Binance Overview 

Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange created in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao (aka C.Z.), a Chinese-Canadian developer. After a successful $15 million ICO, Zhao’s firm, Beijie Technology, created the exchange. Binance relocated its headquarters from China to the Cayman Islands in response to the Chinese government’s increased control of the cryptocurrency sector.  

Beijie Technology and its founder have a long and successful history in the crypto industry. Zhao’s background includes high-profile roles like the technical director at Blockchain.com, and his firm currently supplies trading systems for over 30 additional platforms.

Since its debut, Binance has been an enormous success. It now holds the top spot on Coinmarketcap in terms of the 24-hour trading volume. Its 24-hour trading volume is often more than five times that of its nearest competitor, Coinbase.

Binance Coin (BNB) was issued to investors who participated in the ICO. BNB is the native utility token of Binance, and it’s used to pay for transaction fees. BNB also powers Binance Smart Chain, formerly known as BNB Chain. BNB’s initial value was roughly $0.10 at launch and has continued to climb in value as Binance and the BNB chain have grown in popularity. When writing this article, Binance Coin (BNB) was priced at $226.40 per coin.

Binance now hosts its servers from more liberal jurisdictions, allowing it to run a competitive exchange business despite its issues with the Chinese government’s stance on cryptocurrencies.

Pros of Binance 

• Low fees: The platform has low costs, which means that traders can keep more of what they invest and make. 
• Over 600 coins are available on the global platform: A massive selection of over 600 coins are available for trading for Binance’s international users. 
• Over 65 assets that U.S. customers can trade: Binance lets U.S. customers trade more than 65 different coins. This feature gives people who trade or invest in crypto many choices. 
• Wide selection of options to cater to different trading styles: Binance offers a wide range of trading options and order types, such as peer-to-peer trading, spot trading, and margin trading.
• It also lets you place many kinds of orders, such as a limit order, a market order, a stop-limit order and etc. However, some of these choices, like margin trading, are not available to customers in the U.S. 

Cons of Binance

• Complicated platform: The extensive array of services and trading features on Binance may be both thrilling and daunting. Even seasoned traders may feel overwhelmed by all the available options. 
• U.S. version is more limited than the international version: Binance provides hundreds of coins for international crypto trading. However, its marketplace for U.S. consumers is more limited. Furthermore, Binance US is only accessible in 44 states. 
• Regulatory issues in several countries: Due to the numerous regulatory and legal challenges that Binance has encountered in many countries, cryptocurrency investors may wish to consider using other exchanges. 
• No built-in digital wallet available: Binance does not offer a built-in digital wallet, unlike other major exchanges. It promotes Trust Wallet, which has a solid reputation but may provide little help in the event of Binance transfer troubles. 

Features Highlight

Over 600+ different cryptocurrencies to buy, sell or trade:   

Binance has one of the broadest offerings of cryptocurrencies accessible anywhere in the world. Now it has over 600 different cryptocurrencies available. As the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world by trading volume, you can expect the liquidity to be strong, allowing you to buy and sell any coin on its platform quickly.    

Robust Android and iOS Trading Platforms:  

Binance has a superb mobile app that is user-friendly for novices and advanced traders. Two versions of the trading platform can be toggled with the press of a button: Binance Lite, ideal for beginners, and Binance Pro, which provides access to several advanced functions and trading instruments. According to the Google Play store, the Binance app has been downloaded over 10 million times and has received a high rating of 4.4 stars from 319 000 user reviews.

Binance Earn: 

Binance gives you many options to make your crypto holdings grow on the exchange. This feature could be a good investment opportunity if you want to HODL your cryptocurrency. You might as well put it to work instead of just letting it sit there.

Binance Loan:  

Binance Loan is available to any user who has registered with the platform. There are general loan terms, including 7, 14, 30, 90, and 180 days, with the option to repay the loan early and only be charged for the hours borrowed. Hourly interest is determined at a rate of 0.001667 % every hour (0.04 % per day).

Binance Visa Card:  

Binance has teamed up with Visa to offer a credit card that lets you spend your cryptocurrency at more than 60 million stores worldwide. The card is free, and there are no administrative or processing fees. You can also get up to 8% cash back on qualifying purchases. This is a big step in the right direction for cryptocurrencies to become widely accepted.

Trade Futures and Derivatives:  

Binance Futures is a relatively new feature that allows users to speculate on the price of Bitcoin and altcoins such as Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and others. When trading futures, users do not actually purchase or sell cryptocurrencies but instead profit from the increase or decline of the price.

The Binance platform for futures trading is fairly similar to the spot trading interface. The main changes are letting traders use leverage to open positions. Binance Futures also imposes a maximum charge of 0.04 % on every trade. Fees are reduced for traders with high monthly trading volumes or whose transactions often boost liquidity in the order book before execution.

Margin Trading with Up to 10x Leverage:  

Margin trading is only available for a few trading pairs, with some pairs allowing users to leverage up to 10x. Cross margin trading is extremely dangerous since it puts your whole account at risk, whereas isolated margin trading merely puts the trading pair with an open position at risk.

P2P Exchange:  

Because Binance operates a peer-to-peer, or P2P, exchange, it enables users in virtually any region to trade cryptocurrencies directly.

SEPA/Wire transfers:  

Binance’s consumers may now purchase cryptocurrencies directly using SEPA and bank transfers, thanks to partnerships with additional third-party companies. This approach is particularly appealing because SEPA and wire deposits incur no transaction fees. On the downside, this payment method is limited to a few fiat currency choices, including EUR and GBP. Wire transfers are available for USD, TRY, and BRL.

NFT Marketplace:  

Binance has jumped on the NFT bandwagon, a move that will surely gain traction soon. A new NFT marketplace has been launched on Binance, where you can mint, buy and sell NFTs.  

Trading Experience

Binance Trading Platform Trading on Binance is relatively easy and user-friendly. There’s an impressive cryptocurrency selection available for trading, in conjunction with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, XRP, TRX, DOGE, DOT, BUSD, and Tether trading pairs.  

There is also a large selection of crypto-to-fiat pairs available on Binance’s fiat markets. Users can choose between a beginner-friendly or advanced trading interface to manage their crypto portfolio, catering to all types of users. The platform offers margin, derivatives, peer-to-peer, and OTC trading options.

Spot Trading:  

Users can choose between two major trading platforms for spot trading. The “Convert” interface is the choice for new traders, as it lacks advanced features like charts and order types. This makes it simple for beginners to trade cryptocurrencies at market prices without complications. The default spot trading interface provides access to charts, order books, and several order types. This mode is recommended for experienced users.

Margin Trading:  

Some trading pairs support margin trading, allowing users to trade up to 10x leverage on these positions. Cross margin exposes your whole margin account balance to risk, whereas isolated margin confines your possible losses to a single trading pair. One thing to note, Binance US users do not have access to margin trading.

Binance Futures and Derivatives:

Binance Futures, established in 2019, allows traders to speculate on the price of Bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies as opposed to buying and selling them.

The platform permits leveraged trading of up to 20x, allowing traders to multiply their earnings (and losses) by a factor of 20. Binance Futures balances are stored separately from regular trading accounts and must be collateralized using Tether (USDT).

The user interface for Binance Futures is identical to the interface for Binance spot trading, except for a few additional functionalities for modifying leverage and monitoring open positions.

The highest trading fee charged on Binance Futures is 0.04 %, somewhat higher than the spot markets’ trading fees. Fees are reduced for “maker” transactions (those that increase liquidity to the order book prior to execution) and for traders with high monthly trading volumes.

Under a feature called “Coin Futures,” Binance also provides futures collateralized with non-stablecoin cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or altcoins.

In addition, Binance enables the trading of derivatives known as “Leveraged Tokens,” which give UP and DOWN contracts on the price of particular cryptocurrencies. These provide leveraged exposure to cryptocurrencies without the customer’s liquidation risk.

