Haven't looked into Ethereum for a while and the reason is because it has been trading on an incredibly steady bullish pattern . The price has been accumulating, then spiking to a standard peak, profit taking. Then the process is repeated.
Currently the two MA periods are crossed so I expect ETH to accumulate. Good time to load more longs in my opinion for a break above $320!
First, "0.25% to 3%" That is a wide channel..
I'm not sure where you are referring to with this? Most exchanges only charge 0.1% or even less.
Then there are 'exchanger' services where you can exchange coins to others like Shapeshift, Changelly, Xchangeme to name a few and there are some wallets that have these kinds of services implemented on them.
What comes to privacy I know that kyc is required to some extent in Shapeshift atleast, but xchange.me has none and even has a Tor version of their exchanger. And again some wallet apps have totally anonymous exchange services and even atomic swaps available!
The best advice I can give you is to keep only a limited amount of coins on any exchange! Just enough to do a little trading if that's your thing. If you're just looking to exchange a coin to another:
a quick in an' out is often the best policy
Trading is alwais a risk, I use exhanges and do a little trading and I have no problems with security