci levels, Parabolic SAR and other well-known indicators.

The post 5 Popular and Simple Crypto Trading Strategies for Beginners appeared first on Coin_SMD.

The theory of technical analysis in the cryptocurrency market

Those who are not familiar with the cryptocurrency market may think that price charts change chaotically. Proponents of fundamental analytics often argue that with the help of technical analysis it is impossible to determine the cause of price changes and predict future movements. However, technical analysis is based on a quite fundamental theory that the dynamics of price changes depends on the psychology of market participants. In similar situations people behave in the same way, and the balance of supply and demand is formed under the influence of human instincts – herdness, greed, euphoria, fears, panic, etc.

In this case, the actions of each individual trader do not matter. The “crowd psychology” – the main driving force of the price of any asset – is at work here. It is the understanding of such processes that allows you to predict the movement of rates.

Goals of technical analysis of the cryptocurrency market

Technical analysis is the process of studying information about how the rate of cryptocurrency or any other asset changes. The main goal is to find prices on the chart at which buyers are ready to buy and sellers are ready to sell. These price points are called support and resistance levels. When the price approaches one of these marks, its “behavior” changes according to one of two scenarios:

• rebound and reversal;
• “breakdown” of the mark and a strong impulse to continue the movement.

At the same time, the “breakdown” can be false, when the price slightly passes the level and then sharply turns in the opposite direction.

Successfully identifying these levels, the trader can open positions in a favorable direction, that is, buy cryptocurrency before its price begins to rise, and sell before the rate begins to decline.

Depending on the strategy, the analysis may take into account additional factors – for example, trading volumes, the amount of open positions, the number of realized orders, etc.

Basic principles of technical analysis of cryptocurrencies

There are three basic principles of technical analysis of cryptocurrencies.

History repeats itself

This rule is based on the same crowd psychology. If market participants react in the same way to the same situations, it means that their reactions are already on the charts and are periodically repeated. Traders try to identify patterns in historical data to anticipate future changes.

All factors affecting the price are already embedded in the chart

According to technical analysis theory, the current price takes into account all events and factors that may affect it, including:

• technology, marketing and project prospects;
• political and economic events;
• natural or man-made events.

Under the influence of these factors, the price has settled at the level it is at now. That is, the current rate of the cryptocurrency corresponds to its real price.

The price moves according to trends

A single fluctuation in the chart can be a fluke. A sequence of fluctuations over a period of time is already a trend, that is, the direction in which the price of cryptocurrency is moving. However, any movement will sooner or later end, and the price will go in another direction. The trend itself does not look like a straight line either: it is a certain range of consecutive minimums and maximums.

Conventionally, trends can be divided into three categories:

• sideways – the price fluctuates around the current level without strong deviations;
• upward – this is a sequence of fluctuations in which each successive maximum exceeds the previous one;
• descending – each minimum is lower than the previous one.

The task of the trader is to identify the current trend and in time to anticipate its stop or change.

Features of cryptocurrency trading by technical analysis

Cryptocurrency trading by technical analysis is conducted according to the following rules:

• All cryptocurrencies are the same. It does not matter to the trader what to trade: if he sees a suitable situation on the chart, he opens a deal.
• Direction does not matter. An experienced trader can earn both on the growth and fall of the price of cryptocurrency.
• There is no bottom and ceiling. No matter how much the cryptocurrency rate rises, it can go even higher. And vice versa: no matter how much the rate falls, it can fall even lower.
• Refusal to speculate. The purpose of technical analysis is not to determine the cause of a price rise or fall (except crowd psychology).
• Refusal to support projects. The trader does not “hope for the best”, does not “believe in the team”, does not “want to support the project”, etc.
• Ignoring fundamental factors. The trader does not study projects, their technologies, development features, business methods, etc.

• Ignoring the news background. If there is an event that greatly affects the price of cryptocurrency, then the trader simply stops trading for a certain period.

If a trader violates any of these rules, then he is not trading according to technical analysis.

