It’s time to get hard-core bullish!

The latest report by the investment giant Fidelity that has entered the crypto space with its Fidelity Digital Assets has shared interesting and bullish research that states institutions are very much active in the crypto space and in the next five years, it will further increase.

Conducted by Greenwich Associates, the research took place between the period of November 2018 and February 8, 2019, that covered 441 institutional investors in the US. The time period involved is of importance here as well as this has been at the time when Bitcoin was already down about 70 percent and further dropped to its yearly low.

Institutions ‘overwhelmingly Favorable’ about Appealing Characteristics

The research finds that institutional investors are “overwhelmingly favorable” about the appealing characteristics such as technology and low correlations to other assets of the digital assets.

• About half of respondents (47%) appreciate digital assets as an innovative technology play
• 46% find digital assets’ low correlation to other assets among the most appealing characteristic
• Financial advisors (74%) and family offices (80%) view the characteristics of digital assets most favorably

Source: Fidelity Digital Assets

Four in Ten Open to Future Investment in Cryptos

The survey reveals that about 22 percent of institutional investors already have some sort of exposure to digital assets. Most of the investments have been made within the past three years only.

However, the future is bright as four in ten respondents say they are open to future investments in digital assets over the course of the next five years.

But what's most interesting is nearly half that is 47 percent of the institutional investors view digital assets as something that has a place in their investment portfolios.

In response to his huge number of institutional investors interested in cryptos, Bitcoin bull Tom Lee says, “@DigitalAssets (Fidelity) carries institutional credibility that will help many of these institutions to make that crossover.”

However, the preference to hold digital assets vary, with 76 percent of institutions survey stated security and safety as the most important considerations when considering custodian services.

The momentum is building!

The interest is ever growing from different fields as the company has been seeing interest from endowments, pension, foundations, and family offices over the past several months.

The research also reveals that institutions are more aware of regulatory and investment developments more than they were six or twelve months ago.

If you've done your homework on investing in cryptocurrency, you probably know that you need to choose an exchange to facilitate your transactions. Many are available to choose from, each employing a different fee structure, cryptos available to trade, and deposit mechanism. The list below details five of the most popular exchanges along with some of the pros and cons of each, enabling you to make an informed decision on which one you should use.

CoinBase

CoinBase, often recommended as a beginner's first cryptocurrency exchange because of how easy it is to use, has an extremely beginner-friendly interface. You can link a bank account or credit card to fund your transactions easily, and withdrawals may be paid to your bank or Paypal account, making cashing out hassle-free. Money deposited in your account is also insured, a feature that no other exchange can currently claim.

All of these conveniences come with trade-offs, however. The site charges transaction fees of up to 3.99% per trade on accounts funded with a credit card, and even bank-funded accounts are subjected to a relatively high 1.49% fee. CoinBase only trades in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin, leaving more daring investors with limited selections. Finally, spending caps limit how much investors may spend on the site per week.

Gemini

Investors interested in crypto is as a short-term investment opportunity, Gemini may be the exchange for you. The site charges minuscule transaction fees of a quarter of a percentage point per trade, with no added fees for deposits or withdrawals. This exchange also offers the convenience of linking a bank account to fund your crypto purchases with traditional currency. Users can start trading before their deposit clears, although they will not be permitted to cash out until it does.

The most significant downside is a stark lack of choice: only Bitcoin and Ethereum are available at the moment. There is also a $500 weekly spending limit that there is no way to work around, limiting the amount you can invest at a time.

Bittrex

Bittrex is a true cryptocurrency exchange with an interface that will feel immediately familiar to anyone who has traded stocks in matching pairs on a Forex exchange. It offers over 190 tokens to choose from, virtually ensuring that all altcoins are available. The site's fees are also very reasonable, matching Gemini's for most trades.

The most substantial negative for Bittrex is how intimidating a Forex system looks to somebody who has never used one. There is also no way to exchange fiat currency for crypto on the site, forcing users to have an account on another platform such as CoinBase or Gemini to purchase crypto for transfer to Bittrex.

BitStamp

BitStamp is sometimes referred to as Europe's CoinBase because it is the most popular, beginner-friendly exchange for the European market. Investments funded with a SEPA account have no deposit fee, a flat 0.90 EUR withdrawal fee, and affordable transaction fees. The platform offers affordable rates to users outside of Europe as well, but the greatest appeal here is for Europeans.

BitStamp has a fair selection, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Litecoin. Users are advised to avoid their credit cards when funding their accounts. Transaction fees on credit card purchases range from 5% to 8% based on the amount of the deposit, and investors want no part of that.

Kraken

Kraken offers 16 tokens to choose from, including Z-Cash, Monero, Ripple, and Dash as well as industry stalwarts such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. It has a Forex-style interface comparable to Bittrex but allows users to link a bank account to fund their transactions as well. Fees vary based on the trading pair, but most are less than .36%. This platform supports advanced trading options such as leverage trades, stop limits, and conditional closes that make it ideal for the expert crypto trader.

Deposits need to clear before users can start trading (about one to five business days), with no option to lock in current pricing. Users must also provide their legal name, date of birth, country of residence, and phone number to make bank deposits or withdrawals.

