With the rapid rise of cryptocurrencies, investing and trading in digital assets have become increasingly popular. If you’re interested in entering the world of cryptocurrencies, one crucial step is finding a reliable and user-friendly crypto exchange. A crypto exchange serves as a platform where you can buy, sell, and trade various cryptocurrencies.
However, with numerous crypto exchanges available today, each with its own features and offerings, choosing the right one can be a daunting task. To simplify your decision-making process, we have researched and compiled a comprehensive list of the 7 best crypto exchanges.
In this detailed article, we will compare and review these exchanges, taking into consideration factors such as security, fees, user experience, available cryptocurrencies, customer support, and more. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced trader, this guide will provide you with valuable insights to help you make an informed decision and navigate the exciting world of crypto exchanges.
Table of Contents
The Importance of Choosing the Right Crypto Exchange
Security and Trustworthiness
When dealing with cryptocurrencies, security is paramount. It’s crucial to choose a crypto exchange that prioritizes the safety of your funds and personal information. We will evaluate each exchange’s security measures, such as two-factor authentication, encryption, cold storage, and regulatory compliance, to ensure your peace of mind.
User Experience and Interface
A user-friendly and intuitive interface can greatly enhance your trading experience. We will assess the exchanges based on their platform’s design, ease of navigation, and availability of essential features. Whether you’re a beginner or an experienced trader, finding an exchange with a seamless user experience is key.
Range of Cryptocurrencies
The availability of a diverse range of cryptocurrencies is another essential factor to consider. We will explore the exchanges’ offerings, including major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), as well as altcoins and emerging tokens. Having access to a wide variety of cryptocurrencies allows you to diversify your portfolio and take advantage of different investment opportunities.
Trading Fees and Costs
Understanding the fee structure of a crypto exchange is vital for effective trading. We will compare the trading fees, deposit and withdrawal fees, and any other costs associated with using each exchange. Evaluating the fee structure will help you optimize your trading strategy and minimize unnecessary expenses.
Liquidity and Trading Volume
The liquidity and trading volume of an exchange can significantly impact your ability to execute trades quickly and at desired prices. We will analyze the liquidity and trading volume of each exchange to ensure smooth trading experiences and minimize the risk of price slippage.
Customer Support and Reputation
In the world of cryptocurrencies, reliable customer support is invaluable. We will examine the quality and responsiveness of customer support services provided by each exchange. Additionally, we will consider the overall reputation and track record of the exchanges to gauge their reliability and credibility.
The Best Crypto Exchanges
1. Binance – Overall Best Crypto Exchange With Low Fees
Binance is one of the most reputable crypto exchanges in the industry that provides a platform for trading cryptocurrencies. The exchange has seen a meteoric rise since being founded in 2017 and is one of the most well-known and reputable crypto exchanges in the world. It is also the biggest exchange in the world in terms of trading volume and liquidity across its spot and derivatives markets.
This is one of the major reasons Binance is an attractive marketplace for buying, trading, and selling cryptocurrencies. More so, there is a $100 free welcome bonus for new users that create an account using our Binance referral code.
Binance is a centralized crypto exchange that is packed with features that will suit a broad range of investors and traders alike. For beginners and serious crypto traders, the offering of products and services on Binance is second to none. From earning interest on cryptocurrencies, staking, and liquidity farming, Binance has become an all-in-one digital exchange for all things crypto.
The available markets for traders include spot, margin, derivatives, leveraged tokens, and peer-to-peer markets. In total, there are more than 1,691 trading pairs across 391 supported coins that can be bought and sold on the exchange. The abundance of markets combined with deep liquidity separates Binance from its competitors.
Moreover, Binance Futures supports cryptocurrency leverage trading on 198 trading pairs. With a staggering $76 billion in daily trading volume at the time of writing, nearly double its closest competitor. With the expansive list of markets and trading pairs, Binance users will not have any trouble finding trading opportunities. Combined with the deep liquidity across the trading pairs, Binance is a great choice for crypto trading.
Binance trading fees.
The fees between 0% and 0.1% are one of the cheapest rates for buying and selling crypto compared to other crypto exchanges. Binance also offers a wide range of financial services and advanced features that include buying crypto using USD and multiple payment methods. The fees between 0% and 0.1% are one of the cheapest rates for buying and selling crypto compared to alternate crypto exchanges. There is even a further discount of 25% for staking BNB tokens or increasing trading volume (based on 30 days).
A major reason it’s our top pick is the strength is the Binance app for iOS and Android devices. It is highly intuitive, easy to use, smooth, and can be used to check the live Bitcoin and crypto prices, the ability to execute orders, manage each digital asset, view P&L, and search trade history.
