Even though Bitcoin may no longer be at the heights it reached in late 2017, it seems not a day goes by without a new story about cryptocurrency exchanges, mining , and trading. So, it should come as no surprise that many investors have turned to cryptocurrency as a new, potentially lucrative opportunity.

Of course, it’s one thing to bring your past trading experiences to the crypto-world; it’s quite another to manage your investments in a way that will allow you to take your cryptocurrency trading game to the next level.

Thankfully, several companies are stepping up to the plate with their own unique tools, specifically designed to help crypto-traders get a solid return on their investment.

Here’s a closer look at some of the best options available today:

1. CoinMarketCal

Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to predict market trends so you can make the right trades?

CoinMarketCal aggregates the latest press releases and updates for a wide variety of cryptocurrencies, allowing users to more accurately predict value trends and market shifts. Users can also rate the trustworthiness of each news item.

Best of all, the site keeps users in the loop with newsletters and custom alerts that highlight coins investors should watch closely, all based on the most-recently curated information.

With this knowledge in hand, you can have greater confidence in your next trade.

Pricing: CoinMarketCal is free to use.

2. eToro’s CryptoFund

Sometimes, it helps to see what other successful cryptocurrency traders are doing with their investments. With eToro’s CryptoFund , that’s exactly what you get.

While the platform itself offers a professionally curated portfolio management system, what really sets it apart is its “social trading” setup that allows you to follow the positions of other investors.

This social nature also allows you to connect with other traders to share insights and ideas.

Whether you wish to copy another user’s trading patterns to automate your investments or gain insight into up-and-coming cryptocurrencies, this is a great platform to start with.

Pricing: Minimal fees apply when holding leveraged positions or shorting cryptocurrencies

3. Blockfolio

Access to accurate information at any time or place is vital for successful crypto trading — and that’s where the Blockfolio app comes in. Available in both the App Store and Google Play, this smartphone app monitors over 3,000 coin varieties and 100 exchanges.

Better yet, the app allows you to track the value of your investments with real-time updates and notifications. The app can be configured to send custom alerts when a coin you follow reaches a set value, enabling you to quickly make a needed trade.

Pricing: The Blockfolio app is available as a free download.

4. Dead Coins

As valuable as it is to know when to make a smart investment, it can be even more important to know when a specific altcoin would only cause you to lose money.

Dead Coins provides a curated list of crypto-offerings that investors should avoid at all costs, with explanations detailing why a coin is a scam or simply deceased.

The next time you discover an exciting new altcoin, be sure to check out Dead Coins first. This way, you can avoid accidentally investing your hard-earned money into a coin that doesn’t have any growth potential.

Pricing: Dead Coins offers free sign-up.

5. Signals

Cryptocurrency is a tech-heavy sector, so it should hardly be surprising that new startups like Signals aim to further unite the two with machine learning and automated trading. Signals will help experienced traders create their own trading algorithms without the need for extensive programming knowledge.

With this system, you can build your own automated trading strategy, while also incorporating machine learning tools that adapt and adjust your investments using big data insights.

You can also test out your models before making an actual investment so you can have confidence in the quality of your algorithm.

Pricing: Following a successful token sale and Alpha testing stage, Signals is currently gearing up for the launch of Signals v2 in November.

6. CoinGecko

Looking for a simple, streamlined view of the strongest cryptocurrencies on the market?

CoinGecko does exactly that, using key factors such as liquidity, public interest, market capitalization and developer activity to create its rankings.

CoinGecko also tracks community engagement with each coin, giving investors essential insights into which cryptocurrencies are most likely to appreciate in value. Additional information, such as historical data and mining difficulty, can provide further confidence in your investments.

Pricing: The CoinGecko app is available for free.

7. Coinigy

The cryptocurrency market is home to a seemingly endless number of exchanges. If you’re involved in multiple platforms, this can make it hard to effectively manage all your trades — but not if you use Coinigy.

Coinigy is available for both desktop and mobile users, allowing you to manage all your accounts in a single place, even if they are spread over several exchanges. The addition of portfolio monitoring tools and real-time insights will help you keep your investments safe.

Pricing: After a 30-day free trial, Coinigy memberships range from $18.66 to $99.99/month.

