BCC Cryptocurrency Necessities

Open your account by clicking here.

Referal bonus: Open your account with the above link and we both recieve $10 in bitcoin once you make your first $100 purchase.

Coinbase is one of the easiest exchanges to use and is well suited for newbies to crypto. You will need to go through KYC, and it can take some time to get your account verified and your bank linked.

Fees are a little higher than at some other exchanges, but the convenience of the easy user interface is well worth it especially if you are just getting started.

There is also a mobile app available.

Coinbase’s fee structure may be viewed by clicking here.

Open your Gemini account by clicking here.

Referral bonus: We both will recieve $10 in bitcoin once you open your account with the above link and buy or sell $100 equilavent within 30-days of account creation.

Gemini is another very user friendly exchange and is therefore great for beginners as well as seasond crypto traders.

Gemini’s fee structure is similar to that of Conbase and the fees may be viewed by clicking here.

And now for a secret…

When you open a Coinbase account, you are automatically given a Coinbase Pro account.

Coinbase is a user-friendly interface, and therefore great for most investors. Coinbase Pro is a “professional” trading platform, and, as such, the interface can be intimidating to those not accustomed to such trading platforms.

The big advantages of the Coinbase Pro platform are lower fees and the ability to place limit buy and sell orders. If you don’t know what that is, don’t worry. It simply means you have the ability to set your desired entry or exit price as opposed to simply accepting the prevaling market price as you must do on Coinbase.

To open a Coinbase Pro account simply open a regular Coinbase account by clicking my referral link here.

Referal bonus: Open your account with the above link and we both recieve $10 in bitcoin once you make your first $100 purchase.

Once you have set up your Coinbase account, or if you already have a Coinbase account, simply use your existing credentials to log in at pro.coinbase.com.

You may transfer any holdings back and forth between the two Coinbase platforms with no transaction fees, and you may log directly into either with the same ID and password.

And speaking of fees, the Coinbase Pro fees are definitely lower than those on Coinbase. Those fees may be viewed by clicking here.

OK, so technically this is not an exchange, but it is an interesting idea, and it is a great way for anyone to get started with crypto or to add to their holdings.

Roundly X basically links to your bank account and monitors your spending then it rounds up your transactions to the nearest dollar.

The “round-up” amount is then periodically swept from your bank account over to your linked Coinbase (or other exchange) account and converted into bitcoin or your choice of other supported cryptos.

Think of this as an automated way to invest your “spare-change” into bitcoin, and you will be amazed how fast little amounts add up.

You can sign up for Roundly X with my referral code below and when you do we will both receive a $4 bonus.

the Roundly X site is here.

Use these centralized exchanges to exchange various cryptocurrencies for other cryptocurrencies.

These exchanges are important and useful for acquiring cryptocurrencies which are not available on the various fiat to crypto exchanges.

Some of these will also require KYC documentation, and some will also allow transfer to and from a bank account or debit or credit card.

Binance.US is the best exchange for US customers after Coinbase, and it offers more and different cryptocurrencies than offered by Coinbase.

Open your Binance.US account with my referral link by clicking here..

Binance.com. is one of the largest trading platforms in the world. US customers must use their Binance.US platform, however, and are prohibited from the original Binance.com platform.

You will need to go through their KYC verification process and then link the platform to your bank and/or your debit card if you wish to trade or buy crypto with US dollars.

There are trading pairs, however, for Bitcoin (BTC) and many other cryptos, and you have the ability to trade pairs other than with the US dollar. To do so, you will need to deposit or transfer any number of accepted cryptos into your Binance.US account on the Wallet > Deposit page.

BCC's' referral link above earns us a small percentage of your trading fees on their platform.

KuCoin is the best exchange for smaller cryptocurrencies and offers nearly 200 trading pairs.

Use my referral link to open your KuCoin account by clicking here..

KuCoin offers a large number of crypto-to-crypto trading pairs. Your account can be funded by credit card, PayPal, or by depositing any of a number of supported cryptos.

KuCoin also offers the ability to earn interest on some crypto deposits as well as the ability to trade on margin.

KYC verification is not yet available on KuCoin for US customers. This does mean that there are limits on daily transaction amounts and daily withdrawals.

