Uphold Review

The post Uphold Review by Sarah Horvath appeared first on Benzinga. Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this.

Uphold Disclaimer: Assets available on Uphold differ by region. All investments and trading are risky and may result in a loss of capital. Cryptoassets are largely unregulated and are therefore not subject to protection

Why Uphold Over Others?

Uphold users enjoy a range of benefits over other cryptocurrency, forex and stock investing platforms:

• Cost effectiveness: 0% deposit fees; 0% trading commissions; 0% withdrawal fees
• All inclusive pricing: for major cryptos the spread is just 80-120bps, compared with 160-250bps at rival platforms such as Coinbase Retail and Revolut
• Ease of use: open an account in less than a minute – and start buying and selling cryptos, precious metals, U.S. stocks and more

* U.S. stock trading not available in the U.S., U.K. and certain other territories. 

Uphold offers a unique $0-commission model when buying and selling stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies and more-commission model when buying and selling stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies and more-commission model when buying and selling stocks, ETFs, cryptocurrencies and more. The platform won’t offer an additional undisclosed spread after you preview your order or trade — the price you see is the price you pay. However, this doesn’t mean that it’s free to use. Uphold adds a small spread to the price that you see at the preview stage. The exchange fee you pay varies depending on the asset you’re converting:

Stocks and ETFs	1.00%
Cryptocurrencies	0.80% to 1.20%
Metals	1.05% to 3.95%
Forex currencies	0.20% to 0.85%

Uphold is one of the only cryptocurrency exchanges that also allows users to buy and sell stocks, commodities and currencies. Getting started with Uphold is exceptionally easy, which can make it great for users who haven’t had a trading or cryptocurrency account in the past.  Some of the features Uphold offers that make the platform especially inviting for beginners include:

• Easy and fast signups: Opening an account is quick and simple — even if you’ve never had any type of brokerage account before. Just enter your email, choose a password, answer a few questions about your location and verify your email address. We were able to create an account and enter our personal information in less than 3 minutes.
• Intuitive and customizable tile desktop platform: After opening your account, you’ll receive your own tile desktop platform, which you can further customize to fit your needs. Simply click on an asset to access the next menu and select your trading option. 
• The new AutoPilot feature makes it easier for you to buy your favorite crypto daily, weekly, or monthly by allowing you to schedule recurring transactions. For example, you might choose to buy $100 of Bitcoin every month to coincide with your paycheck.

Customize your desktop with the assets you buy and sell most often. Replace, reorder or create new cards with just a few clicks. 

• Intuitive account funding and purchase options: From your custom desktop, you can easily fund your account and begin trading. Click on the tile you want to trade and fund each currency or asset directly from your bank account or credit card. You can even fund your account with a currency that’s not used as your base currency. For example, if you primarily fund your accounts through a U.S. bank account and you want to purchase euros, you won’t need to convert USD to EUR after your transfer — you can transfer euros directly from your U.S. bank account. This makes it particularly easy and more cost-effective to purchase cryptocurrencies, foreign currencies and precious metals without paying a conversion fee for each step. 

Buy cryptocurrencies, U.S. stocks, precious metals and more with a single step. You can even fund your account with currencies that aren’t your bank’s base currency. 

• One-step ordering: You must place 2-step orders with most cryptocurrency and precious metals markets. This means that you must fund your account with a bank account transfer or a credit card purchase, then convert your funds into the current equivalent value of the currency or asset that you want to own. With Uphold, you can purchase a wide range of cryptocurrencies, foreign currencies and even precious metals without waiting for funds to clear into your account. There are over 1,000 transfer pairs available through Uphold.
• Instant transfers: Need to send money to a friend or family member? The platform allows you to send money in as little as a few seconds by linking another account or by email. You can send money in the currency of your choice. You can even send cryptocurrencies instead if you prefer. Best of all, transfers are always free, whether you’re sending Bitcoin or dollars.
• Automatic currency conversion: you can send money to someone else with automatic currency conversion. You send what you want – e.g., Bitcoin – they get the currency they need – e.g. Euros. Similarly, you can give the QR code associated with, say, your US Dollar sub-account and someone can send you bitcoin and it will be automatically converted in USD.
• The Uphold Card: You can spend anything from gold to bitcoin as cash using this Mastercard debit card, accepted at 50MM merchants and almost all ATMs worldwide.
• Innovative products designed to make investing easier and more accessible: for example, Universal Gold (UPXAU) overcomes all the traditional drawbacks of investing in gold, such as high storage costs, large liquidation spreads and lack of spendability. UPXAU Tokens represent 1 Troy ounce of pure physical gold held at the Perth Mint in Wesern Australia and can be spent on a debit card; incur zero custody fees and can be liquidated instantly into 27 national currencies. Plus, the Tokens are portable and the underlying gold physically deliverable in the U.S. and Australia.

If you’re new to the world of investing, you might want to learn more about currencies, lingo or the differences between cryptos before you make your first purchase. Uphold offers users a few unique tools they can use to educate themselves before investing in their asset of choice. A few of our favorite educational resources include:

• Cryptonary: What’s the difference between a coin and a token? What does Chainlink do, and how does it vary from other cryptocurrencies like Basic Attention Token? If you’ve ever been confused about the unique language cryptocurrency traders use to describe their trades, you’ll love Uphold’s “Cryptonary”. As the name suggests, Cryptonary is your dictionary for all the cryptocurrency terms you could run into during your research. From specific coin offerings to slang terms like “FUD”, Cryptonary offers a vast range of quick, accessible definitions. Many terms can also enhance your understanding of stock trading as well. 

