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Best Exchanges and Brokers to Buy Stocks with Crypto in 2025

Last updated: June 04, 20252 Comments

Tokenized stocks in action

If you’ve been investing in cryptoassets for some time, you might have amassed some good gains in Bitcoin, Ethereum or other cryptocurrencies.

You might be considering rebalancing your portfolio so that crypto isn’t overly dominant, but there is one major problem. Banks still don’t like to deal with crypto exchanges, and you can have problems passing fiat currency through your bank account after withdrawing from an exchange. If your intention is to invest in stocks with that money, you can now bypass the banks entirely by using stablecoins to move money to an exchange that offers stock trading and accepts crypto deposits.

Buy fractional stocks on eToro

Securities trading offered by eToro USA Securities, Inc. (“the BD”), member of FINRA and SIPC.
Cryptocurrency offered by eToro USA LLC (“the MSB”) (NMLS: 1769299) and is not FDIC or SIPC
insured. Investing involves risk.

On the other hand, you can also buy traditional stocks from platforms that allow trading in both cryptos and stocks, with eToro being my favorite for this purpose. The big advantage with buying stocks in eToro is that you can buy fractional stocks. Some stocks have risen so much over the years that they have become inaccessible to many investors. The solution is fractionalization. Not many stockbrokers offer this service, but eToro is one of them.

Of course, eToro also allows you to use your crypto deposits to buy full stocks (not fractions).

So what you would do in this case is to transfer your crypto to eToro, sell it for Euro or USD, then use those funds to buy stocks within eToro itself.

If you’d like to learn more about how eToro works, please head over to my in-depth review of eToro for a comprehensive look at what you can do on this popular platform.

Buy stocks on eToro

Disclaimer: Your capital is at risk.

What are your thoughts? Have you found any other ways of buying stocks with crypto?

YouHodler vs Crypto.com – What’s the Best Crypto Lending Platform?

Last updated: September 12, 2023Leave a Comment

Blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and decentralized finance have gained traction over the past few years and so have lending platforms. Satoshi’s dream of a decentralized economy has morphed into solutions for healthcare, supply chains, agriculture, and many other industries.

Of course, finance remains at the very top with different blockchain-based solutions being developed every day. One such solution is blockchain lending platforms. This article provides a brief comparative analysis of two top crypto lending platforms: YouHodler and Crypto.com.

Overview and General Features

Crypto lending services provide three essential services:

Supplying crypto assets to earn interest– commonly referred to as annual percentage yield (APY).
Providing loans.
Extras, as you will see below.

This segment delves into the three platforms, citing their key features and extra services.

1. YouHodler

YouHodler is an E.U. and Swiss-based FinTech platform (think crypto bank) that allows you to borrow and multiply funds by leveraging financial tools in a relatively secure way. The two-year-old company has followed the yellow brick road right from inception, transforming from a simple lending platform to a top APY provider while accruing support from mainstream cryptocurrency institutions such as Ledger, Elliptic, and Ciphertrace.

Here are the key features:

Savings

Instead of hodling your assets in dormant wallets, you can deposit them into your Youhodler savings account and earn interest from the get-go. Users can deposit a minimum of $100 (in crypto equivalent) and withdraw at any time, including the profit earned.

At the time of writing, up to 22 coins are supported on the platform, including BTC, ETH, UNI, BNB, and stablecoins like USDT, USDC, TUSD, HUSD, PAX, and DAI.

APRs on stablecoins are as high as 12%, while yields on BTC, ETH, and UNI are 4.8%, 5.5%, and 7%, respectively.

Yields are remitted into your account weekly once you deposit your coin. YouHodler compounds your earnings: new gains are compounded on the previous week’s earnings plus capital, making it possible to achieve even more than the APR.

It is important to note that you can only earn these yields if you withdraw at the end of the week. Additional funds deposited within the week will generate interest in the next week.

Loans

You can borrow fiat currency such as USD, EUR, GBP, and CHF against your crypto assets. The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is 90%, and you really cannot get that anywhere else. You can also use lower LTV ratios. They support over 20 coins as collateral, and you can borrow fiat currency or stablecoins (as mentioned earlier).

They have unique exit strategies based on the price down limit (PDL)—a “Stop Loss-Esque” feature used to curtail losses and close positions. If your collateral falls to a certain point below the PDL, they hold the right to sell the collateral to close the loan.

