How to sell Ethereum – Guide for Beginners

If you’ve been involved with the  cryptocurrency markets, you may have purchased some Ether.

Ether (ETH), which is the cryptocurrency belonging to Ethereum, has been very popular with investors.

However, Ether can currently only be used to make purchases via the Ethereum network. This is because there’s only a limited amount of businesses that’ll accept crypto as a method of payment.

The other issue is that some businesses may only accept rival cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for payment.

That’s why most investors have bought Ether with the intention to make a profit from it, instead of actively using it. Many owners will hold onto their Ether, and sell it at a time when the market price is right.

So if you’re thinking of selling, keep on reading! We’ve put together in this post all the ways you can sell Ethereum, as well as some handy ETH trading strategies.

Let’s get started!

 

How to sell Ethereum – Exchanges

One of the most popular ways to sell Ether, is via an exchange. The process is quite easy to follow too, because it’s similar to the purchase steps.

To get started, you need to select which exchange you would like to use. It’s important to find one that operates in your country of residence, and has Ether available on their site.

Some of the most popular exchanges include Coinbase, Coinmama, Kraken, eToroX and Gemini. However, it’s important to use the one that you feel most comfortable with.

When you have found an exchange that you like, create and sign up for an account. Depending on the exchange used and in order to fulfil security requirements, you may have to verify your account by uploading a copy of your ID.

You also need to make sure that you have connected your bank account details to the account, so when you make the sale you can receive the funds there. Then follow these next steps below:

 

Selling Ethereum on an exchange

First, you have to decide whether you want to sell your Ether for another cryptocurrency (e.g. Bitcoin/Litecoin), or for fiat currency (e.g. USD/EUR).

The next step is for you to transfer the Ether from the location where it’s currently stored, to a new wallet provided by the exchange. From this new wallet you’ll be able to make the sale.

Just look for on your exchange’s website for the ‘wallet address’, ‘deposit’ or ‘sell’ buttons. When located, you’ll be able to see the address for your new wallet.

Once found, send the amount of Ether that you want to sell from the location where it is kept to the new wallet. The transfer should be instant.

When the transfer is complete, you need to decide how much Ether you wish to sell, and for which currency you would like to sell the Ether for.

Normally, you can place an order on the exchange, and wait for another user to accept the order. Or you can search for an existing placed order to fulfil.

It’s worth remembering that the exchange rate is usually calculated according to the latest market rates and if there’s any market volatility.

When the trade is completed, you will be able to see the funds showing in your account, whether they’re crypto or fiat funds makes no difference. However, if you’ve sold your Ether for a traditional ‘fiat’ currency such as USD, you can withdraw the funds directly to your selected bank account.

Because the withdrawal is normally made via wire/bank transfer, it could take a few days for the money to show in your account.

Many exchanges will also charge a small fee for withdrawals. So you should check the fee rates upfront when selecting your exchange.

 

How to sell Ethereum – Peer to peer trading

One alternative to using an exchange, is to use peer to peer trading instead. This removes the bother of setting up and verifying an exchange account.

With peer to peer trading, you simply sell and exchange directly with individuals. The place to go to do this king of trading is Localcryptos.

They used to be called LocalEthereum, but they’ve been renamed to Localcryptos. The name change has happened because when they first launched in 2017, they were the only peer to peer online marketplace for Ethereum.

However, as they’ve grown they now offer more cryptocurrencies on the platform such as Bitcoin.

The big advantage to using a platform like this is that you remain in charge, there are no middlemen. You simply exchange with another user directly.

Localcryptos also lets you use your favourite payment type to sell and buy cryptos. This includes PayPal, Skrill and bank/wire transfer.

Most importantly Localcryptos is fully decentralized, encrypted and non-custodial. This means that the platform never takes hold of your Ether. An escrow account is used as well via the use of Ethereum smart contracts.

You just need to follow these steps to set up an account:

1. To use the service, you’ll need to sign up for an account and create a password. Alternatively it’s possible to sign up using an Ethereum wallet instead.
2. You’ll then be in the platform’s marketplace where you can place your ETH sale offer and other users can respond. 
3. When you’ve found a purchase offer that you like, you need to open a trade with that user. Simply select the amount of Ether you wish to sell and lock the price in place.
4. The other user will receive an offer notification, and there’s usually a response within a few minutes.
5. Next, you need to put the Ether in an escrow account. The buyer will then pay you ‘outside’ the platform- (you can discuss the payment details with the buyer via encrypted messages.)
6. The escrow account will securely hold the Ether until the buyer has paid for it. This makes sure that both you and the buyer follow through with the deal, and keeps the process safe from theft.

 

How to sell Ethereum – Trading Strategies

Let’s take a look now at some of the trading strategies that can be used when investing Ethereum:

 

Holding Ethereum

One of the most common trading strategies used is the buy-and-hold strategy.

It’s popular because it’s one of the easiest strategies to follow. You just need buy some Ether and hold onto it for a long length of time before selling them.

Although Ethereum, like Bitcoin, is one of the strongest cryptocurrencies in the market, their value still fluctuates.

However, many investors who were early to buy Ether and Bitcoin, made a lot of money when the value peaked. There are also no signs that Ethereum is likely to collapse in the near future, so holding could be a good strategy to use.

Using this strategy also means that you don’t need to check the ETH performance and price each day. You just need to keep your purchased Ether in a secure place, so they’re safe.

The one thing you need to consider is to have a rough idea of when you’d eventually sell, and whether you’d sell all of your ETH or just some. For instance, you could sell in ETH in chunks when the market price reaches a high.

However, if you’re aware of a big event or news announcement that could hurt the Ether price badly, it’s best to sell prematurely to avoid big losses.

 

Trading Ethereum

Another Ethereum trading strategy that we would like to mention is Active Trading Ethereum.

As an investor they key to active trading is to buy Ether when the prices are fairly low and to sell when prices are high. It’s all about waiting for the price to spike and then selling in order to make a profit.

The main difference between this and the holding strategy is that you have to invest a lot more of your time to succeed with active trading.

This is because you are speculating on the price of your ETH, you need to actively watch the markets and the Ether’s daily price.

Since the cryptocurrency market is so volatile and can change a lot during 24 hours, you’ll need to observe the crypto market and ETH price daily- or even hourly!

Make sure that your follow the latest market news articles and follow and price changes manually.

Of course the only downside to this strategy is whether you can afford to invest your time like this daily. However, if you can find the time it is a very worthwhile strategy indeed.

Whatever strategy you pick though, hopefully with this guide you’re now aware of all the ways you can sell Ethereum. Just take your time to find which one suits your situation the best.