Bitcoin mining is a great way to approach investing in Bitcoin from a different angle. There are several ways that you can get involved with Bitcoin mining for profit.

In this post, I’ll take a look at how you can get exposure to Bitcoin mining in various ways, and some considerations to keep in mind.

Let’s start with the considerations, and then I’ll give you a summary of the Bitcoin mining options available.

Should you invest in Bitcoin Mining? – Questions to ask yourself

There are many ways to get exposure to crypto or even Bitcoin specifically, without ever touching mining. It is by no means essential to be involved with mining, and I still consider it to be a niche thing within the Bitcoin community at large. Some other things you could do and that I’ve written about on this blog are:

• buying and holding Bitcoin
• buying a Bitcoin ETF
• trading Bitcoin
• Buying Bitcoin futures
• lending Bitcoin for interest

However, if you are drawn to mining, I would think about the following questions next:

• How much time and money do I need to invest to make this worthwhile?
  Setting up your own mining rig requires deep technical expertise, many hours and a big upfront expense. Buying mining stocks, on the other hand, is hands-off and requires a much smaller monetary investment.
• How does the Bitcoin price, hashrate, miner price and electricity price affect my mining profitability?
  It’s best to draw up hypothetical scenarios on a spreadsheet that take into consideration all these variables. This exercise is especially important if you’re thinking about option 1 described below.
• Will I rely on third-party providers? How reliable are they?
  The Bitcoin mining space has a shady reputation, thanks to many quasi-scams that happened in the past. In general, most Bitcoin mining pool websites have tended to oversell the benefits of mining, leading to many investors being burned.
• Do I know any other people in the space that can help out if needed?
  I always like to sound out my ideas with expert friends who can help me avoid any unaccounted for pitfalls, or join me on the journey. It takes time to build such networks but they are invaluable especially if you’re putting in a lot of money.
• What are the legal aspects of mining?
  There are countries that have outright banned Bitcoin mining, China being one of them. You obviously don’t want to set up a mining rig in those countries.
• How would my mining rewards be taxed?
  Depending on how you enter the mining space, your revenue might be taxed differently. For example, in many countries, profits from mining at home are taxed at a higher rate than dividends or sales proceed from a mining stock.

If you get positive answers to those questions, then you should go ahead and consider Bitcoin mining. Here are some options that I’ve researched.

Option 1 – Investing in Mining Companies

Difficulty level: easy

This has been my favorite way to get exposure to Bitcoin mining so far. There are several public companies that specialize in Bitcoin mining, and you can buy their stock from stockbrokers like eToro and DEGIRO if you’re European or eToro USA if you’re from the states.

I’m invested in some of the following Bitcoin mining companies, and they’ve all performed incredibly well for me. I’ll probably diversify across all the major Bitcoin mining companies over time.

• Marathon Digital Holdings ($MARA)
• Bitfarms ($BITF)
• Hut 8 Mining ($HUT)
• Riot Blockchain ($RIOT)
• Canaan ($CAN)
• Bit Digital ($BTBT)
• BIT Mining ($BTCM)
• Galaxy Digital ($GLXY)

Marathon Digital Holdings

Marathon Digital Holdings is a digital asset technology company engaged in the mining of cryptocurrencies. Its primary focus is on the blockchain and the generation of digital assets and is one of the largest bitcoin miners in North America.

Riot Blockchain

Riot Blockchain, Inc. is a Bitcoin mining company, supporting the Bitcoin blockchain through rapidly expanding large-scale mining in the United States. They are focused on expanding operations by increasing their Bitcoin mining hash rate and infrastructure capacity. Riot believes the future of Bitcoin mining will benefit from American operations and endeavors to be the driver of that future.

Hut 8 Mining

Hut 8 Mining is a Canada-based bitcoin mining company. The company uses specialized equipment in order to solve computational problems to validate transactions on the bitcoin blockchain. They are the number one holder of self-mined bitcoin in North America.

Bitfarms

Bitfarms is a Canada-based cryptocurrency mining company. In addition to mining operations, it offers onsite technical repair, data analytics, and electrical engineering and installation services. It operates one of the largest crypto mining operations in North America.

HIVE

HIVE Blockchain Technologies is the first publicly traded crypto miner, listing on the Toronto Venture Exchange in 2017, under the ticker symbol HIVE. The company uses 100% green energy to mine both Bitcoin and Ethereum, with a committed ESG strategy since day one. HIVE strives to create long-term shareholder value with its unique HODL strategy, bridging the blockchain and cryptocurrencies to traditional capital markets.