You will be notified via email if your PDL drops below 70% of your collateral.

If your collateral price rises, you can choose to take profit at a price level. When that happens, YouHodler can sell your collateral, repay the loan and send the remaining amount to your wallet automatically. Interest rates range between 2.5% and 12.5% depending on the loan duration.

Turbocharge

This unique feature enables you to set off a cascade of loans. You can use borrowed fiat to buy crypto assets which can then be used as collateral to secure another loan. Crypto assets available for this feature include BTC, ETH, LINK, BNB, and XRP.

MultiHodl

The Multihodl feature allows experienced traders to multiply funds through a series of processes that mostly involve predicting selected currency pairs’ likely trajectories.

Universal currency conversion

Tying all the previous features together is YouHodler’s universal conversion feature. This allows clients to convert any currency on the platform to any other currency pair without limitations. Fees are reasonable and as low as 0.5% per conversion.

2. Crypto.com

Crypto.com is on a mission to fast-track mainstream adoption of cryptocurrencies. So far, they have done an excellent job: catering to the crypto-initiated, newcomers and merchants using a variety of financial protocols in their full-grown ecosystem.

There are two native tokens, namely MCO and CRO.

MCO- utility token; used to improve stakes and investment yields.
CRO- a cross-asset intermediary currency used to settle asset swaps on the chain. You can stake it to earn as well.

Crypto.com’s key features include:

Credit

Like other lending platforms, you can get up to 50% of stablecoins such as USDT, TUSD, and Paxos by supplying BTC, ETH, LTC, MCO, XRP, CRO as collateral. You can also cut your annual interest rate by staking more than 500 MCO tokens. here are the details.

Crypto Earn

With Crypto Earn, you can supply numerous coins and stablecoins to earn interest.

APYs at the time of writing

On supported stablecoins: up to 12%
On BTC: 6.5%
On Eth: 5.5%
On Crypto.com Coin: 6%
Other altcoins: 3%

What’s more, you can calculate your credit and earnings with an in-built APY calculator.

Web and mobile wallet support for trading

Crypto.com provides a non-custodial wallet for both android and iOS users to manage their crypto assets. The app contains an in-built Binance-Esque market analysis function that supports more than 200 coins. This enables swift analysis and management of your coins.

You can exchange assets in the spot, margin, and derivatives markets.

Crypto.com’s tentacles extend to DeFi as well. You can set up your wallet, and stake your coins in several DeFi protocols.

Visa cards

By acquiring Crypto.com’s Visa card, you can spend your coins in shops that accept crypto as payment. These cards come in colors, and they are—in ascending order of luxury– Blue, Ruby, Green, Gold, and Obsidian. One that stands out in terms of affordability and juicy features is the Ruby card.

MCO Ruby card

By staking only 50 MCO tokens to get this metal card, you can enjoy the following benefits:

2% Cashback on all purchases
Free monthly Spotify subscription.
Up to $400 monthly in ATM withdrawals at zero cost.
$4000 monthly interbank exchange rate.
Note that you can withdraw your stake at any time, but your cashback benefit will fall to 1%, and there will be no monthly Spotify sub.
1 MCO = $3.23 at the time of writing

Security

Each lending platform has different measures put in place to minimize the risk of thefts, employee frauds, and other security breaches.

YouHodler

YouHodler partners with Elliptic and CipherTrace to monitor transactions, prevent laundering, fraud schemes, terrorism, etc., and LedgerVault insurance protocol to ensure all crypto assets in a $150 million insurance pool.
Anyone can request 3FA which locks withdrawals unless verified manually by the client.
YouHodler users a mixture of hot and cold storage wallets to ensure funds are never kept 100% online.

Crypto.com

They secure 100% of cryptocurrencies in cold storage.
They are partners with Ledger—a global authority in security solutions for blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
Like others, crypto assets are insured with a $100 million policy via Arch’s Underwriting at Lloyd’s syndicate.
They use 2-factor authentication.
They are verified with several standard information and security management protocols.

