Invest in Crypto in South Africa – Beginner’s Guide

A decade ago no one would have predicted how far the technology, financial impact, and exposure cryptocurrencies and blockchains would have today in 2023. Despite the near halving of its peak market capitalization of $3 trillion, several investors contemplate getting back in and finding the best crypto to invest in.

So how would you know which crypto to invest in? In this guide, we’ll go through the many ways on how to invest in cryptocurrency from the best crypto to invest into the new crypto coins to invest in and more.

How to invest in cryptocurrencies in South Africa?

If you already have a lot of convictions on the cryptocurrency sphere and know your best cryptocurrencies to invest in, then here’s a step-by-step on how to invest in crypto through Capital.com, our recommended crypto trading platform.

Step 1: Open an Account with Capital.com

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Here is how to invest in crypto with Capital.com. First, head to the platform’s website and click the Trade Now found in the top right. Simply fill in your desired email and password to apply. If you have an existing Facebook, Google, or Apple account, you may link this to start the registration process as well.

Step 2: Upload ID

Because unverified accounts won’t be able to hold any funds, you’ll need to verify your account by uploading a valid ID. The platform will prompt you to verify your account by uploading IDs such as a driver’s license or passport.

Step 3: Deposit Funds

Once your account has been verified, you can now deposit funds into it. Capital.com has multiple deposit options from wire transfer, bank cards (Visa, MasterCard), and a lot of other foreign and local third-party channels like Skrill, Neteller, AstroPay, and QIWI.

Step 4: Buy Crypto CFDs

With your account now funded, you can now invest in crypto! On the Capital.com dashboard, search for the cryptocurrency of your choice. Note that you are using crypto derivatives when you buy or sell crypto on Capital.com.

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Why Invest in Cryptocurrencies?

Before we can answer what kinds of cryptocurrencies to invest in or what the new crypto coins to invest in are, it’s essential to understand why people invest in these digital assets in the first place.

Decentralization of cryptocurrencies gives you control over your assets

Unlike fiat currencies that rely on centralized bodies such as banks and governments to control their flow and distribution, cryptocurrencies give you complete control over your assets thanks to their decentralized nature.

For example, if you store your money in a bank, they have your money and can do whatever they want with it – usually investing it or loaning it. They don’t really say they do, but they can print more money, stop you from borrowing any more money, and even stop you from having a bank account.

Cryptocurrencies change the game as they can be stored in your own crypto wallet which cannot be accessed by anyone but yourself. Blockchains make this possible as no one authority dictates who owns what, but rather the entire network of computers and users stores this information.

Cryptos are mostly deflationary in nature

Another reason why many invest in crypto is that most crypto assets are deflationary in nature. Cash, for example, is inherently inflationary as the supply of cash increases whenever the government prints more money.

On the other hand, a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin has a determined and finite amount of coins – 21 million bitcoins as a matter of fact. This means that at one point in the future, all existing bitcoins would have been mined. As an investor, keeping your money in deflationary assets will benefit you more than in an inflationary one.

Cryptos are transparent and secure

One of the main reasons why many have invested in crypto is because the blockchain networks that hold digital coins are transparent and secure. For example, Bitcoin’s code is open-source and publicly available. It can afford this transparency thanks to the level of security it attains.

Essentially, changes to the network – be it on the data or code itself – can only be made if the majority of the blockchain agrees on the changes. An overwhelmingly immense amount of money and resources would be required to alter that 51% of the blockchain to make changes.

Crypto investments could give you big returns

Just like how there are plenty of new crypto coins to invest in, there are also many different ways you can invest in cryptocurrencies. Just like other financial instruments with high growth potential, crypto investments could offer large returns.

Many cryptocurrencies have already increased in the thousands of percentage points in the past. This is if you invested in the price of the digital asset. There are also ways to invest in cryptocurrencies like staking your coins and tokens that can give compounded earnings over time. Either way, there are plenty of cryptos to invest in and different ways to do it.

Crypto trading provides you with the necessary independence and flexibility

One of the aspects of the crypto market is that anyone can trade at any time. Unlike other markets such as stock exchanges that run 6-7 hours a day, the 24/7 crypto market allows all investors and traders to open positions at their convenience.

Similar to forex markets, the amount of flexibility and independence that the crypto market provides thanks to this constant operating schedule gives it a lot of value for traders all over the world.

Where You Can Buy Crypto In South Africa?

One of the steps in looking for the best crypto to invest in is finding the right crypto exchange or trading platform for you. Whether the platform offers new crypto coins to invest in or just the best crypto to invest in for you, we’ve gone and reviewed some that are worth looking into.

