From today, I will be reviewing cryptocurrency exchanges that I have used throughout my short cryptocurrency investing career. Although I have only been in the crypto scene for about a year and a half, I, like many of you, chased obscure coins with the hope of unearthing that fabled hidden gem that would grant me great fortune. I've been burned many times - most of the time, actually, but I've also been lucky on a few occasions. I can count how many times I've been lucky on two-fifths of a hand.
I recall the time I discovered a cryptocurrency called Raiblocks. Raiblocks was only available on Bitgrail, which was embroiled in a huge controversy not too long ago, and Mercatox. I only have fond memories of Mercatox, so that brings me to reviewing it first.
This is Mercatox exchange. I always found the green top menu and overall greenish theme a bit tacky, but you get used to it. Frankly, it does not have the prettiest home page, but I've never had a problem buying and selling cryptocurrencies, which I believe is most important. I take back what I just said. During the Raiblocks rally of 2017, Mercatox was shut down due to server overload, or something like that. The exchange couldn't handle the volume traded, which I believe was in the millions. But it was resolved eventually, and I had no issue after that.
First, you sign up, which isn't difficult to do, and set up 2FA authentication, which I always do. Before you start trading, you have to send Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, or Dogecoin to your address of the cryptocurrency you choose. I always found it nice that they have Dogecoin pairings.
The wallet looks like this:
The wallet has "Deposit", "Withdraw", and "Send" options. "Deposit" gives you an address to which you can send your cryptocurrencies. "Withdraw" lets you send your coins out. The "Send" option apparently lets you send between users. I have never tried this, so if anyone does, let me know how it goes.
Once you have some cryptocurrencies on your balance, you can start trading. The trading chart looks like this:
It's no different than other candle charts. To the right of the chart, you'll find the list of tradable coins and tokens. Personally, I liked having the options right there for me to choose.
Buying and selling isn't too difficult. You can input the price and amount that you want to buy or sell, and once you click the "Buy" or "Sell" button, your order gets listed on the "Sell orders" or "Buy orders" boxes. You can also sell immediately by clicking on a buy order, and you can buy immediately by clicking on a sell order. My favorite feature is the Chatroom on the far right side of the page. It always cracked me up to see people openly shilling their coins. Some were so convincing, I almost bought them. Sneaky sneaky.
Scroll down just a little more and you'll find two more boxes : "Trade history", which shows the most recent trades, and "My Trade History", which shows you your recent trades of that specific pairing - in this case, ETH and BTC. What annoys me is the fact that the "h" on "Trade history" is not capitalized while the "H" on "My Trade History" is....
Anyhow, I think Mercatox is a solid exchange. Sure, it may not look the best, but it gets the job done. Sometimes, I prefer it over some of the bigger exchanges that have futuristic layouts. For me, Mercatox is like that reliable, unremarkable yet wonderful friend that we all have.
And that's a short overview of Mercatox exchange. There are some things I didn't cover, but this should give you an idea of how the exchange looks and works. If you have any further questions or comments, please leave them below, and we can talk some more. Thanks, and see you again soon!