Why follow the BTC to USD live price chart?

Nowadays, cryptocurrencies are often called digital assets, because we can buy, sell, trade them just like traditional assets on the stock market. Thus, the majority of crypto enthusiasts are investors or traders who are trying to get a profit by speculating on crypto prices.

It’s worth mentioning that crypto markets are highly volatile. By trading virtual currencies you can make profits more quickly than when you trade stocks. Besides, trading cryptocurrencies don’t require special finance education. That’s why it’s so attractive for institutional and retail users. At the same time, trading crypto involves higher risks. Therefore it’s essential to follow the price charts and understand what influences the value of BTC and other coins and tokens.

What you can find on the price chart?

Whether you look at the price chart of the crypto or stock assets, you can see a visual representation of the price changes in different periods of time. Traders use this information to understand the sentiments on the market — whether they are bullish (when the rate rising) or bearish (when it goes down). This data helps to catch the good entry points and buy the asset for low prices and sell them when the value rises so as to get income. So, what info can you see on this graph?

Price fluctuations

If you look at the Trade page on the CEX.IO Spot Trading website, you can see the chart representing the fluctuations of BTC market value. There are different pillows called ‘candlesticks’ that show the uptrend (those are green) and downtrend (if they are red). When you look at the right part of the graph, you can see the price indexes. On the downside of the chart, we can see the time metric. Put the cursor on the latest candle (to the right part) and to find the current BTC in USD exchange rate. This is an approximate price at which you can buy Bitcoins (BTC) for now. However, keep in mind this value can change dramatically even the next minute.

General market sentiments

The CEX.IO Spot Trading live price charts are intuitively navigated and consist only of essential information needed for trading cryptocurrencies. They’re not overloaded with tins of oscillators, like on many other crypto platforms, but represent only the price fluctuations and the trading volume of different time periods. You can see the customers’ trading volume under the candlesticks — they are grey pillars on the graph. Why this info is important when analyzing the crypto market?

The answer is simple — the higher the trading volume is, the more people (or traders) are supporting the current trend. So, if you can see a significant increase or decrease in the BTC price, but the trading volume pillar is lower than many others shown nearby, that means market participants will most likely don’t support this shift. Theoretically, the price will soon return to the previous level.

The crypto market performance

To find more supportive info for their suggestions, experienced traders often check the market depth formed by the order book records. This indicator visually reflects how many customers are willing to buy or sell Bitcoin (BTC) for a particular price.

Consequently, we can see the market spread — the difference between the lowest bid (buy) price and the highest ask (sell) price. Usually, the smaller the spread, the higher the market liquidity. And high liquidity means fast execution of even large-volume trading orders.

What is Bitcoin (BTC) and how it can change the global financial system?

We know people with the nickname, Satoshi Nakamoto, as the Bitcoin creators. But we shouldn’t forget that they (or he) have also created the first blockchain — the only kind of digital network where cryptocurrencies can operate. Even before BTC developers launched the first distributed ledger, the concept of blockchain was described by different computer scientists.

The initial idea was in creating a storage system where documents are protected from unauthorized changes. One of the possible solutions was a system where document timestamps could not have tampered with. Every record included the hashes of previous records’ certificates. Thus, the data structure keeps the strict chronological order. Additionally, the system used private keys or digital signatures to sign the document.

So, Nakomoto’s idea wasn’t unique. They just used a concept and a protocol created back in 1991, add some improvements, and presented the model of the decentralized financial system and the first cryptocurrency.

The use case of Bitcoin as a payment instrument

If you need to transfer funds abroad quickly, instead of looking for a bank with lower fees you can use Bitcoin (BTC) or other cryptocurrencies. Because the distributed ledger offers you some advantages that traditional financial institutions don’t have:

• Even if you send a large amount of funds, you don’t need to provide tons of documents. All you need is a crypto wallet with the needed number of coins on balance and the address of the recipient wallet;
• On average, BTC transactions need a few minutes to be completed. So if you want to send money to another part of the world, you don’t need to wait days or weeks as if you were sending funds through the bank system;
• Crypto transactions are cheap. Most of the blockchains charge less than a dollar to process the digital money transfer. For instance, CEX.IO users should pay only 0.0005 BTC to withdraw coins to another wallet.

These points are just a few reasons why people prefer virtual currencies against traditional fiat funds. The list can be extended with numerous other benefits. Mainly, crypto transactions are highly secured with hashing algorithms, simple in use, and are not regulated by a single entity (like the government or bank).

In our modern life, this new technology finds a lot of use cases outside the digital industry. Many online stores accept Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) as payment methods. So you can buy Ethereum on the crypto exchange, for instance, and then use it to pay for goods and services.

Bitcoin (BTC) as a trading asset

Bitcoin, as the first virtual currency, was a pioneer in the crypto market. When the network was just launched, the rate of 1 BTC to USD was less than a cent. In ten years this value increased by million times and the last highest point the BTC has reached was nearly $62,000.

