Outrageous trading fees, should I switch to stocks?

[aceboy44]

Hello everyone

I'm new to the cryptocurrency world and recently started trading (at a loss of course.) I live in a country where there is only 1 cryptocurrency exchange company. However, the fees they charge are outrageous (5% for buying, 3% for selling.) However, I must admit the online tools are amazing (compared to other exchange companies.) I will give you an example. If I purchase 1 BTC NOW I pay $12,255 USD, and if I want to sell at the same moment I receive $11,111 USD (how can I make profit with this?)

I have found another company that accepts my local currency but read horrible comments on Trustpilot (not to mention the lengthy account verification which includes a live video of me saying certain characters.) I read many comments that even after providing the necessary personal information your account gets locked (but they charge 1.5% fees on buying/selling, which is acceptable for me.)

I thought about using exchange companies in the US but when I pay/withdraw money for bitcoin transactions I'm paying in $USD (I lose money both for buying and selling bitcoin since the bank transfers the money from local currency to $USD and vice versa.)

I'm extremely disappointed at this. Should I just sell all my BTCs and switch to my country's stock market? Or is there a better option for me that I'm missing?



 

[o_e_l_e_o]

how can I make profit with this?

Buy now, sell in 5 years

I read many comments that even after providing the necessary personal information your account gets locked (but they charge 1.5% fees on buying/selling, which is acceptable for me.)

I would definitely avoid exchanges with a reputation for locking accounts and seizing your coins, especially after the accounts are already verified. Many smaller exchanges which have done this in the past have either done it to help cover the fact they are insolvent or have simply kept their customers' coins and exit scammed.

Or is there a better option for me that I'm missing?

If it is day trading you are looking for, then a centralized exchange is probably your only option. You could use decentralized exchanges or trade peer-to-peer (depending on the volume in your country), but it isn't quick and you cannot day trade using these methods.

If you are comfortable sharing the name of the country you are in, then you might be able to get some more specific answers.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

how can I make profit with this?

Buy now, sell in 5 years

Heh heh, maybe.  I remember there used to be a service called wesellcrypto.com, and you could buy bitcoin and some other coins with PayPal and it was easy as hell to do it--but they charged fees that were at least as outrageous as what OP is describing.  But you know what?  Had I kept all the bitcoin I bought through them years ago, I'd have made a huge profit.

OP, you didn't mention what country you're in, but is it possible for you to use a crypto exchange that isn't located in your country?  I know in the US it's possible to trade on exchanges like Yobit and Kucoin, which aren't located in the states.  If that's an option for you, there are a lot of exchanges out there that have very low trading fees.

And as far as stocks go, that's something I'd always be for.  Nowadays most online brokerages let you trade with zero commission, which is something I never thought I'd see.  Oh, by the way:  if you use a platform like Robinhood to buy bitcoin on, you're not really buying bitcoin (meaning you don't really have access to your private keys and you can't withdraw bitcoin).  Robinhood is a great place to trade if you want to bet on bitcoin's price, but it's useless if you actually want to own it.

[aceboy44]

Thank you folks for the quick response.

Yes, my strategy is to buy and HODL (I can wait 5 years if prices will increase.)

Oh and I live in Kuwait (any good exchange company you can think of? Converting from KWD - $ USD and vice versa makes me want to keep my current exchange company )

[jackg]

Can you not use coinbase there? https://www.coinbase.com/places/kuwait

Not sure if pro.coinbase.com is available there but if you can do a bank transfer on to it then you'll pay 0.5% (I think) per trade...

[aceboy44]

Can you not use coinbase there? https://www.coinbase.com/places/kuwait

Not sure if pro.coinbase.com is available there but if you can do a bank transfer on to it then you'll pay 0.5% (I think) per trade...

I actually have an account there but it wont let me purchase anything before identity verification (I don't feel comfortable giving my personal info. to companies that are out of Kuwait.)

