Best Online Crypto Exchange
To achieve success in trading coins, one must show dedication, gain analytic skills, and find the best place to trade. Let's find out what the best crypto exchange is and explore some existing examples.
What Are Cryptocurrency Exchanges?
Cryptocurrency exchanges are online platforms that allow traders to buy and sell digital assets. They facilitate the deals and guarantee the safety of transactions while living off commission from each trade. These platforms allow buying coins for fiat money, exchanging one currency for another, and turning crypto into cash.
Top 10 Best Crypto Exchanges & Platforms
With the industry skyrocketing and beating records each year; there are hundreds of platforms for trading crypto out there. To help you find the right one, we analyzed them and made a list of the 10 best crypto exchanges.
Binance
Binance proudly holds the title of the best crypto exchange platform and has been highly evaluated by reputable media outlets, such as Forbes, Financial Times, and The Wall Street Journal. Binance is also the most popular exchange platform, with almost 25 million weekly visits and more than $20 million in trade volume.
What makes Binance stand out is its variety of coins and one of the lowest fees among all platforms — only 0.1% trade and maker commission. Binance offers various trading options, including both spot and margin trading. It gives people the possibility to grow their skills and evolve as a trader without switching platforms, as they can start with spots and then reach more complicated stuff.
Another thing that makes this crypto exchange the best is a result of its popularity. Most secondary crypto trade services, such as trade bots, chart reading tools, and tutorials, must take Binance into account, as it holds a great weight of potential clients. Thus, many products have integrations with it, and the number of guides, articles, lessons, and paid courses on how to use its interface and features is tremendous.
Unfortunately, there are a few troubles with it as well. Being reach in features, it is hard to get a grasp of, especially for beginners. The interface may be confusing even for skilled traders. Binance doesn't provide its wallet, so you'll need to find a third-party solution and connect it. Also, there is bad news for US customers. Binance has limited functionality in America and is only available in 44 states.
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Coinbase Exchange
Coinbase is one of the largest and safest platforms to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and about a hundred other coins. It is a great place to start a journey into the crypto world, as Coinbase has a beginner-friendly interface and a learning program that rewards people with real coins.
The ease of use, though, comes at a price. The platform takes a hefty commission of 1.99% per trade, which is from 4 to 20 times the majority of other platforms ask. To cut the cost one can use Coinbase Pro — a platform powering Coinbase, which offers smaller fees but is more complex.
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FTX
FTX is gaining popularity among skilled traders and brokers, and there are good reasons for it. Those ready to accept the risks will enjoy margin and futures trading, as well as access to advanced markets like forex. These features open room for gaining massive profits by those who know how to use them.
What's more, FTX supports over 300 tokens, including all kinds of altcoins and stablecoins, along with the main mastodons of the market. Taker fees are acceptable at 0.07%.
However, there are two reasons why FTX can't be the best crypto exchange ever — limited access for US citizens and poor customer support. The crypto market is strictly regulated in the US; that's why FTX Global is not available there. American citizens can trade on the US version of the service, FTX.US, but it has far smaller functionality.
FTX’s customer service is a cause of the majority of their bad reviews. The platform doesn't have a 24/7 live chat. Instead, you'll need to submit a ticket with your question or complaint, with no chance to know when exactly the support team will contact you.
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Kraken
Tracing its existence back to 2011, Kraken is one of the oldest and best cryptocurrency exchanges on the market. It offers an easy interface and over 120 available coins while combining spot trading and complex features like futures and buying on margin. It is suitable for both skilled and newbie traders.
Kraken is available in two options — a regular version and Kraken Pro. Both services are free to use, but Kraken Pro is more complex, includes advanced features, and has smaller fees. Beginner traders will find all they need to start on the basic Kraken and will be protected from losing big sums on unfamiliar trades, while experts will enjoy the features of the pro version.
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KuCoin
If exchange platforms were only measured by how many coins they support and how low are their fees, KuCoin would win the title of the best cryptocurrency exchange ever! While most platforms give a selection of 300 coins top, KuCoin offers a mind-blowing 600-token selection. In terms of trade fees, users can expect from 0.0125% to 0.1% commission per trade.
