CHALLENGE #3 : THE BEST EXCHANGE : POLONIEX

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INTRODUCTION

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Before I joined the steemit ecosystem, I hadn't been on any major exchange sites. Although I was into cryptocurrency trading (mostly bitcoin and litecoin), we normally circulated our tokens among ourselves in Ghana. Meaning, if person A was holding 0.005 bitcoin which was worth $100, person B would offer a desired rate to purchase the bitcoin (say $1.05). This means that person B would buy a $100 worth of bitcoin for $105.

My archaic form of trading

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Normally, we bought bitcoin at a higher rate than selling it (its selling price normally tallies with the real time price of Bitcoin). This is because of the theory that bitcoin would always rise. Same thing applied to litecoin. Now, I have been able to explore a few exchange sites and have arrived at poloniex as my preferred option.

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HOW I FOUND POLONIEX

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• I clicked the 3 horizontal bars next to my profile picture.
  

• This was where I initially found poloniex as a third party exchange.
  

Why do I choose poloniex?

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I personally like poloniex because it is very user friendly, accessible around the world, and also has a trollbox for traders to communicate. Average traders could maneuver their way around the platform and perform basic transactions without much technicality. This was my first time on any major exchange site. As such, I had no deep knowledge on how to effectively operate it. But once I got onto the platform, executing a trade was very easy as the clarity of its interface guides your steps.

_{Poloniex interface}

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TROLLBOX

Poloniex has an open trollbox on the bottom right of its exchange interface which allows its users to communicate and seek assistance on anything. There always some very helpful tips coming in from expert traders but always bear in mind that you excute such trades at your own risk. This trollbox has helped me out a few times when I got stuck with something.

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BUYING CRYPTO ASSETS WITH FIAT

At first, poloniex did not support any form of fiat currency deposits, withdrawals or trading. However, it has now made provisions for buying cypto assets with fiat at a much higher fee.

To do this, first click on wallet on the top right of the platform.

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Then choose "Buy with fiat"

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Now you can select your prefered asset and state how much you would want to buy. You would notice the $15.34 transaction fees on a 0.03 btc amount which is a lot. This fee totally depends on the amount you are willing to buy. Click the 'buy now' when you're done.

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This will take you to the simplex platform for you to fill out the credit card details, then checkout upon verification.

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TRANSACTION FEES

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Poloniex has a significantly lower transaction fee as compared to some of the other major crypto exchanges. It charges a flat fee of 0.125% on all transaction size which is pretty sweet. In fact it is one of the least trading fees you would find on a major exchange site.

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However, for withdrawal of bitcoin there is also a flat fee of 0.0005 btc which is approximately $5.6 at the current btc rate. A quick look at one of my transactions under my activity log would indicate this.

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Here are some of my withrawal activities on this beautiful exchange platform.

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Security and reliability is very important in choosing an exchange site. Fortunately enough, poloniex offers both. However, during the early stages of its inception in 2014, it suffered a minor attack which resulted in the loss of funds by some bitcoin holders on the platform. It is worth knowing that poloniex reimbursed all funds to its users and has now climbed the ranks to become one of the safest exchange sites in the world. The one thing I am very excited about when it comes to this amazing exchange site is its "Futures Trading".

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Poloniex Futures Trading (For Advanced Users Only)

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Once you log in onto the main platform of poloniex, there will be a pop up dialog box prompting traders o.f their new Futures Trading option.

This is disabled by default and it is entirely up to traders to enable it.

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Various assets you can trade with Future trades

Before executing an order at Future trades, you need to first set your leverage based on your level of confidence in the trade as well as your risk appetite. Keeping in mind that high risk does not necessarily mean high reward. It ranges from 1 to 100x leverage option but availability of the higher leverage depends on your verification level on the platform.

With this option, traders can use up to 100x leverage on all trades in an attempt to profit from the various price fluctuations the opted currency passes through. Leverage allows you to trade with funds you otherwise could not afford to. In lay man's terms, it is a loan poloniex gives you to trade at a higher level by liquidating most/all of your assests.

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However, this is a very risky venture with very complex market conditions and beginners are highly advised to refrain from futures trading. This is because, the price of an asset in futures trading is not necessarily the same as its price spot of the markets and has a higher rate of fluctuation based on several market factors. As a result you may either earn significantly with this option or could potentially end up losing all your funds.

Say you want to trade crypto with a 100x leverage with futures trading. This means you will now be trading with a 100x of the funds you currently possess which could earn you very high profits. The down side of this is that, a slight decrease in the price margin of your leveraged trade could be catastrophic regardless of whether or not a stop loss had been set. This is because the complex nature of futures trades may not necessarily enable your stop loss to save you from losing due to is market conditions. You are therefore highly advised to learn more about futures trading before getting into that venture.

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CONCLUSION

To sum up, poloniex is a user friendly exchange site which offers a very cheap transaction fees to its users. It has a variety of useful features to help traders to maximize their earning potential. In addition, It offers a fiat payment system which enables one to buy crypto assets using their debit card. It also has a trollbox which provides vital information and assistance when needed. However, it has multiple identity verification for users who might want to trade high volume of assets.

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That's all from me for now. Thank you for your attention

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• @steemitblog
• @steemcurator01
• @steemcurator02