Canaan

Canaan is a China-based provider of high-performance computing solutions. The company is focused on application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) high-performance computing chip design, chip research and development, computing equipment production, and software services. It also expanded into mining operations apart from the manufacturing of machines.

Bit Digital

Bit Digital is a bitcoin mining company. The company’s mining facilities and mining platform are used to generate and accumulate bitcoins, which are then sold for fiat currency at certain times depending on market conditions. This company has a strong focus on going green and they are working towards 100% sustainable power. They are also the largest bitcoin miner on the NASDAQ based on miner fleet.

Bit Mining

BIT Mining is a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency mining company. Its business operations span cryptocurrency mining, data center, and a mining pool. The company also owns the blockchain browser BTC.com.

Galaxy Digital

While Galaxy Digital has many business lines, mining is one of their main ones, so if you want a more diversified investment in crypto that goes beyond mining, this is a good option. Founder and CEO Mike Novogratz is a very well-known person in the crypto space and has loads of experience in finance.

Buy Bitcoin mining stocks on eToro

Disclaimer: Your capital is at risk

Option 2 – Blockstream Mining Note STO

Difficulty level: intermediate

STOs are tokens issued on a blockchain that represent your stake in an underlying company or venture. The Blockstream Mining Note on STOKR is very well structured to provide good returns on your investment via mining, and is a perfect way to obtain returns on your Bitcoin instead of just holding. I classify them as more difficult than buying stocks of mining companies, simply because STOs are pretty new as a concept, and most investors are much more familiar with the stock market and buying and trading via their favorite stock broker.

What is STOKR?

STOKR is the EU’s pioneering digital investment marketplace for alternative assets, where smart investors connect with and fund innovative businesses. STOKR liberates access to high-profile investment opportunities from the inner circle of traditional venture capital.

Through EU-compliant security token offerings (STOs), STOKR empowers professional and retail investors alike to directly engage with young and growing ventures in a simplified and risk-reduced environment, without the need for middlemen such as custodians or brokers. Operating out of Luxembourg (read about the legal basics of tokenization here), STOKR fosters a community of educated investors who participate in the future success of a diverse range of ventures through profit- or revenue-sharing rights.

I’ve interviewed the founder of STOKR, Arnab Naskar, on my podcast Mastermind.fm and found him to be very knowledgeable. I think that investing in STOKR projects is a very interesting alternative to the typical P2P lending and crowdfunding platforms available to European investors.

Blockstream is one of the top companies in the Bitcoin space, founded by the legendary Adam Back, the creator of Hashcash, the algorithm that is used by Bitcoin for mining. He is quoted in the whitepaper and has been a significant player since Bitcoin’s early days. I can’t imagine anyone better than him to trust my money with if I were investing in Bitcoin mining.

When you buy the STO, you will get the tokens that represent your investment in the mining setup. At the end of a three year period, you will be eligible to redeem your invested Bitcoin in exchange for your STOs, and you will also get any accrued profits in the form of Bitcoin.

Note that this investment is only available to Europeans at the moment. The minimum investment is €200,000.

Invest with Blockstream via STOKR

Option 3 – Mining Bitcoin Yourself

Difficulty level: Hard

The first way is to directly mine Bitcoin and set up your own mining rigs. This is not something I would recommend to the majority of people, because it has high barriers of entry and requires deep technical knowledge. It is most profitable when done from locations with low electricity costs (and favorable legislation), so if you’re not based in one of those locations you’re out of luck.

Here’s a video of a significant setup in Iceland to give you an idea of how things look when you mine Bitcoin professionally.

Compass Mining offers you a guide to at-home mining which is a great way to learn more about how you can start mining at home. This would entail joining their pool, else it will be next to impossible to earn any rewards as you’ll be competing against huge players.

If you’re interested in doing this but don’t want to litter your home with miners, however, this company also offers some interesting intermediate options.

Compass Mining also allows you to buy Bitcoin mining hardware and then leave the rest in their hands to handle the technical stuff, while you reap the rewards. There is a significant upfront cost as you purchase the hardware and hope for good conditions in the next couple of years to be able to recoup the cost and start making profits. However, the technical difficulty and other associated risks are taken care of by Compass.