1. Capital.com – Overall Best Place to Buy Crypto South Africa

Our top recommendation to help you buy the best crypto to invest in is Capital.com, an all-in-one trading platform that offers CFD crypto trading among other instruments. As the platform is easy to use, secure and offers zero commission, Capital.com gives what we think is the most value for most people.

Even for beginners, Capital.com has what’s known as a demo account which can be used to trade with virtual equity without having spent any money. Try trading your favorite crypto coins to invest in or any trading strategies that you fancy through the demo account.

The minimum deposit to start trading with Capital.com is just $20 which can be transferred through multiple payment methods.

Capital.com fees

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

2. Binance - Best Crypto Exchange for New Coins

If you’re looking for new crypto coins to invest in, Binance is one of the best crypto exchanges that features the newest coins. With a trading collection of over 500 cryptocurrencies and virtual tokens, the crypto exchange is a great option for those seeking accessibility and flexibility. 

There’s also the option of trading crypto with high leverage which the Binance platform offers. Along with this great tool for short-term traders, the platform also offers a crypto exchange wallet and a very informative interface.

Binance fees

Cryptoassets are speculative and carry high volatility levels. Always consider the risks involved. 

3. Coinbase - Great Beginner Platform for Crypto South Africa

Third on our list is Coinbase, an online crypto exchange with an easy-to-use platform that allows you to buy from a range of 50 different cryptocurrencies. The exchange also provides a secure platform where you can find the best crypto to invest in and is available in over a hundred different countries.

Adding to the security that they offer, Coinbase has its own crypto wallet which users can avail of. The Coinbase Wallet lets you store all of your crypto and NFTs in one place with support for over 4,000 assets and a bunch of different dApps.

Coinbase fees

Your money is at risk.

4. Kraken - One of the Most Established Crypto Exchanges South Africa

Launched in 2013 which was just two years after Bitcoin’s, Kraken is one of the most well-known crypto exchanges in the community. For this reason alone it could be argued as a great platform for finding new crypto coins to invest in and searching for the best crypto to invest in.

There are over 50 cryptocurrencies that are offered on the platform and they plan on growing this number as well. Furthermore, there are two kinds of interfaces that are offered in Kraken. The basic trading view offers a more simplistic and user-intuitive interface for new crypto investors while the pro trading view is designed for seasoned crypto traders.

Kraken fees

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

5. Crypto.com - Fast and Secure Cryptocurrency Exchange

Perhaps one of the fastest and most secure crypto exchanges in the industry, Crypto.com offers trading for over 250 cryptocurrencies and stablecoins under its belt. A frontrunner in decentralized finance (DeFi) integrations, Kraken offers a DeFi wallet as well as 14% per annum returns from staking stablecoins.

Those looking to invest in crypto and are curious about the implications of DeFi should consider Crypto.com. They offer derivatives trading when you buy certain cryptocurrencies, so those looking to leverage their positions can do so on the platform as well. The minimum investment per transaction for Crypto.com is 1 USD.

Crypto.com fees

Your capital is at risk.

Invest in Crypto South Africa - Fee Comparison

Here is a table of the fees from the best crypto exchanges with the best crypto to invest in.

Best Crypto to Invest In

Currently, with over 8,000 cryptocurrencies to invest in, there are quite a few things to consider when finding the best crypto to invest in. Experienced investors in any field are it in forex, stocks, or crypto at one point had to first decide which particular asset they would trade so that they could plan accordingly.

For most, Bitcoin might be one of the first cryptocurrencies to invest in and perhaps the best crypto to invest in the long term. Bitcoin is often referred to as crypto gold because of its widespread acceptance, deflationary measures, and overall popularity.

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

The first major decentralized currency and also the largest in terms of market cap at $670 billion was created by an entity known as Satoshi Nakamoto who theorised a store of value that allowed people to own and send currency without the need of a centralized authority like a bank or government. Essentially, Bitcoin is a distributed ledger where each transaction is validated by the entire network.

It is known that major institutions have already invested in Bitcoin as several predictions indicate an increase in the asset’s price in the coming years. The reason why many would recommend Bitcoin as a long-term type of investment is that it could be analogous to the blue-chip companies we see in stock market investing. Despite the crypto market being volatile overall, Bitcoin, as the frontrunner in crypto, is still seen as valuable in the long run.

Major cryptocurrencies to invest in

You might be tempted to buy Bitcoin and invest in the asset due to it being the most popular cryptocurrency right now, but there are other major cryptocurrencies that you could invest in as well. Although they are not new crypto coins to invest in by any means, they may still be some of the eBay crypto to invest in right now.

Ethereum (ETH)

You don’t have to look far from Bitcoin for other cryptocurrencies to invest in. In fact, the second-largest cryptocurrency, Ethereum is the front runner altcoin in the decentralized financial market.