It wont even show me the price of purchasing/selling 1 BTC in KWD before identity verification...... Thus discouraging me from even thinking of uploading my ID card.

Can you pay in your country's currency with coinbase? And how secure is my personal information in that company? It seems much cheaper than the company I deal with.

[jackg]

I actually have an account there but it wont let me purchase anything before identity verification (I don't feel comfortable giving my personal info. to companies that are out of Kuwait.)

It wont even show me the price of purchasing/selling 1 BTC in KWD before identity verification...... Thus discouraging me from even thinking of uploading my ID card.

Can you pay in your country's currency with coinbase? And how secure is my personal information in that company? It seems much cheaper than the company I deal with.

I don't know if you can use the Kuwaiti dinar, I normally exchange using the pound sterling though so there's a chance they do - you could try contacting their support.

As for the safety, I don't really know how secure they are. When I did kyc verification I only needed a photo of my passport so assumed it wasn't as bad (they didn't need a "selfie" for example).

[nelson4lov]

I'm extremely disappointed at this. Should I just sell all my BTCs and switch to my country's stock market? Or is there a better option for me that I'm missing?

The fees you mentioned are extremely high. I wouldn't trade on such exchange with that kinda fees. High fees and spreads are one of the things I look out for before picking an exchange to make my trades, it wouldn't be cool if I make 5% profit and the exchange take it all.

Your best bet is to find another exchange, there are several centralized exchanges that offer their services to most countries or better still trade on a decentralized exchange. Then you can use P2p marketplace to buy bitcoin you would use for trading. 8% net fee (buying 5% and selling 3%) wouldn't help you in the long run. You might be making profits but it'll go into the exchange's pocket.

[exstasie]

Hello everyone

I'm new to the cryptocurrency world and recently started trading (at a loss of course.) I live in a country where there is only 1 cryptocurrency exchange company. However, the fees they charge are outrageous (5% for buying, 3% for selling.) However, I must admit the online tools are amazing (compared to other exchange companies.) I will give you an example. If I purchase 1 BTC NOW I pay $12,255 USD, and if I want to sell at the same moment I receive $11,111 USD (how can I make profit with this?)

You obviously can't profit by day trading on that exchange.

An 8% spread is pretty horrible, but I've seen people pay that much for credit card buys during the 2017 bubble. People routinely pay up to 4% on Coinbase. They do it because they expect long term gains immensely larger than the 4% or 8% fee they are paying.

I'm extremely disappointed at this. Should I just sell all my BTCs and switch to my country's stock market? Or is there a better option for me that I'm missing?

Honestly, I've always thought the percentage commissions crypto exchanges charge are a scam when you consider the flat fees we pay with stock brokers, let alone the spreads. Crypto trading is expensive, so if you don't know how to maximize your gains and minimize your losses on trades, it's going to be a struggle.

I actually have an account there but it wont let me purchase anything before identity verification (I don't feel comfortable giving my personal info. to companies that are out of Kuwait.)

What you first need to do is get your cash into BTC, then you can trade with very low (0.1%) fees on exchanges like Binance or Kucoin, who don't require KYC.
https://www.binance.com/en/fee/schedule
https://www.kucoin.com/vip/level

If you're unwilling to verify on a foreign site, you have a few options. The Kuwaiti site you mentioned is one option. Another option is P2P trading on sites like Paxful (make sure to stay below their KYC limits) or Localcryptos, if you can manage to find a trading partner.
https://paxful.com/buy/bitcoin/kuwait
https://localcryptos.com/Bitcoin/Kuwait

If you want to quickly get your KWD into BTC you are probably going to pay a hefty premium. The same goes for the other side when you want to cash out from BTC to KWD, but as far as actual trading goes, you can trade much more cheaply and without KYC on the sites mentioned above.

[aceboy44]

Binance and Kucoin don't offer KWD as a currency, and the other two websites for trading in Kuwait..... well, there is not much price difference between the company I deal with and the buy/sell prices on those two other websites.