Timeframes

A timeframe is a time interval that is used to record price fluctuations: for example, a minute, 15 minutes, an hour, 12 hours, a day, a week, a month. A sequence of such intervals forms a chart.

Depending on the timeframe used by the trader, there are several strategies:

• Scalping – with such trading, positions can be held open for a period of a few minutes to an hour, rarely more.
• Daytrading – intraday trading. As a rule, positions are held open for several hours, rarely longer than a day.
• Swing trading – trades are held open from one day to several weeks.
• Medium-term trading – a trader can hold a position open from several weeks to a year.
• Long-term trading – this method is used by passive investors who hold their positions for a year or more.

On short timeframes, traders analyze not only the chart but also order stacks to determine the current mood of the crowd.

Types of price charts

The exchange terminal allows you to build price charts in different ways. Thus, the same information is displayed in different ways.

Line chart

Such a chart is built in the form of a curved line that connects the end points of periods (minutes, hours, days, etc.). Such a line does not show the maximum and minimum values within one period. It is considered that it does not provide enough information for technical analysis, so it is rarely used in practice.

Bars

This chart shows the closing level of the period, as well as its maximum and minimum price. A bar is a vertical line that contains the necessary information:

• top of the line – the maximum rate of the cryptocurrency for the period;
• bottom of the line – the minimum rate;
• the notch on the left – the opening price;
• the notch on the right is the closing price.

If the line is red, it usually means that the closing level was lower than the opening, and if it is green – vice versa.

Japanese Candlesticks

This chart works similarly to bars, but instead of lines, two-sided candles are used:

• The upper wick shows the maximum price for the period.
• The lower wick shows the minimum one.
• The lower and upper end of the candle’s body shows the opening and closing levels.

The red color of the candlestick usually indicates that the closing level was lower than the opening, while the green color indicates the opposite.

Technical analysis patterns

To systematize the known patterns of crowd psychology, traders distinguish figures of technical analysis. These are patterns and models that have repeatedly shown themselves in real market conditions. When a familiar figure appears on the chart, a trader opens a position in the right direction.

Rectangle (box, corridor)

This is one of the simplest figures, which is formed by two straight lines (support and resistance levels). The price moves between them for a certain period of time.

There are three variants of using such a figure:

• Trading inside – a series of deals that are opened and closed on the approach to the lines of the rectangle.
• Upward breakout – opening a long position after passing the resistance level.
• Downside breakout – opening a position in short after passing the support level.

As a rule, after breaking through the level there is a strong impulse of price movement. The longer the rectangle was formed, the stronger this movement will be.

Triangle

Triangle is also a rather simple figure, which is formed by two lines when volatility fades. It is expected that once one side of this figure is broken, the movement should continue. The sharper the top of the triangle, the sharper and longer the momentum will be.

Wedge

This figure is similar to a triangle, but it has both sides pointing in the same direction (up or down). The wedge is considered a reversal pattern, so its completion is easier to predict:

• an ascending wedge breaks downward;
• a descending one – upwards.

This is its fundamental difference from a triangle, which can be broken both upward and downward with the same probability.

Double top (double bottom)

This is also a reversal pattern, which is quite easy to identify on the chart. A double top is formed at a level that the trend cannot break through twice. After that, the chart reverses and goes in the opposite direction. The situation when the second top is smaller than the first one strengthens the trend.

Head and Shoulders

Another reversal figure consisting of three tops, among which the middle one is higher (or lower) than the other two. The deal should be opened after the second shoulder appears, a more risky option – on the third top (since the figure is not yet formed).

Technical analysis indicators

Technical indicators are additional metrics that are the result of automatic analysis of cryptocurrency charts according to specified algorithms. They can be divided into four main categories:

• trend indicators – display the direction of the trend;
• momentum indicators – measure the speed and power of price movement;
• volatility indicators – determine the amplitude of the rate movement;
• volume indicators – show the strength of the trend taking into account the trading volume.

Depending on the strategy, a trader can use several indicators at once or do without them at all.