Pros and Cons

YouHodler Pros

They support crypto-crypto and crypto-fiat currency conversions.
No utility tokens.
They offer up to 12% APY on stablecoins.
Weekly compound interest.
Highly safe and monitored.
Flexible loan repayment options.
Immediate withdrawal.
No credit checks.
Dispute resolution via the Blockchain Association and the Financial Commission.
Insurance using Ledger Vault $150 million of insurance
iOS and Android app
More transparent than most competitors
24/7 customer support

YouHodler Cons

$100 minimum savings deposit.
Relatively short track record
Not available to USA or China clients right now

Crypto.com Pros

Interest on Crypto Earn is paid daily.
They support a wider range of supported fiat and cryptocurrencies.
User-friendly app with market analysis.
Compound interest on savings.
Composite metal card with juicy features.
Low trading fees

Crypto.com Cons

A minimum deposit of $200
Unavailable in Switzerland, Malta, and North Korea
Stablecoin USDT is not supported for US users.
Significant stablecoin restrictions for Singapore users.

Bottom line

While these crypto-lending platforms keep offering mouthwatering deals, it is important to assess your needs clearly to choose the ideal platform. Recall: individual wallets are not FDIC-insured on none of these platforms; as such, it would be prudent to invest what you can afford to lose.

My current view is that:

YouHodler is best suited for those looking to invest more than $100 to earn APYs weekly, borrow cheap loans for projects, and multiply capital by actively trading using the multi-hodl feature and Turbocharge features.

Crypto.com is best suited for experienced crypto traders looking for diverse investment opportunities all in one place.

The Best Online Bank Accounts in Europe in 2025

Last updated: December 23, 20244 Comments

Online banks are all the rage these days, as they tend to be very straightforward to get signed up with, in comparison to traditional banks. They also provided better user interfaces on smartphones as well as lower fees. All in all, the personal or business user ends up getting a much better deal when compared to a traditional bank.

If you travel a lot or work with multiple currencies, the advantages are even bigger, as many online banks are able to exchange money seamlessly within their mobile app, with better rates than those offered by your local banks.

I’ve had some bad experiences with banks in Malta (extreme levels of due diligence and no support for crypto transactions) and also banks in Spain (unprofessionalism, unexpected charges, outright discrimination and account closures).

The truth is that traditional banking is not going through its finest moment, and many European countries have a collection of shitty banks, being honest, and it’s wiser to use one of these online banks than hassle with the local banks.

Here are some of the best ones that I’ve had the pleasure of using over the past years, and that I continue to use in 2022.

Revolut

Read more: my in-depth review of Revolut

Revolut offers digital banking services through a contactless card or free mobile app that is available to both Apple and Android users.

It allows users to make transactions in over 150 currencies at the interbank exchange rate, while also allowing standard users to transfer money abroad in over 30 fiat currencies with the bonus of no hidden fees for transactions of up to €6,000 each rolling month. The standard account also allows ATM withdrawals at no fee for up to €200 per month.

I’ve had a Revolut account ever since they’ve launched and have encountered zero problems with them. They also allow you to buy and sell trade cryptocurrencies, although you cannot withdraw said crypto to your self-custody wallets.

Open a Revolut account

N26

N26, a German bank with the very latest technology and an amazing mobile app through which you manage your account.

I recommend opening an account with N26, which is a new breed of bank that is totally app-based. This is the future of banking, so they give you best-in-class digital facilities such as an app and website to go with it, while also helping you track your expenses.

Read my in-depth review of N26 for more information.

If you live in Spain and you’re looking for the best commission-free Spanish banks, N26 is a great choice. This is because you will get a Spanish IBAN, which makes it easy to work with direct debits with local enterprises.

Open an N26 account

Wise

Before you move abroad consider opening a TransferWise multi-currency account. You get your own free local bank account details in Europe, UK, US, Australia and New Zealand so you can have a local bank account before arriving.

It’s a great multi-currency account solution and is perfect for those who conduct business in multiple currencies.

It comes with a debit card so you can pay and withdraw money at ATMs once you come to Spain with much lower fees than with your bank.

Read my full Wise Borderless review or go ahead and open an account using the link below.

Open a Wise account

Tips to Follow When Buying Products and Services in Foreign Currencies

Whenever you are abroad and the country where you’re at has a different currency than your home currency, you will need to keep a few things in mind. The same applies when you’re buying online from a website that shows its prices in a different currency than your home country.