Unfortunately, Binance has been ordered to discontinue derivative trading in several European nations, starting with Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands and, more recently, expanding to the United Kingdom and Spain.

This move is the result of pressure from international authorities, primarily European officials, who have determined that Binance is not permitted to offer investment services. As a result, the exchange has had to suspend providing new consumers services and reduce usage among current customers.

Binance Financing   

Crypto Loans  

Binance Loans provide customers with lending with collateral by some of the most valuable tokens, such as BTC, ETH, and ADA. This facilitates the exchange of stable coins such as USDT, BUSD, and USDC while preserving exposure to your cryptocurrency holdings and evading the taxable event of selling crypto.  

Binance Savings  

Savings account types such as “flexible” and “locked” allow consumers to earn a return on idle digital assets. Locked savings accounts pay a greater interest rate on fixed-term deposits than flexible savings accounts.

Binance also offers a staking service that enables users to earn returns on proof-of-stake and decentralized finance (DeFi) currencies. Similar to savings accounts, there are flexible and locked choices for the staking service.

Binance Liquid Swap  

Like Uniswap, Binance Liquid Swap is an automated market-maker (AMM) platform based on a liquidity pool. There are two tokens in each pool, and the price difference is determined by the proportional quantity of tokens in each pool.

For large transactions, Liquid Swap offers more dependable rates and cheaper costs. On Liquid swap, users may trade currencies with low slippage or supply liquidity in exchange for a portion of transaction fees.

The primary distinction between Binance Liquid Swap and Uniswap is that Liquid Swap is a centralized exchange while Uniswap is decentralized.

Binance Smart Pool  

The Binance Smart Pool lets crypto miners participate in a broader mining pool that divides the earnings. Hash power is automatically diverted to the most profitable cryptocurrency to mine at any given time, allowing users to optimize automatically.

Binance Visa Card  

The Binance Visa Card allows users to spend their cryptocurrency assets at retailers, even the locations that accept only fiat currency through credit or debit cards. When you make a purchase, your cryptocurrency coins will be converted to fiat at no cost so that you do not need to maintain money on hand. The card is free, with no administration or processing fees, and allows you to earn up to 8% cashback on qualifying transactions.

Binance Fees 

Binance Deposit Fees 

Binance charges no fees for users who wish to deposit crypto into the exchange. The charge for depositing fiat cash into Binance will vary based on the deposit method and the currency. Here is a list of fiat currencies and their deposit method.

Binance Withdrawal Fees 

When withdrawing crypto from your Binance account, a fixed fee is charged to cover the transaction fees associated with sending the cryptocurrency to your wallet. The cost varies for each coin; you can view the exact amount by clicking here. 

The charge associated with fiat currency withdrawals varies by withdrawal method and currency. For example, it is free to withdraw Australian Dollars (AUD) by bank transfer. Bankcard withdrawals of Pound Sterling (GBP) carry a 1% charge. Here is the complete list:   

Binance Transaction Fees 

Binance fees for spot trading (buying and selling cryptocurrency) begin at 0.1 %, and you may receive a 25% discount if you pay with Binance’s native token (BNB). This indicates that customers pay only 0.075% on every trade!

If you are a high-volume trader and hold a significant amount of BNB, you may lower your expenses to 0.015% maker fee and 0.03% taker fee and include the 25 % discount for using BNB to pay for transactions.

Binance Security 

Binance is one of the safest cryptocurrency exchanges that stores most of its digital assets offline in cold storage. Binance has security features like 2FA (two-factor authentication), whitelisting devices, controlling withdrawal addresses, and anti-phishing codes. The exchange even uses U2F (universal 2nd-factor authentication), which necessitates physical access to hardware in order to access an account.

Despite their best efforts to remain secure, Binance suffered a cybersecurity attack in 2019 that resulted in the loss of over $40 million in Bitcoins. Binance’s had an excellent response to the incident; they covered the damage fully, ensuring that their users suffered no losses.

4 months after this incident, Binance was able to pass a security audit and received the ISO 27001 accreditation for its information security management. This demonstrates Binance’s dedication to keeping a secure platform for its clients. Today, Binance invests continuously in measures to strengthen its cybersecurity protection.

Supported Countries  

Binance does not officially state which countries are serviced by their exchange. It is available in every country with a few exceptions.

Following the withdrawal of Binance’s primary service from the United States, customers in the country can now use Binance US. Binance US was established in 2019 after the U.S. Department of Financial Services flagged the platform for potential violations of New York’s virtual currency legislation.

Although Binance does not specify which countries are blocked, clients have rumors that Binance has closed accounts for people residing in Iran and Serbia.

Customer Support and Reviews  

Binance has been a massive success in its short existence. It has a lot to offer, and many traders are pleased about its services. The combination of low fees, a fast exchange, and developers with a proven track record makes most Binance users happy.

The FAQ section of Binance’s support website has excellent information to help you with any issues you face.

Automated bots are also available in the FAQ area to answer your question or solve your problem. Alternatively, you may also request to speak with a customer support agent via live chat.

The Binance Help Desk Twitter account or the Binance Support Thread on Reddit can be contacted using your case I.D. If you have already submitted a support ticket with them. Due to the high number of cases received, you should be prepared to wait a while for a response.

Complaints concerning Binance’s live chat service and verification techniques have increased since they implemented a mandatory identity verification policy earlier this year.

The “live chat” service appears to require excessively long wait durations of up to 12 hours, in many cases without successful help or resolution of authentication difficulties.

It’s unclear if this is a temporary problem caused by high traffic or a problem that Binance users will have to deal with for a long time. The exchange has also had difficulties with erroneous two-factor authentication in the past. However, this looks less of a problem now.

Binance vs. Other Exchanges 

Binance vs Coinbase (Pro) 

Coinbase Pro is the trading platform for Coinbase. It is one of the most prominent exchanges regarding reputation and popularity. In addition to the platform’s restricted global availability (only 103 countries are supported), the platform costs begin at 0.6%, which is six times more than the highest trading fee tier on Binance.

Binance vs Bittrex

Bittrex is a cryptocurrency exchange in the United States that has increased in popularity among traders since its launch in December 2014. It has become one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges on the market due to its consistent growth. Bittrex fees begin at 0.35%, which is 3.5 times higher than Binance. The exchange provides around 330 cryptocurrencies, more than most exchanges but still fewer than Binance.

Binance vs Bitfinex

Bitfinex is one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges by volume. It provides advanced trading options such as Bitcoin margin trading. Bitfinex supports more than 150 coins and tokens, substantially less than Binance, which accepts more than 600.

Bitfinex has a maker/taker fee structure. Maker orders, which bring liquidity to the exchange, incur a maximum trading fee of 0.1% (similar to Binance). Taker orders, which remove liquidity from the exchange, incur a maximum cost of 0.2% (twice that of Binance). Similar to Binance, trading fees on Bitfinex decrease as trade volume grows.

Binance vs Kraken 

Kraken offers about 110 different cryptocurrencies, far fewer than Binance’s 600+.

Kraken Pro, like Bitfinex, has a maker-taker fee structure. The maximum charge for makers is 0.16%, while the maximum cost for takers is 0.26%. In both instances, Binance has lower fees.

Conclusion

While Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange, the constant investigations and the extensive list of nations that have banned its services are grounds for alarm. Additionally, its platform with advanced features may be too complex for new investors to use.

However, if you’re one of the advanced users who like to have a large selection of coins to choose from, Binance may be the perfect choice for you. Crypto traders based in the U.S. can also use the platform through Binance US, but it supports fewer cryptocurrencies than the global platform. Make sure to do your due diligence and compare trading platforms before getting started with Binance.

FAQs

Is Binance better than Coinbase?

When compared to Coinbase, Binance is the better crypto exchange. Binance offers cheaper fees, a much wider selection of supported assets and it’s available in 170 countries (Coinbase is available in 103 countries.