Going beyond just a store of value, Ethereum uses the same decentralization concepts that Bitcoin pioneered and uses it to run smart contracts on the Ethereum blockchain network. These smart contracts are essentially programming languages that anyone can code and put into the network with sufficient resources. As an open-source platform, anyone can read the code that others have written on Ethereum. 

The widespread use of Ethereum as a whole has also contributed to the rise of investments into the coin and has led others to try to improve upon its ecosystem. Despite many new crypto coins to invest in trying to be the ‘Ethereum killer’, new features of Ethereum are still being planned to this day. The latest news for the Ethereum network is its release of Ethereum 2.0, a version of Ethereum that is more energy-efficient using the proof-of-stake consensus model.

Solana (SOL)

One of the major cryptocurrencies to invest in is Solana crypto. Created by former senior Qualcomm engineer Anatoly Yakavenko, Solana was named after the engineer’s beloved Solana beach. The Solana coin known as ‘SOL’ is the cryptocurrency of the Solana crypto blockchain.

One of the many advantages of the Solana blockchain is its speed, potentially a great reason to look into this crypto to invest in. Boasting a block time of 400 milliseconds which, compared to Ethereum’s 10 seconds and Bitcoin’s 10 minutes, Solana has made huge leaps in this regard. 

Currently, Solana can handle 710,000 transactions per second which are thirty times more than Visa’s 23,666 per second rate. In terms of transaction fees, Solana crypto’s transactions are fast and cheap at hundredths of a penny in cost. These transaction speeds benefit one problem that many new crypto coins invest in the face which is scalability.

Small cryptocurrencies to invest in

Plenty of major cryptocurrencies have already established themselves as tried and tested cryptocurrencies to invest in. However, small cryptocurrencies have plenty more room to grow than some major cryptocurrencies either because word hasn’t gotten around for these cryptocurrencies to invest in or they have not reached their full potential.

Polygon (MATIC)

Polygon is a layer-two scaling platform that allows Ethereum-based applications to run while also leveraging Ethereum’s security. The Polygon blockchain aims to solve Ethereum’s problem of not being so user-friendly for developers as transaction speeds are low and fees are high.

As a side chain of the Ethereum blockchain, Polygon is way faster and can handle more transactions - making it more affordable for users. Already over 3,000 dApps and 80 big names have moved to Polygon. Polygon’s cryptocurrency is MATIC and has a total market cap of $11.4 billion.

Chainlink

One of the problems that not even the best crypto to invest in or the most popular cryptocurrencies to invest in can solve is bonding real-life data into a smart contract. Chainlink aims to create a network where data providers are incentivized to provide truthful, real-world data to a blockchain.

Not so much one of the new crypto coins to invest in, Chainlink was launched in 2017 and uses its native token LINK to fund its growth. As of writing, it has a market capitalization of $14 billion and a max token supply of 1 billion.

New cryptocurrencies to invest in 

The crypto community lauds the open-source nature of cryptocurrencies so much so that new crypto coins to invest in continue to come up. Some of these new crypto coins to invest in end up flopping but some end up catching on. Let’s take a look at the new best cryptocurrency to invest in.

PancakeSwap (CAKE)

PancakeSwap is one of the new crypto coins to invest in that works on the Binance Smart Chain and was also created in the same chain. PancakeSwap is a decentralized exchange that works automatically without any real-life market makers and its liquidity pool is called Syrup.

This new crypto coin to invest in allows you to exchange your BEP-20 tokens in return for digital assets. Users can even use other cryptos to provide liquidity to PancakeSwap in exchange for its native token, CAKE.

Shiba Inu Coin (SHIB)

Initially created as a joke coin of sorts for the community, Shiba Inu is one of the new crypto coins to invest in that has quickly turned into a multi-billion dollar project. Shiba Inu Coin or SHIB is actually a token on the Ethereum network and not a native coin, meaning it does not run on its own blockchain.

What makes SHIB one of the best new crypto coins to invest in is that it is poised to outrank its rival meme coin, Dogecoin. Shiba Inu Coin is known as the Dogecoin killer as it can utilize smart contracts and other Ethereum features, unlike Dogecoin which is just a store of value much like Bitcoin.

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Best cryptocurrencies to invest in 2023for the long-term

As we mentioned earlier, there’s a good chance that you can’t go wrong investing in Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2023 for the long term. They’re some of the best crypto to invest in because they’ve established themselves as the first of their kind and are being used by so many people already.

However, good trading practices have led us to believe that diversifying our portfolios for long-term investments has a significant effect on risk management and hedging. Because of this, you can consider other cryptocurrencies to invest in for the long term.