To give some practical examples, if you’re from a Eurozone country and you are shopping in the UK, the advice below will apply to you. The same holds true if you’re a Eurozone resident and are buying products from a UK-based website such as Amazon.co.uk.

Your local bank will use its own exchange rates and charge you a currency conversion fee for every transaction (purchase) you make. Avoid such charges and get better rates by using the Revolut card. Revolut will give you the real exchange rate with no surprise fees when you spend or send money globally.
Always pay in local currency whenever the choice is given. Many business owners and ATMs participate in a practice called DCC, Dynamic Currency Conversion. With this (anti-)service, the payable amount is being converted to the card’s currency. This usually comes at a premium of 4-5 percent. Advocates of DCC argue, that this is an extra service, so the cardholder would know the final price in their familiar currency.

Sometimes when you use an ATM abroad, you will be asked to choose between a ‘credit’, ‘checking’ or ‘savings’ account. You should always choose either a ‘checking’ or ‘savings’ account.

If the ATM (or card terminal) asks whether you would like to complete the transaction ‘with conversion’ or ‘without conversion’, you should ALWAYS choose ‘without conversion‘.

As a rule of thumb, you should always opt to be charged in the local currency of the country you’re in! If you’re in Thailand choose Thai Baht, in Spain, Euros or in the United States, Dollars.

If you choose ‘with conversion’, the merchant or ATM provider can apply their own exchange rate. This rate usually has a mark-up on the interbank rate, enabling the ATM provider or merchant to make a profit on your transaction.

ATM withdrawals are free up to £200 (or currency equivalent) per calendar month. A 2% fee applies thereafter.

Currency conversion is done at live interbank rate with no fees up to £5000 (or currency equivalent) per calendar month. A 0.5% fee applies thereafter. At the weekend (Friday 00:00 – Sunday 23:59) Revolut applies a small mark up on the spot rate as the Forex markets are closed. They take the rate from Friday 00:00 and apply a 0.5% mark up on major currencies and 1.0% on other currencies to protect the company from potential losses due to a large fluctuation in the rate. For illiquid currencies like Russian Ruble and Thai Baht, there is 1.5% mark up on weekend.

Do you have any other tips to share? Let us know in the comments section below.

Why and How to Buy Websites as a Profitable Investment

Last updated: November 17, 2022Leave a Comment

This article will be your ultimate guide for buying websites. This will include some of the top places where you can buy a site right now. This will also include some tips and tricks for anyone who recently bought a site or is thinking about diving in!

Why Buy A Website?

The biggest reason why someone would buy a website is because of the potential profit that can be made. There are a lot of success stories out there of people who have flipped websites for a significant profit. This means that they bought a website at a lower price and eventually sold it for a lot more money.

Think of it like buying a cheap stock and then cashing out after the share price increases. Like the stock market, there is plenty of money to be made if you choose the right stock (or website in this case).

How To Make Money From Buying Websites

In this section, I will provide you with some specific examples of how you can make money in this space. This will give you a better understanding of how it can be done and will maybe even inspire you to get started.

A Hypothetical Example

Let’s just say that you purchase a website for $1,600, and it was earning around $50 per month when you bought it. This means that you purchased the site at a 32x multiple of the monthly income average ($50 x 32 = $1,600).

Let’s say that you then spend a year working on the site and it continues to grow in both earnings and traffic. If things go really well, your monthly income average could grow from $50 a month to something like $300 a month.

With the site now earning $300 a month (on average), you could then flip it for a nice profit. Using the same 32x multiple that you bought the site for, you could then sell the site for $9,600+. It could even sell for more than that as 32x is being conservative. In just one year, you were able to make a profit of $8,000+. Not bad for a website that you only spent $1,600 on!

[Read more…]

Thoughts on Sport and Long Term Health

Published: March 23, 2021Leave a Comment

A good question to ask yourself is “What am I training for?”. For those who are training to lose weight or bulk up a skinny frame, the answer can be pretty simple and straightforward and the question might seem petty.

But once you achieve those basic goals and get to the next level, the question becomes of paramount importance.

As I’ve written before on this blog, I’ve been training and practicing sport in some shape or form throughout my whole life, however in the past few years I’ve really taken things seriously with my goal for rapid improvement in padel.