Best 12 Tools For Every Serious Cryptocurrency Trader (Or Holder)
If you’ve been following the cryptocurrency markets at all, you know without a doubt that how profitable these markets can be. The number of opportunities in these markets is simply mind-blowing. The rate at which these assets are appreciating is simply staggering.
Let me just give you a few figures to put my previous statement in perspective. We all know about bitcoins so let’s not go there. Ether, the second most popular, cryptocurrency, appreciated by 10,000% in 2017 alone. Ripple a smaller cryptocurrency in terms of market cap, doubled ether’s growth in just 2017 alone. These figures speak for themselves.
But you can’t just invest your money without understanding the markets. As traders, we are willing to accept risk in order to make money. We have to smart about how we accept financial risk and that requires that we make informed decisions based on reliable information.
Our ability to make informed decisions depends on our sources of information and the tools we use. These tools allow us to understand the prevailing trends in the market, investor sentiment and so on.
In this article, I want to talk about the best trading tools you that every serious cryptocurrency trader should have at their disposal.
Read: Cryptocurrency Trading: Step-By-Step GUIDE for 2018
Best Sources of Market Information
1. CoinMarketCap
Yes, I know you probably know about CoinMarketCap, but there are so many new people entering the cryptocurrency markets and that’s why I must talk about it. Besides, I can’t stress how important this seemly simply source of market information can be.
It is the website that aggregates all of the vital information on cryptocurrency markets. You can get a decent picture on all of the investable assets there are and at a single glance, you can keep yourself updated on market capitalizations, changes in total trading volumes and even get 7-day price charts.
2. CryptoWatch
CryptoWatch is another website I think you should know about. It is a hybrid of CoinMarketCap and BitcoinWisdom but better. It offers interactive charts on all of the cryptocurrencies and is an excellent way to get an overview of all of the markets through its highly intuitive charts.
The entire world of crypto at at your screen with CryptoWatch
What I really like about CryptoWatch is that it offers tradeable charts similar to NinjaTrader, meaning it is also is also a cryptocurrency trading software. It is, of course, a paid-service but it is immensely valuable. And you can even try it out for free with their 30-day free trial.
Oh, in case you didn’t know what tradeable charts are, you can trade directly off the charts by clicking on the price level you want to buy and you can even click and drag to adjust your pending orders such as stop orders.
3. Icostats
If you are interested in initial coin offerings or ICOs and would want nothing more than to have something like CoinMarketCap for ICOs then I am pleased to tell you that Icostats is what you’ve been looking for.
The frontpage of Icostats
You will find all of the credible ICOs on the website, with all of the basic information behind the offering. It will also allow you to keep up-to-date on all of the upcoming pre-sales. But most importantly, it also offers profitability calculators for ICOs which, can come in handy if you want to do some analysis for existing or potential investments.
Best Analysis and Trading Tools
4. TradingView
TradingView is charting service and a social media platform for traders and investors. It offers amazing charts, which are on par with most professional charting platforms. Since TradingView is also a social media platform, you can go through different traders’ histories and follow them and learn from their experience and expertise.
TradingView, one of themost powerful charting platform
You can also find every single type of indicator, oscillator and trading strategies imaginable. It also offers one of the largest libraries of community created trading tools to further enhance our trading experience. It is simply a huge bank of knowledge in terms of tools, ideas and a place where new traders get to interact with professional traders.
5. Coinigy
Coinigy is a cryptocurrency trading software. It connects to all of the major cryptocurrency exchanges and allows you to trade directly off the charts using this platform. It is really a matter of preference if you like to trade off the charts or if you prefer to enter price levels in a bar like most trading platforms.
The leading trading platformfor cryptocurrencies
Until TradingView can provide chart-trading for most cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinigy will remain peerless. It might not be the best platform for chart analysis, but it definitely offers some of the most powerful execution tools and is incredibly valuable for day-traders or frequent traders.
6. BlockFolio
BlockFolio is one of my personal favorites. It is a mobile app for creating a multiplatform tracking investment portfolio. Let me explain how it works. You can use the app to create a portfolio that tracks all of your investments across multiple exchanges and platforms.
Your entire cryptocurrency portfolioin the palm of your hand with BlockFolio
Let’s say you have bitcoins on CoinBase, Ethereum on Bitfinex, Ripple and Monero on Poloniex, and Nxt and Bytecoin on Bittrex. That’s a nice little portfolio but it’s across a number of exchanges. It lowers exchange related risk but significantly increases effort to keep track of them all.
