With the international crypto market valued at somewhere in the order of $2.5 trillion, cryptocurrency has seen soaring levels of popularity in recent months. However, experts urge caution when it comes to investing in crypto. Despite stories abounding of investors making a small fortune with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, the market is incredibly volatile, creating scope for massive losses as well as significant gains.
Despite the risks, cryptocurrency has undeniably seen a meteoric rise in popularity of late. From Tamadoge to Bitstamp, we look at five of the most downloaded cryptocurrency apps of 2022.
1. Kraken
Catering to more experienced cryptocurrency investors, Kraken’s advanced products and tools carry relatively low fees, enabling customers to invest in more than 90 different digital currencies via their smartphone. Available for download on Android or iOS, with an average 4.2-star rating, the platform has been singled out for its excellent customer services, providing live phone support from 6 am to 6 pm Eastern time, as well as a 24-hour chat support service.
Kraken maintains that it has taken stringent steps to protect customers from cyberattacks, including keeping 95% of deposits offline, and maintaining a large enough reserve to ensure customers can withdraw at will. Although the platform is not available to users in the states of Washington or New York, Kraken was praised by NerdWallet for its margin and crypto-to-crypto trading, supporting advanced traders by providing a Kraken Pro service for no more than 0.26% maker-taker fee. Those fees gradually fall to 0% for traders with a monthly trade volume exceeding $10 million.
2. eToro
eToro enables investors to trade on the move, purchasing and liquidating crypto assets with a few swipes of their phone screen. A pioneer of social investing, eToro confers the ability to simply copy the cryptocurrency trades of professional traders. In addition to crypto, the app also enables users to buy and sell stocks and ETFs.
Users can start trading cryptocurrency via the eToro platform for as little as $10, the innovative app enabling them to identify traders with successful track records, mirroring their trades move-by-move.
Founded in 2007, eToro has over 20 million users in 140 countries today, providing access to more than 30 cryptocurrencies. However, like Kraken, the service is not yet available in all states. eToro is currently unavailable in New York, Hawaii, Nevada, and Minnesota.
3. Tamadoge
Touted as the best new crypto app game of 2022, Tamadoge combines play-to-earn gaming and NFT ownership with meme coin potential. With over $8.5 million already raised in seed funding and less than 40% of its presale allocation still available for purchase, the Tamadoge token (TAMA) presale is on track to sell out before the start of October 2022. Nevertheless, each new release of tokens during the presale phase sees the price increase. While 1 TAMA was worth $0.022 as of September 6, 2022, it is predicted that the price will rise to $0.03 during the final phase.
Unlike Dogecoin and other newly launched meme coins, the TAMA token has a strict maximum supply of 2 billion. By contrast, Dogecoin is unlimited, with a circulating supply of $130 billion, and a burn mechanism that sees 5% erased with each transaction.
TAMA holders will have the option of minting an NFT pet towards the close of 2022, in a similar style to the 1990s Tamagotchi craze, feeding and caring for their pet, so that it can grow. Once their pet reaches adulthood, holders can pitch it in battle against other pets, gaining the opportunity to win prizes and rewards.
4. Bisq
Bisq is a decentralized Bitcoin exchange that enables anyone to buy and sell Bitcoin in exchange for other cryptocurrencies or national currencies. Bisq’s cross platform app enables traders to exchange with each other directly via the Internet, eliminating the need for a trusted third-party exchange.
Bisq applications enable network users to discover, connect, and work with each other to implement the Bisq trading protocol. A fully peer-to-peer network, Bisq requires no centrally controlled servers and has no single points of failure.
Bisq is not a company, but software released under the GNU Affero General Public License, version 3. Built by individuals from all over the world, the platform is used by individuals who choose to trade over many exchange alternatives. Bisq’s ultimate mission is to provide a private, secure, censorship resistant way of trading Bitcoin for other cryptocurrencies and national currencies via the internet.
5. Bitstamp
Established in 2011, Bitstamp is one of the world’s longest-running crypto exchanges. Investors can use the platform to trade more than 50 different digital currencies, including Ethereum and Bitcoin.
Well-known for its low-cost approach, Bitstamp enables users to buy and sell crypto for just 0.5% per trade. For users whose trading volume exceeds $10,000 per month, fees drop to 25%. In terms of deposits, the platform has no minimum deposit threshold, offering fee-free ACH transfers.