Should I HODL? Or just accept loss and switch immediately to stocks (and have pain-free headache thinking about the cryptocurrency investment?)

[YOSHIE]

If I purchase 1 BTC NOW I pay $12,255 USD, and if I want to sell at the same moment I receive $11,111 USD (how can I make profit with this?)

It's really outrageous what the exchange companies in your country are doing right now, you can report that to the authorities, if proven, they can follow up or warn them, to reduce the percentage in exchanging each cryptocurrency.

It is burdensome for one party in exchange.

Should I HODL? Or just accept loss and switch immediately to stocks (and have pain-free headache thinking about the cryptocurrency investment?)

before you switch to stocks, you make sure my advice above, the next action of them and the exchange company.

If the same thing still happens, then the decision is taken to just transfer it to stocks.

[adaseb]

If you want to be a long term investor then just buy it on your exchange with the high fees and just hold it for a few months...years. The fees won't mean much when it goes up another 50-100% or so.

If you want to day trade then you need to buy BTC once and then just send it to another exchange. There are tons of futures exchange out there with very low fees and there are also many exchanges like Binanace which have low fees also.

Most likely that exchange you are using is geared mostly towards investors and not traders.

[Yogee]

I only found two exchanges that's close to your home:

1. Rain https://www.rain.bh/
Trading Fees:
- 1.5% for bank buy/sell on brokerage
- 4% for card buy on brokerage
- OTC desk - depends on size and currency

2. BitOasis https://bitoasis.net/en/home
Trading Fees:
- Maker: 0.05% - 0.25%
- Taker: 0.30% - 0.50%

Account verification is needed for both exchanges. You can't really escape submitting your personal information if you're dealing fiat with centralized exchanges.



- https://www.bitrawr.com/kuwait

[Shimmiry]

Binance and Kucoin don't offer KWD as a currency, and the other two websites for trading in Kuwait..... well, there is not much price difference between the company I deal with and the buy/sell prices on those two other websites.

Why not try to convert your local currency to USD or Euro? Send it to an exchange and do the trade.

Should I HODL? Or just accept loss and switch immediately to stocks (and have pain-free headache thinking about the cryptocurrency investment?)

Maybe yes, maybe not. Cut it if you are ready to accept your loss. You can hold it also and wait for much longer time to achieve your profit minus the hilarious 5% buying fee and 3%selling fee.
Well if you are ready to invest on stocks, why not.  Just think about it many times.

[rexxarofmoknathal]

Should I just sell all my BTCs and switch to my country's stock market? Or is there a better option for me that I'm missing?
 

Whether you switch to stock market instead is up to you but just bear in mind that this in the long-run won't be as profitable as crypto. While I understand that the fees at your end are making you think twice about crypto trading, if you're going in for the long ride I'd say buy now for a long HODL - only if this is something you're comfortable with.

Perhaps, also VP might be an option for your crypto trading and dealing with the rip of fees you're getting charged using your local exchanges 

[target]

Since you already had bought BTC, you might as well try finding ways to make profit out of it. Don't insist on your local currency, it isn't sure if there will be trading volume to BTC/KWD if Binance adds it. But the trading happens on BTC/USDT that's where you can make money.  Trading fees in Binance is the cheapest compare to other exchanges known to mankind but this is if you are willing to submit KYC. 

[CucakRowo]

Here's some options :
1. Using FTX : https://twitter.com/FTX_official (KYC is not mandatory, For Non KYC  member, withdrawal is limited around $2000/day. Less fee for selling and buying, idk if they will accept kuwait currency for deposit, but you can try it https://help.ftx.com/hc/en-us/articles/360027668192-Individual-Account-KYC . No withdrawal fees.). And what i like most from FTX is : There's TrumpWIN/USD or TrumpLOSE/USD pair.
2. Install exodus wallet. You can buying and selling directly via wallet menu. https://www.exodus.io/
3. Install Atomic wallet. Have feature same as Exodus. https://atomicwallet.io/
4. Using DEX exchange.