The platform provides users with spot, margin, futures, and peer-to-peer trades. It also allows earning interest on your coins by stacking or lending them to other traders who need loans for efficient investment.
However, there are two major problems with KuCoin. First, they are not licensed to operate in the US. So, while people in America can still register an account, they will find restricted usability compared to other countries. Secondly, KuCoin reviews look pretty bad in contrast with other platforms. Users complain about withdrawal problems, unresponsive customer support, and market manipulations.
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Huobi Global
Huobi provides a wide array of trade features, with over 400 coins available, and allows users to deposit coins and yield significant income through interest. It is not the best cryptocurrency exchange for first-time traders and may confuse them with a complicated interface.
A serious problem with this crypto exchange platform is that it's virtually unregulated. Huobi Global fails to meet many markets regulation standards and is not available in many countries, including the United States.
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Gate.io
Gate.io was started in 2013 in China, making it yet another pioneer in the market. It provides 180 tradable currencies, margin trading with leverage, and the opportunity to lend and borrow coins backed by collateral similar to a mortgage loan. What makes it stand out among other best crypto exchanges is that it has one of the fastest-growing platforms for IEO, which can bring the biggest profits.
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Bitfinex
Bitfinex is a popular crypto exchange that gained popularity thanks to low fees, many trading options and features, both basic and advanced, and a comfortable interface. Traders in need of practice will admire its paper trading option. It allows users to trade with play currencies to get used to its functionality and test their strategies.
The reason this platform made it almost to the bottom of the best crypto exchange list is its sad history of violating regulations. Bitfinex has close bonds with Tether stablecoin. The New York Attorney General concluded that Tether reserve funds were smaller than Bitfinex had stated, thus misleading their clients and not telling the truth about its stability. They also faced a couple of fines for off-exchange trading.
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Crypto.com Exchange
Crypto is among the best cryptocurrency exchange solutions because it offers a broad ecosystem going beyond what most other exchanges offer. Apart from a standard set of features, they provide crypto credit cards, NFT trading, and lower fees for users with big trading volumes or those who hold a lot of CRO. They have their own trading wallet as well.
For those interested in long-term investments, Crypto has a deposit program that can bring up to 14.5% interest. The platform supports 250 currencies along with futures and options.
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Compare the Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges
To process all the information above more easily and find the best exchange for crypto trading, use this comparison table with key information to decide.
Selecting a Crypto Exchange
Now that we have found out about the top players on the market and highlighted their key parameters, it is time to know what to look at when selecting the best crypto exchange for your needs. We will discuss the main points necessary to provide safe, easy, and profitable trading.
Security
Every trader's worst nightmare is to log in to their account and realize that all hard-earned assets are gone because of a hacker. There's no point in investing on a platform where your money will be in constant danger. Even the lowest fee cannot cover such a risk.
To make sure that the platform is well-protected, check these things:
Hacking hot wallets is among the most popular ways to steal others' coins. This happens because they are directly connected to the internet. Cold wallets are hardware wallets, which makes them slower to utilize but much more secure. The best cryptocurrency exchange would allow the distribution of coins in such a way that the funds not currently needed for transactions are stored safely.
Two-factor authentication is a must when moving assets. It is the second layer of protection in case your password gets cracked or revealed. This can happen after the platform itself is hacked and the hackers receive a database with clients' account info or because of the user's mistake when they get tricked into giving away their password.
To pass 2FA, the user must confirm their identity after entering their login and password. It can be done by inserting a safety code received through SMS, e-mail, or mobile app.
If an unwanted transaction occurs, you want to get informed about it as soon as possible. This way, you can start acting quickly — freeze your account and contact customer support. The faster you act, the bigger are chances to trace the assets and safely return to you.
Being a financial institution, the best cryptocurrency exchange needs to guarantee loss coverage in case the assets are lost or stolen. It is usually a certain percentage of the lost amount, and it's either insured by a third-party company or by the platform's in-house insurance department.
