Best Cryptocurrency Apps for 2026

Cryptocurrency apps have changed more in the last four years than in the ten years before that. A wave of failures in 2022 took out several of the biggest names in the business, US regulators rewrote what these apps are allowed to sell you, and spot Bitcoin ETFs launched in January 2024, which pulled crypto into ordinary brokerage accounts.

Even so, investment in cryptocurrencies is increasing at a fair pace as people are finding ways to get free Bitcoin by mining or creative hacks.

Ownership kept growing through all of it. Crypto.com put global crypto owners at 741 million in 2025, up 12.4% from 659 million in 2024, with roughly 365 million of those holding Bitcoin. That report was published in February 2026.

You need cryptocurrency trading apps to manage your digital currencies. Buying, selling and managing virtual currencies require using a cryptocurrency exchange and wallet.

And it isn’t easy to choose the best exchange and wallet app, especially when so many of the apps recommended in older articles no longer exist.

This page was rechecked in August 2026. Every app below was confirmed to still operate, and the platforms that died are named as dead rather than quietly deleted, because you deserve to know what happened to them. Let’s get started.

Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges with Low Fees

A cryptocurrency exchange is a platform where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Creating an account with an exchange is the first step if you want to buy cryptocurrency. You need a reliable, registered exchange that works in your country and, in the US, in your state.

One thing applies to every app on this page. Crypto held in an exchange account is not FDIC insured and not SIPC protected. The FDIC states that deposit insurance “does not apply to” crypto assets and does not protect against “the default, insolvency, or bankruptcy” of a crypto custodian or exchange. SIPC does not cover digital assets that are not securities either. Some apps park your idle US dollars at an insured bank, which protects the cash only, never the coins.

Here are the best cryptocurrency exchanges you can choose from:

1. Coinbase

Coinbase is the largest US crypto exchange and the only major one that is a publicly traded company. Its public product API listed 400 assets with live USD markets when we checked in August 2026. Buying is quick once you link a bank account, debit card or credit card.

Two corrections to what you may have read elsewhere. Coinbase does not insure your crypto, and neither does any other exchange. And the SEC lawsuit that hung over the company for two years is gone, dismissed with prejudice on February 27, 2025 as part of the agency's wider retreat from crypto enforcement.

On fees, the simple buy and sell flow in the main app costs noticeably more than Coinbase Advanced, which uses a maker and taker schedule that drops as your monthly volume rises. Coinbase blocks automated access to its fee page, so check the live schedule inside your own account rather than trusting a number in any article, including this one. Coinbase also stopped paying USDC rewards to free accounts on December 15, 2025. Rewards are now a Coinbase One subscriber perk.

2. Public.com

If you want crypto sitting beside your stocks, ETFs, options and bonds in one app, go with Public. Its crypto page advertises a growing collection of 60+ assets traded 24/7, and it doesn’t have any minimum investment requirement, so you can test it with a small amount.

One structural detail is worth knowing, because plenty of older reviews get it wrong. Your crypto on Public is not held by the broker. Public's own disclosure states that cryptocurrency services are provided by Zero Hash LLC, that Zero Hash “is not a registered broker-dealer or a member of SIPC or FINRA,” and that “cryptocurrencies are not FDIC or SIPC insured.” You open a separate account with Zero Hash and your coins are custodied there. Public does not publish a crypto commission or markup figure, so ask before you size a trade.

3. eToro

eToro was founded in 2007 and listed on the Nasdaq under the ticker ETOR in May 2025. The web and mobile apps are friendly to beginners, and social trading is still its signature feature, letting you copy the positions of other traders.

The US coin list is the part that changed, and it changed twice. On September 12, 2024 eToro settled SEC charges of operating as an unregistered broker and clearing agency, paid a $1.5 million penalty, and cut US customers down to three assets: Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ether. Everything else had to be sold within 180 days. eToro then rebuilt the list, and by August 12, 2025 it announced over 100 cryptoassets for US users. That same announcement names Hawaii, New York, Nevada, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands as places where crypto trading is not available. Check your state before signing up.

