Top 5 – The best Ethereum providers

This article gives an overview of the best Ethereum providers who accept Euros and US-Dollar as payment for Ether (ETH).

In order to gain access to the digital gold Ethereum (ETH), newcomers have to overcome many hurdles. Starting from learning the basic mechanisms of cryptocurrency and its classification, to the setup of a wallet and the selection of a suitable provider, where you can finally exchange your Euros or Dollars for Ether (ETH).

Especially this last step often represents a bigger hurdle, because the market of suppliers is confusing and many elements have to be considered in order to finally find a serious provider, where you can also buy Ethereum Ether (ETH) at a good price.

Exchange of Euro or US-Dollar into Ether is complex

In addition, the exchange of Euro or US-Dollar in Ethereum is considerably more expensive than between cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin to Ethereum. The reason for this is that whenever you want to exchange a large amount of Euro or US-Dollar in cryptocurrencies for the first time, an identification procedure must be carried out beforehand.

Not all providers have such a procedure and are therefore not allowed to accept large sums of fiat money as payment. This is primarily intended to comply with international money laundering legislation. Since it is relatively time-consuming and can take several days until you have taken the necessary steps, it is advisable to choose the right provider at an early stage and to register as soon as possible in advance. Otherwise it could happen that you can’t be ready for the next big wave, but have to wait for a long time because the crowd is too big.

Overview – Top 5 as of March 2018

The Top 5 Ethereum providers are a group of selected suppliers, where you can buy Ethereum Ether (ETH) as a beginner from our point of view with a good conscience. We take into account three different types of platforms and include at least one suitable provider from each group. The three groups are:

• Fast exchange via currency exchange service provider: Here the supplier is also the direct trading partner, which converts the Euros or Dollars directly into Ether. Similar to an online shop. A very fast and uncomplicated exchange is possible and therefore this is perfect for beginners.
• Best price via online exchange trading platform: Here, the online exchange merely provides a trading platform and acts as an intermediary for Ethereum buyers and sellers against Euro or US-Dollar. A little more training is needed here.
• Extreme profits through leverage with a CFD broker: In this case, “virtual” Ethereum ETHs – so-called CFDs – are bought with Euro or US-Dollar. Exchange rate gains or losses are identical. Usually you can work with a leverage, which can multiply a possible profit (but also the risk). CFD do not require a wallet. CFDs are usually bought when you are interested in short-term profit taking.

The following table lists the top 5 providers (state March 2018. They will be discussed in more detail in the course of this article.

You know a good provider that we don’t have in our lists and should take a closer look on next time? Then please send us a link to this page. Thank you very much!

Other providers

Of course, we know that there are many other good providers and the requirements and preferences are manifold. For the top 5, we have selected the providers that we consider to be the most suitable for beginners and for which you can currently register. It is quite possible that another provider will meet your personal requirements better. For beginners, however, we believe that these providers are among the best in their respective fields.

The criteria

We used different criteria to compare the providers.

The fees

The most important criteria is certainly the fee. Unfortunately, it is not obvious at a glance at all providers, which fees you have to pay for the exchange of Euro / US-Dollar in Ether. This is a legal grey area, because it is not mandatory to indicate it in this business. The exchange can also be interpreted as a “purchase “. In this case, there is only one price and no breakdown to exchange rate and fee, as it is the case with official exchange offices for national currencies. This of course, makes the fees even more intransparent. Some of them vary considerably from one another.

We made test purchases for you and then deducted the fees.

The on-boarding

“On-boarding” is the process from registration to exchange of Euros/US-Dollars in Ether. It usually consists of registration by e-mail and personal data, proof of identity and the indication and verification of the desired payment method (e. g. credit card or bank). The more extensively these steps are secured, the better it is for the provider, but the more costly it is for the customer. A good middle way should be the guiding principle here.

The location

Whether an Ethereum currency exchange provider has its business location in the EU / US or anywhere else in the world, plays an essential role in terms of trustworthiness. Especially when it comes to swapping large amounts of money and something is going wrong, you are well advised to make the company legally easier to reach. Whether this really works in the end is another thing. Time will show which providers will ultimately deal with their customers’ concerns seriously and responsibly.

Security and Reputation

We also take a look at the security standards of a rovider. Which measures he has set up and how the invests are secured against failure.

The Top 5 Ethereum providers

From our point of view, these are the Top 5 Ethereum providers, which are especially recommendable for beginners to make the first steps in a relatively reliable and safe environment.

Coinbase¹

With more than 13 million customers and a trading volume of over USD 50 billion, Coinbase is the largest provider of various cryptocurrencies in the world. Coinbase is both an exchange service provider and a trading platform (GDAX). The San Francisco-based company has a good reputation and is extremely easy to use. The company was recently valued at $1.6 billion. This makes it the first Unicorn among providers of cryptocurrencies.

However, there have been some problems with Coinbase lately: sometimes because of DDoS attacks, sometimes because of difficulties with credit card payments and sometimes simply because the customers’ demand was so big that the technology was not able to perform. But Coinbase has mastered all those problems and no Ether – at least officially – has been lost.