Is Binance trustworthy?

Binance is considered a trustworthy exchange that provides user account safety through the usage of Two Factor Authentication (2FA). Despite getting hacked on May 7, 2019, resulting in the theft of 7000 Bitcoins from the exchange, Binance is still considered a safe exchange.

Is Binance a Chinese company?

Binance was founded in China but eventually relocated its headquarters out of the country due to the Chinese government’s increased control of cryptocurrencies.

Are Binance fees high?

Binance fees are some of the lowest in the industry.

Is Binance a scam?

No Binance is not a scam, it is considered a trustworthy cryptocurrency exchange.

What are the pros and cons of Binance?

Pros of Binance 

• Low trading fees: Binance has low trading fees, traders can keep more of their gains after  
• Over 600 digital assets are supported: Over 600 coins are available for Binance’s international users.
• Cater to different trading styles: Binance offers many different trading options and order types, such as peer-to-peer trading, spot trading, and margin trading.

Cons of Binance

• Complex platform interface: The wide selection of trading features may be daunting. Even advanced traders get overwhelmed. 
• U.S. version of Binance has more limitations: Binance U.S. only has 90 cryptocurrencies available for trading and accessible in 44 states. 

How does Binance make money?

Binance makes money via trading fees as well as charging interests on margin trading, futures trading, and cross collaterals. The asset being traded, the customer’s VIP status, monthly trading volume, and average holding determine the majority of these costs.

What is Kraken? 

Kraken is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. It has been in business in the United States since 2011. Kraken is also one of the biggest crypto exchanges in the industry. Traders from all over the world use it because it has low fees, easy to use, and has good safety measures and rules. You can buy, sell, and trade over 120 different cryptocurrencies. They also have extra features like staking, margin trading, and futures contracts. 

Pros of Kraken

• Well-established exchange with a great reputation  
• In operation since 2011 
• Easy-to-use trading platform ideal for beginners 
• Supports over 120+ cryptocurrencies and 7 fiat currencies 
• Live Chat support with a real person 24/7 

Cons of Kraken 

• Doesn’t have a wide selection of tokens compared to other large crypto exchanges 

Kraken Exchange History and Background

Kraken was established by crypto pioneer Jesse Powell in 2011 and introduced to the market in 2013. Since then, it has become one of the industry’s most trustworthy crypto exchanges. Kraken is a fully regulated crypto exchange based in San Francisco, US, which requires Know Your Customer (KYC) checks for trading.

Moreover, it has the distinction of being the crypto exchange chosen by the Tokyo District Court to handle consumer compensation claims linked to the 2014 collapse of the notorious Mt. Gox exchange. 

Throughout its years of existence, Kraken has earned a reputation among traders and institutional investors as a secure platform. It was the first crypto exchange to pass the Proof-of-Reserves cryptography audit and supplies Bloomberg Terminal with cryptocurrency market pricing data.  

Kraken is a self-regulated exchange that adheres to guidelines and rules in all jurisdictions it services.

• It is registered with FinCEN in the United States (registration number 31000136371793)
• Registered with FINTRAC in Canada as a Money Services Business (MSB) (reg. no. M19343731).
• Kraken Futures is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom (reg. no. 757895). 

Besides the exchange’s headquarters in San Francisco, it also maintains offices in London in the United Kingdom, Chiyoda City in Japan, and Singapore. Since securing over USD 126 million in venture money, it has purchased a variety of crypto-focused firms, including CryptoWatch, CleverCoin, Coinsetter, Cavirter, Bit Trade, Crypto Facilities, and InterChange. 

At the time of writing this article, Kraken serves around 4 million clients in over 200 countries. 

User Experience 

Kraken provides consumers with two trading platforms, Kraken and Kraken Pro. Kraken Pro offers reduced prices and is accessible to all Kraken account holders. 

Depending on your active market trading and cryptocurrency experience, you may pick Kraken or Kraken Pro. In any case, there is a platform ideal for both novices and experts. 

Kraken 

The best place for beginners to start is the basic Kraken crypto exchange. With a verified account, you can easily purchase cryptocurrency from a connected bank account, and it’s just as simple to sell or exchange digital currencies within the account. 

In addition to trading cryptocurrency, you’re able to your stake your deposited cryptocurrency and earn up to 23% interest, depending on the currency.  

Be sure to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) to protect your account, which stops anybody from accessing your account without your device. 

Kraken Pro 

Kraken Pro is an active trading platform accessible by the web browser or mobile device. The UI may be intimidating for novice traders, but it may be worthwhile to learn. It contains additional market information, including live charts and an overview of open orders. 

Kraken Pro is available to everyone with a valid Kraken account. You will pay less using Kraken Pro as opposed to the standard platform. 

Features of Kraken

When you begin exploring options for crypto exchanges, you will likely discover that there are many alternatives and only a handful of major players. Kraken is one of these exchanges and the key features that keep on attracting clients: 

Lower fees: 

Kraken provides cheap costs for spot trading, beginning at 0.16% for makers and 0.26% for takers. If you are a high-volume trader, the costs are further lowered on a tiered basis. At the tier with the largest trading volume, maker fees are 0% and taker fees are 0.10%. 

Over 120 coins supported: 

On its platform, Kraken supports over 120 different cryptocurrencies. Kraken offers the most popular cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, XRP, BCH, EOS, LTC, ADA, XLM, BAT, and ETC. Although they may not have as many selections as other big exchanges, they often add new coins to their selection. 

Mobile apps for iOS and Android: 

Kraken has gone above and beyond by providing 3 mobile apps each caters to different types of traders depending on the sort of trading you engage in.

The main application is named simply Kraken, which is what the bulk of users choose. It has received over 500,000 downloads and a 4.2 user rating.

Kraken Pro offers sophisticated trading capabilities such as 5x margin trading, complex order types, and conditional closing parameters, among others.

There is also an app called Kraken Futures that caters particularly to traders interested in futures trading. 

Purchase Crypto Directly With Fiat: 

On Kraken, you can buy altcoins directly with USD, EUR, GBP, JPY, CAD, CHF, and AUD.  Not every fiat currency is compatible with every cryptocurrency.

For example, using USD, you can access all cryptocurrencies and JPY only allows you to purchase ETH, BTC, XRP, BCH, LTC, and USDT. Nonetheless, you may effortlessly convert JPY to USD and have access to the complete selection of cryptocurrencies. 

Trade Crypto on the Market or Buy/Sell Instantly: 

Kraken customers have the opportunity to trade cryptocurrencies on the market or use the instant buy option.

Convenient for new traders who may not yet know how to traverse crypto trading, the instant buy option has a 1.5% cost.

You can obtain the desired asset at the specified price immediately from the crypto exchange. Similarly, you may sell your cryptocurrency back to Kraken at the quoted price without any processing delays. 

Trading on the market is preferred for individuals who wish to purchase or sell at a certain price, and it also incurs cheaper costs. The low trading fees are starting at 0.16% for makers and 0.26% for takers. 

24/7 Live Chat Support Team: 

Kraken boasts exceptional customer support, an area where many major cryptocurrency exchanges fall short. Many other exchanges are too big to meet the needs of each user individually, so any questions are sent to an automated bot that gives scripted answers and links to articles on the web.

Kraken, on the other hand, offers Live Chat around-the-clock and is incredibly responsive. If you want to submit a request through telephone or email, those alternatives are easily available. 

Advanced Trading Terminal:

Kraken provides a free professional trading terminal, Kraken Terminal, with highly customizable charts; you may use numerous chart styles, overlays, indicators, and drawing tools to analyze any of the markets.

In addition, you may configure browser alerts for price, volume, and specific technical analysis notifications, and have your trades and orders shown right on the chart. On the chart, you can also view your prior transactions and current open orders, which is a helpful tool.