4. Gemini

Gemini is beginner-friendly and, unusually, publishes a fee schedule you can actually read. Its ActiveTrader schedule starts at 0.600% maker and 1.200% taker at the entry tier and falls with volume, and the RLUSD/USD, USDC/GUSD and GUSD/USD pairs trade at 0.00% on both sides. Its public API listed 157 USD trading pairs in August 2026.

Gemini Earn, the yield product Gemini used to promote hard, is dead and is not coming back. Earn was funded by loans to Genesis Global Capital, which froze withdrawals in November 2022 and filed for bankruptcy in January 2023, trapping Earn balances for over a year. Earn users did eventually come out ahead. Gemini reported on May 29, 2024 that $2.18 billion of digital assets went back to Earn users in kind, roughly 97% of what was owed and a 232% recovery measured from the day Genesis halted withdrawals. That was an unusually good outcome, not a normal one, and it still took eighteen months.

5. Kraken

Kraken has the deepest asset list of the exchanges here. Its public API listed 660 assets with USD markets in August 2026, not the 50-odd figure older articles still repeat.

Its published fee schedule is the clearest reason to use it. Kraken Pro starts at 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker at Tier 1 and falls from there. The simple Kraken app is the expensive door into the same exchange, charging 1% on instant and recurring trades and 1.5% on custom orders, plus spread. If you are buying more than pocket money, use Pro.

Kraken shut its US staking service in February 2023 after a $30 million SEC settlement, then brought staking back for US customers on January 30, 2025 in 39 states and territories. Staking is not a savings account. Staked coins can still fall in value, and unstaking is not always instant.

Best Cryptocurrency Wallets

When you sign up with a cryptocurrency exchange platform, you need a cryptocurrency wallet. If you mine Bitcoin, you'll also want to use one. Your wallet stores private keys for cryptocurrency transactions. It allows you to send, receive, and spend digital currencies. You must have a cryptocurrency wallet if you want to buy and sell virtual currencies.

Here are the best cryptocurrency wallet apps:

1. Ledger Nano X

Ledger Nano X is still sold and still supported. It connects to your phone over Bluetooth, which is what makes it easier to live with than a cable-only device. It now sits in the middle of a wider Ledger lineup rather than at the top of it, so compare it against the current models on Ledger's own comparison page before you buy.

2. Trezor Safe 5 (the Trezor Model T is discontinued)

The Trezor Model T is no longer for sale. Trezor's own product page now carries a “Discontinued” label and states the Model T “is no longer available for sale but continues to receive security updates.” If you already own one it keeps working and keeps getting security patches, so there is no need to panic-move your coins.

If you are buying today, the touchscreen successor is the Trezor Safe 5, which Trezor itself points Model T owners toward. It adds a secure element chip the Model T did not have.

3. Jaxx Liberty (shut down in 2023)

Jaxx Liberty was a popular multi-platform software wallet, and it is gone. Decentral retired it in March 2023 and pulled the app from the official stores. If you still have an old Jaxx install, stop using it. Export your BIP39 recovery phrase, import it into a maintained wallet, and move the funds to a fresh set of keys afterwards if that phrase has ever touched an internet-connected machine.

For a like-for-like software replacement, ZenGo below is the closest fit. For anything you would be upset to lose, use a hardware wallet.

4. ZenGo

ZenGo is a good software wallet for beginners because there is no seed phrase to lose. It splits your key using multi-party computation instead, so there is no twelve-word card to hide in a drawer. You can buy and sell from the mobile app in a couple of taps.

Ownership changed in 2026. eToro Group announced it was acquiring ZenGo in April 2026, its first acquisition since going public. The wallet continues to operate.

Best Portfolio Trackers

Once you start trading cryptocurrency, you need to use a portfolio tracker app. It is a platform that helps you keep track of all the currencies and assets you own. It helps you make better investment decisions. As a beginner, you might need a portfolio tracker app but once your business grows, you'll definitely need a reliable portfolio tracker app.

