The first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was founded in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto, someone whose true identity is still unknown. In practice, it was a novel method of payment that could be used globally, was decentralized, and was not governed by a financial institution.
After more than a decade, the total worldwide market capitalization of all cryptocurrencies reached $2.16 trillion in September 2021, making it similar to the world’s eighth-largest economy by GDP.
Cryptocurrency has become widely accepted. Also, developing cryptocurrency goods and apps has proven to be a lucrative niche inside the financial technology business.
Surf has built numerous massive cryptocurrency projects from the ground up. We have enough experience to walk you through the entire cryptocurrency app development process seamlessly.
What exactly is a cryptocurrency application?
First and foremost, let’s clarify the terms we’ll use throughout the article:
Cryptocurrency represents a digital currency that can be traded for services and goods and is protected by sophisticated cryptography, making double-spending and counterfeiting practically impossible. The primary reason for their recent spectacular ascent is that cryptocurrencies are not issued by any authority and are immune to government manipulation and control. Many businesses create their own currencies (tokens) that can be exchanged for the services or items they provide.
Bitcoin (BTC) is the most widely used cryptocurrency, and it has served as a model for others. There are around 6500 distinct cryptocurrencies in use today. Montero (XMR), Chainlink (LINK), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Litecoin (LTC), Tether (USDT), Polkadot (DOT), and Stellar are the most popular digital currencies, aside from Bitcoin (XLM).
Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology. Blockchain is a decentralized technology that records and manages transactions across numerous devices. The security of this technology is one of its main selling points.
A cryptocurrency application enables the users to manage and track worldwide and local trade tokens for fiat and cryptocurrency funds.
Several explanations for the current popularity of cryptocurrency apps and digital currencies are listed below:
- Decentralization:
Blockchain decentralizes bitcoin, making it impossible for any government to impose its laws on a cryptocurrency owner.
- Transactions are unlimited and quick:
Users do not have to wait many days for funds to appear in the recipient’s account. There are no restrictions on the number of transactions that can be made.
- Transaction costs are low:
Financial institutions levy substantial transaction fees, but cryptocurrency transaction fees are negligible.
- Internationally acknowledged:
Cryptocurrencies enable recipients and senders from all over the world to save money on charges and conversions.
- Anonymity and transparency:
No one will identify the recipient or sender if the crypto address isn’t publicly confirmed.
The stages of creating a cryptocurrency app
- Determine the problem that your app will address
First and foremost, you must identify the most prevalent issues that customers have and explain how your app will address them, or at least one of them. You can then select the appropriate blockchain solution based on this information. After that, you must undertake a cost-benefit analysis and examine the potential hazards to see if an application is worthwhile.
- Choose an approach for developing a crypto app
In general, there are two options: leverage public libraries to avoid building the entire app yourself or create an app from scratch. In the second instance, you will have the opportunity to develop an app with higher functionality and a distinctive appearance, but it will be significantly more expensive.
- Select an app model for development
Will it be cloud, internal, or hybrid? You must also select the appropriate blockchain solution to implement: authorized, public, unlimited, private, or hybrid blockchain models are available. Also, based on your platform of choice, rank the best stack. For example, the cross-platform mobile frameworks Flutter and React Native is the most popular for developing cryptocurrency wallets for Android and iOS.
- Consider the app’s setup
The blockchain app’s configuration is critical, as most components cannot be modified once they’ve been set up. Following the server component planning, you must select the finest servers, external databases, and front-end programming language for the project.
- Create a good UX/UI design
The software should be simple to use and understand. Remember to pay close attention to the app’s color palette and content peculiarities.
- Select between customized and pre-built APIs (Application Programming Interface)
You may want to construct custom APIs for your app even though there are various pre-built APIs. APIs can generate key pairs, create addresses, retrieve and store data, validate data, and manage smart contract interactions.
- Testing and scaling
The best approach is to create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) first, then test it for performance difficulties, storage and memory issues, crashes, and latencies.
Cryptocurrency app types and their main characteristics
As previously stated, the first step in establishing your own cryptocurrency project is to decide what form of cryptocurrency app you’ll create. Trading applications, crypto wallets, and aggregation platforms are all examples of such apps.
Crypto wallet
What exactly is it?
A cryptocurrency wallet, also known as a blockchain wallet, allows users to store their bitcoins and transaction records safely. In general, crypto wallets support Ethereum and Bitcoin, the two most prominent digital currencies. Blockchain wallets are used by more than 70 million people throughout the world.
Transactions are made faster and easier with cryptocurrency wallet apps. This kind of money transfer is indeed decentralized and inexpensive, implying that no central authority is in charge of the transactions, which are encrypted and anonymous.
The following are some of the factors that go into judging the quality of a cryptocurrency wallet app:
Factors determining the quality of a cryptocurrency wallet app:
- Multiple supported currencies (XRP, ETH, BTC, LTC, and others).
- Security (multi-signature, fingerprint scanner, hardware authentication, two-factor authentication, FaceID, and so on).
- User Experience: Using Apple Pay, Google Pay, or PayPal to manage your wallet shouldn’t be more complex.
- Anonymity: Reliable tools for safeguarding users’ personal information. On the other hand, significant investors and miners may require a token mixer to exchange large sums of cryptocurrency.