Compass has also introduced a marketplace facility where you can sell your hardware to others, offering a new and convenient way to get liquidity on your hardware. During 2021, they’ve been very active in promoting their services, and apart from sponsoring the What Bitcoin Did podcast (check out this episode about Compass and also the Bitcoin Mining 101 episode), I’ve seen some big names get started with Bitcoin mining through them. Lyn Alden is one of them, and I highly recommend her Risk and Reward Analysis article.

Alternatives to Bitcoin Mining

If you’re looking for alternatives to Bitcoin mining, you might be interested in staking, which is the mining mechanism used by Ethereum and other proof-of-stake blockchains like Solana and Polkadot. The returns vary but I would argue that it’s an easier way to get started with mining for profits than Bitcoin Mining. Read my guide about staking Ethereum for more information.

Are you into Bitcoin mining? What are your favorite strategies?

Let’s start off the article by making sure everyone is on the same page. It’s time to define this mysterious term and explain what DCA means.

DCA (or Dollar Cost Averaging) is a technique that’s used to average your buying price or is used as the “Martingale technique”, which you use when a position is in a deep loss.

The assumption is that a crypto price will rise eventually, so if you keep doubling your investment, your average buy price will be lower, and you will make a profit sooner when the price rises again. You do need deep pockets for this technique, as you will need to keep doubling down on your investment.

Beginners can also use DCA to invest over a longer period gradually. E.g., you invest $1,000 every 30 days for five months. If prices at the end of each month were $100, $90, $80, $70, and $95, your average asset price would be $85.5. If you invested the full amount initially, you would’ve paid $100 per coin.

Why Dollar Cost Average?

Over past years, one of my important realizations as an investor was that the best way for me to invest is to find an investment that I believe in, whether in crypto or in the stock market, and make a long-term bet on it. Once I believe in something with a long-term vision, the only remaining question is at what price to get into a position.

This question unfortunately leads many to never actually invest. This is especially the case if an asset goes on an upward trend before they invest. They might then think that they lost their moment, only to look back in a few years’ time and wonder how they didn’t go all-in at whatever price. There are thousands of stories of people who were ready to invest in the early days of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Amazon, Tesla, etc. but did not do so because of a myriad of reasons. Fear of making a bad deal price-wise tends to be a common reason.

And that’s where DCA comes to the rescue. By investing small chunks periodically, you are spreading your price risk over time. You have to be ready to be diligent and continue investing if the price goes up, but on the flip side, you will also be happy if the price goes down, because again you will be investing, but this time you will get a bigger share in exchange for your fiat money.

Once a savings plan has been created, it automatically buys at the set time. You don’t have to think about anymore and can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc over a longer time period.

Dollar Cost Averaging is not a magical bullet, but it’s a great way to rid yourself of the fear of buying at the wrong price. It is also a great option for those whose monthly income is very predictable e.g. those of you on salaries. By setting up an automatic DCA system, you can set aside part of your monthly income to be invested automatically, removing any temptation to take a break or even forgetting to invest.

Now that we know where and why to use DCA, it’s time to learn which platforms allow us to do this in a convenient manner.

Best Platforms for Dollar Cost Averaging in Crypto

In this section, I’ll be sharing with you my favorite platforms depending on the use case.

Swan Bitcoin – Best for U.S. Residents who want to DCA in Bitcoin

If you’re a resident of the United States and you’re only interested in Bitcoin, Swan Bitcoin is a great service that was expressly built with DCA in mind. I would highly recommend it if you have the option to use it.

DCA with Swan Bitcoin

Bitpanda – Best for Europeans who want to DCA in crypto

Bitpanda is a trusted platform and is very popular in Europe. It also offers an easy-t0-use interface for setting up a DCA strategy. You can DCA into Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

How to set up a savings plan on Bitpanda:

1. Log in to your account and verify if you haven’t done yet.
2. Click on “Savings plan” and select a wallet of the digital asset you want to buy.
3. Select the currency (EUR, USD, CHF, GBP, TRY) and choose a payment option.
4. Define the amount and frequency for your savings plan, and click on “Go to summary”.
5. Great! After you’ve confirmed the payment at the payment provider, you’re all set.

One thing I love about Bitpanda is that they also have crypto indices set up, so you can actually invest in the entire crypto market completely and in automatic fashion, and therefore build up a diversified crypto portfolio effortlessly.

