In this cryptocurrency app roundup, we take you on a journey through the information platforms keeping traders, enthusiasts, developers, speculators and casual observers alike clued into the world of virtual currencies. While most of these tools are available for desktop and laptop setups, we want to focus on the mobile versions for professionals and amateurs always on the go.
Decentralization is not just happening within cryptocurrency tech but across different sectors of the world economy, too. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency projects are driving decentralized revolutions in renewable energy, telecommunication, and workplace environments, to name a few. With record numbers of people working remotely, there has perhaps never been a more important time to have the right virtual tools available at your fingertips.
Charting Apps
TradingView
The company behind the incredible web application now has a mobile version. Before becoming a cryptocurrency app, TradingView (TV) started out as a charting and idea platform for traditional markets. You can still find just about any stock, bond or currency pair in the world on this platform.
Of course, not wanting to miss out on the newest asset class, they’ve added a whole bunch of cryptocurrency pairs into the mix as well. TradingView has agreements in place with most of the major exchanges out there including Binance, Kraken, and Coinbase. So you’ll never be stuck without the latest price feeds.
The best part about TV is that it’s basically free. And the free version has a bunch of goodies bundled with it. The advanced trader will want to check out the additional features that come with the paid version.
If you are looking for something a bit meatier, take a look at our TradingView Primer for an in-depth discussion on the platform. TradingView is currently only available on iOS, but an Android version is in development for an unknown date in 2018.
Coinigy
Coinigy is the new kid on the block. They focus exclusively on cryptocurrencies and provide price feeds from over 40 different exchanges. Since specialization is their game, Coinigy has better portfolio management tools than TradingView. In addition, they provide (API) tools to connect your cryptocurrency accounts directly to your charts so you can trade at a click of a button directly from the charts.
All this comes at a price, however. Coinigy’s offering is not free, except for a 30-day trial option. Of course, this is plenty of time to decide whether this kind of approach will work for you or not.
Portfolio Trackers
The following apps also provide some charting capability but are, in general, more focused on providing specialized portfolio services.
Blockfolio
Blockfolio is a comprehensive portfolio management app which helps investors and traders keep track of their favorite cryptocurrency investments. The app is well known among many in the crypto community. So well, in fact, that some celebrity users such as Ian Balina are famous for posting their entire blockfolio portfolios on twitter!
Some nice additional features include price target alerts and development updates from cryptocurrency project teams.
CoinTracking
CoinTracking is arguably the most comprehensive portfolio tracking application out there. The app analyzes your trades and creates reports in real-time. If you like using a number of exchanges and storing your coins in several locations, then using this cryptocurrency app will make accessing all that info an absolute breeze. CoinTracking is recommended for the advanced cryptocurrency user but is not particularly difficult to use.
Real-time reports are pretty useful for traders who need access to realized and unrealized profits at short notice. The reports also include a nifty capital gains tax calculator for those who need to keep track of their IOU’s.
News Apps
The cryptocurrency app options for news are not particularly packed with features. However, when it comes to news, you’ll definitely want quality content over features. Also, make sure to check back with us at CoinCentral in the future as we hope to introduce our own app at some point.
Cointelegraph
Cointelegraph was established in 2013 and provides quality news along with their trademark cartoon-like illustrations. The app does have some cryptocurrency price conversions for major fiat pairs like the US Dollar ($), Euro (€) and British Pound (£). However, the functionality is not particularly that great. Again, the power of this cryptocurrency app lies less in the app itself and more in the quick access to the latest cryptocurrency news.
CoinDesk
Again, not the most sophisticated of apps. Despite some reports from users with regards to crashes and functionality glitches, Coindesk is recommended for users who keenly follow the CoinDesk news feed.
Personal Wallets
The main advantage of owning a personal wallet over an exchange wallet is that you truly own your private keys. As a result, this allows you to be your own bank. The following two personal wallets embrace this philosophy and are recommended by many in the crypto community.
Blockchain Wallet
The Blockchain Wallet is brought to you by the same company which runs one of the most popular blockchain explorers worldwide. The interface is simple and intuitive to use. At this time, the wallet only supports Bitcoin, Ether and Bitcoin Cash but expect more to be added in the coming months as competing wallets enter the marketplace offering more coins.
Blockchain wallet is also slowly adding fiat-to-crypto exchanges in a number of selected countries. Hopefully we’ll see a majority of countries listed in future developments.
Bread Wallet
The Bread wallet has been around for a couple of years now and has even been recommended by such bitcoin gurus as Andreas Antonopolous. The Bread team uphold the spirit of cryptocurrency by making the wallet code open-source. Furthermore, your private keys are not held by their servers but by yourself. All transactions happen directly with the appropriate blockchain.
Bread has the additional advantage of allowing you to purchase cryptocurrency with your debit and credit card and they even provide a Bitcoin ATM option, where available.
Crypto.com Exchange Wallets
Exchange apps depend for the most part on your personal preference and access in your country. The key difference with exchange apps is that most exchanges hold your private keys. In other words, they are storing your cryptocurrencies for you. If security is your primary concern, consider using a hardware walletinstead.
There are way too many exchanges for us to cover here so for the purposes of keeping things clear and brief, we’ll focus on two major exchange apps, one from the US and one from Asia.
