The US border is often known as the “Wild West”. My best friend told me that getting into cryptocurrency trading is the New Wild West, a frontier era in the United States but also around the world as countries and individuals struggle over how to manage and regulate cryptocurrencies.

NOTE: This post is not financial advice and is for educational purposes only.

As a business owner responsible for my own retirement funds, I have used and explored a variety of investments ranging from traditional stocks and mutual funds to real estate and other more forms of investing. risky. I didn’t yet have to venture into crypto trading, but it seemed like time to spread out and try to understand this new world. Sure, I know I’m a bit behind in the gold rush, but I wondered what app I could use to get started.

As an introduction, I highly recommend this section here on Forbes: The best crypto exchanges of 2021 (updated just a few weeks ago). In this section, you will find reviews on the various main exchanges:

You know from the title that I found Coinbase to be one of the top rated apps and a serious competitor to consider. Many of the exchanges mentioned above also offer crypto trading apps, but according to my research and MobileAction, a Mobile App Intelligence platform, Coinbase is number seven on Google Play with almost 630,000 ratings (over 10 million downloads). ) and Coinbase is number four on the Apple App Store with 1.6 million ratings (68 million users).

From the pages of the Coinbase app: “We are the world’s most trusted cryptocurrency exchange, with over 68 million users in 32 countries around the world. Coinbase allows you to securely buy, store and sell cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Litecoin and many more on our simple and user-friendly app and web platform.

As the Forbes Review linked above states, Coinbase exchange is one of the biggest and most secure, but it comes with slightly higher costs (compared to other exchanges). From a mobile app experience perspective, although other apps seem to rank higher, they have fewer overall ratings or reviews. This is how I chose Coinbase as my safe mobile app – a high number of users with a lot of decent reviews.

I will add that since we tested the waters including downloading and using the Coinbase iOS app, we have also used apps or web tools to access various crypto exchanges and services for security reasons. (outside the scope of this review, but “” hard “wallets are often more secure than” soft “wallets and the former is a highly encrypted and physical USB drive, i.e. in your hand rather only online). With Coinbase they have a few levels of user access and, again, don’t offer financial advice here, but the Coinbase Pro has a lower overall fee structure than the basic account. Who Councilor Forbes Review also points out (both basic account levels are free, before trading fees).

Coinbase and other crypto apps and services all require several steps to determine your identity, bank account access, and other security steps to keep you safe. It can be overwhelming at times to jump through all the barriers, but given the Wild West nature and reputation of many cryptocurrencies and businesses, it seems like a small price to pay to access platforms and exchanges.

Of course, just because an app is easy to use and can help you navigate, crypto investing involves a ton of study and education. There are many areas where the “gold rush” or the “Wild West” seems fitting and real – it’s a crazy idea, a digital currency and logical at the same time. But for those who are considering investing in cryptocurrency, Coinbase is one of the best apps and services that you should research and consider.