Bitcoin, Ethereum, and several other cryptocurrencies have grown manifold since their launch, garnering more than 106 million users across the globe as of 2021. However, the larger population remains unaware of the potential of digital currencies, especially when it comes to trading.
For the general public who aren’t familiar with digital technology, terms like public and private keys, hot and cold wallets, and yield farming can be intimidating. While most of the technical jargon is layered beneath smooth and simple user interfaces, navigating between exchanges and wallets can feel overwhelming for the uninitiated. Moreover, the highly volatile market, mixed with the technical nature of cryptocurrencies, makes it even more difficult for users to access crypto trading.
However, with significant advancements in blockchain technology, several promising projects have launched products and services to make it easy for everyone, technical or non-technical, to be a part of the crypto ecosystem. Even if you are new to trading, there are Automated Market Makers (AMM) and state-of-the-art crypto trading bots that can help you generate returns. (See Bitcoin Stock Comparison on TipRanks)
Taking The Traditional Investment Avenue
Among the easiest ways to gain crypto exposure, the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) allows you to invest in Bitcoin right from the comforts of the traditional stock market. It has become a popular investment instrument among U.S. investors because it was the first of its type to be registered with the U.S. regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) as a reporting company.
Per recent research, the firm reportedly oversees 46% of the 1.4 million Bitcoin held by publicly traded companies. Earlier, GBTC shares were limited to only institutional investors, but recent approval from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) means retail investors can now buy GBTC shares in the secondary market.
The product works uniquely, allowing investors to trade shares in a trust that contains a large pool of Bitcoin, with each share mirroring price changes in Bitcoin. Unlike crypto trading, investing in closed-end funds allows investors to gain exposure to cryptocurrency fluctuations and appreciation without having to worry about creating digital wallets, regulatory compliance, or filing additional taxes.
Compared to centralized exchanges, GBTC also allows investors to complete large buy orders with minimal slippage, thus offering sufficient liquidity. Besides, all GBTC shares are categorized as ‘traditional securities,’ offering investors the option to hold shares in several tax-advantaged IRA, Roth IRA, and 401(k) accounts.
Plunging Headfirst Into Fintech
Another innovative platform, Public Mint, the fiat-native public blockchain, delivers a welcoming ecosystem designed to make it even easier for anyone to enter the world of cryptocurrencies. With a goal of bridging the gap between crypto and fiat currencies, Public Mint is a 100% collateralized and regulated platform.
Think of Public Mint as a new-age recreation of the conventional monetary system, but on a blockchain. Launched in 2020, Public Mint offers a fiat-native blockchain, enabling developers to build fiat-enabled applications that accept credit cards, ACH, and wire transfers.
The ecosystem also features the EARN platform, which offers users diversified and automated earnings on fiat assets, just like a bank pays interest on deposits in savings accounts. Retail investors can check the earning rates from both the decentralized and centralized finance markets for their USD or stablecoin deposits by accessing its friendly and straightforward interface. Simply put, EARN allows anyone to leverage the high yields of the crypto and fiat markets without using any cryptocurrencies.
Blending Automation With Trading And Portfolio Management
Balancer, an Automated Market Maker (AMM) platform, is making crypto trading more efficient and automated. Unlike other DeFi platforms, Balancer doesn’t use order books for processing trades. Instead, it directly swaps one digital asset for another via user-created liquidity pools.
The platform helps investors with portfolios that generate yield and rebalance automatically, based on market conditions. For traders, Balancer offers efficient trading by pooling liquidity from investor portfolios, enabling exchange of any number of ERC-20 tokens easily and without permissions.
Balancer offers significant advantages in pricing, slippage, and pool dynamics, making it a great platform for new and seasoned investors alike.
The Evolving Crypto Derivatives Ecosystem
The field for cryptocurrency derivatives is expanding quickly and a number of platforms are being developed that aim to outdo each other with novel trading products. While established platforms, such as BitMEX, OKEx, and Binance Futures already dominate the project, a rather new project, Bingbon, a widely used crypto derivative exchange, is quickly becoming the talk of the town.
The exchange distinguishes itself from the other platforms by offering derivatives tied to crypto assets, and contracts tied to forex markets, commodities, and indices. In addition, Bingbon also offers copy trading, a popular technique of following profitable traders.
Based out of Singapore, Bingbon is expanding rapidly across the Asian and Russian markets. The platform allows users to trade several digital assets from a single interface. It also offers fiat-crypto gateway services and instant access to derivatives pair and spot markets, all while granting users access to leveraged trading opportunities.
The Bottom Line
These options are just the tip of the iceberg, with many more innovative projects in the pipeline and coming to market. Each is designed to lower the barriers, especially for those users who have limited technical experience, helping the crypto universe prepare to accept an influx of new users and accelerate the global adoption of digital tokens for everyday use.
Disclosure: Reuben Jackson held no position in any of the stocks mentioned in this article at the time of publication.
Disclaimer: The information contained herein is for informational purposes only. Nothing in this article should be taken as a solicitation to purchase or sell securities.
