Ûphold

Uphold launched in the United States back in 2015, before the insane cryptocurrency bubble of 2017. The platform initially functioned more like a traditional e-currency wallet, such as PayPal, but it’s since expanded to become a full-fledged cryptocurrency exchange with a portfolio of assets that includes numerous cryptocurrencies but also equities, precious metals and more.​Uphold Login also lets users stake certain digital assets to earn passive income. The company also offers the Uphold Card, a Mastercard debit that allows you to easily spend any of your Uphold assets wherever Mastercard is accepted.Perhaps most importantly, Uphold has an extremely transparent proof of reserves that is updated in real-time and is easily accessible.

Uphold Sign-up Process

Uphold is available on both desktop computers and smartphones, so to get started with this cryptocurrency exchange platform, you must either visit Uphold.com or find the Uphold app in your phone’s app store. When you begin the sign-up process, you will need to provide the following basic information:

• Email address

• Password

• Enrolling as business or individual

• Country of residence

• Full name

• Username

• Date of birth

• State or province

Like nearly every other cryptocurrency exchange, the usability of Uphold will be limited unless additional personal information is provided. Users who only provide the above information are limited to a lifetime transaction ceiling of $1,000. To remove this limit and gain access to additional features, such as funding your account via a debit or credit card, users must provide documentation in the form of a valid government-issued ID.

What You Can Buy

The number of cryptocurrencies available on Uphold used to be relatively modest but the company expanded its offerings considerably over the last couple years and the site now offers one of the biggest portfolios online with over 200 different assets including crypto, equities, precious metals and more.Note that Uphold assets are divided into different tiers (1, 2, 3). Tier 3 assets are available for buy, hold, trade, deposit and withdraw. Some of the other tiers are more restricted.Here’s a partial list of some of the most popular assets:

• Basic Attention Token

• Bitcoin

• Bitcoin Cash

• CRED

• Toncoin

• Metal DAO

• Euro Coin

• Cardano

• BAT

• XDC

• Dash

• Ether

• Litecoin

• Stellar Lumens

• Ripple

• Flare (FLR)

Uphold Best Features

Here’s a look at some of the top reasons crypto users pick Uphold over other exchanges:

Proof of Reserves

With knowledge of exchange reserves and liabilities being more important than ever, Uphold’s long standing transparency regarding their holdings and obligations stands out in the crowd. They provide a live Reserve Status where you can see the assets in their reserve, their obligations, transaction volume, and number of transactions.They even go a step further and break down those reserves and obligations into 10 categories. These categories include currencies for bank transfers, currencies to hold, exchange or send to around the world, crypto holdings, precious metals, environmental assets, and every other type of asset that is available on Uphold. Below is an example

Convert Anything to Anything

One of the most convenient aspects of Uphold Exchange is that you can convert any of their assets to any of their other supported assets from the same trading page. There is no need to enter different accounts or platforms to convert something like Bitcoin to a US stock like Apple. Simply enter what you want to trade and what you want to receive, and Uphold will do the heavy lifting. The fee you pay for the conversion varies by the types of assets involved and works as a price spread.

Uphold Card

The Uphold Card is a Mastercard Debit card accessible to Uphold Exchange users in the US and UK. The virtual card is available for both US and UK users. There is also a physical card available for UK users with one coming soon for US ones. The Uphold Card can be used anywhere Mastercard is accepted both online and in person, with no annual fees or activation fees. Those who are limited to the virtual card can add it to their Apple or Google Pay wallets.The Uphold Card allows users to spend any asset they hold in the Uphold wallet, whether crypto, precious metals, commodities, or fiat. Any time a purchase is made using the Uphold Card the user gets 4% cashback in the form of Ripple (XRP), which can then be spent or converted to any of the assets available on Uphold, whether Bitcoin or gold.