[avikz]

Hello everyone

I'm new to the cryptocurrency world and recently started trading (at a loss of course.) I live in a country where there is only 1 cryptocurrency exchange company. However, the fees they charge are outrageous (5% for buying, 3% for selling.) However, I must admit the online tools are amazing (compared to other exchange companies.) I will give you an example. If I purchase 1 BTC NOW I pay $12,255 USD, and if I want to sell at the same moment I receive $11,111 USD (how can I make profit with this?)

I don't think it is a full fledged exchange you are using! It seems more like a currency exchange company where the other party to any trade is the company itself. You no need to mention that you are loosing opportunity and the company is the only one who is minting money out of your pocket. Try a full fledged exchange like Binance where you can make money on market opportunities.  

I have found another company that accepts my local currency but read horrible comments on Trustpilot (not to mention the lengthy account verification which includes a live video of me saying certain characters.) I read many comments that even after providing the necessary personal information your account gets locked (but they charge 1.5% fees on buying/selling, which is acceptable for me.)

I wouldn't recommend that! In that case, you will always have a risk of loosing money for no reason. Where people is saying negative things about a company, it's always better not to use their services.

I thought about using exchange companies in the US but when I pay/withdraw money for bitcoin transactions I'm paying in $USD (I lose money both for buying and selling bitcoin since the bank transfers the money from local currency to $USD and vice versa.)

The exchange rate fluctuation may eat up your profit. Also you will have huge risk of being tagged as a money laundered if you transact a huge sum of money in short period of time.

I'm extremely disappointed at this. Should I just sell all my BTCs and switch to my country's stock market? Or is there a better option for me that I'm missing?

May I know the name of your country so that I can suggest you a better alternative? Have you checked Binance or Localbitcoins?

[exstasie]

Binance and Kucoin don't offer KWD as a currency, and the other two websites for trading in Kuwait..... well, there is not much price difference between the company I deal with and the buy/sell prices on those two other websites.

Yes, so this is a multi-step process.

Step 1: Use your Kuwaiti exchange or a P2P exchange to buy BTC. Either way, you are going to pay a significant premium if you want to quickly buy BTC. That can't really be avoided, but you only need to do this once.

Step 2: Send the BTC to an exchange like Binance or Kucoin. Then you can trade BTC against USDT, USDC, or similar stablecoin.

Step 3: When you eventually want to withdraw your money back to KWD and your bank account, you'll need to sell the BTC on your Kuwaiti exchange or a P2P exchange, as in Step 1.

You won't be day trading against KWD. The whole point of Step 1 is to escape your limited options for trading against KWD. The vast majority of Bitcoin trading volume takes place in USD, EUR, and USD stablecoin markets. That's where you need to go to get profitable spreads (because of the high liquidity) and cheap trading fees.

Additionally, if you want to avoid KYC, then you are generally limited to stablecoin markets (or derivatives platforms like Bybit.....let's not even get into that). Altcoin exchanges like Binance.com and Kucoin still operate in a legal grey area where they offer trading without KYC since they don't have real fiat (USD or EUR) markets. BTCUSDC (Bitcoin-USDCoin) tracks BTCUSD almost exactly though, so it's perfectly fine for hedging fiat value.

[bitgolden]

Well, if the fee's were the only thing that made you move from stocks to crypto, that means fee's could be the reason why you move to stocks from crypto as well. However if you have seen a lot more about crypto than stocks and how it is here to change the world and not just make profit or anything, you could actually stay as well, we are talking about world changing technology here and we are trying to make it get a lot more adopted so that you do not have to use fiat ever again, in that situation fee to buy and sell is not really that important.

Obviously one day bitcoin transaction fee's will get low, it may take a bit more time but it will happen, and when that happens thanks to something like lightning network or any other technology where bitcoin transactions become less than 10 cents, the adoption will increase a ton as well.