You can set up a personal savings plan using Visa, MasterCard or SEPA Direct Debit. You don’t have to think about it after your first buy, as the recurring buys will be executed automatically afterwards.

You can set up as many savings plans as you want and for any digital asset supported on Bitpanda. You can even set up multiple savings plans for the same asset.

Of course, Bitpanda also gives you the full flexibility and freedom of temporarily pausing and later resuming your savings plans. This is needed if something unexpected comes up, for example, and you need to channel all your income towards that problem.

I usually like to take big bets on particular cryptos, but I also want whole market exposure as a hedge and to also profit from the big moves of other projects that I might not be keeping a close eye on.

In crypto and other sectors that are in the early days, I believe that it is next to impossible to pick all the winners, so it’s a good idea to own a basket of cryptos. Given that we’re so early, there is a good chance that a lot of the projects will go up in fiat terms, although it is also probable that some will fail completely.

DCA with Bitpanda

Kraken – A Great International Option

Kraken is one of my favorite exchanges, famous for its security and for being one of the early players in the crypto space. While Kraken does not offer a DCA mode to its users, you can use a crypto trading bot like 3Commas or TradeSanta to set the DCA system up.

Read my in-depth review of Kraken if you want to learn more about this exchange.

Open an account on Kraken

Binance – Dollar Cost Averaging with Many Cryptos

Due to the number of cryptos that Binance supports, I would consider it one of the best options for those who want to dollar cost average into many different cryptos. Again, since Binance does not offer a DCA interface within the app or website, you will need to pair it with a crypto bot that will actually do the DCA on your behalf.

Read my in-depth review of Kraken if you want to learn more about this exchange.

Open an account on Binance

Wrapping Up

Have you used DCA? Have I missed out on any of your favorite platforms? Let me know in the comments section below.

Keep in mind that while Swan Bitcoin and Bitpanda offer a specific interface for dollar cost averaging, and are thus well suited for beginners who want to sign up to one platform and set it and forget it, there are also other options.

If you already use one of my favorite crypto trading apps, like Kraken, Binance, or eToro, you can still use DCA by using a crypto trading bot.

The crypto space keeps providing a ton of innovation year after year, with corresponding opportunities for huge financial gains for those with the ability to spot the emerging trends and the time and interest to get involved early on.

The first famous DAO (Decentralized Autonomous Organization) was actually called “The DAO”, and it blew up spectacularly due to a hack, which almost spelled the end of Ethereum (in fact it resulted in a hard fork of that chain). The crypto space has matured quite a bit since 2016 though, and it is now the time for a resurgence of the DAO idea.

This post will keep getting updated as I learn more about DAOs and experience being part of them myself.

2021 Resurgence of DAOs

NFTs were probably the hottest topic of 2021, but DAOs probably come in a close second. They are actually quite connected, as several DAOs were formed for the main purpose of group funding the purchase and custody of top NFT pieces.

DAOs are closely connected to programmable blockchains, and as such are a direct result of the emergence of the first successful blockchain of this type – Ethereum. The aim of such organizations is to keep the power and rewards decentralized so that everyone has a say in the future of the organization (governance) as well as reaping the rewards of success (through tokens).

With that basic definition in place, there are several different types of DAOs that we should be aware of.

If you want to understand at a deeper level how DAOs operate and what tools they use, read this post about DAO tooling. Here’s another good DAO Tech Stack 101 article.

Social Tokens and Web3

DAOs are part of Web3, and social tokens are an essential part of Web3 as well. In fact we can define some DAOs as social DAOs. This is probably the type I’m most interested in at the moment, together with holding DAOs like NounsDAO, HeadDAO, Fingerprints DAO and Flamingo DAO which exist for the main purpose of collecting NFT art. of DAO I might branch this into a separate post, but for now, here’s what you need to know. Social tokens are a great tool to coordinate contributors’ work, more than to incentivize them.