The only limitation is that the full version of Binance is not available in the USA. There is Binance.US which is licensed for the US market but is quite limited in the number of coins and does not have margin trading. Learn more in our full review of Binance.us and its features, fees, pros, and cons.
Read our full Binance review.
2. ByBit – Best Crypto Exchange For Margin Traders
ByBit is a global derivatives platform that is designed for a seamless experience to buy and trade digital coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS, and XRP trading pairs with up to 100x leverage. Established in March 2018, Bybit has become one of the best crypto margin exchanges with more than 3 million users worldwide. A smart, intuitive, and advanced crypto platform, along with a fast trade speed and reliable exchange are a few of the many reasons Bybit is a contender for the best trading platform for margin traders.
Bybit allows users to buy and sell 317 cryptocurrencies using Bitcoin or USDT as the base currency. There is a fiat-to-crypto onramp that supports direct payments in USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, CAD, and AED, however, the payment methods and supported currencies are limited. Therefore, Bybit is best for existing crypto holders to swap for crypto-to-crypto or trade with high leverage.
Bybit fees for spot trading start at 0.1% and decrease with higher trading volumes for the month which is similar to Binance. For perpetual and futures trading, the transaction incurs 0.01% and 0.06% for maker and taker fees, respectively. In short, the fees are very competitive and offer good value for money for crypto investors.
Overall, Bybit has an easy-to-use platform for spot and leverage trading with low fees and excellent liquidity. The charting platform and Bybit app for placing traders are superior when compared to rival crypto exchanges. Moreover, there is a deposit bonus of up to $5,000 using a ByBit referral code. Follow the link for instructions.
Read our full ByBit review.
3. Kraken – Best Crypto Exchange For USA Traders
Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2011 and is licensed within the United States. The exchange has over 9 million customers worldwide across 190 countries. Moreover, Kraken is a trusted crypto exchange that is registered with FinCEN, FinTRAC, AUSTRAC, Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and FSA. This means Kraken is allowed to operate as a cryptocurrency exchange in several countries including the USA, Canada, Australia, UK, and Japan.
Kraken is a professional trading platform for astute investors to buy Ethereum, Bitcoin, and other digital currencies. Touted as one of the most reliable crypto exchanges for serious crypto traders, Kraken has deep liquidity across its markets. There are over 160 crypto-assets that can be bought, traded, and sold on the exchange, with new coins regularly added.
Buying and selling crypto on Kraken.
There is a basic user interface for beginners to purchase crypto directly using fiat currencies such as USD, GBP, EUR, and AUD. There are plenty of deposit methods for users in different countries to open an account for as little as $10. Examples of payment options include bank transfer, SEPA, wire transfer, SWIFT, and debit cards.
For advanced traders, the exchange is equipped with useful cryptocurrency trading tools and automated portfolio monitoring. While basic in appearance, Kraken’s exchange is reliable, stable, and has a good selection of conditional orders such as Market, Limit, Stop loss, Take profit, Stop loss limit and Take profit limit. The user interface is very basic and does not include a visually-appealing interface compared to other feature-rich crypto exchanges such as Coinbase, Gemini, and eToro. However, Kraken is a solid option for experienced crypto buyers and sellers.
Kraken uses a maker-and-taker system with spot trading fees of 0.16% and 0.26% respectively. There are volume incentives based on trading activity in the past 30 days for all cryptocurrency pairs. Users are incentivized to engage with the market with lower trading fees to provide liquidity to the exchange by filling the order book by placing conditional and limit orders (i.e. maker, fees).
Overall, the low trading fees on Kraken’s spot exchange are well-suited for USA residents. The selection of assets is reasonable and has competitive fees, although Kraken is not really suited for beginners that are looking for a fast and simple exchange. Moreover, margin trading for USA customers is restricted to certain individuals only that meet certain criteria.
Read our full Kraken review.
4. Coinbase – Best Cryptocurrency Exchange For Beginners
Coinbase is the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world in terms of reported traffic, trading volume, and liquidity behind Binance. The platform Coinbase has revolutionized the digital currency environment by providing a simple, reliable, and easy-to-use crypto exchange account.
As a result of its simple user interface, it is an exchange utilized by many investors that are looking to build their first cryptocurrency portfolio. This is its major drawcard. An entry-level exchange for crypto that has been designed for beginners with its simple user experience. For those that want to create an account with Coinbase, the onboarding process is simple. Once signed up, users will soon realize it is undoubtedly one of the best ways to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies due to its modern and simple design.