Fees
The logic with fees is quite simple — the lower they are, the more money you save on each transaction. Most of the platforms have fees that are fractions of a percent and don't differ much. Your goal is to find the one that will take less from you than the others do.
Things get a bit more interesting with bonus programs. You will get a VIP status if you are a high-volume client and want to invest tens of thousands of dollars each month. It guarantees many cool benefits like a lower commission, higher limit, personal assistant, partnership, and more. In case you are going to play big, take your time to find what exchange will offer you the largest benefits.
Currencies Supported
A diversified portfolio is the ultimate way to guarantee profits, so the best exchange to buy crypto should have a nice choice of options. There are various low and high-risk approaches to building a currency mix, but generally, it works like that — volatile assets, such as altcoins, have to be balanced by more stable, long-term assets, such as deposits and large titles similar to Bitcoin. Stablecoins are used to fixate profits. If everything is done right, long-term investments compensate for losses from risky endeavors, and in the end, the trader has a positive balance.
A bigger coin selection gives more opportunities to find interesting pairs and promising new altcoins. However, a too large selection can mean that the platform lets everyone in with no background check.
Hidden Charges
Apart from regular transaction fees, there can be other ones that are not so distinct. Those can include network and wallet fees, premium rates, conversion commission, and other hidden payments.
Read the terms and conditions of a platform or contact their client service to know exactly what you will be paying for. The best crypto exchange always has comprehensive terms covering all payments.
Customer support
When mere hours can turn huge profits into unrecoverable losses, you don't want any technical problems to stand in your way. It's better to be prepared, so try to look for platforms with live 24/7 support through channels that suit you.
Check reviews of exchanges to find out how fast their specialists respond and how well they do their job.
Types of Crypto Exchanges
There are several types of cryptocurrency exchanges, each with its good and bad sides. It’s better to learn them in advance to better navigate the world of crypto and be on the same page with other traders.
Centralized
The majority of popular exchanges belong to this type. A certain company facilitates transactions and stores clients' assets while charging transaction fees. The best online crypto exchanges of this type are transparent and beginner-friendly, with clear regulations and lightning-fast deals.
Their major problem is that because of a high user count and the centralized nature, there are risks of large-level breaches that impact many accounts at once.
Decentralized
As the name suggests, on decentralized (or DEX) platforms, people exchange tokens directly, without third-party services. The deals are managed with smart contracts, and this architecture is prone to attacks. The drawbacks are low liquidity, varying fees, and complexity for a newcomer.
Hybrid Cryptocurrency
HEX aims to combine the best of centralized and decentralized platforms. They provide anonymity and asset control like DEX does but try to solve the problems of high fees and use complexity.
Cryptocurrency Exchanges vs. Crypto Wallets
Both exchange platforms and wallets can store coins, but there are major differences in their purpose. An exchange serves as a mediator between thousands of people who want to trade assets. They help them buy currency for fiat, purchase and sell one coin for another, turn them into fiat, and withdraw later.
A wallet is only used to store currency and provides a security level that even the best crypto exchange won't have. Coins can still be traded without an exchange intermediary, but it will require the manual agreement of two people.
Possible Alternatives
If you want to earn crypto without digging into the complex world of trade, here are some things to look at:
Final Verdict
Hope the information above will help you find your personal best crypto exchange on the web. Take time to compare fee rates and features, try different interfaces, and find a platform that best suits your needs and talents.
Frequently Asked Questions
What Is a Crypto Exchange?
A cryptocurrency exchange is a service provider that allows users to buy and sell one coin for another or for fiat money. They facilitate trade and charge a fee on every transaction for provided services.
What Should You Look For When Choosing a Crypto Exchange?
Reliable protection, reasonable and transparent fees, a comfortable interface, a choice of currencies, and the availability of features you are particularly interested in.
What Are the Types of Crypto Exchanges?
There are three types of cryptocurrency exchanges: centralized (CEX), decentralized (DEX), and hybrid (HEX).
