Find an Exchange
As mentioned earlier, there is no official Bitcoin exchange. Users have many choices and should consider the following factors when deciding on an exchange:
Regulation & Trust Is the exchange trustworthy? Could the exchange run away with customer funds?
Location If you must deposit fiat currency, and exchange that accepts payments from your country is required.
Fees - What percent of each trade is charged?
Liquidity Large traders will need a Bitcoin exchange with high liquidity and good market depth.
Based on the factors above, the following exchanges dominate the Bitcoin exchange market:
Bitfinex - Bitfinex is the worlds #1 Bitcoin exchange in terms of USD trading volume, with about 25,000 BTC traded per day. Customers can trade with no verification if cryptocurrency is used as the deposit method.
Bitstamp - Bitstamp was founded in 2011 making it one of Bitcoins oldest exchanges. Its currently the worlds second largest exchange based on USD volume, with a little under 10,000 BTC traded per day.
OKCoin - Bitcoin exchange based in China but trades in USD.
Coinbase - Coinbase Exchange was the first regulated Bitcoin exchange in the United States. With about 8,000 BTC traded daily, its the worlds 4th largest exchange based on USD volume.
Kraken - Kraken is the #1 exchange in terms of EUR trading volume at ~6,000 BTC per day. Its currently a top-15 exchange in terms of USD volume.
Bitcoin Trading Tools & Resources
Cryptowatch & Bitcoin Wisdom Live price charts of all major Bitcoin exchanges.
Bitcoin Charts More price charts to help you understand Bitcoins price history.
bitcoinmarkets A Bitcoin trading sub-reddit. New users can ask questions and receive guidance on trading techniques and strategy.
TradingView Trading community and a great resource for trading charts and ideas.