With social tokens, you can easily:

• Set up governance power & allow only certain people to vote on proposals(Snapshot)
• Token-gate channels at scale without having to update it or do it manually
• Use software such as Collab.Land or Guild.xyz to send tips
• Pay your contributors easily with Coordinape
• Create liquidity mining programs & leverage the power of vesting schedule

Here’s the general idea comparing Web1 with Web2 and now Web3. DAOs and social tokens belong to Web3:

Here are a few social DAOs that I follow and that have been really successful so far:

• FWB
• Bankless
• SeedClub

Further Reading

• DAOlicious – DAO Directory
• The Eightfold Path to DAOism
• A Prehistory of DAOs
• The DAO Canon
• Cryptonetwork Governance As Capital
• DAOs, DACs, DAs and More: An Incomplete Terminology Guide
• Governance Tokens – The Good, the Bad, The Ugly
• DAOs and the Promise of Utopia
• Notboring – The DAO of DAOs, Power to the person, The Great Online Game, The Cooperation Economy
• Bankless – State of the DAOs
• The Legal Basis of DAOs
• DAO Dos and Dont’s
• What I wish I knew before talking to lawyers about DAOs

Having been very active in the crypto space for the past 5 years or so, I’ve been closely following the transition from Web 2 to Web 3, and have also written about my thoughts on tools like WordPress that have so far remained firmly entrenched in Web 2.

There is little doubt in my head that Web 3 is happening right now and therefore it is worth learning about the new technologies that are the foundation of this new way of building the web. There have been many opinions shared on Web3 and whether it is just hype or not. I believe there is definitely a lot of hype, but it’s hard to deny that a tectonic shift is taking place and therefore it demands some action from those who want to stay at the cutting edge and even profit from this new wave of innovation.

Let me share a few anecdotes from my past.

Let’s start with what I consider the Web 1.0 boom. I think the period between 1997 and 2003 was the height of this.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to profit from that boom (although I also escaped the bust that came after). In 2000, around the dotcom bubble days, I was 16 and in Malta, not exactly the center of the internet revolution. Internet connectivity and usage was really rudimentary; basically, you connected after 6pm to IRC and tried to chat up girls then meet them on the weekend IRL. You can imagine how that went. Interestingly, what excites young people nowadays is essentially still the same. We used IRC, today’s teenagers are building the metaverse. Same idea, different skin.

I probably had no idea what a stock was back then. On the other hand, I was already building sites and feeling how revolutionary the internet would be, and that made me choose my future path in tech. Nobody in my family or close circle invested so I had no second-hand exposure either. I was the only one reading about the internet and obviously was passed off as a young dreamer.

However the Web3/crypto days we are living through feel extremely similar to the Web2 revolution to me, and I definitely was able to capitalize on the rise of Web 2. That’s when I went all-in on WordPress, which promised to democratize publishing and give a voice to everyone who wanted to publish their thoughts online. This was before the invasion of social media. The period between 2005-2015 were the glory days for Web 2, with similar promises as we now hear about Web 3, but then everything became centralized. I still had no exposure to stocks and investing in those days, but at least I was able to put all my time and energy into building successful businesses that turned out to be the backbone of my investment strategy later on in life.

These are moments that define a generation, with a golden window of opportunity that really doesn’t last that long. Those that get in early and put in a ton of effort get rewarded very handsomely.

So lessons for those who are considering a path in Web 3

1. This is a game-changer, you need to go all-in, as many of you are already doing. Focus 110% on what you’re working on and forget the distractions.
2. It won’t last forever, and the end result will probably be much less utopian, but still a big leap for humanity.
3. Be glad and grateful that circumstances in life have led you to be part of it.

Here are some good guides. I’m sure they will be obsolete given the fast nature of these developments, but I hope they can help you out.

• Figment Learn
• Top Web3 newsletters
• Top Web3 podcasts
• Crypto design challenges
• The Daily Ape’s skill tree

If you have any comments or suggestions, I’d love to hear from you, go ahead and leave your comment below.

Trade anything to anything on Uphold

Uphold Disclaimer: Assets available on Uphold are different per region. All investments and trading are risky and may result in the loss of capital. Cryptoassets are largely unregulated and are therefore not subject to protection.

There are so many trading platforms and financial reserves, it’s easy to find several that will get the job done for you. The only problem is finding one that suits all your needs. For example, traders interested in several asset classes often have to rely on cash as the intermediary when moving their investments from one asset to another.

For instance, you may have to liquidate your gold, silver, or stocks before you can buy cryptocurrency. Sometimes you even have to convert the crypto asset to fiat currency or Bitcoin to buy another crypto asset.

These are some of the problems that Uphold seeks to solve. It boasts itself as the world’s first global transparent financial reserve that lets you convert “anything to anything” as long as it’s listed on the platform. They also provide several other innovative products you might find useful as an investor. Let’s take a closer look at Uphold below.