Your use of our referral link grants us a small percentage of any transaction fees you pay to trade on the KuCoin platform.

Trading fees start at a fairly low 0.1% and decline depending on your trading volume.

Open your Bittrex account with my referral code by clicking here..

Use your debit card to make instant purchases of several listed cryptos, or transfer in and deposit bitcoin, Ether, or any of the supported cryptos. You can then trade between any of the listed market trading pairs on the Bittrex platform.

Using my referral link above will enable me to earn 10% of the trading fees generated from your Bittrex account.

Please open your Kraken account by clicking my referral link here.. It will allow me to receive a small percentage of any trading fees you generate, and it helps support this site.

Kraken is a fairly user-friendly exchange with a large number of trading pairs. Sending US dollars to the platform requires a wire transfer, but a large number of cryptos may be transferred to the platform for trading.

One other advantage of the Kraken platform is that it does allow on-chain staking for a variety of cryptos allowing you to earn staking rewards right from the platform.

Phone apps are a convienient way to buy, store, and trade cryptocurrencies. Many are extensions of desktop exchanges or sites. A growing number of apps allow payment for goods and services with your crypto holdings or an associated debit card.

The Crypto.com mobile app is one of the most widely used crypto apps in the world, and for good reason.

The app provides a host of functionality including the ability to buy a large number of different cryptos with a debit card or bank ACH transfer, the ability to earn high interest rates on a large variety of cryptos, and the convenience of the Crypto.com Visa Debit Card which makes it easy to convert your crypto into spendable funds. You also have the option of Crypto Pay.

They offer several levels of rewards Visa Debit cards (from zero to eight-percent cash back in CRO tokens) depending on how much of their native token, CRO, you are willing to buy and stake for 180-days.

You can learn more about the Crypto.com app by clikcing here., or you may find it on the Apple App Store or on Google Play.

Trust Wallet is a fantastic mobile app which is available for Apple and Andriod.

This app has an amazingly simple and easy to use interface, and it boasts features not found in other mobile wallets.

These features include the ability to stake eligible cryptos right inside the wallet and the ability to swap. You can also access a variety of Dex’s without leaving the app.

You can also purchase cryptos from within the wallet with a credit card. (Beware of higher fees for credit card transactions).

You can view the Trust Wallet website here., or download the app from the Apple App Store or from Google Play.

Voyager is a really nice cryptocurrency phone app and multi-asset wallet.

Voyager allows easy set-up and linkage to your bank account for ACH transfers of funds in and out of your Voyager account.

Once funds are transferred in, which is usually a very quick process, you can buy any of multiple cryptos with zero trading fees. (Note: while there are no trading fees, Voyager does make a small profit from each transaction off of the “spread” so the price you pay for your crypto may not be quite as low as on other platforms).

Another big advantage of the Voyager App is that it pays automatic dividends on a large number of cryptos as long as you have the listed very reasonable minimum balances of each coin.

Voyager is available from the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store as a free download. There website can be found here.

The Celsius app opens up new opportunities for you to earn money with your cryptocurrency holdings and sports some of the highest returns available.

You can deposit crypto to the app and begin earning high-yield returns.

The Celsius app also allows you to borrow funds against your collateralized assets as well as typical pay and transfer functions.

To get started simply click here.

BlockFi is a fantastic place to earn high-yields on your cryptocurrency holdings. There is a great mobile app as well as a web version for desktop users.

BlockFi also allows buying, selling, or exchanging from within the app as well as the ability to borrow against your collateralized deposits.

Open your BlockFi account with my referral link, and we will both receive $10 once you make your first $100 deposit.

Get your BlockFi account with my referral code by using the link here.

These decentralized exchanges, or “Dex’s,” are useful for exchanging from crypto to crypto. Most work on the Etherium Blockchain and with ERC20 tokens which are the tokens of projects built on Etherium. They are “decentralized” because they are not run by a company, person, or orginization. They operate using smart contracts interacting with a wallet such as MetaMask (see “Software Crypto Wallets for information more about MetaMask).

Uniswap is one of the most widely used Dex’s, and it boasts deep liquidity pools.