Volume is considered to be one of the basic indicators of technical analysis. This indicator displays the volume of transactions in each candle and allows you to determine the reliability of the formed trend.

The volume profile works similarly to the standard volume, only it is displayed on the chart from the side, not from the bottom. This allows you to determine the volumes that were realized at specific price levels.

The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum indicator that helps to analyze recent price changes and determine whether a cryptocurrency is overbought or oversold.

Stochastic RSI also determines overbought and oversold. It is considered an “amplified” version of the basic RSI, as it works according to more stringent criteria.

Moving Average (MA) is a line that shows the average value of a cryptocurrency over a certain period of time. The interval can be manually adjusted.

Moving Average Convergence/Divergence (MACD) is an indicator that allows you to determine the strength and direction of the trend, as well as find reversal points. It consists of two moving averages, at the crossing of which you should open a position.

Bollinger lines are two moving averages, the distance between which reflects the level of volatility of the cryptocurrency. If the price goes beyond the upper or lower line, it indicates that the cryptocurrency is overbought or oversold.

The Ishimoku cloud takes into account the performance of five moving averages to identify support and resistance levels, and also allows you to predict the strength and direction of the trend.

Fibonacci levels is an indicator that shows several support and resistance levels. It is based on the idea that the chart showing the crowd’s behavior corresponds to the proportions of the golden ratio.

The main mistakes in the technical analysis of cryptocurrencies

The extent to which the theory of technical analysis will be successfully applied depends primarily on the emotional state of the trader himself. Any emotions – both negative and positive – negatively affect the results of trading, leading in most cases to losses. Traders are recommended to stay completely calm.

It is not difficult to learn patterns and indicators. It is much more difficult to constantly follow the planned strategy. If a trader’s psychological state destabilizes, he begins to violate his own trading rules. For example:

• Unrealized profits. A trader may close a profitable position too early and thus reduce his profit from the deal.
• Reduced profit. A trader may fail to close a position at a local high, waiting for a continuation of the movement. After the reversal, he will lose some or all of his profit.
• Premature losses. A trader may close a losing position too early. If the price reverses, he will not get his profit.
• Excessive losses. A trader may not close a losing position for too long, waiting for a reversal. As a result, he will lose a significant amount of money.
• Excessive self-confidence. After a series of successful trades a trader may “believe in himself”, start to analyze the chart less carefully and make mistakes.
• Gambling. After a series of losing trades a trader may start to take more risks in order to “win back”. As a result, it is possible to get even more losses.
• Information noise. A trader may open trades not according to his own strategy, but according to recommendations of famous personalities, bloggers, news publications, etc. As a rule, this also leads to losses.

One cannot do without losing trades in trading. The trader’s task is to make his profit more than losses, and for this purpose it is necessary to adhere to the planned strategy.

Experienced market participants advise to carefully monitor their psychological state and stop trading in case of excessive emotionality. It does not matter whether these emotions are caused by the trading process itself or by external factors. For example, a person may be in a high mood during a vacation or depressed because of problems in the family. In such periods it is better to refuse trading.

The post How to Conduct Technical Analysis of the Cryptocurrency Market appeared first on Coin_SMD.

Working with passwords is the foundation of a trader’s cybersecurity. You must learn to manage your passwords not only securely, but also conveniently. If it takes a lot of time to find and enter a password, a person automatically starts saving time to the detriment of security. That’s the way a human being is, there’s nothing you can do about it.

The purpose of this guide is to help traders to organize their work with accesses not only securely, but also conveniently.

Password complexity

Let’s start with a banal advice – use long and complex passwords.
The longer the password, the better it is. If you store your passwords properly, it makes no difference to you what length password to use. Therefore, make it longer than the usual 8 characters. Your passwords should contain letters of both cases (e.g. n and N), numbers and service characters. Passwords like “12344321” and “iloveyou” are bad passwords. It is correct if the password is randomly generated. Password managers have a special function for this purpose – a password generator. A password created by a password generator is stronger than a human-created password. Even if they are the same length. The longer, more complex and random a password is, the more problematic it is to crack it by brute force.