There is a variety of payment methods for different fiat currencies such as USD, GBP, EUR, and AUD. Unfortunately, for the comfort that Coinbase offers, the app has slightly higher than average deposit fees, which vary depending on region, product, and payment method. Fiat deposits can be made via bank transfer or cryptocurrencies can be purchased directly using a credit/debit card. Credit/debit card purchases incur a fee of 3.99%.
The centralized crypto exchange offers an advanced and professional trading platform called Coinbase Pro, which is ideal for retail investors and cryptocurrency traders. There are 250+ cryptocurrencies that can be traded against several fiat currencies. The availability of crypto pairs is quite limited compared to other crypto exchanges in this list. However, Coinbase has deep liquidity in its major pairs such as BTC/USD and ETH/USD and is second only to Binance. This makes Coinbase a great option for beginners and also advanced traders.
A negative with Coinbase is the fees which start from 0.5% per transaction and gradually reduce with higher trading volumes. There are additional payment fees such as USD 10 and USD 25 for deposits and withdrawals using a wire transfer. Moreover, the fees on Coinbase Pro are 0.6% for makers and 0.4% for makers. The fees on Coinbase are reasonable for higher amounts, however, for smaller investors and first-time crypto buyers, Coinbase is not the cheapest crypto exchange.
Read our full Coinbase review.
5. eToro – Best Crypto Platform For Copy-Traders
eToro is known as the “social trading platform” and was first launched in 2007. As a result of its social focus, the brokerage has become an easy-to-use and community-driven platform within the cryptocurrency industry. Although eToro initially introduced retail investors to stocks, ETFs, indexes, commodities, and forex, the platform added the ability to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in February 2017. From there, the ability to trade cryptocurrencies was also added to eToro’s mobile app, which was originally launched in 2012.
There are 60+ cryptocurrencies to choose from that are paired with US Dollars. The broker is suited for beginners that want to invest in different cryptocurrencies using a powerful and user-friendly platform. Similar to Coinbase, the ease of use and visual portfolio manager separates eToro from its competitors and is geared towards crypto enthusiasts, beginners, and serious investors alike. There is even a crypto demo platform that is ideal for newer traders to become familiar with the platform and markets.
Disclaimer: eToro USA LLC. Investments are subject to market risk.
Getting started with eToro is straightforward and can be funded using a bank transfer or wire transfer with as little as USD $10. The platform offers an intuitive trading interface that includes real-time crypto market research & news, advanced trading features, and risk management tools, and a social network feed.
The most popular feature on eToro is the social community. eToro boasts the best copy trading crypto platform where traders can join and connect with other traders to share ideas and strategies. There is even the option to mirror the trading performance of profitable traders which makes eToro a unique option in this best crypto exchange list. There is a minimum deposit amount of $200 to start copying other traders which is an inexpensive way to learn from the best crypto investors. To limit potential losses, there is the option to set a stop loss level.
Disclaimer: Past performance is not an indication of future results. The trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as a basis for investment decisions.
Beyond buying and selling crypto, eToro has a crypto staking service for individuals to get the most out of their crypto investments. Some of the most popular staking coins are supported for staking like Cardano (ADA), Tron (TRX) and Ethereum 2.0 (ETH2.0). Users can automatically earn up to 90% of the staking rewards depending on their account level and one of the best crypto staking platforms to choose from.
As a cryptocurrency brokerage, eToro’s fees are slightly higher than competitors. eToro charges a flat 1% fee for buying and selling cryptocurrency. This fee is in addition to the spread which can vary for each of the supported crypto-assets. In comparison to other crypto exchanges, the eToro fee is a little higher compared to Binance and Coinbase but makes this list of the best crypto exchanges due to its ease of use and social trading.
Read our full eToro review.
6. KuCoin – Best Crypto Exchange For Bot Trading
KuCoin is an established exchange for trading crypto and is often referred to as The People’s Exchange’ due to its popularity. At the time of writing, the exchange has a daily trading volume in excess of $853 million. KuCoin has surged to become a premium platform to exchange cryptocurrencies with over 20 million registered users from 200+ countries such as South Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Turkey, Russia, and India.
The exchange supports users from all over the world and accepts 46 fiat currencies such as USD, AUD, GBP, EUR, and CNY. According to CoinMarketCap.com, KuCoin exchange is one of the best altcoin exchanges based on traffic, liquidity, and overall high volume traded on its spot market.
KuCoin grid trading and bots.
A massive benefit of buying and trading crypto with KuCoin is the massive selection of markets and trading pairs available for crypto traders. There are currently 741 supported coins and 1,363 trading pairs to speculate on across several markets that include spot, margin, derivatives, and leveraged tokens to name a few.