Here are the best portfolio tracker apps to choose from:

1. CoinMarketCap

CoinMarketCap is still the default free option and still has a working portfolio tracker inside its Android and iOS apps. You get prices, exchange data, news, trends and charts, and it tracks profit and loss in real time without charging you. Most entry is manual, with automatic syncing limited to a short list of exchanges. That is the trade-off for it being free.

2. CoinStats

CoinStats is the paid step up, available on Mac, Android and iOS, and it connects to exchanges and on-chain wallets so you are not typing trades in by hand. There is a free Basic tier, and its pricing page lists Premium at $13.99 per month after the trial, with higher Degen and Team tiers above that and a discount for paying annually.

3. FTX and Blockfolio (collapsed in November 2022)

Blockfolio was for years the most recommended crypto portfolio tracker in the world. FTX bought it in 2020 and rebranded it as the FTX App in July 2021. Then FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11, 2022, and the app went with it. The blockfolio.com domain today redirects to the FTX bankruptcy claims portal. Do not download it, and be wary of any app or site still trading on the Blockfolio or FTX name.

Creditors are being repaid, slowly, through the FTX Recovery Trust, and distributions have continued into 2026. The catch that gets lost in the headlines is that claims are valued in November 2022 dollars, so a creditor recovering more than 100% of their claim still receives far less than their crypto would be worth today.

If you came here looking for Blockfolio, use CoinMarketCap for a free tracker or CoinStats if you want automatic exchange syncing.

Crypto Interest and Lending Platforms: What Survived

Crypto interest accounts let you hand coins to a company that lends them out and pays you a share of the return. This is the category that blew up in 2022, and it is where old articles do the most damage, because almost every eye-catching APY published before 2023 belonged to a platform that no longer takes deposits.

Read this before you read the table. A crypto interest account is not a savings account. Your balance is an unsecured loan to a private company. If that company fails you are a bankruptcy creditor, and you may wait years for a fraction of your money. The SEC's investor bulletin on these accounts makes the same point. There is no deposit insurance behind any of it, and a high advertised yield is a signal about risk, not a reward for shopping well. Anchor Protocol advertised roughly 19% on a stablecoin right up until the Terra collapse in May 2022 wiped out tens of billions of dollars.

Here is the honest state of the category as of August 2026, including the platforms people still search for:

Company	Open to US users?	What it actually offers now
Uphold	Yes	Staking rewards, relaunched for US customers in March 2025 across 19 on-chain assets. Rates vary by asset and change constantly, so check in-app.
Crypto.com	Yes	The US Cash Earn Account is a US dollar account at Green Dot Bank, not a crypto yield product. Crypto.com's help centre lists 3.00% to 4.00% APY by subscription tier, effective June 1, 2026, with interest paid out in CRO.
Coinbase	Subscribers only	USDC rewards became a Coinbase One perk on December 15, 2025. Free accounts no longer earn. Check the live rate in your account.
Nexo	Yes, again	Left the US in December 2022 after a $45 million settlement, and formally relaunched in the US on February 16, 2026. Nexo publishes no fixed US rate, saying it varies by region and loyalty tier.
Ledn	No	Went bitcoin-only in July 2025 and retired its BTC and ETH Growth Accounts. The remaining USDC and USDT yield accounts are not offered to US or Canadian residents.
YouHodler	No	The United States sits on YouHodler's published restricted-countries list, along with Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands.
KuCoin	No	Pleaded guilty in January 2025, paid roughly $297 million, and closed all US accounts that month. A CFTC order in March 2026 made the US bar permanent.
Gemini Earn	Gone	Frozen when Genesis halted withdrawals in November 2022 and never reopened. Earn users were eventually repaid in kind.
BlockFi	Gone	Paused withdrawals November 10, 2022 and filed Chapter 11 on November 28, 2022.
Celsius	Gone	Froze withdrawals June 12, 2022 and filed Chapter 11 on July 13, 2022. Creditor distributions are still running.
Voyager	Gone	Halted withdrawals July 1, 2022 and filed Chapter 11 days later. The rescue deal collapsed and it was liquidated.
Outlet Finance	Gone	Shut down in 2023.
Anchor Protocol	Gone	Its roughly 19% stablecoin yield was subsidised, not earned. A governance vote halted earning and borrowing in June 2022 after Terra collapsed.

