Cryptocurrency markets are notorious for their volatility and price swings that have nothing to do with macroeconomy trends or sometimes even common sense. They largely depend on the news hype and psychology of users who panic when the price goes down and over-buy when the price goes up. That's exactly the reason why, traditionally, various crypto platforms have been used for trading for profit. One strategy is to hold on to the dear bitcoin and expect its price to rise above $1,000,000 (although it's highly unlikely you'll be able to sell it for dollars then). Another strategy is to go for short-term gains and sell the crypto when the time and place is right. Let's see how you can explore the opportunities of the second strategy.  

Exchange

Selling cryptocurrency (for example, Ethereum or any other) on exchanges like cex.io is the most common way to go. It's much safer than trying to do this on your own because they are regulated (the reliable exchanges are) by numerous financial authorities in different regions. Also, it's fast if you choose the right exchange because they have large trading volumes and additionally aggregate liquidity from market makers. This means that you have more chances to fill the order and sell your cryptocurrency in the amount that you like. This also implies less probability of price slippage which is an unpleasant surprise that's sometimes occurring with less popular exchanges. 

Another advantage is that exchanges usually offer a truckload of various services that can help you increase your profits when you're selling cryptocurrency. You can also participate in the airdrop sessions and accumulate various coins all in one account. Watch their price movements over time and then you can sell them whenever you want. It's also convenient to use their mobile apps to track the markets on the go and never miss an opportunity to sell at the right moment. You need to watch the price charts for the pairs of crypto which include the one that you're going to sell. Next, it's a good idea to watch the market depth to understand the demand for the coin. Ask a little higher than that to perform a successful selling order. 

One of the downsides, however, is that you're basically delegating the holding of your coins to another party. If you like cold storage more, you can trade at exchanges and then transfer the funds to your cold wallet for the long term if you're not going to trade those assets anytime soon.

Arbitrage

Arbitrage is when you're buying the cryptocurrency at one exchange and sell it at the other. As you might've guessed it, a profitable arbitrage suggests that the buying price is the lowest that you can find among those exchanges, and respectively, the selling price is the highest. 

To perform a successful arbitrage you need to mind the expenses that you will spend on commissions and other fees if they apply in your region (for example, tax implications). For the most part, arbitrage gets profitable with larger volumes of crypto. Some traders even have arbitrage software which automatically tracks the prices at various exchanges up to the milliseconds' accuracy.

Derivatives trading

You'll find many types of derivatives on the market. The most common way of trading derivatives on cryptocurrencies is CFD (contracts for difference) trading. Any trader can trade any crypto pair regardless of the fact of having these particular assets on his account or not. Contracts for difference can help you profit from both case scenarios: when the price for the asset goes up and when it goes down. Of course, you will profit only if you place the right order - buy for the increase in price, and sell - for the decrease. CFD trading platforms also can offer leverages to magnify your trading capital. Needless to say, leveraged trading is related to certain risk, so you need to learn how to control it.

Understand the analytics

The first thing that you need to do to profit from selling crypto is to do your own research. Copy trading might be nice but never trust the other person to manipulate your funds. Only you should be the one to determine when, what, and how much to sell. 

Take your time to sit in front of a screen studying various technical indicators as traders do. Those indicators sound scary like the convergence-divergence of Bollinger lines but don't you be afraid of them. In actuality, they are simply visual lines that help you see the direction of the market.  

Also, many traders consider studying historical charts. This becomes useful when you're trying to understand which events affect the price, and which don't have that much of an impact. How long does the cryptocurrency recover, how it's affected by forks, and so on. Whenever you see certain patterns occurring, check the past to see whether something like that has already taken place before and what was the effect.

Learn to use additional tools

Trading platforms usually include a range of tools that can help a lot when you're trying to maximize your profit from crypto. Use stop-loss and take-profit protection orders when you're placing orders to make sure that you'll stop either selling or buying when the price drops or rises to a certain level. By doing this, you will minimize your losses, which is a good strategy in itself.

All in all, various strategies of selling cryptocurrencies in 2021 entail various algorithms of actions. Some traders use the software bots that automatically place trades. This step requires more advanced knowledge of where and how you can use those bots.