How to trade cryptocurrency: product, order and cost checks

Choose the product before the provider

The product decision comes first because it determines your costs, custody obligations and record keeping. Three structures are common:

• Spot: you buy and hold the asset itself. Custody follows: provider custody and self-custody carry different operational responsibilities, neither universally safer. Losing private keys can mean losing the crypto permanently.
• CFD (contract for difference): a contract with the provider, not ownership of the asset. Costs include the spread, commissions and overnight financing, and leverage increases loss risk; product terms and the legal entity you sign with control actual access. The CFD definition and margin calculator, the CFD order workflow and MoneySmart's CFD guidance cover the mechanics.
• Prop programme: Programmes and stages vary; some use simulated funds, while some can include live-capital stages, and instruments also differ. As a named example, FTMO's technical FAQ says its client accounts use fictitious funds and client trades do not take place on live markets (https://ftmo.com/en/faq/how-does-the-ftmo-technical-infrastructure-work/). Real programme fees can be lost, and rewards depend on the agreement. Read the programme rules carefully at how crypto prop firms work.

Check eligibility, custody and costs

The detailed identity, funding and security workflow sits in our account opening guide; below is what to verify before money moves.

MoneySmart's crypto assets guidance notes substantial volatility, platform failure and hacking risks, that many providers are unlicensed, and that losing private keys can mean losing the crypto. Custodial access and self-custody carry different operational responsibilities, neither universally safer. Check any provider's stated licence status yourself rather than assuming one applies.

Before you fund an account, check and record:

• the provider's legal entity name and stated licence status, with the date checked
• the default custody arrangement, and what moving assets in or out involves
• the fee schedule in the currency actually charged, plus deposit, withdrawal, network and conversion costs
• whether your answers to eligibility and appropriateness questions reflect your situation
• where fill receipts, fee records and rationale notes will be kept for tax reporting

These checks guarantee no outcome; if a platform fails or a fee surprises you, they tell you which entity you dealt with and what you agreed to.

Prepare and rehearse the order

Before committing funds, write out the exact procedure you will follow. A market order seeks prices available in the order book at that moment, and the last traded price is not guaranteed; a limit order may not fill, or may fill only partially, as explained for market and limit orders on Kraken. A triggered stop loss on Kraken creates a market order, which may execute away from the trigger price due to slippage, per Kraken's stop loss guidance. A stop loss limit order may not execute at all if price passes through without the limit being met, as described for stop loss limit orders on Kraken. These mechanics are provider, product and order dependent, so do not apply the order book model to all OTC CFDs or guaranteed stop variants.

Checklist: instrument, product and venue; direction, size and currencies; order type and conditions; anticipated charges; exit rationale. Practise placing and cancelling orders where a demo exists. Simulated execution is not proof of live results, and challenge, subscription or other applicable programme fees remain at risk even with simulated trading, not just at the live funded stage. No particular provider is recommended and no safe outcome is implied.

Read a spot trade record

A worked example shows where costs appear on both sides of a round trip. Every figure is fictional, chosen for arithmetic: not a current price, forecast or offered fee.

Reading notes:

• Fees here are in USD; check the actual charging currency, which can differ.
• Custody, withdrawal and network fees, conversion and tax are excluded; each can change the result.
• Execution prices are what you actually received; the fill already reflects them, so never add the spread twice.
• The positive result is arithmetic on assumed numbers, not a claim that any trade will profit.

Monitor, close and reconcile

After execution, check the actual fill receipt against your plan: instrument, quantity, prices, charges and time. Verify that the position is closed and review any pending orders. Record your rationale and keep balance records for tax reporting, noting there is no universal tax rule. Order mechanics are provider dependent; closing a position may not cancel an independently placed stop, since on Kraken a stop loss remains its own order until triggered or removed, per Kraken's stop loss guidance. Nothing here implies all stops are market orders.

Choose your next research step

This page owns the decision and order workflow; the comparison hubs hold the provider records:

• Spot providers: exchange comparison with fees and reviews.
• CFD providers: CFD broker comparison.
• Prop programmes: prop programme comparison.

Read the methodology page for what the stored ratings cover and where their limits sit. The next step is comparison and shortlisting on your own assessment, not account opening. Nothing here is financial advice.