One-time password

One password can be used only once. Never, we repeat, never use a password twice. It often happens that a trader memorizes one password and uses it everywhere. This is a fatal mistake. If one account is hacked, all your accounts are at risk.

Passwords and the browser

Remembering a large number of unique and complex passwords is impossible. What to do? Many users store access in their browsers (e.g. Google Chrome). This is more convenient than storing them in your head or Excel, but it’s not secure. The browser’s built-in storage is the first place an attacker will go. And in most cases, he will get there without much trouble. That’s why we don’t recommend storing passwords in the browser.

Password manager

An alternative to storing passwords in memory, Excel or browser is a password manager. This is an application for storing logins and passwords and secure authorization. The manager “knows” not only how to store, but also how to insert passwords directly into the authorization form. Companies developing password managers use the most advanced encryption technologies and invest huge sums in security. This provides convenience and a level of security that far exceeds “writing a password in Excel”. It takes time to get used to a password manager. But it’s well worth it. Once implemented, you will only need to remember one password – the password for the password manager.

Account verification

The services you use can be hacked. No one is immune to this. Sometimes attackers publish or sell user databases – logins and passwords. To protect yourself, you should regularly monitor the DarkNet and check your accounts for leaks. You can check your data through a leak aggregator: you enter your e-mail or login into the search bar, and the service gives you the results of the check. However, not all leak aggregators are safe. Some of them are phishing-oriented. It is convenient and safe to check accounts for leaks through a password manager. Enter your email and have the password manager monitor it. If the manager detects a threat, it will notify you immediately.

Update passwords

As per the “old school” rules, changing passwords regularly is considered to increase cybersecurity. With a manager, changing passwords is easy – you can do it in a couple of clicks. However, many companies and cybersecurity experts call changing passwords an outdated technique. For example, Microsoft has abandoned the practice of regularly changing passwords in Windows.

Two-factor authentication

Two-Factor Authentication (Two-Factor Authentication or 2FA) is logging into an account with two types of proof of account ownership. Usually, the first is a username and password, and the second is a special code that is sent via SMS, e-mail, or a special application. For example, you log in to your account on the stock exchange, enter your login and password. Then you receive a confirmation code on your phone. You enter the code and only then get into the account. It turns out that to enter the account you need two conditions – to know the login/password and to have access, for example, to SMS (depends on the method of authentication). A variant with three conditions can be used.
The advice for use with 2FA is simple – always use two-factor authentication! If you connect 2FA, you will make it dozens of times harder for a hacker to break in. That’s a valid argument, isn’t it?

2FA options

There are different variants of two-factor authentication. The most common ones are 2FA via SMS, e-mail and a special application, such as Google Authenticator. The authors’ opinion is that 2FA via specialized services is more reliable than via e-mail SMS. There are known cases of hacking into databases of cellular operators and e-mail services, and fraudsters can get control over sim-cards using forged documents. It is much more difficult to do this with 2FA-applications. So if you can choose, choose the option with 2FA through an app.

Services for 2FA

Below we have prepared a brief description of 2FA services that are used to protect accounts on popular cryptocurrency exchanges.

Google Authenticator

Most cryptocurrency exchanges support two-factor authentication via Google Authenticator (GA). This is a simple and convenient application that does not require creating an account or any settings. It is enough to install GA and connect it to your account. The data is stored only on the user’s device. Google Authenticator is available on iOS, Android and BlackBerry OS.

Authy

To use Authy, you need to create an account linked to your phone number. The app stores user data on a cloud server, so access it from any of your connected devices. Authy supports macOS, Windows, iOS, Android, and Chrome.

Binance Authenticator

Binance Authenticator is Binance’s own app. User data is stored in the cloud, so you must have an account to use the app. Binance Authenticator is used for two-factor authentication on Binance only.