The Kraken Terminal is a highly sought-after feature among the more experienced crypto investors. 

Margin and Futures Trading: 

On Kraken, experienced traders will enjoy margin trading and futures trading options. Kraken’s margin trading enables long or short positions on a number of coins with up to 5x leverage, 0.02 % costs to establish a trade, and negligible rollover fees. 

Kraken provides access to the trading of regulated futures products and is committed to offering a stable and comprehensive platform for trading cryptocurrency futures globally. Currently, they provide Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ripple futures with up to 50x leverage. 

Staking Your Coins: 

If you have researched cryptocurrency trading, you may have heard about staking. Staking is an excellent strategy to increase the value of your cryptocurrency holdings since it generates interest on idle coins.

Kraken enables staking on fiat currencies, which is uncommon among other cryptocurrency exchanges. You may choose to stake any of the coins offered to receive staking rewards on top of your holdings and to build your holdings by compounding future rewards. 

OTC Desk Services:

Institutions traders and high-net-worth individuals will appreciate the individual care provided by Kraken’s OTC desk. The OTC is appropriate for big positions exceeding $100,000 that might disrupt the market if executed on open markets and enables for discrete, secure execution.

As an OTC customer, you will receive personalized service from initial consultation to trade execution, as well as trade reports and professional market insights. Every fiat currency and cryptocurrency available on Kraken is covered by the OTC desk, which provides global coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week, except for important holidays. 

Forex Trading:

Besides cryptocurrency trading, Kraken now offers FX trading, which is a great addition to the platform. With minimal trading costs and a sophisticated trading interface, you will enjoy trading forex on Kraken. 

Secure and Reliable Protection:

Kraken is completely committed to protecting clients’ assets and privacy, implementing rigorous security measures to prevent the theft of assets and personal data.

95% of digital assets are stored offline in geographically dispersed, air-gapped cold storage, and their servers remain under armed 24-hour supervision.

Kraken is a reputable crypto exchange governed by FinCEN that provides financial stability with full reserves, solid banking partnerships, and the highest legal compliance standards. 

Opening a Kraken Account 

Similar to signing up for a stock brokerage or any cryptocurrency exchange, Kraken registration is similar. If you have all of your information on hand, it simply takes a few minutes to activate your account. 

You will be required to submit your name, address, phone number, and Social Security Number during registration. This information is required under know your customer (KYC) regulations in the finance industry. 

To validate your account and gain access to all trading functions, you must submit a copy of a government-issued photo ID and a photograph of yourself holding that ID. Without this information, account functionality is severely limited. 

Supported Deposit and Withdrawal Methods 

Kraken offers several deposit and withdrawal options. These include cryptocurrency deposits and bank transfer deposits of fiat cash. There are no credit card or debit card deposit alternatives for instant purchases of cryptocurrencies. 

The supported fiat deposit and withdrawal bank transfer options include: 

• FewWire/FewWire: 1 – 5 business days 
• SWIFT: 2 – 5 business days 
• Silvergate Exchange Network: near-instant 
• SEPA: 0 – 5 days 
• Canadian domestic wire transfer: 1 – 3 days 
• In-person cash/debit via Canada post: 30 – 60 minutes 
• InterFIn: 0 – 10 min 
• FPS/BACS: 0 – 3 days 
• CHAPS: Same day 
• SIC: near instant  

Kraken Fees 

Deposit Fees 

For the large majority of digital currencies, there are no costs associated with deposits to Kraken. 

There may be a cost when putting fiat currency into Kraken, depending on the currency and deposit method used. For instance, using FedWire (MVB Bank) to deposit USD is free, but using FedWire (Synapse) to deposit USD costs $5. 

Instant Buy, Sell and Convert Fees 

• Using Instant Buy/Sell to trade cryptocurrencies directly on Kraken incurs a 1.5 % charge for each transaction. 
• The charge for converting one cryptocurrency to another is 1.5 % for every transaction. 
• The charge for purchasing a stable coin using another stable coin (USDT, USDC, or DAI) or with USD is 0.9%. 

Debit and Credit Card Fees 

If you live in a supported country, you can buy cryptocurrencies immediately with a debit or credit card (not available in the USA). The purchases will be performed in euros; thus, if your primary currency is not euro, you must verify that your debit/credit card issuer can perform currency conversions. The transaction costs for debit and credit cards are 3.75 % + €0.25.  

Kraken Withdrawal Fees 

• To withdraw cryptocurrencies from Kraken, a fixed fee is charged to cover the transaction.  The crypto withdrawal fee varies based on the coin being withdrawn. 
• There may be costs associated with withdrawing fiat currency from Kraken, depending on the currency and method used. 

Kraken Trading Fees 

Spot Trading Fees: First-tier starts at 0.16% for makers and 0.26% for takers. As your trading volume increases, you get cheaper fees based on this tiered structure. 

Margin Trading Fees: Margin fees are applied to the trading fees at the opening or closing of a trade. The opening fees for most margins are 0.02% with a rollover fee of 0.02% every 4 hours. There are a few exceptions where the opening fee is 0.01% and the rollover fee of 0.01% every 4 hours. 

Futures Trading Fees: Starting tier of futures trading fees is at 0.02% for makers and 0.05% for takers, with reduced fees applicable for high-volume traders.  

Security 

If you follow good online security practices, cybercriminals who want to steal money from your Kraken account should not be able to do so. Once an account has been funded, it is highly recommended to use two-factor authentication.

Different two-factor codes can be generated at sign-in, account withdrawals, and transactions. If you have reason to believe that your account has been compromised, you can also freeze your account to prevent any modifications. 

While the majority of customers have a positive experience, some users reported hacked accounts in which the owner lost everything and had no means to retrieve the lost assets. Due to the irreversibility of blockchain transactions, crypto accounts are a prominent target for fraud. When using Kraken or any other crypto exchange, be aware of the following dangers. 

Kraken takes security extremely seriously, and none of its wallets have ever been breached. Since its introduction in 2011, its platform has been offline only once, in January 2018, and that was to execute critical system improvements.

In addition to this improvement, a variety of other precautions are taken to reduce the likelihood of digital assets being stolen through its system, including the following: 

• New deposits are transferred directly to offline ‘cold’ wallets. 
• Most of the digital assets are stored in cold wallets, only the coins required to maintain liquidity being kept in online ‘hot’ wallets. 
• Small amounts of coins are stored in semi-cold wallets, these are machines with locked drives. 
• All wallets and data are encrypted. 

How Kraken Compares to Other Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Kraken has features better than the average industry competitor and is priced cheaper as well.  Check out the following disparities between Kraken and Coinbase, another prominent cryptocurrency exchange: 

Kraken vs. Coinbase 

• Over 110 coins are supported by Kraken for spot trading. Coinbase supports over 150 different coins. 
• Both exchanges allow you to profit by staking your cryptocurrency at variable interest rates. In general, Kraken offers better payouts and lets users stake with a greater quantity of coins. 
• Kraken enables cryptocurrency futures, whereas Coinbase only covers spot currency markets.  
• Kraken’s trading costs are often cheaper than Coinbase’s for the majority of cryptocurrency transactions. Both receive extra fees on the difference between the purchase and sale prices. 

Summary of Kraken Review 2022

Kraken is an internationally renowned cryptocurrency exchange thanks to its numerous features, user-friendliness, customer support, and top-tier security. With support for more than 120 cryptocurrencies, 7 fiat currencies, and extra services like staking, margin trading, futures trading, and an over-the-counter (OTC) desk. Kraken is a perfect crypto exchange for rookie investors, seasoned day traders, and institutional traders alike.

The bottom line:

Coinbase is the largest U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, trading more than 150 cryptocurrencies. Coinbase fees, however, can be confusing and higher than some competitors. While Coinbase offers attractive features, cryptocurrency trading is highly volatile, so always consider the risks.

