Following in the footsteps of a momentous year, Bitcoin started 2021 with a bang. The cryptocurrency was trading below $4,000 in March, when the pandemic hit the world. It had gained 224% by mid-December, ending the year at over $29,000.

2020 may have been a bad year for many, but the opposite was true for Cryptocurrencies. The total market cap of all currencies tracked by Coin Market Cap rose from more than $195 billion in January to more than $546 billion.

It has been an amazing year for Bitcoin, the king of cryptos. After stumbling at the start of the year, the cryptocurrency with the largest market cap has been on a dominant march. In March 2020, Bitcoin was below the $5,000 mark. Since then, BTC USD has been rising, albeit with volatility.

Gears are one of the greatest mechanical inventions. This is what allows the magnification of speed and power of a vehicle. These simple machines lie at the heart of some of the most important applications todays, including clocks, power plants and even aircraft. Leverage fulfills a similar role in trading.

Volatility can be a trades best friend and worst foe. While the opportunities are attractive during volatile markets, the risks of trading also increase. There are however a number of indicators that help traders under these conditions. You will have heard about Bollinger Bands and the Average True Range (ATR) indicators.

It has been an incredible year for the king of cryptos, Bitcoin. After facing a few hiccups in the early months of 2020, the virtual currency has held on to an upward trajectory. At a time when fiat currencies are being viewed with scepticism, Bitcoin is even being eyed as a hedge against inflation.

When foraying into financial trading, the right trading platform can be your best friend. Your choice of trading platform can decide your speed of execution, access to real-time prices and market liquidity, choice of technical indicators and trading tools, as well as robust risk management tools.

When someone starts trading or investing, there are generally 2 questions on their mind. First, how they can invest to earn a profit in a growing market and second, what can they do to limit their losses if the market starts to go against them. One of the best solutions to these questions is taking advantage of indices.

With a total market capitalisation of $10.5 billion, as of November 19, 2020, Ripple is the fourth largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Not many cryptos have experienced as much success as Ripple has, over the years. Not only does it have robust technology backing it, it also has the potential to solve many real-world issues.

Cryptocurrencies came with the promise of making payments and money accessible to everyone, regardless of where you are in the world. This promise was taken one step further with the introduction of DeFi or decentralised finance.