You can learn more about Uniswap on their main page here..

The Uniswap Dex App for trading may be found here..

You will need an Etherium wallet such as MetaMask to use any of the Dex’s listed on this site.

SushiSwap is another popular Dex with good liquidity.

Like other Dex’s, you will need to connect an Etherium wallet such as MetaMask in order to make trades.

You can visit the main SushiSwap page here..

The SushiSwap trading app may be found hhere.

Balancer is yet another very popular Dex with good liquidity. It is also a great place to earn high yields through “liquidity farming,” wich involves providing liquidity to the various pools.

You can learn more about Balancer from their main site here..

You can find the trading platform here.

Mooniswap is yet another poplular Dex.

The Mooniswap trading app may be found here.

KyberSwap is yet another popular Dex. They do offer a great step-by-step tutorial for beginners on how to set up an Etherium Wallet and make swaps on their platform.

You can view that guide here..

The main KyberSwap trading app may be found here..

BitSwap is one of a growing number of “Dex Aggregators.” These are decentralized exchanges that offer the potential to get the very best price for your cryptocurrency trades.

Dex aggregators such as BitSwap accomplish this by shopping your requested trade accross a number of underlying independent Dex’s and routing your trade in such a way that you get the best price for your trade.

You may learn more about BitSwap by visiting their site here.

You may find the BitSwap Dex here.

1-Inch is another popular Dex aggregator. The platoform will route your requested swap to multiple independent Dex’s in order to find you the best price for your trade.

You may find the 1-Inch Dex here.

PancakeSwap is a rising star in the world of decentralized exchanges or “Dex’s.” This is in large part due to the high fees associated with swaps on Etherium-based platforms.

PancakeSwap also provides unique opportunities for yield-farming and earning high returns via liquidity pools.

PancakeSwap may be found here.

Software wallets, also known as “hot-wallets,” are much more secure than leaving your precious cryptocurrencies on any of the exchanges where security breaches are a risk.

These wallets are simple to download and install, and allow you to be in control of your private-keys and therefore in control of your funds.

Many of these software wallets are “multi-asset,” and therefore allow you to hold many different cryptos in a single place. Some also allow limited crypto-to-crypto exchanges and the ability to earn “interest” on assets held within.

The Exodus software wallet is one of the best multi-currency wallets available. It has a beautiful and user-freindly interface, and it supports over 100 different cryptocurrency assets.

The Exodus wallet also has a built-in exchange feature which allows you to swap between a variety of crypto pairs without ever leaving the wallet.

In addition, Exodus allows in-wallet staking for a few of the cryptos it supports.

There is a version for PC, Mac, and a mobile app as well.

You can download Exodus for free by clicking here.

Atomic is another beautiful multi-asset software wallet. It offers support for over 300 cryptos. It boasts over 1-million world-wide users, and is available for Mac, PC, and mobile platforms.

Atomic also offers in-wallet crypto-to-crypto swaps for multiple pairs as well as in-wallet staking for some of the supported assets.

Another major advantage of Atomic Wallet is the ability to purchase some cryptos right inside the wallet with a credit card. While this is incredibly convenient, it does incur fees of around 5%.

You can download the Atomic Wallet by clicking here.

MetaMask is one of the most imortant tools for cryptocurrency investors. It functions as a browswer plug-in and works with the Chrome, Brave, Firefox, and Microsoft Edge browsers. There is also a mobile version.

MetaMask is an Etherium wallet and is a “must-have” for those who wish to move beyond the basics. It opens up a world of possibilites such as the ability to use DeFi cryptocurrency exchanges, interact with liquidity pools as well as borrowing and lending platforms, and to participate in NFT (Non-Fungible Token) platforms just to name of few.

Once you have dipped your toes into the crypto universe, you will want to install MetaMask.

You can visit their main web page here. for download links.

Hardware wallets, also known as “cold-storage” wallets, provide an additional and important level of security for your cryptocurrency holdings.

These devices store your private-keys, and therefore access to your holdings, completely off-line and therefore unavailable to potential hackers.

If you are holding large sums of crypto, or if you plan to, you should seriously consider cold-storage, and listed here are some of the best devices available.