Crypto.com
Payments and cryptocurrency platform, Crypto.com has launched a new MCO Visa Card portfolio and MCO Private service. Crypto.com’s updated card portfolio now includes three new offerings: Icy White (new 5,000 MCO Tier), Jade Green, and Royal Indigo. Recently, the company unveiled their Invest feature for customers outside of Hong Kong, Singapore and the U.S.
Speaking about the update portfolio, Kris Marszalek, Co-Founder and CEO of CRYPTO.com said the company is pleased to introduce its updated portfolio of MCO Visa Cards along with a full suite of services, including an exclusive cryptocurrency concierge service, MCO Private.
MCO Private
MCO Private caters to the MCO Visa Platinum Obsidian Black and Icy White cardholders. Its services are tailored to the needs and interests of high-net-worth clients in the crypto space, offering both specialized services and access.
In particular the platform offers advice on digital asset custody services, assistance with Over-the-Counter (OTC) transactions, and exclusive access and invitations to industry events, including meetings with industry thought leaders. It also provides preferential allocation terms for competitive investment opportunities and dedicated customer support via phone and IM.
MCO Private clients are eligible for the MCO Private concierge service as long as their MCO tokens remain locked up. Both the Icy White card and Obsidian Black card can be reserved through the MCO Wallet App by locking up the respective 5,000 or 50,000 MCO required MCO tokens. More details on the MCO Visa Cards and MCO Private are available on mco.crypto.com.
MCO Visa Cards & MCO Wallet App
Paired with the MCO Wallet App, the MCO Visa Card will enable users to spend cryptocurrency at over 40 million locations worldwide that accept Visa. The list of cardholder benefits challenges the world’s best credit cards.
MCO cardholders are able t enjoy a metal card without monthly or annual fees, with free shipping, receive up to 2 percent cashback on card purchases, and enjoy unlimited airport lounge access with LoungeKey for select cards.
On top of that the MCO card holders are able to spend overseas with perfect interbank exchange rates, participate in the Platinum Referral Reward Program — a unique peer referral program, offering up to a never-before-seen US$10,000 sign-on bonus per cardholder. Other benefits include holders being able to earn rewards with industry-leading Crypto Wallet Cashback–a program offering up to 1 percent cashback rewards for all purchases and exchanges of cryptocurrency in the MCO Wallet.
The MCO Visa Cards are currently undergoing global testing prior to shipping in Asia, Europe, and the United States. Stay tuned for more information regarding the shipment of MCO Visa Cards and the official launch of MCO Private.
Coinbase
Coinbase has traditionally focused only on a few coins, the core ones: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. And while they don’t currently offer a wide variety of coins and features, what they do do is provide a rock-solid cryptocurrency exchange. Coinbase is probably considered to be the safest exchange in the world with insurance-backed coin storage and a regulatory friendly environment.
Many investors are simply not interested in collecting a wide variety of cryptocurrencies and prefer a simple user experience. Coinbase does this and does it well, which is probably one of the reasons why the app has overwhelmingly positive reviews. If you have an account with Coinbase, this app is essential for your collection.
Binance
Binance is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world with a market capitalization of $1.3 billion. They currently only provide crypto-to-crypto exchange. The slick interface and wide variety of coins provide users with plenty of opportunities to invest in smaller project tokens. For these reasons alone, Binance remains a firm favorite among cryptocurrency enthusiasts worldwide.
Leaving coins on any exchange is a riskier approach. However, if you prefer to do this then this cryptocurrency app does a great job of keeping you updated on your portfolio.
Users should be aware that there is currently no iOS app store application despite several online versions that can be downloaded manually. This is a potential security risk. We recommend iOS users use the web application for now.
Security
Google Authenticator
Any investor who’s serious about security will want this cryptocurrency app in their collection. It’s no secret that scams are commonplace in the cryptocurrency world. 2 Factor authentication (2FA) is a relatively new security feature which adds a second layer of security to sensitive accounts. 2FA is most commonly used when logging on to cryptocurrency exchanges and when authorizing transfers. However, it can also be used with your stock standard Gmail account or perhaps even your WordPress website.
The authenticator app will provide you with a 6 digit number combination that will be required before proceeding with your next step in a login or transfer process. This number updates every 20 seconds or so. What this means is that an attacker would need both your password and your phone to hack into your account. Hackers have been known to steal/discover passwords from halfway around the world. But, getting hold of your personal phone is a much harder task!
Google’s 2FA is highly recommended. We cover this topic in detail here.
In Closing: Cryptocurrency App Checklist for 2018
As the cryptocurrency industry continues to evolve many sub-industries are starting to grow along with it. This naturally provides an opportunity for innovative players to enter the space and bring their own unique cryptocurrency app to market.
Many people make the mistake of downloading apps which focus purely on tracking the price. As we have shown, there are clearly a number of apps which specialize, from news to charting to storage, security and beyond. You may of course only need to track the price. But, as you venture further down the cryptocurrency rabbit hole you’ll probably find yourself using several different applications to stay on top of things.
Have we missed some interesting alternatives? What are your cryptocurrency app recommendations as we move into the second half of the year? Be sure to tweet us your favorite apps for 2018!
This article appears courtesy of Coincentral.com and was written by Ryan Smith. The original article can be found at https://coincentral.com/cryptocurrency-app-checklist-2018/.
It also contains supplemental information about CRYPTO.com and the MCO app which can be found at https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/crypto-com-launches-mco-visa-cards-private-wallet-app-crypto-exchange/
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