Backup

When you enable authentication through the app, the service generates a secret key. Based on this key, one-time account login codes are created. The secret key can look like a set of characters or a QR code. Keep the key in a safe place in case you lose your device. For example, write it in the margins of your favorite book.

Popular authenticator applications, except for Google Authenticator, offer to store your secret key in the cloud and automatically synchronize password vaults on different devices. But to do this, you need to create an account tied to your phone or e-mail.

Another way to store your secret key is in the password manager, in protected notes. You can also write down the key on paper or print it out (if it is a QR code). If you choose the second option, take into account the risks associated with storing the “paper” version of the key.

Device security

Account security also depends on the security of the device you use. Let’s understand the rules of device security: computer, tablet, smartphone.

Regular updates

Regularly update the OS (Windows, macOS, iOS, etc.) and the apps you use, such as the stock exchange app. Almost every update contains patches for discovered vulnerabilities. If you don’t update, it is possible that the vulnerability has already been discovered and known to everyone, but you still have it “open”.

Antivirus

Use a licensed antivirus downloaded from the developer’s official website. If you downloaded and installed a pirated version of antivirus, do not expect reliability and security. The antivirus should have an up-to-date database. It should also be updated regularly.

VPN

When you are working through an unfamiliar network, use a VPN. This is a secure, encrypted connection that allows you to keep your data private and bypass local restrictions. If you’re going to use a VPN all the time, set it up carefully to ensure security.

Anti-Phishing

Phishing is a way for fraudsters to obtain user data (logins and passwords). Phishing is conducted in a variety of ways. For example, attackers can send an email on behalf of Binance. The email contains a link to a fake site that is visually indistinguishable from the real Binance site. If you enter your username and password on such a site, they will fall into the hands of fraudsters.
To combat phishing, some cryptocurrency exchanges have an anti-phishing feature. In the account security settings, you can set a code with which the exchange signs all its emails.

Master Password

Some exchanges have the ability to set master passwords. A master password is an additional password for specific actions. For example, you can log in to your account using the usual login/password combination, but to withdraw assets you need to know the master password as well.
Be sure to use master passwords if you store significant amounts on the exchange.

Whitelist

The white list allows you to set the addresses to which withdrawal will take place with minimal checks. Add your own addresses to this list and transactions with these addresses will become faster and more convenient.

Separate device

It is ideal if you use a separate device for trading on a cryptocurrency exchange, from which you do not “surf” the Internet. If you do not need a large monitor for trading (you do not trade actively), then make transactions from your phone through the exchange app. Do not use any other devices to log in to your exchange account. It should be understood that different devices have different levels of security. It is believed that due to the architecture, the iPhone is more protected from viruses and hacking than a Windows PC.

API keys

API keys are analogous to a login (Api Key) and password (Api Secret). They are needed to connect a third-party application to an account on the exchange.
API keys have customization options. For example, you can customize the keys so that they can only be used to receive exchange information (read only keys), but it will be forbidden to make transactions.

Example #1: a trader wants to trade on a cryptocurrency exchange through a trading terminal, for example CScalp. To do this, he creates API keys with trading permission on the exchange and enters them into the terminal. CScalp connects to the exchange, you can trade.

Example #2: to track and analyze trades, a trader connects a special service to his trading account, for example, Free trader’s diaries. To do this, he only needs to create “Read-Only” API keys. He enters the keys in the diary, and data on trades starts to arrive.

One pair of API keys – one connection

Use a separate pair of API keys for each service. For example, one pair for CScalp, another for the trader’s diary, etc. Delete keys that you no longer need. You will no longer have access to your account using them.

IP restriction

You can set IP restriction in the API keys settings by whitelisting trusted IP addresses. After that it will be possible to connect to the trading account via keys only from the IP you specified. This option is recommended if you have a static (permanent) IP address. Also IP can be dynamic, i.e. change. You can find out the type of IP and connect a static IP address from your provider.

The post Cryptocurrency Exchange Account Security: Detailed Guide appeared first on Coin_SMD.