What to Look for in a Cryptocurrency App

When you're looking to make money with Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency you'll want to be careful. How do you choose the right cryptocurrency app?

You can’t just pick any app, you have to make the right decision by comparing the pros and cons of different apps. But what do you actually compare?

Here are the key factors that you must look for when choosing a cryptocurrency app:

Purpose

Why do you need a cryptocurrency app? Do you need a digital wallet to occasionally buy and sell cryptocurrencies or do you want to become an investor and need a cryptocurrency exchange app with a portfolio tracker? Clearly define your purpose and then look for the apps in the right category.

Price

Not all apps are free, and the best ones rarely are. Compare three things, not one. First, any monthly subscription. Second, the trading fee, which on most apps is far higher in the simple buy button than in the pro interface of the same exchange. Third, the spread, which is the gap between the price you see and the price you get, and which almost never appears on a fee page.

Features

Don’t ignore app features such as mobile app, ease-of-use, customer support, etc. If an app requires intensive training before you can use it, there isn’t any need to go for it.

Legality

This one is a serious concern, and in the US it now goes down to the state level. Not all exchanges, wallets and platforms work everywhere. Check that the app supports your country and your state before you sign up, because if it doesn’t you won’t be able to deposit or withdraw. eToro, for example, does not offer crypto trading in Hawaii, New York, Nevada, Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands. Kraken relaunched US staking in 39 states and territories, not all 50. A little research saves you from a frozen account.

It is also worth knowing where the rules stand. The GENIUS Act, signed on July 18, 2025, created the first federal framework for payment stablecoins. The broader market structure bill, the CLARITY Act, passed the House in July 2025 but has still not become law, so the ground can shift again.

Beginner's Guide to Cryptocurrency Investing

Bitcoin set an all-time high of roughly $126,000 in October 2025 and was trading near $78,900 when this page was updated in August 2026. That is a fall of about 37% from the peak in under a year, which is a useful reminder of what this asset does. Are you wondering how cryptocurrencies are actually used, and whether it is too late to invest?

Information and success stories are flooding social media networks, blogs, news sites and everyone seems to be talking about crypto trades almost daily.

But why did cryptocurrency investing become so popular so suddenly? And is having a crypto portfolio truly as lucrative as everyone claims it to be?

Let’s talk about investing in cryptocurrency for beginners, because who better to discuss an emerging technology than people who are interested in diversifying their investments? If you are working with a small amount, the same rules in our guide to investing with little money apply here.

Cryptocurrencies are an important innovation for every generation to know about, but the youth of the world will be the ones truly seizing this exciting invention’s benefits.

What are Cryptocurrencies?

If you are not exactly sure what all the fuss is about cryptocurrencies then the chances are pretty high that you don’t know much about cryptocurrency, to begin with.

A cryptocurrency is a digitalized form of money or a digital asset that is used for online transactions across the globe.

There are quite a few different types of cryptocurrencies that are commonly used by global markets.

These currencies are completely decentralized and don’t belong to any country, government, sector or organization.

The first cryptocurrency was created in 1983 by the American cryptographer, David Chaum.

This electronic money type was called ecash. Since 1983 cryptocurrencies have developed a lot and have resulted in quite a few different digital currencies.

The most widely held coins include Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), XRP, Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Polkadot (DOT), Stellar (XLM), Monero (XMR), BNB and the dollar-pegged stablecoins Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC). Note that Voyager (VGX), which used to appear on lists like this one, is the token of a bankrupt lender. Voyager halted withdrawals in July 2022 and was liquidated, and the token has no platform behind it.

Cryptocurrencies are forms of currency that don’t require central approval to gain their value.

The reason people accept the US dollar is because the US government reassures people of its value.

People accept Bitcoin because its algorithms ensure the currency is valid and its transactions cannot be forged.