What is Uphold?

Formerly known as Bitreserve, Uphold is a trading platform that facilitates cross-asset trading. It began in 2013 and is based in San Francisco, CA. The platform’s number one selling point is that you can trade anything for anything.

For example, suppose you are a holder of gold and wish to diversify your portfolio to include cryptocurrencies. In that case, you don’t have to sell your gold and deposit your funds to another platform to purchase crypto. Uphold will facilitate converting all or a fraction of whatever asset you own into anything you want without ever having to leave the platform.

Uphold also features zero trading fees, although the company makes money through spreads (more on that later). Moreover, it offers many other interesting features, such as allowing you to transfer your funds to friends and family, get paid by your employer in assets other than national currencies, or spend using a unique master card.

Uphold Review Summary:

Pros

• Supports cross-asset trading
• Excellent security with 2-FA, Plaid bank account connection, and encrypted website. Also hasn’t had any security issues since its launch in 2015
• Fast and easy transfer of funds
• There’s transparency about the spread and no hidden fees
• Commission-free trading
• Available in over 184 countries
• Provides a powerful API for developers to build applications

Cons

• Less crypto-asset options available than on some of the other exchanges
• Instances of users unable to access their accounts due to issues related to authentication codes
• Requires KYC documents
• Spread is higher than a few other leading crypto exchanges
• Conversion fees are applicable when converting between currencies
• Not all account funding methods are available in all the supported countries

Uphold Services and Features Offered

Anything-to-Anything Trading

The opportunity to trade your asset for any other asset on the platform is a big time saver and may even save users money as well. This can be attributed to the fact that you don’t have to make multiple conversions by getting fiat currency first, then using the fiat currency to buy another asset. The process is also straightforward and completes in just a few clicks.

Instant Transfers

Uphold lets you transfer any of your assets to friends and family for free. The platform lets you transfer anything from cryptocurrency to USD super-fast. Even if your investment is in precious metals such as gold, you can still transfer it as BTC, USD, or any fiat currency. The conversion happens in the background and is instant.

Automated Trading

The platform lets you trade with the help of trading bots that allow you to set a trading schedule. For instance, you can choose to purchase a specific asset every other week, two weeks, or month. You can make it so that it coincides with your paycheck or a time that you speculate prices may be favorable. It is also the perfect way to approach the dollar-cost averaging trading technique.

Employer Payments

How about skipping trading with a bot that purchases on your behalf when your salary is due and instead let your employer deliver a fraction of the paycheck into whatever asset you prefer? You can also choose to get it in a variety of national currencies with your Uphold account.

Universal Gold (UPXAU)

Uphold breaks a few barriers that otherwise make gold inaccessible to most potential investors to make gold available to everyone. These obstacles include the inability to spend your precious metal, high storage costs, and large spreads during liquidation.

Uphold’s UPXAU tokens are each equivalent to a single ounce of gold. Your purchased gold is stored securely in the Perth Mint in Western Australia and insured. What’s more, you can spend it in multiple currencies using a special debit card from Uphold (keep reading).

 

The Uphold Mastercard Debit Card

Uphold users can apply for a Mastercard that lets you spend anything you hold, from cash to gold and digital coins. You can swipe the card at more than 50 million merchants and on nearly any ATM worldwide. The company also issues a 1% Cash-Back and 2% Crypto-Back reward when you make a purchase using the debit card.

Educational Material

If you are new to the world of crypto investing or need to stay updated, Uphold’s got your back with a bunch of educational resources, including:

• Cryptionary: What’s the difference between a coin and a token? How about an ICO and IPO? There is so much jargon that goes into trading crypto assets, which is why Uphold’s cryptionary may be just what a new trader needs. It is a cryptocurrency dictionary that gives you quick definitions of most of the terms you may encounter.
• Uphold unboxed: This is the daily Uphold newsletter that brings users the latest news about the market, including how the major and emerging crypto assets are doing.
• Uphold blog: It covers wide topics about investments in cryptocurrency, equities, forex, and precious metals. It provides various guides that may help both beginner and expert traders gain valuable insights as they grow their skills.

Brave Integration

Brave is a browser that rewards users for their attention, unlike most conventional browsers where ads pop up and your valuable data is shared. Uphold facilitates the unlocking of your Basic Attention Token (BAT) on Brave Browser.

