Trade cryptocurrencies
Trade CFDs on popular cryptocurrencies against the US dollar, with competitive spreads.
Everything you need to trade smarter
Make your next move using powerful platforms and get access to popular cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash
Using the MetaTrader platform, you can trade Bitcoin CFDs from your laptop, mobile and tablet devices with competitive spreads.
Ethereum and Litecoin
Trade two major altcoins, Ethereum and Litecoin, against the US dollar with competitive spreads.
More cryptos
We offer popular cryptocurrencies including Binance Coin, Cardano, Chainlink, Dogecoin, Polkadot, and Uniswap. We offer them as a CFD against the US dollar.
Trading cryptocurrencies with OANDA
Whereas coins or tokens involve buying a fraction of, say, Bitcoin and holding that investment in a digital wallet until you want to sell, cryptocurrencies as CFDs are traded against the US dollar, much in the same way as you would trade forex CFDs.
You can trade all the big names in crypto on MT5. You’ll enjoy customisable layouts, trade-through charts, a range of plug-ins, an intuitive interface and more. Available on live and demo trade accounts.
The history of crypto
Cryptocurrencies were born out of a counter culture – the desire to trade in a currency that was neither regulated by any central bank, nor influenced by national currencies and major economic events.
Cryptos use distributed ledger technology, or blockchain, to maintain a public record of all transactions. Tokens or coins can be bought and sold and are stored in a digital wallet, either online through an exchange like Binance, or offline ‘in cold storage’ on a server.
When Bitcoin was first released in 2009, most financial institutions thought it would be a flash in the pan and amount to nothing. Nine years later Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies crashed and the sceptics felt vindicated. But crypto has bounced back and, in 2020, Bitcoin soared to more than US$60,000 per coin. It crossed this level again in October 2021.
Although there were two major selloffs in spring and summer of 2021, Bitcoin and other major crypto currencies are showing signs of a swift comeback, and many crypto aficionados, including Fundstrat Global Advisors' Tom Lee, predict a price point of $100,000 for Bitcoin before the start of 2022.
Risk management
Because cryptocurrencies are so volatile, it’s vital you protect your profits and manage your risk by adding stop losses to your trades. Keep an eye on your margin and be aware that leverage can also work against you at the same speed as it can work in your favour.
Frequently asked questions
Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile unregulated assets, which means they can move up or down in price at speed. So, if you are on the right side of the trade, it may indeed look easy to make money trading cryptos. What you must remember is that it’s equally easy to lose money on a crypto trade - and at tremendous speed. So, be sure to use a stop loss on all of your crypto trades.
Cryptocurrency pairs are assets that can be traded for each other or against a major currency such as the US dollar on an exchange — for example Bitcoin versus US dollar (BTC/USD) Bitcoin/Litecoin (BTC/LTC) and Ethereum/Bitcoin Cash (ETH/BCH).
To trade a pair, you need to have some knowledge about both currencies and their strength in the market.
We offer CFD trading on popular cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Litecoin, Binance Coin, Cardano, Chainlink, Dogecoin, Polkadot, Solana and Uniswap.
When you trade these cryptos, you are trading them as pairs with the US dollar. This means you can go long or short. Start by opening small positions to begin with, then scale up as you get to know the volatility of the pair you’ve chosen to trade.
Trading cryptocurrencies is usually understood to mean you are trading a crypto coin, or token, against the US dollar. As cryptos are highly volatile currencies, we recommend you start with a small trade size, put a stop loss on your trade, and see how you go before scaling up.
When you invest in a crypto coin, you buy, then hold or sell that coin at a later date, usually some time in the distant future. As with a precious asset like gold, this is more like an investment, not a trade. When you trade cryptos as a spot pair - that’s to say as against the US dollar - you are speculating on the underlying asset as opposed to taking ownership of it. You can also short the pair.
This depends entirely on the behaviour of cryptocurrencies in general at the time you look to trade, as well as the crypto pair you are interested in. That said, the three most popular cryptocurrency pairs are listed below:
- BTC/USD - Bitcoin (BTC) against the US dollar
- ETH/USD - Ethereum (ETH) is the second biggest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin
- LTC/USD - Litecoin (LTC) is traded against the US dollar
There are lots of theories as to what moves the cryptocurrency market. It could be argued that Bitcoin and other cryptos were seen as a hedge against a depreciating dollar and a slump in the global economy due to the pandemic. The price of cryptos was also pushed to extremes by the media and retail traders piling in on the action.
When Bitcoin crashed twice in 2021, pundits argued that now we had a vaccine, we could reasonably hope to see a speedy recovery - and so Bitcoin and other crypto currencies lost their appeal. It was also argued that the Chinese government’s antipathy towards Bitcoin contributed to uncertainty in the crypto space too. It could also be argued that Bitcoin’s price came down as a result of traders taking profits.
The general consensus is that cryptocurrencies are here to stay and are poised to resume their bull run well into the future, propelled by the media and banks’ massive purchases of leading crypto currencies.
Trusted by traders all over the world
With over 25 years of experience, the OANDA Group offers leading tools, powerful platforms and transparent pricing.
Access a wide range of CFD instruments
We offer CFD prices on shares, indices, forex pairs, commodities, cryptos and metals and our spreads are competitive.
Three ways to trade
Choose from a range of leading platforms, including TradingView, MetaTrader and our mobile app for iOS and Android.
Take advantage of MetaTrader
MetaTrader 5 is one of the world’s most widely used trading platforms. Enjoy customisable layouts, a range of plug-ins, intuitive interface and more.