Gemini review Review
Gemini launched in 2015 as a cryptocurrency trading platform. They have several options for buying and selling cryptocurrencies and so they are appealing to beginners and pros. They have over 40 cryptocurrencies available (Bitcoin, Etherum, Chainlink, Dogecoin, etc.), products like Gemini ActiveTrader for frequent buyers and sellers, Gemini Pay to use your cryptocurrency at stores, and more. risk-free
Products
Beginners can find tools like:
- Gemini exchange
- Gemini earn (here you can earn interest on some of your crypto holdings)
- Gemini credit card
Experts can find useful:
- Active trader
- Gemini dollar
- Gemini custody
- Gemini wallet
- Gemini pay (allows you to make in-store purchases using crypto at many participating retailers.)
They stand out with their platform, for those looking to get started with crypto. ActivTrade is Gemini’s professional crypto trading platform offering advanced charting capabilities and many crypto-to-crypto trading options.
Regulation
Gemini prides itself on its security measures. This information is easily found on their website. Until now they haven’t recorded a successful hacking attempt. As mentioned on their website: “Every employee at Gemini continues our founders’ focus on security and compliance, in order to build trust. Gemini has built a leading security program focused on developing innovative security solutions to help protect and secure our customers and their assets. We have also invested considerable resources to remain transparent about our security posture, through third-party security assessments, including our SOC2 Type 2, ISO 27001, and annual penetration testing.”
Demo account
Using a demo trading account means that you don’t need to worry about losing money, you can learn and gain skills before you go live with trading. It’s a good educational tool for beginners. Looking through their website and other reviews, I found no information about them having a demo account. But then, the Gemini account is easy to open, and the minimum is $0, therefore, it may be used as a demo account, although I`d rather go risk free, before I start live.
Fees
Broker fees can vary and change, there may be additional fees that are not mentioned in this review. Gemini has slightly higher fees, but a lot to offer. If you’re using a debit card for purchases, the fee is 3.49%, for mobile and web app users, Gemini charges a flat 0.5% and on top of that, it charges a transaction fee, other fees may also apply, than the ones written here. I was looking for some page about the fees, a graph or table to compare, and if you got to the footer of the main page, you`ll see “Marketplace and fees”. They,,offer a variety of fee schedules depending on product and usage. To determine which fee schedule is right for you, you need to go to this tab and go through the options.
Registration process
At the top of the main page you have the option to either sign in or “Get Started”.
A short form comes up and on the left side you have an overview of why to register.
They ask for your name, email address and password. Then just tick the agreement with the Policies and Conditions. After filling in these details, you need to fill in your telephone number and once you get the code through to your phone, put that in. As a beginner, I am not going to continue with registering, because I first want to see their platform, play around with it and see if it’s easy enough for me. As I don’t have the option and I`m pushed into having a live account, I won`t proceed. From another review I know, that it doesn’t end with the telephone verification. You’ll then have to wait for a verification email from Gemini, verify your email address, and log in again. Then, you’ll be asked to verify your identity via SingPass.
Trading with Gemini
Once you’ve completed the registration process, you’re ready to load your account with money. Either by ACH deposit, this is only available to users in the US and the cool thing about ACH deposits are that they are instant. Wire Transfer or external bitcoin or Ethereum wallet.
The Gemini trading interface is very simple to use. Its design is simplified and makes it easy for beginners to learn instantly how to trade. You just select “Buy” on the main menu bar and choose which cryptocurrency you want to purchase. At the top of the screen, it shows you how much money you have in your account and before you click “Buy” and confirm your purchase. The whole time you can see the exact fee that will be charged and the total amount of USD, BTC or ETH that will be taken from your account to complete the transaction.
The Gemini website
The website design is kept very simple. Black, white and blue color here and there. There is no extra graphic twerks, no extra infographics or icons. Just kept simple. At the top of the page you have the menu pane, where you can choose from:
- Products
- Prices
- Security
- Institutions
- resources
And of course, “Sign In” and “Get Started”. The tab “Products” unwraps once you point your mouse at it. Choose the product you are interested in and learn more.
At the bottom of the page, you have the current prices flying by, also below the top pane you have flashing extras. It’s not too much, and the information they are showing there is necessary, so I don’t think it’s annoying in any way. Further down you can go through points like:
- Tools for beginners – extra information about the education they offer
- How does buying and selling NTF work
- Security information
And so on.
Looking at the educational support, I clicked the “Tools for beginners” option. There`s an article about their platform with short animations on what to click on. I don’t find this satisfying. The article is more of a marketing article and the animation is very small. They then have a Blog. The articles are up to date and they are “How To” types, informative and marketing articles. If you wish to contact them, you`ll find the “Contact Us” or “Help Centre” in the footer of the page. They use a request form to be contacted and if you need immediate help with something, you need to go through the “Request Form” and a live chatbot appears. I don’t understand why the chatbot isn`t permanently on their pages.
In the footer of the Gemini pages, you can go through to:
- Linked In
On Facebook they have over 18 000 followers, but the posts aren`t up to date. The last post is 3 months old. They posted announcements, news and so on. Twitter has over 360 000 followers, and the last post is just a few days old, so it looks like they focus their activity on Twitter.
I`m disappointed they have no YouTube videos, that could help beginners.
Advantages and disadvantages of Gemini
Gemini is one of the top 15 crypto exchanges, according to data and analytics company CoinMarketCap and it is one of the most secure cryptocurrencies exchanges out there. The platform is easy to use, and they are regulated. Most information is easily found on their website, which works fine with me. They have a live chatbot, but you need to find him first. The downfall is their educational support, that`s near to nothing, to be honest, no YouTube videos and FB is not up to date. Also, the fees are quite high, and they don’t offer a demo account. Some Crypto traders don’t have a demo, but there is no verification needed if you just want to “have a look” into the world of buying and selling. Gemini doesn’t offer that. There is 3-point verification before you get into the account.
Pros:
- Regulated
- Offers more than 60 coins
- Strong security measures
- Simple interface for beginners
Cons:
- Customer support only through a request form
- Weak educational support
- No demo account
- High fees and the fee structure are complicated and hard to understand, especially for beginners, plus I didn`t find it on their website.