That means no central authority sets the value of Bitcoin. It does not mean the transactions are private. This is the single most common misconception about Bitcoin and it is worth correcting. Bitcoin.org itself says that Bitcoin “is probably the most transparent payment network in the world,” that all transactions are “public, traceable, and permanently stored,” and that anyone can see the balance and every transaction of any address. Bitcoin is pseudonymous, not anonymous. Once an address is linked to you, its whole history is linked to you.

Bitcoin (BTC)

This gives Bitcoin many advantages over traditional currency, including unbiased independence as a token of value, and also as an anonymous means of exchanging goods and services.

The unique merits of Bitcoin make it an exciting investment opportunity. Digital currencies such as Bitcoin are gaining popularity by the likes of companies as well.

Altcoins

People the world over have made millions off trading ‘altcoins’, alternative cryptocurrencies to Bitcoin.

However, unless you plan on making this your full-time job, I don’t think it’s worth your time to day trade. Instead, I want to introduce you all to the idea of picking a promising altcoin and sticking with it.  

Altcoins exist for a specific purpose, introducing a new innovation that Bitcoin lacked. Litecoin was the first, and it introduced an algorithm that made it easier to validate transactions.

Then came Dash and Monero, which held far more anonymous transactions, and Namecoin which allows people to exchange cryptocurrencies for URLs, and even Steem which pays people in cryptocurrency for blogging.

There are now literally thousands of altcoins, and it’s impossible for anyone to keep track of them all, but by keeping an ear to the ground you can get in on promising coins before they take off.

What about Ethereum?

If you're learning about investing in cryptocurrency for beginners then you should probably know about Ethereum. The next biggest coin, besides Bitcoin, is Ethereum.

Ethereum is a pretty complex technology, but in short, it allows people to share computing resources and developments across the blockchain network so that you can build applications that don't require a central server or a central development team.

This makes applications more secure, allows them to develop and evolve faster, and reduces startup costs for new companies and new developers. Its price is largely impacted by its adoption as a development platform, so when large companies like Microsoft or Bank of America announced their intentions to begin developing on the Ethereum network, its price shot up.

Best Crypto Exchange

The first step for prospective investors is to open an account with a cryptocurrency exchange. Coinbase allows you to exchange US dollars for Bitcoin or Ethereum, which can then be transferred to a different exchange.

There is also a much easier route than there used to be. Since January 2024 you can hold spot Bitcoin ETFs, and since July 2024 spot Ether ETFs, inside an ordinary brokerage or retirement account. You do not get the coins and you do pay a fund fee, but you also skip exchange custody risk entirely, which is the risk that took down every platform in the table above.

For a wider altcoin list, eToro now offers over 100 cryptoassets to US users, subject to the state exclusions listed earlier, and its copy-trading feature is genuinely useful if you are learning. On fees, do not take anyone’s word for who is cheapest, including ours. Kraken and Gemini both publish full maker and taker schedules you can read before you deposit, and that transparency is worth more than a marketing claim.

What's next?

Great! So you’ve got some Bitcoin, and you have a cryptocurrency trading app like eToro, now what?

Well, holding onto Bitcoin itself is a great long-term plan, but if you want to make more in the short term you can pick out promising altcoins.

The key is diversification.

Given Bitcoin’s hegemonic status and high publicity, I see it as a great place to park 50% of my portfolio at any given time.

Beyond that, there are different ways to invest in cryptocurrencies.

Some of these methods involve mining for Bitcoins or other currencies, other methods involve buying or earning cryptocurrencies and selling these assets for a greater profit when the value of the cryptocurrency escalates.

You can also use your digital money to shop online from a great variety of e-commerce stores.

More and more online shops are switching over to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin thanks to the popularity of this digital currency.

You can also earn small amounts without buying any, which is a low-stakes way to learn how wallets and transfers work. See our guides to getting free Bitcoin and getting free NFTs. For discussion, the /r/CryptoCurrency subreddit is worth a look, keeping in mind that everyone there is talking their own book.

These boards allow you to understand the new technology, gauge interest by a number of replies and do research on who the developers are and if they will be committed to the new project.

Why are cryptocurrency investments exploding?

You may wonder why cryptocurrency investments became so popular so quickly, right?

Well, it is all about the success and the tremendous growth of cryptocurrencies.  

