Welcome to the seventh day of the 30 days writing challenge of this year. You can find a list of all the articles I wrote at the end of each article. Please have a look at the end of it to understand how can you participate in this one.

Why Using A Crypto Exchange?

Well, because, as crypto enthusiasts, we all hold a certain amount of different tokens and we want to be able to funnel value in and out of these tokens as fast as possible. Not to mention, we need this process to be predictable, safe, and, if possible, hassle-free. Ideally, we should all use a decentralized exchange, and there are quite a few out there, but I don't think we're quite there. Yet. So, while using centralized crypto exchange, let's see what we can do in order to have a safe and profitable experience.

1. User Interface. Do You Actually Understand What Are You Doing There?

I think the most important thing for an exchange is user interface. It's crucial to understand what are you doing there, what consequences pushing every button has, and what risks are involved. Way too often, trying to look "techy" and "smart", crypto exchanges are bloating the UI with so many elements and unnecessary charts and reports, that you barely know what you're supposed to be doing there. So, if the UI not clear enough, just leave it alone.

2. Volume

If an exchange doesn't have enough volume, stay away. Those "lone rangers" are very easy to be played by more experienced traders, which can push the rates as they want. That in the case that the exchange itself is nothing but a shell for a shadier operation. So, please try to understand how much real volume the exchange has (excluding wash trades)

3. API Keys And Their Security

Sometimes you will want to arbitrage between two or more exchanges and there is no other way to do this than automating your trades, which requires interacting with that exchange by a certain API .Needless to say those keys must be secure, so the actual protection mechanism is important. Many hacks hitting crypto exchanges were using API keys as the primary attack surface.

4. KYC And AML

Last, but certainly not least, you should be looking for an exchange that has solid KYL (Know Your Customer) and AML (Anti Money Laundering) policies. While you may feel you give away a certain degree of your privacy, having those policies in place is a good safeguard for potentially more troublesome situations.

So, until we reach that point where everybody will use decentralized exchanges, this was my (very short) list of best practices for choosing a "regular" (read: centralized) crypto exchange.

How Do I Participate In This Challenge?

The criteria for @challenge30days account to vote your post are:

• post must be at least 300 words long
• post must be original
• post must be on best practices
• post must use the #challenge30days tag

Previous Posts In The Challenge

• January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Keeping A Successful 30 Days Challenge
• January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Selecting Relevant Crypto Projects (Day Two)
• January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Surviving In The STEEM Universe (Day Three)
• January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Working Remote (Day Four)
• January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Working From Coffee Shops (Day Five)
• January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Learning A New Language (Day Six)

Steem on!

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I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me @dragosroua.

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