This is where Blockfolio comes in. It will allow you to view all of your investments in a single app. You can even view price charts, set alerts, examine the order books, volumes, etc. It just makes managing our invests so much easier. This is why I love it and I know you will love it as well.
7. GitHub
Now you might be surprised to find GitHub on this list but trust me there is a very valid reason for it being on the list. First of all, GitHub is an open-source repository for apps, codes, algorithms, etc. Meaning, if there is interest in something you will find noticeable activity on the repository.
Here you can focus on two things. First is the number of commits, which really means interest or activity in something. You can keep your eyes on your favorite cryptocurrencies and keep checking the number of commits on the website. If the number of commits dramatically increases, you can be sure that there is increased interest from the community in the cryptocurrency, which could potentially affect its price as well.
Aside from using it as a predictive indicator of future price, there are other uses as well for the technically gifted amongst us. You can find thousands of different types of trading algorithms, bots integration APIs and much more.
Best Cold Storage Hardware Wallet
8. Ledger Wallet
There is nothing more important than safeguarding your investment and profits. And, there is no better way to do this than by moving your investment or profits into cold storage. In case you don’t know, cold storage means storing your cryptocurrencies offline, which makes them immune to cyber attacks and hacks.
My favorite hardwarewallet, Ledger Wallet
Ledger Wallet in my humble opinion is the best option you have if you’re looking for a hardware wallet to store your cryptocurrencies offline. With a starting price of just $63, I believe it offers the greatest value for money.
Aside from that, it supports almost all of the popular cryptocurrencies, including but not limited to the following:
And you know what, it also helps you safeguard against our own dangerous tendencies. At least for me, that’s very true. This one time I dropped the hardware wallet and broke it. Imagine what went over me. But luckily, you I was able to retrieve all of the cryptocurrencies on the wallet.
Whether you lose it, break it or anything imaginable, the Ledger Wallet protects you against it all. It is the perfect hardware wallet. It will keep you cryptocurrencies safe and secure. I can guarantee you that.
Best Social Tools for Information
9. Slack
Slack, I am sure you all know, is an online collaborative workplace. Slack has a number of groups where professional investors and serious traders come to talk markets, strategy and discuss new cryptocurrencies. I myself belong to a few of these groups and I can tell you from personal experience that the information on these groups is simply indispensable.
These two groups I personally think everyone, irrespective of their experience level, should join:
Mind you, you should not limit yourself to just the groups I am telling you. Go out there are find more groups that you think can help you increase your profitability. And if you do find something of real value, you should definitely comment and share with the rest of us.
10. Telegram
Telegram is an instant messaging service and like Slack, you can find cryptocurrency-based groups on Telegram as well. In fact, there are far more groups on Telegram, which is why you have to do a bit of homework to find the ones that really offer some value.
These are some of the groups I think are excellent and you should definitely check them out:
11. Reddit
Reddit, the front page of the internet. If you are serious about trading cryptocurrencies, Reddit should become second nature to you. You should know all of the crevices of Reddit like the back of your hand.
Reddit is the original source of all news and information related to cryptocurrencies.
Every new cryptocurrency had its white papers published on Reddit and it’s the place you go to if you want to get your information from the source.
You will find the most serious crypto-enthusiasts on Reddit, grilling the creators to understand the new cryptocurrencies or updates to existing cryptocurrencies. If you want to be in the loop even as the news is breaking, Reddit is the place to be.
If you want to find information on the cryptocurrencies you are interested in, simply Google the name and write Reddit at the end of it. You will find its official Reddit page along with many other pages related to the cryptocurrencies.
12. Facebook Groups
It goes without saying, Facebook is the largest and most widely used social networking platform. So naturally, you will find a lot of good folks like you and me networking and talking crypto-markets on Facebook groups. I am not going to go too much into this, well, because you know what Facebook is and how it works.
I am just going to give you a few groups you can check out if you’re interested:
Other Interesting Cryptocurrency Tools
Bitrefill – Get access to products and services and pay using digital assets.
Summary
There is a reason why big wall street traders spend so much on their fancy trading tools. The tools that are at our disposal do play a huge role in the outcome of the job and this is true whether you’re a long-term investor or a short-term trader.
These tools might not guarantee success for you, that depends entirely on you. But I can assure you that they will really enhance productivity and efficiency. It will help you streamline your work processes and allow you to spend more time on things that matter.
Read: 9 Cryptocurrency Platform for Trading Crypto in 2018
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