Fees

0.5% – 4.5%

varies by type of transaction; other fees may apply

Account minimum

$2

Promotion

Get $5 in Bitcoin

when you make your first trade. Terms Apply.

LEARN MORE

Quick Summary of Coinbase

Coinbase is one of the best crypto exchanges in the world.

Between its choice of coins, security measures, and trading features – Coinbase has everything you need to purchase cryptocurrency.

Coinbase has continually kept up with the times and is accessible in most countries in the world.

Coinbase hosts 70 million users throughout 100 countries. They have billions of crypto assets and have one of the highest trading volumes of all crypto exchanges.

When purchasing cryptocurrency on Coinbase with your preferred payment method (bank account transfer, Visa, credit card, PayPal etc.), you pay a 0.5% fee. Those looking to spend a lot of money and trade a lot should sign up for Coinbase Pro, which will mitigate these transaction fees.

If you are going to make a large purchase or do a lot of crypto trading, you should consider signing up for Coinbase Pro, as Coinbase pro fees are lower than using the Coinbase platform without it.

Coinbase in More Detail 

Coinbase is completely safe and legit in 2022.

Coinbase keeps the majority of its assets (between 90% – 98%) in a cold wallet. User funds would be extremely difficult to steal. Not to mention they have a longstanding track record of keeping user funds safe and secure. They invest a lot of money into cyber security measures, so we expect having a Coinbase account or Coinbase wallet to be safe moving forward.

Coinbase offers a wide range of cryptocurrencies to buy: for example, Coinbase has over 100 more than the exchange Robin Hood. Binance and Coinbase have the most coins to choose from out of all of the centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.

Community voting: a fun aspect of Coinbase is how they will list coins on their exchange as voted for by the community. So, if a coin is gaining popularity rapidly, the Coinbase community will pressure Coinbase into adding the coin so all Coinbase users can buy it! 

Insurance policies: your personal holdings are fully insured on Coinbase. They have a sophisticated criminal insurance policy which will keep user funds safe.

Usability: setting up and maintaining your Coinbase account is pretty straightforward. Other exchanges make you jump through hoops to get set up. Coinbase accounts aren’t too tricky to set up and get going.

Trading experience: Coinbase gives you the choice of two different trading platforms. One is the original Coinbase platform, which is straightforward and allows you to buy crypto with your fiat currency. 

Coinbase fees can be a little bit pricier compared to a few of the other main cryptocurrency exchange options out there… However, Coinbase Pro helps to negate some of these fees.

Coinbase Pro used to be “GDAX”. Coinbase Pro is for the more advanced traders. With Coinbase Pro you can enjoy more advanced charting functions, swap between cryptocurrencies, and make market/limit/stop orders. For those looking to simply buy and hold, Coinbase Pro isn’t totally necessary.

Another cool feature is Coinbase Earn: Coinbase Earn is a novel way to earn as you learn. You follow along with their video series of classes and tests, learning all about cryptocurrency, trading and more. By investing your time in the classes, you can earn some coins for doing so. Obviously, it’s not a whole lot, but it’s better than nothing! 

More Coinbase Features

Minimum trade: the minimum amount of money you can use to buy crypto on Coinbase is $2. This is low and fairly standard. Some exchanges give you no minimum, some exchanges require you to invest at least $20, some $50, some $100 etc. – so, $2 is relatively low. 

Transaction fees: there are two factors to consider when calculating Coinbase fees. 

• Firstly, there is a spread charge of about 0.5% for any crypto purchases. Market fluctuations determine how close to 0.5% that figure stays. 
• The second factor is Coinbase’s fee. This fee is calculated by the value of your first purchase and the method you made your fiat purchase. 

Variety of Cryptocurrencies 

The US can buy over 150 different cryptocurrencies. This is more than most platforms. Some coins aren’t available to buy in some countries.

They allow a lot of crypto-to-crypto trading pairs. For example, you could use your Bitcoin to trade for Dogecoin or Polkadot. You can also use stable coins to buy various cryptocurrencies. So, you could trade USDT for Ether, for example.

Crypto Wallet and Securities:

Coinbase says that its holdings are protected by crime insurance. Coinbase also says that only 2% of all customer funds are held online in a “hot” environment (meaning they are connected to the internet and could potentially be breached). The rest of the funds are supposedly held in cold storage – meaning they are offline and cannot be breached. Coinbase claims that any loss of customer funds will be paid out by their insurers. 

However, should you personally get hacked (get hacked locally or scammed, or lose your password etc.), Coinbase is not liable to protect your losses. 

Make sure to take responsibility for your personal finance. Obviously, this means keeping your login details.

Apps and Usage 

The mobile apps for Coinbase are highly rated. Many of their users operate from the IOS and Android apps. Thankfully, the mobile apps include many of the same features as the desktop site. You can create and access your Coinbase wallet from your phone. Some cryptocurrency exchanges are hard to use on the mobile app.

Customer Support 

Coinbase’s customer support is not the best. They have many customers and a massive organization to operate, so it is understandable to a degree. Customer support is an expensive part of any business, especially one the size of Coinbase. It costs a huge amount of resources to try and solve people’s problems all day and night. 

The options available are email and Twitter support, as well as arranging a phone call. Obviously, an instant messaging service and an open phone line would be ideal, but that’s what they give you. 

Should you think your account has been compromised, you can use the Coinbase locking feature. You call the automated phone system and they lock your account for you. 

To mitigate their slight lack of customer support, Coinbase does have a large educational content library. Still, we’ve all been there scratching our heads trying to figure out some new software. You can get better customer support at other exchanges, but this could be at the cost of one of Coinbase’s many features.

If you take Coinbase, and compare it with Binance, Coinbase is probably better in terms of speed and quality of response.

You can contact Coinbase Pro customer service if you are a Pro member.

Should you Use Coinbase?

Ultimately, this is going to come down to your personal preference.

If you are an experienced trader who wants a wide variety of crypto coins to buy – Coinbase could be a perfect choice.

Coinbase is a good platform for beginners too. It’s a cryptocurrency exchange that provides education for users and doesn’t just leave you in the dark. Most crypto brokerage services lack good customer support as well as educational material. Coinbase at least has good educational content and investment advice for your cryptocurrency investing.

If trading fees are your only consideration, perhaps you’ll want to scour the market for a cheaper option with lower fees. Coinbase certainly has high fees compared to some other platforms if you are looking to save money as a primary goal. Coinbase compares relatively well overall in terms of fees, but there are cheaper cryptocurrency exchanges out there for fees.

Coinbase Pro users have Coinbase charges pretty low, but not everyone wants to commit to Coinbase pro accounts. Also, be wary of exchanges that seem like they have no fees, but hit you with extra fees later down the line. Or, perhaps their spread fee is higher than usual and where they collect their money from you.

Coinbase offers when signing up can be more attractive than other cryptocurrency exchanges. You can earn some free crypto assets simply by signing up. There’s also the prospect of earning on your crypto holdings when you invite other users through your affiliate link. Some exchanges are stingy in their rewards, but Coinbase is quite fruitful, and it helps that Coinbase is a trusted name when signing people up.

Coinbase Card

The Coinbase card is a decent benefit of Coinbase. Not even all the major exchanges have their own card you can use yet. It saves you only having a visa debit card – you can have a crypto card too! You can now go into shops and spend crypto! Using your digital assets to earn crypto rewards, spend in shops, save with etc. is a blessing. You incur some fees from Coinbase, but you avoid other fees that exist with the banks anyway.

Coinbase Usability

In terms of usability, the Coinbase app is pretty easy to use. The desktop Coinbase platform is smooth to use. The Coinbase website is easy to navigate. The mobile app is fine to use also. Some other cryptocurrency exchanges can be extremely frustrating to use on their mobile app. Coinbase users should have a fine experience operating their Coinbase accounts from any of these platforms.