8. Cindicator

With its unique “hybrid intelligence” system, Cindicator aims to combine the best attributes of human financial analysts and AI analytics tools. By leveraging insights from both humans and machines, Cindicator achieves highly accurate predictions for coin investments.

Cindicator’s algorithms take analyst predictions on everything from coin pricing to major economic shifts to come up with what it deems are the most likely trends for the cryptocurrency market.

This way, you don’t have to rely on the input of a single financial analyst — you can have confidence that the information utilizes thousands of sources of knowledge.

Pricing: The Cindicator app is available as a free download.

By pairing your own knowledge with these helpful tools, you’ll be able to enjoy a more streamlined and efficient cryptocurrency trading experience.

Whether you’re looking for that extra piece of information to help you make an informed investment or a tool that will automate routine transactions, taking advantage of these helpful options will allow you to achieve a sound financial outcome.

Japanese authorities form pact to hunt cryptocurrency tax evaders

Big time cryptocurrency traders in Japan could be getting a letter from the tax man next year.

The Japanese government is developing a system to catch those who are not paying the appropriate taxes on the profits made from cryptocurrency trading, according to local news .

According to sources close to the matter, the system would allow the Japanese National Tax Agency (NTA) to request the cryptocurrency transaction information of individuals thought to be evading the tax.

In Japan, any profits obtained from trading cryptocurrencies fall under the Income Tax Act, so individuals must pay tax on these profits if their earnings are above 200,000 yen ($1,700) per year.

The source states that Japanese cryptocurrency businesses only have to submit information about their customers on a voluntary basis. With the new framework in place, businesses would be legally obliged to hand over information about their customers.

This information would include names, addresses, and personal identification numbers. While it might sound like the beginning of the end for any form of anonymity in cryptocurrency, not everyone is going to be affected.

The NTA is starting by setting its sights on those it thinks have earned over 10 million yen ($88,000) from cryptocurrency trading. Small time hodlers appear to be safe – for now at least.

According to the report, the new system will be rolled out in the next fiscal year in Japan, which runs from 1 April to 31 March.

Japanese authorities have been doubling down on cryptocurrency regulation of late.

Earlier this year, the country’s Financial Services Authority (FSA) announced the industry would have self-regulatory status , allowing the Japan Virtual Currency Exchange Association to police exchanges for violations.

The FSA has also recently announced it is looking to deploy a regulatory framework for initial coin offerings , in a bid to better protect investors from scam ICOs .

Moonday Mornings: Intel CPU weakness could compromise cryptocurrency private keys

We spent the entire weekend failing to reach the bottom of our buckets of Halloween candy. Yes, we’re disappointed with ourselves too.

But as it’s Moonday, we’ve put that aside and rounded up the best cryptocurrency news from the last few days just for you!

Here’s some of our top picks.

1. A new security threat called PortSmash exploits a previously overlooked component of Intel’s hyperthreading technology. This threat could compromise the security of sensitive information, including the private keys to your cryptocurrency. It’s thought the threat could also attack other CPU manufacturers too. Are none of us safe?

2. The Taiwanese government wants to know who is spending cryptocurrency. The country is passing a law to crackdown on anonymous cryptocurrency transactions. Part of the regulations will require exchanges to implement “real-name systems,” which will require users to fully disclose their identity. Long live anonymity!

3. The Turkish Police have arrested a group of 11 criminals thought to be associated to a series of cryptocurrency wallet hacks. Reports claim that victims have lost over $80,000 as a result of the group’s malicious activity.

4. At the end of last month, The Bank of America added another blockchain patent to its collection. Despite publicly criticizing blockchain and cryptocurrency, it now owns over 50 blockchain patents. Now, we just have to wait and see what it’s going to do with them.

5. Last week , it was reported that Israel is home to over 200 blockchain startups. This week it has come to light that Israeli based ICOs managed to raise over $600 million in the first quarter of this year alone.

6. British banking giant HSBC successfully completed an international cross-border trade finance payment between the India-based energy, resources and petrochemicals conglomerate, Reliance Industries, and US-based petrochemical logistics firm, Tricon Energy. Oh, and it was done on the blockchain, of course.

Well there you have it, another weekend of cryptocurrency news. I’m somewhat disappointed it wasn’t scarier, it was Halloween after all.