Parting Words

The lack of customer support is a failing across all cryptocurrency exchanges right now, so bear that in mind if you have a problem. While all of the platforms above are trusted in the space, many others are plagued by hackers or set up as Ponzi schemes. BitConnect recently closed down amid allegations that it was more of a scam than a legitimate exchange, so make sure that you research any site thoroughly before funding any account.

TREZOR is a hardware wallet that provides advanced security for handling private keys. Unlike traditional offline wallets, TREZOR is able to make secure transactions without exposing user’s private keys to potentially compromised computers.

The entire wallet can be backed up with the twenty-four randomly generated words, using RNG from the device and the computer on setup. The process ensures that the seed is generated offline, making sure the seed is never on an internet connected device.

As an additional security measure, setting up the wallet requires you to set a pin. The pin is a sequence of numbers randomly arranged on the devices screen. The random arrangement of the numbers is to create a difficulty in guessing the code in the case of theft.

The difficulty of guessing is increased to the power of 2 after every incorrect guess, therefore increasing the time to make 30 correct guesses to at least 17 years. You can also add a passphrase to the 24-word seed for extra security, to act as a 25th word, which must always be remembered at each login attempt. The passphrase offers more security, but if forgotten the wallet cannot be recovered. As an added advantage, Trezor uses BIP39 and BIP44 standards for creating new wallets, so the generated 24-word seed and passphrase can be used by other compatible wallets to recover the wallet in case of theft or damage of the device.

Also, to restrict a hacker’s access to zero, each transaction must be confirmed on the device’s screen by pressing the button so as to make sure the hacker couldn’t automatically send a transaction from the device.

Trezor is compatible with varieties of wallets, including:

• Electrum
• MultiBit HD
• GreenAddress
• ArcBit
• Blockonomics
• Copay
• Electrum
• Etherwall
• Mycelium
• TREZOR Web Wallet, and
• Sentinel

Trezor Setup & Initialization

The three basic ways to setup the Trezor hardware wallet include:

1. myTREZOR
2. Chrome extension

Setting up Trezor Using myTrezor.com

• Go to myTrezor wallet website.
• Select your preferred operating system and Click on the download button to download the setup.

• Launch the downloaded file to proceed with the setup.
• Start the program after installation and follow the instructions to complete the setup
• To make sure you always have the newest version of firmware when setting up the device, the first thing you will be asked to do is to install the device system – firmware. Simply confirm it on the device, and verify the fingerprint after the process is done.
• After installing firmware, replug your TREZOR, and you should see a web page welcoming you and asking for a device label
  
• Enter a new name for your TREZOR device and press Continue.
  • If you have set your device label successfully you will now see a message on your TREZOR’s screen prompting you to write down the seed.
  • Now you should get out the recovery card that came with your TREZOR and fill out the blanks with the words you see on your Trezor screen.
• To go to the next word, press the right button on the device while writing each word on the card.
• Once you have written down the secret words in your seed you will find yourself at the beginning of the list again. As you proceed through the list of seed words for the second time, check them against your recovery card to ensure that you have filled out your recovery card correctly, and you are ready to use start using your TREZOR device!

Setting up Trezor using Chrome browser extension

The Google Chrome is a free Internet browser available for free on almost all the major operating systems. Chrome extensions allow you to add cross-platform functionalities to Chrome and chrome-based browsers without diving deeply into native code. TREZOR wallet can also be setup using the Chrome extension to allow cross platform functionalities. The following steps should be followed when setting the device:

• Go to webstore to download and install the browser extension.
• Connect the device to your computer using the USB cable.
• Once the plugin is activated, myTrezor will prompt you to choose a PIN.
• Write down the randomly generated sequence of 24 words as described above.

Setting up the Chrome extension on Linux

Linux users, after you install the Chrome extension in TREZOR Wallet on Linux, you will be asked to install additional package (DEB or RPM), which configures UDEV rules of your system, necessary for communication between the device and Chrome browser. Then, continue with the following steps.

It should be noted that:

myTREZOR.com is TREZOR’s web wallet, while the Chrome extension is an app installed to your browser. The setup process on both is the same. The one difference is that setup in myTREZOR.com is online, while the Chrome extension can be used offline. It is generally recommended to use the Chrome extension and setup offline if you care about your privacy.

Setting up Trezor using the Trezor manager for Android

Provided your phone supports the USB Host (USB On The Go – OTG):

• Download the Trezor manager for Android here.
• Connect the Trezor hardware with the phone using the OTG
• Follow the instructions on the screen as described above to complete the process

DEPOSITING/WITHDRAWING BTC TO YOUR TREZOR

Depositing BTC to your Trezor wallet

• In myTrezor, click on “Account #1” on the left of the screen and you will see an empty Transactions tab.
• Select the “Receive” tab to get your first bitcoin address

Note: When someone makes a payment to you, you will see the green (incoming) transaction appear in the transactions pane.

Depositing BTC with your Trezor wallet

• Go to the account page in myTrezor and press send. You'll be taken to a payment page like this:
  
• Enter the destination bitcoin address.
• Press send and enter your PIN
• Confirm the transaction on your Trezor

Note:

You can send bitcoins to multiple addresses with one transaction by pressing the ‘+’ button in the right-hand corner of the Send page. You can also choose to add multiple transactions by clicking on the “Import from CSV” button.