After reading many books in my mid 20s on how I must invest to achieve wealth, I was pumped and excited.

Unfortunately, as a newbie and without anyone to teach nor guide, it was scary.

• Which brokerage should I use?
• Which stock should I buy?
• I've only got $100 to invest, is that enough?
• How do I deposit money?

Paralysed by questions, I jumped the gun and invested my first $100 in the easiest place I could find - cryptocurrencies.

Here are reasons why I recommend young investors to start their investment journey with cryptocurrency exchanges and platforms first, before going 'pro' with stock brokerages.

No minimum amount to invest

Back in the mid to late 2010s, it was difficult to find brokerages where you can buy fractional shares. Back then, brokerage apps weren't a thing yet (unlike the US where you had Robinhood).

Even if you could, trading fees in brokerages were significantly higher than with crypto exchanges.

So, if you only had $100 to spare at the end of the month (as a young and broke salaryman), there are very limited options for you to explore with traditional brokerages.

Getting your first dollar invested is a huge milestone.

Friendly user interface

With the exception to Robinhood-like apps, almost all digital investment platforms look like crap.

Lousy/non existent responsive design, confusing layouts, bad copywriting - it's simply not intuitive to use. For a beginner, this can be overwhelming and demotivating.

In contrast, crypto platforms such as Coinbase and Crypto.com are much better. With a tech-first approach, these companies sure set the bar on how to designing trading and investing apps.

Coinbase and crypto.com are the first two platforms I got started with cryptocurrencies

In contrast, this is how a traditional brokerage app looks something like this..

DBS Vickers in Singapore.. design probably not updated for awhile now

Investing should be fun and engaging. Platforms with outdated designs are off putting and definitely not conducive for learning.

Good customer service and support

I cannot stress the importance of this enough.

For first timers, investing without good support and advice is like taking public transportation for the first time in your life.

Without any maps, guides or support, it's quite likely you'll get lost.

From personal experience, crypto.com has a live chat that you can reach out directly and get help on all sorts of topics - from how to deposit funds, or how to trade and more.

Good place to train your emotions

You've probably heard that the stock market is a rollercoaster ride.

Well, the same applies to crypto but the swings and highs are even more dramatic.

As a 'survivor' of the 2018 crash, cryptocurrencies crashed dramatically. Bitcoin crashed as much as -83.6% back then.

Visual Capitalist

There were so many mistakes that I've made my past few years in crypto. Specifically, emotional mistakes.

Being greedy, panic sells and impatience - just few of the many common mistakes that every new investor will face eventually.

However, because I entered the market with only a small amount of cash (back to the first reason), the damage done wasn't that bad; but damaging enough to teach me the most important lesson in investing - to always keep emotions in check.

Perspective from the undergrowth

There are many more things that I've learned by trading crypto too - such as learning how to do basic technical analysis (TA) on charts, understanding candlesticks, stop and limit buys. There are many similarities between stock and crypto trading.

These probably sound basic to you, but as a new user back then, the kind, forgiving and friendly user interface has helped me aplenty.

BTC/USDT chart on Crypto.com

Today, thanks to the fundamentals that trading/buying crypto has given me, I have diversified into other financial instruments such as REITs and stocks.

Go ahead and start learning how to invest and perform basic trades on crypto exchanges. Also, unlike banks, you could open an account almost instantly with modern KYC (know your customer) verification methods.

I highly recommend crypto.com - have been using it since 2018 and can't find a better alternative. Customer service is great and so is the user interface.

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