The biggest unique selling proposition of Coinbase is its online wallet. You no longer need to install and manage your own wallet. This makes setting up and purchasing Ether a cinch. According to its own statement, Coinbase has additionally insured all funds “hosted” in the online wallets against default at Lloyd’s of London. Thanks to a sophisticated mechanism, only 2% of the hosted funds are kept online and the rest is stored in separate offline wallets. This significantly minimizes the risk that all funds can be stolen at once, e. g. by a hacker attack.

So if you want to be part of the largest crypto trading platform and don’t want to install your own wallet, you should choose Coinbase.

Note: Using the link to Coinbase¹ provided here, we will both receive a bonus of 10 USD (approx. 8.50 EUR) on your first deposit of 100 USD (approx. 84 EUR). You don’t suffer any disadvantage – on the contrary: You will receive 10 USD and additionally support the further development of our websites. A win-win. We would also be happy if you could pass this link on to friends and acquaintances to support our blog.

GDAX

GDAX is Coinbase’s trading platform. Similar to other platforms such as Poloniex or Bittrex, this platform brings together buyers and sellers of cryptocurrencies. However, in contrast to the platforms mentioned above new registrations are currently permitted for GDAX and payment in Euros and US-Dollar is possible. The user interface is very clearly arranged and is easy to use. The special thing about GDAX is that you can also register there with your Coinbase account and then benefit from the much cheaper fees of the platform. In addition, you have full access to your Coinbase wallet and do not have to pay any transaction costs if you want to transfer money from your Coinbase Ethereum wallet to the GDAX exchange for trading.

Saving tip: First create a new account at Coinbase¹ and receive a credit of 10 USD (approx. 8,50 EUR) for your first purchase of Ethereum over 100 USD (approx. 84 EUR). If you would like to invest more later on, just sign up with your Coinbase account at GDAX and buy the remaining amount at a much lower fee. And with the reputation of Coinbase. Disadvantage: The GDAX surface is a bit more complicated and extensive than that of Coinbase.

Bitpanda¹

Bitpanda was one of the first crypto currency providers in Europe. The formerly called Coinimal service from Austria is reliable and trustworthy. The interface is extremely intuitive and well designed. Onboarding worked excellently and quickly. An online wallet has also recently become available. The only drawback is that the fees are not clearly broken down and are usually very high.

But if you prefer a supplier from Europe, we definitely recommend Bitpanda¹.

CEX.io¹

Founded in 2013, this provider comes from the UK and was formerly a cloud mining provider. It is one of the pioneers in this field. The support and security precautions are excellent. It is also one of the few companies registered with the Financial Supervisory Authority FinCEN (USA).

CEX.io¹ is the right choice for anyone who values a “traditional” and truly comprehensive secured broker with its head office in the EU and a clearly arranged user interface.

Plus500

Plus500 is a well-known Europe based online provider of CFDs. The company has been in existence since 2008 and offers a good structured and easy to use online platform. CFDs do not require a wallet. Although you can trade here with Ethereum you doesn’t own it. Nevertheless we have decided to include a CFD representative here. Particularly the so-called “lever” is an interesting possibility to trade for the price of 1 ETH, e. g. the equivalent value of 30 ETH or more!

If you would like to go even deeper into trading Ethereum CFDs, we have an article for you to read on: How to increase proft with Ethereum CFD?

For those who want to leverage short-term price increases at Ethereum without having to install and manage their own wallet, Ethereum CFDs from Plus500 are an ideal start. Please consider that the services of Plus500 are not provided for traders in the US (we are currently looking for a suitable alternative for US citizens).

Summary

The simplest supplier for beginners is Coinbase¹. Although it is in the middle of the field with fees, this provider scores points with his huge “community” and his online wallet. In addition, the connection to the GDAX online exchange is very convenient and reduces fees.

An attractive exchange service provider from Europe is Bitpanda¹ with an extremely intuitive interface and a quick onboarding process.

In the top 5 as well, Cex.io¹. The service scores with low fees and fast onboarding. The company is also based in the UK, and so still in the EU.

If you want to speculate with leverage, you should consider trading in Ethereum CFDs. This can be done with one of the largest providers of CFDs, Plus500.

If you already have more experience with Ether in general, you can try your hand at one of the trading platforms such as GDAX, Kraken, Poloniex or Bitfinex. Trading there is more complex than buying at an exchange service provider. However, the fees are usually cheaper.

Finally, a word about trading with Ether: Whoever buys Ethereum Ether (ETH) or CFDs should only invest the money he is willing to lose in the worst case. This article does not constitute investment advice. Please inform yourself comprehensively and responsibly before investing in cryptocurrencies or CFDs.

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Stephan Niedermeier

Stephan is member and co-founder of Coinauten, a network of experts on cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. He has already founded several successful technology companies and is a Blockchain investor from the very beginning. Stephan advises investors and companies on strategic and technological issues.
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