The Trezor Model T is the newest of the Trezor models and sports a larger color LCD touchscreen. It supports BTC, ETH, ERC20 tokens and more. It will integrate with the Exodus wallet or with the stand-alone Trezor interface.

You can order your Trezor Model T by clicking here..

The Trezor One is one of the best and easiest to use cold-storage wallets on the market. A big advantage is that it will integrate with the Exodus software wallet for most Exodus supported coins.

You may purchase your Trezor One here.

Ngrave is a new soon-to-be-available cold storage wallet which may be the most secure way to store your cryptocurrency holdings.

Ngrave stores your private keys completely offline where they are never exposed to any online device.

The device is both elegant and supports a beautiful interface with the very highest level of security available.

You can view a cool video about this amazing crypto wallet and then pre-order your Ngrave device by clicking my referral link here.

The Nano Ledger X is one of the best hardware or cold-storage wallets on the market. It sports a larger screen than its less expensive cousin, the Nano Ledger S, as well as Bluetooth connectivity. Both work with the software application, Ledger Live. You may purchase your Ledger Nano X by clicking here.

The Ledger Nano S is one of the most widely used cold-storage wallets in the world. It connects to any computer (USB) and sports an OLED display to double-check and confirm each transaction with a single tap on its side buttons. You can order your Ledger Nano S here.

The SecuX W20 cold-storage wallet is an elegant solution to off-line crypto storage. It connects to Mac or PC via USB or Bluetooth and is compatible with a variety of cryptos. The screen is beautiful on this device. You may purchase your SecuX Wallet by clicking here.

The Ellipal Titan Wallet is a beautiful device which allows cold-storage of a large number of cryptocurrencies. It works seamlessly with its companion mobile app, and it brings the most secure air-gapped technology and hardware together.

It does not connect to any network or other devices. Information cannot be stolen from it through a network nor can it be controlled remotely.

You can purchase your Ellipal Titan cold-storage wallet by clicking here.

The D’CENT Biometric Wallet uses a unique approach among cold-storage devices. It requires input of your fingerprint for the approval of any crypto transactions. It works with its companion app for iOS or Android.

You may purchase your D’CENT biometric wallet by clicking here.

Cryptocurrency monitoring sites are a must-have tool for crypto investors. These sites aggregate an unimaginable amount of data and present it at our fingertips.

These platforms allow monitoring of current holdings, including price, market capitalization, rank, trading volumes, available exchanges, and historical data.

They also offer an arguably necessary way to monitor potential investment ideas including brief descriptions of most projects and critically important links to further information.

Serious crypto investors will often be found with at least one of these platforms always open on their desktop or mobile device.

Coin Gecko is a fantastic site with a wealth of information. It currently lists data for over 6,000 cryptocurrencies.

You can find Coin Gecko by clicking here.

The Gecko also allows you to construct a custom portfolio which may be used to follow data on your current holdings, or this feature may be used to build a “watch list” of projects for future investing.

And, don’t forget to collect your “candies” every day by clicking on the candy jar at the top of the main page. These candies accumulate and can be redeemed for product discounts on the rewards page.

Finally, make sure to wave back at the Gecko on the candies page.

Coin Market Cap is another great site for monitoring and discovering cryptocurrencies. It currently provides data on well over 8,000 crypto projects.

You can find Coin Market Cap by clicking here.

By default, the site ranks the universe of cryptocurrencies by their real-time market capitalizations. Data is provided for current and historical prices, exchanges, trading volumes, and links are provided to relevant websites. You may also find a brief description of what each project brings to market.

You also have the ability to build a “watch list” which makes it easy to keep track of either your current portfolio or projects you are watching.

This, like Coin Gecko, is a site you will often find always open on the desktops or mobile devices of serious crypto investors.

Cryptocurrency investing is, unfortunately, not immune from taxation. Selling and trading cryptos are taxable events, and it is imperative that you keep good records.

Crypto taxes are a mix of capital gains and income taxes. If you buy and hold crypto then sell at a later date, the profit and/or loss is fairly easy to calculate. If you are trading, however, say BTC to ETH, that is considered two separate transactions by the IRS.