In addition, KuCoin is one of the few centralized crypto exchanges that feature in-built automated trading strategies and bots. Users can select hundreds of trading robots that automate some of the best crypto trading bot strategies such as spot grid, smart rebalance, dollar-cost-averaging, and infinity grid. The performance of actual accounts using the bots is shown across each trading pair.
A negative with KuCoin is the crypto exchange is not supported in the United States. This means residents in the USA will not be able to access the products and services offered by KuCoin. For those in other regions, KuCoin is a great trading platform to speculate on crypto pairs across a variety of markets.
Read our full KuCoin review.
7. Crypto.com – Best For Cryptocurrency Exchange App
With over 50 million customers worldwide, Crypto.com is a premium cryptocurrency exchange that is supported in 49 states in the US. The crypto exchange provides a powerful alternative to traditional financial services, making it easier for everyone to start investing in crypto. Crypto.com is known for its unified platform to buy, sell, trade, store, earn, loan cash and spend crypto using a debit card. This makes Crypto.com one of the best crypto apps for monitoring trades or a portfolio 24/7.
Crypto.com is one of the most popular ways for buying and selling over 250 cryptos at true cost. That is trade crypto with zero fees. Moreover, the exchange can be used in over 100 countries worldwide using 20+ fiat currencies. There is a wide range of payment methods to fund an account which includes bank transfers and credit/debit cards which have 0% fees at the time of writing. The Crypto.com app is highly visual and easy to use which makes it suitable for all crypto investors to access, manage, and view funds at any time. Moreover, there is even an in-built crypto tax software to help with reporting to the IRS.
Buy crypto at true cost with Crypto.com App.
Crypto.com is highly regarded as one of the best places to earn interest in crypto to grow a portfolio with minimal effort. It offers up to 5% P.A on Bitcoin, Ethereum (6%), and 8.5% on stablecoins such as Tether and USD Coin. There are over 40 cryptocurrencies available to earn crypto interest with rewards paid weekly directly into the user’s wallet.
There is also a professional exchange for traders to swap between crypto-coins or stakes to earn rewards. Through its own native digital token coin (CRO), Crypto.com can provide deep liquidity and competitive trading fees for its users to enjoy on its dedicated exchange. The fees on Crypto.com Exchange are quite reasonable compared to other notable crypto exchanges. For example, individuals can buy Shiba Inu with transaction fees starting from 0.4% for market and limit orders. The fee can be reduced by staking CRO tokens between 5% and 60% off.
While the Crypto.com Exchange is sophisticated and includes the best charting software, the fees are a little higher compared to industry rates. Therefore, it is best to stick to the Crypto.com App to buy crypto directly with fiat or use another trading platform such as Binance or ByBit that has lower fees.
Read our Crypto.com review
Crypto Exchanges FAQ
Where can I buy Bitcoin?
Bitcoin can be purchased from various crypto exchanges. Some popular and reliable exchanges include Binance, Bybit, and Kucoin. These exchanges allow users to create an account, deposit funds, and then buy Bitcoin using their preferred payment method, such as a bank transfer or credit card.
It’s important to choose a reputable exchange that prioritizes security and has a user-friendly interface to ensure a smooth buying experience.
Why is crypto down?
The value of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, can experience volatility and fluctuations in price. The crypto market is influenced by various factors, including market demand, investor sentiment, regulatory developments, and macroeconomic conditions.
Crypto prices can go down due to factors such as negative news, regulatory changes, market corrections, or a general decline in investor confidence. It’s important to note that the crypto market is highly speculative and can be subject to rapid price movements in both directions.
What is crypto trading?
Crypto trading refers to the buying and selling of cryptocurrencies on dedicated platforms called crypto exchanges. Traders aim to profit from the price movements of cryptocurrencies by taking advantage of short-term price fluctuations.
Trading can involve different strategies, including day trading, swing trading, and position trading. Traders analyze market trends, use technical analysis tools, and employ various trading techniques to make informed decisions about buying or selling cryptocurrencies. It is important to note that crypto trading carries risks and requires careful consideration of market conditions and risk management.
What is spot trading in crypto?
Spot trading is the most common form of trading in the cryptocurrency market. It involves the purchase or sale of cryptocurrencies for immediate delivery.
In spot trading, traders buy cryptocurrencies at the current market price and own the actual underlying asset. The transaction is settled “on the spot,” meaning the buyer receives ownership of the purchased cryptocurrency immediately after the trade is executed.
Spot trading allows users to directly acquire the cryptocurrency they desire without any future contracts or expiration dates. It is considered the simplest form of crypto trading and is suitable for those looking to own and hold cryptocurrencies for the long term.