Advantages of trading Ethereum with a regulated online broker
When trading any instrument it is always advisable to trade with a regulated broker. One key reason for this is the fact that regulated brokers provide a degree of client fund protection. A recent catastrophic event demonstrated that a regulated broker is the better option when it comes to trading cryptocurrencies. In February 2014, Mt Gox - which up until that point had been the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world - was the victim of a digital heist. As a result, 850, 000 Bitcoins were stolen from Mt Gox. 90% of these Bitcoins belonged to M Gox"s customers. The total losses equalled $473m, i.e. around GBP 365, 865, 500. Hedge fund managers in the know pulled out of any dealings with Mt Gox and the company swiftly declared bankruptcy. In the subsequent months, around 24, 000 former Mt Gox customers claimed for compensation. Mt Gox, however, did not provide client fund protection, and as only 202, 000 Bitcoins have been recovered from the thieves, it is likely that many of these Bitcoin users will never get their money back.
The moral of the story? Protect your funds when trading instruments such as Bitcoin and Ethereum by trading with regulated brokers such as AvaTrade. A regulated broker like AvaTrade also offers other advantages, too, such as a simple sign up process and the ability to trade other instruments as well as Ethereum, like Bitcoin and other currencies, stocks, commodities and indices.
The fundamental influences of Ethereum
Ethereum is growing in influence, and this growth has been aided by the fact that several powerful multinationals have adopted Ethereum as a currency option. Companies such as Microsoft, Intel and JPMorgan formed a "blockchain alliance" in 2017. On May 9th 2017, the phrase "buy Ethereum" started to trend on Google, demonstrating that there has been a huge surge in popular interest in this cryptocurrency in 2017 especially. This is also the year that the Enterprise Ethereum Alliance was announced - a group of academic entities and corporations aiming to focus on the further development of Ethereum. As of 23 May 2017, Ethereum was priced at $162.59 representing a 2009.76% increase for the year since opening at $8.07 on the 1st of January 2017.
Ethereum Quick facts:
- Year Ethereum started: 2014
- Price at start: at the pre-launch purchase phase in 2014, Ethereum was exchanged for Bitcoins. 1 Bitcoin bought 2000 Ethereum, which works out as an exchange rate of 1 Ethereum equalling GBP 0.23 GBP. This was described as a "sale", and the value of Ethereum rose steadily following the initial 42 days after its release.
- Highest price to date and what day: on May 22nd, 2017 Ethereum hit a high of $186.96.
- Volume of Ethereum exchanged (daily): GBP 85,254,558.3
- First broker to accept Ethereum for deposit/withdrawals:FXOpen
- Top social trading broker to include Ethereum as a trading instrument: eToro
Want to trade other cryptocurrencies? You can read more cryptocurrency broker comparisons here:
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