Top features to implement in a cryptocurrency wallet app:
- Transaction history
- User authorization
- Conversion rates
- Security features
- Receiving and transferring operations
- QR-code scanner
- Push notifications
- Multi-cryptocurrency purpose
Edge, Bitcoin Wallet, Coinbase, Infinito, BitGo, Green address, and Electrum are the finest cryptocurrency wallet apps.
Crypto data aggregators
What exactly is it?
Crypto data aggregators strive to provide customers with helpful information about the various cryptocurrencies available on the market (trading volumes, prices, market capitalization, exchanges ranking, available markets, and trading pairs). Investors frequently utilize such aggregators to explore deeper into the crypto industry.
It’s worth noting that when creating a cryptocurrency app, the UX/UI design is critical, as it primarily defines the user experience, including the perception of graphical data, which has the most significant impact on the success of such services.
Several factors determine a crypto data aggregator’s quality
- The data displayed is of high quality
Rates should be retrieved in real-time from exchanges. Users should choose which exchange they want to acquire rate information from and for each coin separately (trading pair).
- Analytical tools
A competent crypto aggregator should offer tools for technical analysis and the development of various trading strategies.
- Additional functions
Push notifications, a news feed, and integration with cryptocurrency exchanges.
Top Features of the crypto aggregator to develop
- Newsfeed
- Synchronization with the portfolio of the user
- Live charts and prices
- Watchlist
- Price alerts
Kaiko, CoinGecko, and CoinMarketCap are the best crypto data aggregating applications available right now.
Cryptocurrency exchange platforms (trading apps)
What exactly is it?
A cryptocurrency trading app is an online platform that functions similarly to a marketplace, acting as a middleman between buyers and sellers in trade transactions that are primarily limited to selling, buying, or exchanging virtual and fiat currencies. Developing a bitcoin exchange platform is a considerably more complex endeavor than creating a cryptocurrency wallet, as it entails more risks and resources.
Several factors determine the quality of a bitcoin trading app:
- High liquidity
Given that you are doubtful to have sufficient trading volume to initially allow immediate token exchange/sale, it makes sense to link to an external liquidity pool to meet customers’ needs.
- A wide variety of trading pairs are available.
The “more is better” idea applies here, but keep in mind that additional coins could be a hoax.
- Safety and Reliability
A bitcoin exchange platform’s security should be sufficient to handle hundreds of thousands of transactions.
Top features to develop in a cryptocurrency exchange app
- Cryptocurrency wallet
- Admin console
- User verification and authorization
- Order book and transaction history
- Trade engine
- Analytical tools (Bollinger Bands (BB), Relative Strength Index (RSI), Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD), etc.).
- Security features
- Push notifications
Uniswap, Bitstamp, Kraken, and Gemini are the best cryptocurrency trading apps.
Approaches to developing crypto apps and indicative costs
Without looking at a specific project, it’s nearly impossible to estimate cryptocurrency app development expenses precisely. But, the cost of developing such an app is highly dependent on the development approach you choose.
Using a specialist software development kit is the first option (SDK). It’s a collection of utilities, tools, and documentation for software developers working on a given platform or technology. For crypto apps, this is a fantastic alternative for swapping, selling and buying currencies. Blockchain, Bitcoin, and Coinbase are the most popular SDKs.
Another alternative is to create a cryptocurrency application from the ground up. This method is significantly more difficult and costly, but it allows you to create an app with a unique style and functionality. Because SDKs are primarily focused on constructing exchanges, and ready-to-go APIs are too limited in features, most bitcoin applications are built from the ground up.
The cost of constructing crypto software from scratch is projected to range from $28.000 and $56.000, but this fluctuates wildly based on specific features and a developer’s hourly rate.
Our knowledge and experience
The Surf team has a lot of experience with cryptocurrency app development. Twim, a bitcoin trading software, is the most noteworthy of the recent ones.
Twim needs a user-friendly app for both experienced traders and newcomers. Beginners just require the most basic options and typically trade from their smartphones. Tablets, on the other hand, are preferred by power merchants. They need a full-featured trading terminal as well as stock analyzing software. As a result, the software has to be compatible with both smartphones and tablets. Another important consideration was the speed with which the service was provided.
In response to client requirements, Surf has successfully built a bitcoin trading app:
The app has a gloomy theme to it. It is easier on the eyes and more ideal for late-night work. Other items, such as buttons and messages, have contrasting colors against the black background.
It’s dependable and displays quote updates in real-time. Users may see all of the most crucial trading data, such as orders, market depth, charts, and currency pair quotations.
The program is suitable for both amateur and professional traders. The mobile app allows users to trade cryptocurrencies and displays portfolio statistics and changes in open interest.
A trader can use the tablet version to access a full-featured trading terminal and other advanced analysis tools.
If you’re seeking a dependable developing partner to help you construct a bitcoin app, fill out the form, and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible with feedback on your project.
Preview:
This article is a complete guide for those looking to develop a cryptocurrency app. We’ll take you from the basics to all the technicalities, making this the perfect guide for beginners. It explains what cryptocurrency apps are and why they are becoming popular. Then we go on to explain the stages for developing a cryptocurrency app and a detailed section on the type of crypto apps and their features. The cost, the main characteristics, and the strategies for creating a cryptocurrency app are all covered in this article.