Finance analytics believe that there are a few main drivers that affect BTC and most altcoins. The strongest one is probably the global adoption and popularity. Because the more people know about the asset, the more they want to buy it. Other factors, like network operability and transaction security, are also important, but they rather contribute to the two first mentioned. Thus, the news about the technical upgrade could attract more attention to the project so more people read about it and decide to obtain the digital token.

Where to buy BTC with USD using your credit card?

When you’re looking for a place where to buy Bitcoin (BTC) or other virtual currencies, a robust crypto exchange platform will come in handy. To make your crypto purchases simple and convenient, many of them are supporting transfers from debit cards and credit cards, since it’s probably the most popular payment methods for now. When using cards online, people care most about the security of their operations and card data. Because no one wants to lose funds as a result of an internet scam. So, when you found a Bitcoin trading platform, make sure it’s secure enough before making any operations.

Check the certification

Obtaining the next certificates are a must for every crypto platform that works with fiat funds:

• SSL-encryption

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a technology of encryption the information you input on the website. If the site has this certificate, that means your connection is secure and any data you enter is stored and shared safely and remains private. All sites which URL starts with https//: are SSL-encrypted so every visitor can check whether the connection is secure.

• PCI DSS compliance

The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is an internationally recognized set of security requirements related to gathering and storing card credentials. If the platform has this certificate, that means it passed the regular checks by independent auditors. Thus, you can be sure that no one can steal and use your card data.

• AML/KYC policy

The anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies attracts scammers and bad actors. So the reliable crypto exchange should maintain the KYC checks and verify customers’ identity to prevent possible frauds. As a rule, verification takes a few minutes to provide necessary information and photos. And it keeps your account secure from unauthorized actions.

Finally, make sure that the company can operate in your area. Some local regulations require platforms to obtain special licenses in their country while others are not crypto-friendly at all. By the way, CEX.IO has all the mentioned certifications, got a Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC), and registered as Money Services Businesses (MSB) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

FAQ: Buying Bitcoins with a card

What do I need to buy Bitcoin (BTC)?

If you’re a CEX.IO customer, you just need a debit card or credit card. With our Instant Buy service purchasing cryptocurrencies made super easy. You just open the page, choose the amount you want to buy, and enter your card credentials. The crypto you bought will appear on your account immediately. So, if you still don’t have an account on CEX.IO, you can easily register here.

How can I check the actual price of BTC?

When you’re using the Instant Buy option, you can see how much to pay for the exact amount of crypto (BTC in our case) according to the current market price. So, you don’t need to check the crypto prices every time you make a purchase.

Can I use a bank transfer to purchase crypto?

Yes, you can top up your CEX.IO balance with fiat funds using SWIFT, ACH, Faster Payments, and SEPA wire transfers. Just make sure this option is available in your country.

Where to store my Bitcoins?

You can keep it on your CEX.IO account for free. Later, you can exchange BTC to USD and withdraw funds to your card. We use the enhanced security measures to protect your funds and keep them on cold wallets, away from possible online hacks. However, it doesn’t mean that you can not withdraw your digital funds when you need them. To cover the customers’ transactions, CEX.IO keeps the company’s funds on hot wallets. More you can learn in this blog.

Can I withdraw money back to my card?

At CEX.IO you remain in full control of your funds. So if you want to withdraw them, you can do it any time by using different payment instruments. Say, if you need to send funds to your card, you can exchange crypto for fiats (BTC to USD, GBP, EUR). The most simple way to do so is using the Instant Sell in the CEX.IO mobile app. By using this feature you can easily convert Bitcoins to USD, for example, and send the proceeds right to your card.

An easy way on how to convert Bitcoin to dollar

As a rule, exchanging cryptocurrencies for fiat funds involves trading operations. Say, if you want to convert your funds, from BTC to dollars, you can do it on this page or in the Trade Pro tab in the mobile app. There you can switch between numerous crypto markets, like BTC/USD or BTC/EUR (BTC to EUR), check the price charts, and place market or limit trade orders.

The CEX.IO mobile app offers you more simple ways to exchange your crypto for fiats in the shortest time.

Instant Sell

This feature allows you to get fiats by selling your crypto and get proceeds to your linked debit card or credit card. To start, go to the Buy/Sell page in the mobile app and switch to Sell. Then:

• Choose what cryptocurrency you want to sell and what fiat currency you want to receive;
• Select the amount and price set or enter your own in the last box;
• Tap Sell Now, check the details and choose where to send proceeds — to your card or CEX.IO balance;
• Finally, click Proceed.

Exchange

If you want to exchange Bitcoins to another cryptocurrency, go to the Exchange tab. You can see two amount boxes — From and To. What you should do next is just select the currencies from the drop-down list and click Exchange Now button. Right after that you’ll have the desired coins or tokens on your CEX.IO account.