Your personal account will come with a Coinbase wallet to keep your account and private keys safe. However, remember, it is your responsibility to keep your private keys safe. Crypto isn’t like having bank accounts. YOU must look after the keys to your wallet, or “bank”! This is the beauty and curse of decentralization.

As ever, do your own research and see what you think is best for you. If you think Coinbase isn’t right for you, you can always pivot to another exchange! Hopefully this Coinbase review helps you in making your decision!

Coinbase Review 2022

Overall, we believe Coinbase to be a strong exchange for users of all skills and experience levels.

You can do everything you need there.

We recommend our readers get into decentralized exchanges too, not JUST centralized exchanges (for many reasons you can read about on this site). But yes, Coinbase is a good first place to onramp fiat money from your bank account and buy some crypto!

This entire post was written in 2022. There’s a lot of outdated information on the internet about Coinbase, simply because they’ve been operating for so long.

Don’t be fooled, and make sure you have up to date information on the crypto exchange you decide to use. Coinbase offers for signing up listed in this post are all valid up to the current day. Always make sure to double-check crypto rewards, fees, promos and so on before committing.

Crypto trading has become more mainstream these days amongst Canadians. Digital Assets like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and more have been making explosive gains in the market, getting a lot of spotlight in the news.     

To get started in this crypto investing game, the best way is through one of the centralized crypto exchanges in Canada.   

Why?  

These centralized Canadian crypto exchanges are regulated, so they are the safest way for you to purchase cryptocurrency directly with your hard-earned fiat currency. To protect investors like you and me from shady business practices, they have to abide by rules and regulations set out by their local governing bodies or trade commissions.   

However, these rules and regulations vary by country. Thus, making certain crypto exchanges difficult to use or inaccessible for Canadian Crypto Investors.  

That’s why for Canadian investors, it is important to find the best cryptocurrency exchange that specifically caters to them.   

How? 

To find the best crypto exchange that suits your needs, first, you have to make make sure it’s available in Canada.

Then sign up for an account, verify your identity with proof of your Canadian residence, and add your preferred payment method, then you can make crypto purchases directly.  

Although the volatility of the price actions seems scary for new traders, crypto is here to stay and the market is strong as ever. These cryptocurrency exchanges are helping everyone to get involved.

Finding the right crypto exchange will make investing in the market easier than ever.   

However, there are quite a few options for Canadians out there when they want to trade crypto, and finding the right exchange requires a lot of research.  

Lucky for you we did most of the grunt work and made you this list of The Best Crypto Exchanges in Canada telling you what each exchange is about as well as outlining their pros and cons.  

BitBuy – Best Overall Crypto Exchange in Canada for 2022 

Established in 2016, BitBuy is a cryptocurrency exchange exclusively available to Canadian crypto traders.  

Bitbuy is a registered marketplace as well as an investment dealer, this means your orders are directly fulfilled by Bitbuy and will never be outsourced to a third-party financial institution. This will provide the crypto with deeper liquidity, which leads to better prices.  

In contrast with some other exchanges in Canada that have to enforce trading caps of $30,000 on certain coins by law, Bitbuy doesn’t have an annual trading cap on altcoins.  

It offers both a beginner-friendly Express trade platform and a more advanced Pro platform for experienced crypto investors.  

On BitBuy’s Pro platform, the advanced interface allows you to perform in-depth technical analysis on price action charts provided by TradingView and enter trades by specific order types. 

Bitbuy offers nine of the large-cap cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, Stellar Lumens, AaVE, Chainlink, and Litecoin and they have recently added Solana, Cardano, Polkadot, Dogecoin, Uniswap, Sushiswap, and Polygon. 

Customer Support 

Although Bitbuy doesn’t have telephone support at the moment, their team does quickly reply to support tickets and emails. Their replies are fast and extremely helpful. They also have a support page on their website which provides guides and answers to many frequently asked questions.   

Security Measures 

Bitbuy is a reputable Canadian exchange and it maintains 95% of its cryptocurrencies in cold storage. The crypto traders on this exchange are also covered by a value-matched insurance policy from BitGo.   

It is also approved by the Ontario Securities Commission and is registered with FINTRAC as a Money Service Business (MSB).  

Trading Fees 

• Deposit and withdrawal fees: 0.5% via Bank Transfer and 1.5% via Interac e-Transfer 
• Buy/sell fee: 0.2%  
• Commission: 0.1% Maker Fees and 0.2% Taker Fees
• Spread: 0.79%   
• Free crypto deposits 

Pros of BitBuy 

• One of the best crypto exchanges in Canada
• Fully regulated 
• 24/7 customer service support 
• Separate trade platforms for both beginner and advanced traders 
• 95% of assets are held in cold storage with a 1:1 insurance policy 
• OTC Desk for large trades available 
• Interac e-Transfer available 

Cons of BitBuy 

• Only 25 cryptocurrencies are available 
• $20,000 minimum for deposits and withdraws by bank transfers  

Do We Recommend BitBuy? 

• Absolutely!
• Bitbuy is a top-tiered Canadian crypto exchange that caters to customers that want to trade large-cap coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, etc.
• They provide investors with secure coin storage, an easy onboard process, excellent customer service, a slick mobile app, and extremely low trading fees.

Crypto.com – Best Crypto Exchange for Trading Alt-coins in Canada for 2022

Crypto.com (CRO) is an all-in-one trading platform best for buying, trading, storing, and earning interest on your digital currencies. This Canadian exchange allows you to buy crypto across 250+ markets and gives you access to one of the best crypto wallets in Canada.

Crypto.com offers a wide range of crypto assets, like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Doge, XRP, Cardano, Bitcoin Cash, Tether, and more. Also, this crypto exchange allows you to trade CRO tokens, the digital currency backed by Crypto.com.

Crypto.com also boasts its own blockchain, CRO Chain, which is crypto.com’s equivalent of the Ethereum blockchain. It allows lots of developers to create decentralized applications for advanced traders to interact with.

Besides making crypto trades, this exchange supports its own credit card and an NFT marketplace.

Customer support

Crypto.com have a comprehensive customer support system. They offer a help page, email, and live chat to help you with your problems. However, their agents cannot be reached by phone.

Security measures

Crypto.com is registered as a Money Service Business (MSB) through the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) and it is allowed to operate legally in Ontario.

This crypto exchange also stores the majority of its cryptocurrency in a cold storage environment, so it is extremely safe. They have a $250,000 FDIC insurance policy on U.S. dollar balances as well as a 750 million USD of cold storage insurance.

Trading fees

• Debit card and credit card deposits: 2.99% per transaction
• Commission: 0.04% to 0.4% maker fees and 0.1% to 0.4% taker fees
• Bitcoin trading fees: Maximum of 0.4% per slide
• Withdrawal fees: 0.0001 BTC to withdraw Bitcoin
• Minimum deposit: $20

Pros of Crypto.com

• Having a CRO card will unlock additional rewards
• Stake your crypto and earn an attractive APR
• Relatively low trading fees
• Popular and safe exchange to trade crypto
• Trade the top digital currencies
• Lots of benefits if you hold CRO

Cons of Crypto.com

• Higher transaction fees if you don’t have significant amounts of CRO
• Trading fees can be difficult to understand
• Poor customer service

Do We Recommend Crypto.com?

Definitely!

If you are looking for one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges that gives you a wide range of crypto trading assets, Crypto.com is a terrific choice. It is suited for a first-time investor who wants to get into the Canadian crypto market and buy Bitcoin directly with their fiat currencies.

The only real issues this exchange have is its complicated fee structure and lack of phone customer support.

CoinSmart – Most Trust Worthy Crypto Exchange in Canada for 2022 

Founded in 2018, CoinSmart is one of Canada’s fastest-growing and most trusted crypto trading platforms. They are also the only publicly-traded cryptocurrency exchange company in Canada so they are subjected to high levels of financial scrutiny and rigorous regulation.  