The browser has a built-in wallet, but it does not let you send your BAT tokens to a cryptocurrency wallet address. Users have to sign in to Uphold to unlock the BAT they get from advertising and earn tips as publishers.

Uphold Supported Assets

You probably already know that the platform supports crypto, fiat money, equities, and precious metals. Here are some more details on each of the categories.

• Fiat Currency: 27 national currencies, including ARS, AUD, BRL, CAD, HRK, CZK, DKK, AED, EUR, HKD, HUF, INR, ILS, KES, MXN, NZD, NOK, PHP, PLN, GBP, RON, SGD, SEK, CHF, USD, JPY, and CNY.
• Crypto: 58 Cryptocurrencies, including the major coins, alt-coins, stable-coins, and emerging tokens.
• US Equities: Fractional equities services that let you purchase any of 50 U.S. Stocks for as little as $1.
• Precious metals: Purchase gold, platinum, palladium, and silver, all of which come with zero custody costs and instant liquidity into any of the 27 national currencies listed. They are also spendable using the Uphold debit card.
• Environmental Assets: Including the novel carbon credit token UPCO2 and the clean BTC variant – Bitcoin Zero.

Payment Methods

Uphold allows debit or credit cards as well as Visa and Mastercard payment methods. The platform has multiple virtual Uphold money cards to which you add funds. As for withdrawing your funds, you get your money deposited directly into your bank account.

[wptb id=288087]

These payment methods are only available to verified Uphold users. They let you link up to 3 debit or credit cards. Moreover, the platform requires that all debit or credit cards be 3D secure; otherwise, you will get an error message when attempting to deposit.

Fees and Limits

Although the platform charges 0% commissions on trades and free transfer of funds between Uphold users, it is hardly a free service. You can expect to pay for withdrawing crypto assets to private wallets as well as bank withdrawals through the Swift network. Additional charges also apply in the form of spreads as follows.

[wptb id=288088]

You may expect to incur a 3.99% fee on funds deposited via credit or debit cards, among other service charges you may expect to incur with Uphold. Moving crypto-assets off the platform attracts a fee of $2.99.

The platform also charges an exchange fee when a user buys or converts between different currencies based on a percentage of the transacted value.

The minimum deposit amount is $50, €50, or £50 per day, and the maximum is $1,500 a week. You can check out their full list of fees for personal and business accounts and currency conversion charges here.

Privacy and Security

Uphold asks for personal information during the KYC procedure, including:

• Current residence address
• A government-issued ID
• A clear passport photo

The platform has also increased their level of security with:

• 2-FA for an extra layer of security
• Encryption of private keys to protect against hacking
• 24/7 monitoring: Uphold states they have their Security Operations Center running all the time.
• Strict security measures that the staff must follow, including submitting to thorough background checks
• Uphold is also regulated by the UK Financial Conduct Authority, FinCEN, and is compliant with global Anti-Money Laundering (AML) rules.

The platform links bank accounts through Plaid, which is an industry-standard among FinTech companies.

User Reviews and Testimonies

Uphold stands out as a highly trusted company among its users, as evidenced by reviews on Trustpilot and g2.com. Among its outstanding qualities are lightning-speed transactions and cashback policies, and ease of use.

One issue that kept coming up is the difficulty of reaching customer support, probably due to the platform having many users. Given that most people leave reviews after a bad experience, Uphold comes off as a great trading platform.

Verdict: Is Uphold for You?

First things first, financial platforms keep developing, improving their features, and changing their rates, so be sure to double-check the information provided on this review with Uphold.

That being said, it is an excellent financial platform for anyone who wishes to invest in cryptocurrency, precious metals, stocks, environmental assets, and national currencies. It takes the hassle out of investing and trading by allowing you to do it from anywhere in the world and at any time.

The platform takes away most of the barriers that would prevent a small-time investor from getting in on the action, which is not to say that you can’t go big. In short, it is a perfect fit for any investor.

Trade anything to anything on Uphold

Uphold Disclaimer: Uphold offers Cryptoasset investing within the EU/UK (by Uphold Europe Limited) USA (by Uphold HQ Inc).  

Capital at risk. As with any asset, the value of cryptoassets can go up or down and there can be a substantial risk that you lose all your money buying, selling, holding or investing in cryptoassets. Your cryptoassets are not subject to protection. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding cryptoassets is suitable for you in light of your financial condition. Uphold makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about Uphold.