The honest version of this story runs in both directions. Here is what the last decade actually looked like:

• Bitcoin set an all-time high of roughly $126,000 in October 2025.
• Ethereum set its own all-time high near $4,946 in August 2025.
• In between, Bitcoin fell to about $15,480 in November 2022, during the week the FTX collapse spread through the industry.
• As of August 2026 Bitcoin trades near $78,900 and Ethereum near $2,460, both well below their highs.
• Anyone who bought at the October 2025 peak is down roughly 37% at the time of writing. Anyone who bought at the November 2022 low is up several times over. Timing, not conviction, explains most crypto returns you hear about.

Those swings are the whole story. Crypto has produced returns nothing else has matched, and it has also produced drawdowns that would end most people’s tolerance for risk. Both facts are true at once, and any article that gives you only the first half is selling you something.

What actually changed the audience was access rather than arithmetic. Spot Bitcoin ETFs began trading in January 2024 and spot Ether ETFs in July 2024, which let ordinary brokerage and retirement accounts hold crypto exposure without opening an exchange account at all.

That is also why the crypto market keeps drawing new money. Higher potential return and higher potential loss are the same sentence, not two different ones.

Is cryptocurrency investing worth your time?

Cryptocurrency investments are a great investment type – but it isn’t for everyone.  A lot of people burn their fingers when they climb into this market.

You really do need to make time for this type of investment and learn more about investments before you dive right in or you can easily end up losing a lot of money.

Cryptocurrencies can be a great investment for you but it is essential to take the right steps when investing and to remember that this is a long-term investment and not a quick buy and sell strategy.

Watch out for pump and dumps

The most important thing is to watch out for pre-mined pump and dumps. Many new coins are created for the sole purpose of the developers giving themselves many coins to start and selling them at an overpriced value to the public.

The classic example is still the ‘Squid Game‘ token from 2021. It traded around 2 cents in late October, hit a high of $2,861 on November 1, then plunged 99.9% to below a penny in seconds when the developers cashed out. The mechanics have not changed since, only the branding. Anything promoted by a countdown timer, a celebrity post or a locked sell button is running the same play.

You have to look for a real purpose for the coin, a uniqueness to it, and actually committed developers with a strong technological resume.

If a coin meets these requirements, it's worth committing a portion of your portfolio – maybe 10% – to it and seeing if it takes off!

Invest only what you can afford to lose

Last, and most importantly, never invest more than you can afford to lose. You may see the claim that Bitcoin is less volatile than gold. It is not. JPMorgan measured rolling one-year volatility in early 2026 at about 36% for Bitcoin against about 20% for gold, so Bitcoin was still close to twice as volatile, even though the gap has narrowed since the ETFs launched. Individual altcoins can gain or lose most of their value in a day.

Crypto should complement a portfolio rather than replace it. If you want to get started, opening a free account at Coinbase is a reasonable first step. It is the largest US exchange, it is a public company with audited financials, and the app handles market insights, recurring buys and price alerts. Just remember what the first section said. The coins in that account are not insured by anyone.

You no longer need to buy Bitcoin first and then swap it for something else. Every exchange here sells most coins directly for US dollars, so you can buy what you want on eToro or any of the others in one step. Do watch for network and withdrawal fees when you move crypto off an exchange, and if you are moving a meaningful amount, send a small test transaction first.

Get Started in Crypto

This is a basic guide and recommendations for where to safely buy digital currencies and learn about cryptocurrency investing.

Are you ready to diversify your investment portfolio by adding crypto to the mix or even becoming a crypto trader?

Cryptocurrency apps make it easy for newbies to get started. You can buy and sell currencies without any experience with these apps. You don’t even have to go through intensive training videos or guides, these apps are fun and easy to use.

Start small, keep anything you would hate to lose in a hardware wallet rather than on an exchange, and treat every advertised yield as a question rather than an answer. The apps on this page were all verified to exist in August 2026, which is more than can be said for most crypto lists still sitting in the search results. If you want to earn crypto rather than buy it, our guides to making money with Bitcoin and Bitcoin mining software are the place to go next.