Over the years, they have built up a lot of trust amongst its users and ensured them that it’s an extremely secure company to invest with.  

CoinSmart also offers its crypto trading platform on a mobile app. It has several key features including SmartTrade, which makes trading extremely simple.

The app also has advanced security features like fingerprint login and 2-factor authentication to keep the user’s crypto assets protected at all times. 

Customer Support 

CoinSmart offers excellent 24/7 customer service via phone, live chat and email. Their customer service reps are very helpful and responsive. Their website also includes a “Frequently Asked Questions” page.   

Security Measures 

CoinSmart is registered as a Money Service Business (MSB) by FINTRAC and regulated by the Ontario Securities Commission (OSC). It is also backed by Luminus Financial, a registered Canadian bank.  

This cryptocurrency exchange is a publicly-traded company, it has to go through a financial audit at least once per year.    

It maintains 95% of its cryptocurrencies in cold storage that’s offline with BitGo, their wallets are insured for $100 million. CoinSmart is almost completely risk-free. 

Trading Fees 

• Deposit fee: 0% via Bank Transfer, 6% via Credit Cards, 1.5% via Interact e-Transfer under $2000 and 0% over $2000 
• Withdrawal fee: 1% INTERAC e-Transfer ($15 minimum)  

• Commission: 0.2% between fiat and crypto, 0.3% between crypto and crypto 
• Spread: 0.3%  
• Crypto deposit fee: Free 

 Pros of CoinSmart 

• Only publicly-traded crypto exchange in Canada 
• Very low trading fees and narrow spreads 
• Low commission for trading between two altcoins  
• Excellent 24/7 Customer support by phone, live chat, and email 
• Advanced trading platform for experienced traders 
• Easy to use web platform and CoinSmart app 
• Accepts credit & debit card deposits 

Cons of CoinSmart 

• Only 16 cryptocurrencies are available 
• 1.5% for INTERAC e-transfer deposits if less than $2,000 
• Crypto withdrawals cost around $0.50 – $10 

• Credit & debit card deposits cost up to 6% 
• Only accepts Canadian dollars as fiat deposit 

Do we recommend CoinSmart? 

Highly recommended! Although other exchanges in Canada usually have a few more coins than CoinSmart, it is still considered one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges in the country.

As a publicly-traded company, CoinSmart generates a tremendous amount of confidence among its traders. It has excellent customer support, easy to use crypto trading platform, and charges extremely low fees.

Kraken – Best Crypto Exchange for Margin Trading in Canada for 2022 

Founded in 2011, Kraken is a crypto exchange and bank based in San Francisco with offices around the world. Kraken caters to both retail and institutional traders with competitive cryptocurrency fees.    

Kraken is one very widely supported crypto exchange in the world, its service is available in every country except for Cuba, Iran, and North Korea. 

The crypto exchange also provides digital asset price information to the Bloomberg Terminal on Wallstreet, New York. 

As one of its stand-out features, Canadian investors are allowed to trade leveraged crypto products. Kraken offers margin accounts with a leverage of up to 1:5 in the cryptos spot market and leverage of up to 1:50 in the cryptos future derivative market.  

For example, a $50 stake on Bitcoin with a 1:5 leverage would be amplified to a $250 position and with a 1:50 leverage would be amplified to a $2500 position.  

The crypto platform on Kraken is simple and user-friendly. It’s catered to the new traders in the cryptocurrency market and offers them a simplified and approachable trading interface.

Kraken also offers a Pro version of its services that comes with an advanced interface and lower fees.   

Customer Service 

Kraken offers global customer support to almost every country including Canada. Besides its website, customer service agents can be reached by email, phone, support center, and 24/7 live chat. It also has a strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 

Security Measures 

Although Kraken stated that it keeps 95% of all its crypto deposits in an offline in air-gapped cold storage, it is not covered by any insurance policies.  

The exchange is legal to use in Canada, but users are subjected to some restrictions. Canadian crypto users cannot trade Ethereum tokens that have been staked for Ethereum 2.0, and crypto futures trades are banned in Ontario. 

Trading Fee:  

• Deposit Fee: 0.5% via Online Banking, 3.75% + $0.25 via Debit/Credit Cards 
• Withdrawal Fee: $4 – 35 
• Commission: 0 – 0.16% Maker fees and 0.1 – 0.26% Taker fees 
• Spread: 1.5% for cryptocurrencies and 0.9% for stable coins 
• Crypto Deposit Fee: 3.75% + $0.25 

Pros of Kraken 

• Margin accounts allow users to trade with up to 1:50 leverage 
• More than 90 coins supported 
• Simple user interface 
• Excellent customer service 
• Very low fees 

Cons of Kraken 

• Higher transaction fees when not using Kraken Pro 
• Some users report losses due to hacks 
• Storage losses are not covered by insurance 
• Canadian investors need to comply with the strict regulations of the IRS instead of CRA. Creating an account requires several layers of ID verification.  

Do we recommend Kraken? 

Sure!

Kraken is a well-established global company and one of the best crypto exchanges that’s available in Canada. It’s an excellent choice if you are willing to overlook some of its security drawbacks. 

Krakens interface is friendly to new users and experienced traders also have access to advanced features like margin and futures trading. The margin trading accounts give users the option to trade up to 1:50 leverage for some explosive gains

Just make sure you manage your risk accordingly to avoid a blown trading account.

KuCoin – Best Canadian Crypto Exchange for Day Trading in 2022 

Since its inception in 2017, KuCoin has grown to be one of the largest and best Canadian crypto exchanges by trading volume. With over 10 million users, it has established a presence in more than 200 countries. The head office of this crypto exchange is based in Seychelles. 

KuCoin offers a whopping 600+ cryptocurrencies spanning many different markets for Canadian investors to spot trade, stake and peer-to-peer (P2P) trade.

The high liquidity with very low trading fees makes this exchange perfect for day traders to buy and sell short-term positions.  

This crypto exchange also provides traders with the option of Futures and Margin Trading so users to take up positions with up to 100x leverage. Canadian traders can also stake their digital assets through Pool-X, a KuCoin-backed company, the KuCoin Earn service will pay you interest on your crypto coins. 

Users on this crypto exchange have the option of accessing their accounts through an online portal or mobile app, available for both Android and iOS.

However, the interface on the trading platform offers an abundance of features and tools which may cause beginner crypto traders to be overwhelmed.  

As one of the industry-standard security features, KuCoin offers “Know Your Customer” (KYC) verifications for its users. Verified users have access to higher withdrawal and trading limits.  

Unverified users are also allowed to trade anonymously on this exchange. The only drawback is unverified users have a daily withdrawal limit of 1 BTC or 400 CAD. For the majority of retail traders, this is not a big issue.  

Customer Service 

KuCoin does not have customer service agents that can be reached by phone, it does have 24/7 customer support available by email. Its website has a helpful FAQ section. Users can also engage in a live chat to get answers to basic questions or submit a request for further assistance.   

However, this exchange has poor customer service reviews saying responses are very slow and unhelpful. Users felt as if they are chatting with a bot, not a live agent.  

Security Measures 

KuCoin is partnered with Onchain Custodian to safeguard the majority of its crypto assets in cold storage. In event of a platform breach like they had in 2020, the losses are covered by insurance policies. 

This exchange is legal to use in Canada, although not licensed in Ontario, the services are still accessible to me. Users cannot buy crypto on KuCoin directly with Canadian dollars, it must be done through third-party companies.     

KuCoin also uses many security measures, including micro-withdrawal wallets, and industry-level multilayer encryption. dynamic multifactor authentication.

There are also dedicated internal risk control departments which ensure its data operations follow security standards. 

