The unfortunate reality is that scammers continue to plague the digital asset markets. Therefore, it is important to learn how you can protect yourself when trading or investing in crypto. To help you achieve this goal, this guide you will explain how to trade bitcoin safely and securely.

How to Trade Bitcoin

You can trade bitcoin on exchanges and peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplaces by buying and selling directly from and to other traders. On the other hand, you can place a buy or sell offer, which will appear in a public listing on the exchange. By doing this, you become a market maker.

Market making is the process of providing liquidity to buyers and sellers on an exchange by placing offers and limit orders. Market makers earn money from the difference at which they sell or buy cryptocurrencies.

For example, you can place sell and buy bitcoin offers on Paxful after creating an account and completing the verification process. When you create an offer, you will set the trade limits and the trade margin. The trade limit means that other traders can only buy from you a minimum of ten US dollars and a maximum of 50 US dollars worth of BTC for example.

Use a Trusted Platform to Trade Bitcoin Safely and Securely

The first step towards trading bitcoin safely and securely is choosing the right platform. A suitable crypto exchange or marketplace should have customer support, it should be transparent, and compliant. Therefore, find out what people are saying about a particular platform, and if it is mostly positive feedback, you can trade on it.

Furthermore, a good platform should comply with any relevant regulations and it should clearly outline terms of service and its privacy, dispute, KYC, and AML policies. Moreover, a good platform is transparent enough to reveal its fees, whether it stores your crypto or not, and what it is responsible for.

For instance, Paxful clearly states in its terms of service that it “does not act as a payment processor.” That means that the liability for the entire payment process lies between the buyer and the seller. Additionally, Paxful explains that it does not custody the digital currencies of its users.

Learn the Rules

Before you begin to trade bitcoin, understand the rules of that platform. Learn how the platform works and what you should do in case a problem arises while trading. Moreover, find out what you can and cannot do. The last thing you want is to get blocked from a good platform for breaking the rules.

Besides the policies and terms of service, you can learn a lot from the FAQ section and the blog. Therefore, make sure that you read through them before you begin trading.

Trade Bitcoin with Verified Traders

Another precaution that you should take is trading with verified users only. Most crypto exchanges and marketplaces require their users to verify their identity through a KYC process. This could entail ID, phone, home address, and email verification. Once users submit these details, the platform will determine their authenticity, then either approve or disapprove their applications.

Therefore, ensure that you trade with traders that have fully completed the verification process because it means the platform has approved their authenticity.

Paxful has several verification levels that give users certain trading rights. For example, if you only verify your email address and phone number, you can only carry out trades of up to $1,000 per trade. If you verify your ID, however, the limit per trade increases to $10,000.

Choose Traders with a High Positive Feedback Score

You are most likely to have a smooth trade when transacting with a user that has a high positive feedback score. Also, read the feedback that other traders have written before starting a trade.

A platform like Paxful allows both buyers and sellers to leave feedback after carrying out a trade. As a result, always trade on a platform where you can view the feedback left by other traders.

Use Escrow

Another safety precaution you can take is to trade bitcoin on a platform that offers escrow. The escrow feature protects the buyer by locking the bitcoin as they make the payment.

The Paxful escrow, for instance, locks bitcoin once a user initiates a trade. Paxful keeps the bitcoin locked until the conditions of the transaction are met. If you complete the payment process and the seller fails to release the bitcoin from escrow, you should report the issue immediately to the Paxful customer support.

Do Not Trade Outside the Platform

Never agree to trade outside a platform because the risk of getting scammed will increase. Therefore, if someone asks you to trade outside an exchange or P2P platform, politely decline.

They could offer seemingly logical reasons for their proposal or offer a better deal. However, if the deal is too good to be true, think twice. Users that make such proposals probably do not have the best intentions anyway.

Cancel a Trade if Something Does Not Seem Right

If the above scenario takes place, you should cancel the trade immediately. Also, if the trader is making other proposals instead of carrying out the transaction as expected, cancel the trade instantly. If possible, report the user to save other traders from getting duped or leave negative feedback.

Note, however, that it is not always easy to tell that something is wrong. For that reason, be alert when trading bitcoin and never be desperate.

Ensure That the Trader’s Names Match

When making a trade, ask for the user’s ID and confirm that the ID name is similar to the bank account name or the online wallet account name.

The process of naming matching will let you know whether you are sending payment to the seller or to someone else. So, if the ID name does not match the PayPal account name, you should cancel the trade .

Trading bitcoin should not scare you. As long as you observe the tips above and refrain from desiring quick and huge returns, you will remain safe.

Aside from trading bitcoin, you can earn digital currency in these other four ways.