So how do you know which crypto coin to invest in other than the top two? We recommend looking at other high-ranking cryptocurrencies to invest in. 

Best cryptocurrencies to invest in 2023 for the short-term

For those looking to find the best cryptocurrencies to invest in for the short term, it's best to look at speculative coins and those that trend with the headlines. For example, Shiba Inu Coin surged 300% in a day when billionaire and crypto celebrity Elon Musk tweeted about it.

New coins can also be cryptocurrencies to invest in for the short-term as they are often poised to spike incredibly quickly and fall just as fast. An example of this is Ripple (XRP) which almost tripled in value in a day back in April of 2021 following news of its inclusivity across borders.

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

How to build a good crypto investment portfolio?

You might ask yourself, how do I invest in crypto? As much as finding the best crypto to invest in or the most feasible cryptocurrencies to invest in is important, building a good crypto investment portfolio is of equal importance. Let’s go through some steps in building a great crypto portfolio with the best crypto to invest in.

Step 1: Find the right crypto exchange

We’ve reviewed some crypto exchanges and trading platforms earlier with the intent of helping you find the best platform depending on your needs. It’s especially important to use the right crypto exchange based on your investment plans as platforms differ in terms of fees, features, and even the type of investments to be made.

Step 2: Identify your strategy

The next step in curating a good crypto investment portfolio is identifying your strategy. How long are you willing to hold your investments? Will you keep your crypto in a wallet or do you have plans of staking your tokens? How much are you willing to invest? These are just a few of the questions that might help you identify a strategy of sorts for the cryptocurrencies to invest in.

Step 3: Diversify

As the saying goes, don’t put all your eggs in one basket. One of the most essential aspects of a good crypto portfolio or portfolio for any other asset for that matter is to diversify. 

Legendary hedge fund manager Michael Burry, best known for being amongst the first investors to foresee and profit from the 2008 mortgage crisis, makes sure to have at least 15 different assets in his investment portfolio. The same approach is exactly what should be done for cryptocurrencies to invest in.

How to store your crypto investment in a secure wallet?

For any asset that is stored, invested, and held, proper security measures should be practiced - the same goes especially for crypto investments. It is recommended to store cryptocurrencies to invest in in a crypto wallet where only you can access them.

Coinbase Wallet

One of the largest crypto exchanges, Coinbase’s crypto wallet offers support for over 4,000 crypto assets and a plethora of dApps. As the Coinbase Wallet is also available for Android and iOS, users can explore the decentralized web through the app while enjoying industry-leading security when it comes to their digital assets.

Binance Exchange Wallet

Another crypto wallet that can be installed on both iOS and Android is the Binance Trust Wallet. The application offers access to decentralized apps (dApps), a decentralized wallet, staking services, and other features that allow you to earn interest on your owned crypto. You can also use this wallet to swap cryptocurrencies on different DEXs. 

Compare South African Cryptocurrency Exchanges

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Is cryptocurrency mining a better investment?

Cryptocurrency mining is a different way to invest in crypto, but if it is more profitable than buying or trading crypto is debatable. For example, Bitcoin mining can still be profitable for some people, although this will depend on your location and several other factors like computing power that you can muster.

In the end, cryptocurrency mining is a huge cost-to-benefit way to invest in crypto. You’ll need to take into account the price of the crypto you mine, what technique you want to implement, and research the different ways to mine. 

Is cryptocurrency staking a better investment?

One of the most popular ecosystems that have been brought about due to the popularity of people who invest in crypto is DeFi. Through DeFi, crypto holders can stake their tokens in decentralized exchanges in order to earn rewards. 

These rewards are often the tokens of those decentralized exchanges; those tokens have a monetary value as well. But whether or not staking is a better investment than buying and selling crypto depends on the risk tolerance and strategy of the investor.

Selling your cryptocurrency investment

A simple way to earn from the crypto you bought is to simply sell them when they reach your price target or after your trading time frame has ended. Selling your crypto investments means that you are liquidating what you invest in crypto for fiat currencies or other cryptos.

Taxes and regulations regarding crypto in South Africa

According to the South Africa Revenue Service (SARS), normal income tax rules apply to crypto-assets and affected taxpayers need to declare crypto assets’ gains or losses as part of their taxable income. Following normal income tax rules, income received or accrued from crypto assets transactions can be taxed on a revenue account under “gross income”.

Conclusion

Through the highs and lows, cryptocurrencies are the newest type of assets that appear to be here to stay. The trillion-dollar industry has brought about new blockchain projects, opportunities, and technologies that look to change the face of traditional finance itself.

If you’re looking to invest in crypto today, we recommend using the Capital.com trading platform as it offers tremendous value for most users.

Capital.com – Buy Cryptos With Tight Spreads in South Africa

67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

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