All of this can get complicated quickly. Fortunately there are several great sites which make record keeping and the necessary tax reporting much simpler than the “do-it-yourself” appraoch.

This is a good list of options, and most of these provide easy tax form creation at year-end.

Coin Tracking is a fantastic site for portfolio monitoring and tax reporting. This is the crypto tax program I personally use. The site offers direct links via API-keys to a multitude of trading platforms as well as the ability to enter any trades manually.

Tax reporting at year-end (assuming you have input all of your trades along the way) is as simple as one-click. There is also access to professional cryptocurrency tax help.

The site is also adaptable to the tax laws and regulations of various countries as well as being able to generate financial statements or forms. It will calculate all reports including capital gains, income, fees, donations, losses and the closing position report.

The site is, remarkably, free to use for up to 200 transaction entries per year. If you exceed that number, you will need to upgrade to a paid subscription which are available in several tiers.

You may use our Coin Market Cap referral link to set up your free account by clicking here..

Using our referral link will get you a 10% discount on any future paid plans you may eventually upgrade to and will earn me a small referrer reward when you upgrade to one of the paid plans even if it is sometime in the future.

This is a really nice crypto tax platform. It works with multiple exchanges, has a tiered pricing system depending on how active of a trader you are, and it works well with TurboTax software.

Use my referral link below to access the site and set up your new account, then ALSO use the special promo code below during subscritpion sign-up for a 10% discount.

Plus, there is a nice video explaining the site on the landing page.

Use this link to signup here.

Taxbit is another fantastic cryptocurrency tax reporting system. It also integrates with almost all major crypto exchanges.

They claim that TaxBit is the leading provider of forms 1099 in the cryptocurrency space and that even regulatory agencies use TaxBit to assist with cryptocurrency tax matters.

They offer a free trial and a tiered pricing structure depending on the number of trades you make per year.

You can view their site and sign up for the free trial here.

Zen Ledger is another fantastic cryptocurrency tax reporting platform. They integrate with over 400 exchanges.

There is a tiered pricing system depending upon how many trades you are reporting, and they also offer full-service crypto tax services for those of you who may be “whales.”

The platform offers some additional features such as a tax-loss harvesting tool, and it can directly import data into TurboTax.

You can find Zen Ledger by clicking our referral link here.

Charting is a very useful tool for both monitoring real-time prices and analyzing price trends. It is an imperative tool for anyone wishing to actively trade cryptocurrencies. Combined with technical analysis and technical indicators, charting sites provide the foundation for successful trading strategies. The following are the charting sites I have found most useful. .

Trading View may be used to simply track your favorite crypto, but it is an essential tool for anyone actively trading in these markets.

It also offers a myriad of free indicators, and integrates with a multitude of available paid indicators such as Market Cypher.

Use my referral link below to sign up for your Trading View account–even if you are planning on using the free version. If or when you DO upgrade to a paid version, we will both receive a $30 referral bonus by your using this link.

Open your Trading View account with our referral link by clicking here.

Market Cypher is not actually a charting site. It is the very best set of technical indicators for those wishing to engage in short-term trading with cryptocurrencies (it also works with more traditional assets such as stocks). This is the set of indicators I use for “day-trading” cryptocurrencies.

Market Cypher is a suite of proprietary technical indicators which can give incredibly accurate buy and sell signals in these volatile markets.

Market Cypher works by integrating with the Trading View charting site described just above. While it may seem expensive, these indicators are so good that they just might pay for themselves on your very first trade.

You can sign-up for Market Cypher with our referral link here.

Token Metrics, while also not actually a charting site, is one of the most powerful tools to help you find the next cryptocurrency super investment. Token Metrics uses a proprietary AI system to sift huge amounts of fundamental and market date to find and rank crypto hidden gems.

If you are truly a serious crypto investor seeking the highest degree of alpha then Token Metrics is a must-have tool. It provides rolling daily price predictions and rankings to alert you to the very best possible crypto investments.

You can sign-up for Token Metrics with our referral link here..

Coinigy is a fantastic charting and trading platform with hundreds of trading pairs listed across dozens of exchanges.