From coin offering definitions to slang terms, Uphold’s unique Cryptonary helps you familiarize yourself with some of the terms you need to know.  

• Open API: If you have experience coding, you can enhance your investing skills with Uphold’s open API. The open API framework provides you with all of the documentation you need to create services and applications powered through the platform. You can even connect your Github projects to Uphold to transfer already completed work to the new platform. It even offers sandbox functionality to test your ideas. The open API system offers one of the most customizable ways to use your trading and investing account.
• Uphold blog: If you’re interested in learning a little more about the cryptocurrencies you can buy and sell on the platform, the blog is an excellent place to begin. The Uphold blog offers a series of introductory explainers on cryptocurrencies as they’re added, including Chainlink, Digibyte, Stellar Lumens and more. From risks to team records, Uphold’s introductions to each of its cryptocurrencies will help you better assess risk before you place your order. 
• Uphold Unboxed, a daily newsletter on the market: what’s up; what’s down and the performance of major and emerging cryptos. Great for spotting lesser-known coins early to keep an eye on.

Uphold offers a few unique ways to contact its customer service team.

• Help Center: For general inquiries, you can submit a request on their website through the Uphold Help Center. This feature provides UpHold your personal email and allows you to conveniently provide relevant information and attachments.
• Via social media: To get reach Uphold via Twitter, send a private message or tweet to @AskUphold. You’ll need to be logged into your Twitter account to use this feature.

Uphold also offers an in-app help section that allows you to quickly browse the platform’s FAQs and find answers to the most commonly asked questions. 

Uphold offers access to a range of stocks, cryptocurrencies, metals and currencies. There are now 117 options. Let’s take a look at some of the cryptos and other assets you can invest in through the platform.  

Uphold Stocks, ETFs and Mutual Funds 

Uphold offers access to over 15 funds and or 35 individual stocks. Most available stocks are for major corporations like Netflix, Tesla and Disney. The platform offers all-inclusive pricing, meaning that the price you see when you lock in your trade is the price that you’ll receive. The platform doesn’t add additional undisclosed spreads like some competing brokers. 

Uphold Forex

the platform offers access to 27 currencies, ranging from reserve currencies like the Japanese yen to minor currencies like the Croatian kuna. Exchange fees for currency conversions range from 0.29% to 1.4%, depending on your currency pair. 

Uphold Metals

In addition to assets like currencies, stocks and ETFs, Uphold also allows you to invest in precious metals. Today, available metals include gold, silver, palladium and platinum. Exchange fees for metals range from 1.00% to 3.95%.

Universal Gold (UPXAU) is an ERC-20 token that allows investors to put their money into gold while overcoming some of the most common hurdles that make investing in metals impractical. You can invest as little as $1 in the UPXAU token and hold it in cold storage if that’s your thing.

Uphold Cryptocurrencies 

The platform also offers access to 36 cryptocurrencies. From Bitcoin and XRP to smaller names like Chainlink and Digibyte, you can buy cryptocurrencies directly from a credit card or linked bank account in the U.S. and Europe. In the rest of the world, crypto deposits from seven networks. Exchange fees for cryptocurrencies range from 0.65% to 1.85% depending on the token you’re purchasing. 

Uphold’s mobile app is intuitive and simple, mirroring the desktop platform’s focus on easy usage and “Anything-to-Anything” transfers. Some features include:

• Two-click exchanges: Like on the web-based platform, you can quickly place an order. Simply click on the tab labeled “transact,” choose your funding method (from linked bank accounts, crypto networks and credit cards) and place your transactions. You can execute a trade in as little as 30 seconds — even if you’ve never bought or sold an investment asset or currency before.
• Comprehensive market data: Uphold serves you with up-to-the-minute market data for everything from cryptocurrencies to metals. In most cases, price data is calculated to the 5th decimal, which allows you to make the most accurate calculations. 

Make the most accurate trade calculations possible with Uphold’s comprehensive and simple mobile app.

• Full desktop functionality: In addition to investing, you can monitor your portfolio, send money to friends or family members and more from your Uphold app, no matter where you are. 
• From and To interface: It allows you to pull money from your bank or card and straight into the asset you want to buy. The proximity of funding and trading one screen makes this app a joy to use.

The Uphold app is available as a free download for both iOS and Android devices.  

Uphold’s “Anything-to-Anything” transactions are appealing but the platform offers more than just trading convenience. It’s low fees and easy, quick transactions can also be a particularly appealing choice for anyone who sends money out of the country on a regular basis. We also love Uphold’s web and mobile platforms, which you can master in minutes even as a novice trader.

Though Uphold is a fantastic choice for everyone, it’s not without flaws. We’d love to see them continue to expand and organize its educational offering section, as well as add a phone line for customer service inquiries. Despite these concerns, this platform remains an excellent choice for any investor looking for an easier way to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, metals and much more. 

Uphold Disclaimer: Uphold offers Cryptoasset investing within the EU/UK (by Uphold Europe Limited) USA (by Uphold HQ Inc).  

Capital at risk. As with any asset, the value of cryptoassets can go up or down and there can be a substantial risk that you lose all your money buying, selling, holding or investing in cryptoassets. Your cryptoassets are not subject to protection. You should carefully consider whether trading or holding cryptoassets is suitable for you in light of your financial condition. Uphold makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about Uphold.

The post Uphold Review by Sarah Horvath appeared first on Benzinga. Visit Benzinga to get more great content like this.