One of the most powerful aspects of Coinigy is the ability to link your exchange directly to the Coinigy charts. This gives you the ability to place and monitor trades directly within the Coinigy platform.

There are both free and tiered paid versions of Coinigy. To set up your account, use our referral link by clicking here.

Cryptowatch is another great charting platform. The site also allows you to connect your exchanges and therefore to place and monitor trades directly from the Cryptowatch platform.

You can find Cryptowatch by clicking here.

Trading platforms are sites where one may engage in short or long-term trading strategies. This is to be distinguished from the more traditional–and less risky–strategy of buying and holding. These platforms allow for swing trading, longing, shorting, and some allow leverage trading. These are the sites we personally use.

ByBit is a fantastic platform for cryptocurrency day-traders and other traders looking to profit by trading in these volatile markets. This is the trading platform I personally use most often.

ByBit allows trading in BTC, ETH, EOS, and the XRP markets.

The other great features of ByBit include the ability to both long and short these markets and to use leverage of up to 100x. (Be careful with leverage! Don’t get rekked).

One problem US traders will encounter is that ByBit will not allow access from a US-based IP address. You will, therefore, likely need to sign-up or login using a VPN (virtual private network).

The VPN I use is Nord VPN. This is an easy work-around, and I usually connect to ByBit via a Canadian IP address using Nord. You can find out more about Nord in a menu below.

Sign up for your free ByBit trading account by using our referral link here.

Also, be sure to check the promotions tab once you sign-up as they always have deposit bonuses which are often substantial.

Phemex is a fantastic trading platform which allows standard spot trading (against USDT or Tether) as with other centralized exchanges, but where it really shines is that it allows leveraged trading of multiple crypto assets–more than on other platforms.

As with ByBit, US residents may need to use a VPN to access the site (see the Nord VPN tab below).

In addition, and if you are new to leveraged trading, Phemex offers simulated trading on a testnet so you can try your hand at trading without risk of losing your own funds.

Phemex offers a variety of sign-up bonuses which constantly vary. Be sure to use our referral link by clicking here. in order to get these bonuses.

eToro is a unique trading platform with an interface which is much less cluttered and complicated than most of the professional trading platforms.

This is a great option for anyone who wants to swing-trade in and out of the various cryptos which the platform offers.

eToro also offers you the opportunity to view, follow, and copy-trade the portfolios of the most successful traders on the site.

Plus, if you sign-up for your eToro account with our referral link we both will receive a $50 bonus once you deposit $100 and make a $100 trade.

Open your eToro account with our referral link here.

A “VPN,” or “virtual private network” is an encrypted internet tunnel through which traffic flows. This keeps your browsing private and inaccessible to prying eyes.

For some crypto websites and platforms, certain IP addresses are unable to connect. This is the case, for example, with the ByBit trading platform (information in an above menu) and those with a US IP address.

This is where a VPN can be handy for crypto traders. Using a VPN, one can route their browser through an IP address from an accepted location such as Canada or Germany.

You can set up your Nord VPN account and download the software using our referral link here.

It is imperative that any crypto investor keep up on the news. This includes specific news regarding blockchain technology, macro trends related to cryptocurrencies, economic trends which may effect cryptocurrencies, and the crytpo investing universe as a whole.

It is likely even more important to keep up on specific news regarding any projects you may be currently invested in or are considering investing in.

Here is a list of some of the best crypto related news sites, and ones we use frequently–if not daily. Some will allow you to subscribe for push notifications and some have mobile apps.

CoinDesk is one of the most widely read crypto news sites in the world. This is a fantastic way to keep up on all things crypto. Be sure to sign up for the email newsletter.

Visit CoinDesk here.

Coin Telegraph is another of the most visited crypto news sites worldwide on a daily basis. BCC considers this site a must visit each day.

You can find Coin Telegraph here.

TodayOnChain is a fantastic crypto news site with articles arranged in an easy to navigate visual list.

Visit TodayOnChain here.

News BTC updates a little less frequently than some other crypto news sites, but it does list articles in an easy to navigate visual list.

You can find News here.

Blockonomi provides great and intriguing news and content as well as several free educational guides.

Visit Blockonomi here.