Trading Fees:  

• Deposit Fee: Free 
• Withdrawal Fee: 0.1% 
• Commission: 0.0125 – 0.10% Maker fees and 0.03 – 0.10% Taker fees 
• Spread: KuCoin does not charge spreads 
• Crypto Deposit Fee: Free 

Pros of KuCoin 

• Best crypto exchange for day trading
• Earn interest on crypto 
• Over 600 cryptocurrencies 
• Lowest fees on this list 
• Unverified Canadian traders can anonymously 

Cons of KuCoin 

• Poor customer service 
• Unlicensed in Ontario so future operations are uncertain 

Do we recommend KuCoin? 

Yes!

KuCoin is a premier global exchange that has established a strong customer base.

As long as it remains operational in Ontario, it will be the top choice for many experienced Canadian investors who are already invested in the market.

Its extremely high market liquidity and one of the lowest fees on this list, making it one of the best Canadian crypto exchanges for day traders.

So which one of these crypto exchanges should you choose? 

There is no definitive answer. Each exchange comes with its own advantages and drawbacks. All investors who come into the crypto market have different levels of experience, backgrounds and trading styles. They also want to achieve different financial goals.

So, it’s natural that certain crypto exchanges in Canada will be appealing to one group of traders while other crypto exchanges will attract others.

Most experienced crypto investors we know usually have their funds diversified into a combination of different centralized, decentralized crypto exchanges as well as cold and hot wallets.  

The best advice we can give you is to invest in the market first, explore around and do plenty of due diligence. Eventually, you will find out which investment style suits you the most.

Just make sure to manage your risks and enjoy the process!

Cryptocurrency is becoming more and more popular these days in Australia. It seems like anyone can easily find an exchange, deposit and just start trading crypto. Given all the options out there, finding the best Australian crypto exchange in that suits your need is very important. 

The exchange you choose will impact what types of digital assets you can trade, how much profits you make from your trades, and how smooth the trades are. In some cases, choosing the wrong exchange might mean you might not get your money back at all. 

How to find the best Australian Crypto Exchange? 

There are a number of factors to consider and here are some of them: 

Coins available: The top crypto exchanges in Australia should offer a large selection of coins from many different markets. This allows traders to have the opportunity to get in on some massive altcoin gains. 

Trading fees: The transaction of all digital assets will incur some fees. Exchanges with high fees will eat into a chunk of the profit, especially for the frequent traders. That’s why it’s important to find exchanges that offer affordable rates. 

Government regulation: When choosing the crypto exchange, always check how it is regulated by the local authorities. Using a well-regulated exchange is much safer than an unregulated ones. 

Platform interface: Interfaces on crypto exchanges should be simple to understand and easy to navigate for beginners. It should also offer experienced crypto traders the option of having more advanced features.  

Deposit & withdrawal: Depending on the type of withdrawal and payment method that’s available to you. You should always find an Australian exchange that matches your needs.  

Insurance policies: We have all heard the horror stories of crypto exchanges getting hacked and users losing everything thing they had. That’s why it’s best to always make sure the exchange you are using has your digital assets covered in case of an attack.  

Customer service: Navigating around the user interface of an exchange can be frustrating. Many options to choose from in dealing with complicated withdrawals or deposit processes. Finding the exchange with excellent customer service will make the entire experience go a lot smoother. 

Capital – Best overall

Besides being a crypto exchange, also offers many other assets for investors to trade with. Users can trade cryptocurrency alongside stocks, commodities, forex, index funds, ETFs and much more. 

Capital offers a very tight spread on its digital assets (0.1% – 0.3%) and users can trade them with absolutely no trading fee.  

The platform interface is available on desktop with full trading features as well as on a powerful mobile app. It also allows users to trade on a demo account where they can practice trading with real-time crypto market data. 

Capital is licensed by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK, both of which are trustworthy authorities.  

Each qualified client will be assigned a dedicated account manager, they can be reached by email or phone at any time. This provides a customer service experience that’s second to none. 

Cost 

• Trading fee: 0% 
• Spreads: 0.1% – 0.3% 

Pros of Capital 

• No Trading Fees 
• One-Stop-Shop for Trading Most of the Assets. 
• Dedicated Account Manager Available 
• Superb Desktop & Mobile Interface 
• Demo trading available 

Cons of Capital 

• No Referral Program 

eToro – Best for New Traders

eToro is a world-recognized brand with an easy-to-use desktop trading interface and mobile app, and it offers some of the lowest fees and spreads compared to other crypto exchanges. Besides cryptocurrency, this exchange also supports stocks, forex, commodities and other assets to trade.  

CopyTrade is eToro’s brand-new model of investing that’s built on proprietary technology. It allows any particular eToro user to copy other investors’ trades in real-time. This significantly reduces the risks for new traders coming into the market as their trading decisions are based on the knowledge of experienced traders with proven track records.  

eToro offers the users the option of trading with a demo account with a balance of up to $100,000. This allows new traders to get aquatinted with trading cryptocurrency without the risks and experienced users to test out new strategies.  

Cost 

• Trading fees: 1% 
• Spreads: 0.1% – 0.3% 

Pros of eToro 

• Supports 50+ cryptocurrencies 
• Tight spreads (around 0.1% – 0.3%)  
• Allows short selling 
• Up to 30x leverage (2x leverage on crypto) 
• Free deposits and withdrawals from debit/credit cards, bank transfer, etc. 
• Excellent desktop crypto trading platform and mobile app 

Cons of eToro 

• High non-trading fees 
• Only one account base currency 
• Customer support should be improved 

Digital Surge – Best Variety of Coins 

Founded in Brisbane Australia, Digital Surge is a top-tiered exchange with over 250 cryptocurrencies to trade. It provides users with a fast and easy signup process as they get their accounts verified accounts within hours. 

This exchange offers reliable security measures by keeping most of their assets in cold storage and prompts users to provide Two-Factor Authentication (2FA). 

Digital Surge has a user-friendly desktop trading interface with a mobile app for both iOS and Android. Their customer support agents are available 24/7 through live chat in the app or on the website. 

Digital Surge is a great option for investing in digital assets in Australia. It offers margin accounts for leverage trading. But compared to eToro and Capital, it’s still missing a few key features. 

Cost 

• Trading fees: 0.5% to 0.1%  
• Order fees: 0.5% 
• Deposit fees: From $0 to $3.30 
• Bank withdrawals: Free 
• Crypto withdrawals: Gas fees vary 

Pros 

• Easy-to-use trading platform 
• Low trading fees 
• 250+ cryptocurrencies to choose from 
• 24/7 customer support via live chat 
• Quick account verification 

Cons 

• Cannot deposit by credit card. 
• Lacks some advanced trading features for experienced traders. 

CoinSpot 

CoinSpot was first launched in 2013 and today it has over 2.5 million users, making it the largest crypto exchange in Australia. It is also the recipient of the Blockchain Australia Certificate for best practices. 

This exchange offers more than 360 cryptocurrencies to trade and staking on 22 coins. It has one of the most diverse coin offerings among all cryptocurrency exchanges in Australia.  

CoinSpot has a very user-friendly interface that makes it easy for new traders to use. It comes in both the desktop version as well as mobile apps. It also provides excellent customer support as users have access to an agent through Live Chat that’s available 24/7.  

CoinSpot is registered with ASIC and AUSTRAC, so it’s accountable to maintain the best practicesin crypto industry . The majority of the exchange’s crypto assets are also securely kept in a cold storage environment. This gives its users peace of mind because they don’t have to worry about losing their coins to hackers. 

However, there are still a few areas CoinSpot can improve on. Traders on the platform do not have the option to trade on leverage positions with a margin trading account. It also does not offer demo Accounts, so traders have to look elsewhere. 

Cost 

• Market Orders: 0.1% 
• Instant Buy/Sell: 1% 
• Deposit Fees: Free  
• Withdrawal: Free 
• Deposit Fees: Free 
• Withdrawal Fees: Depends on the crypto 

Pros 

• Most secure Australian cryptocurrency exchange
• Simple interface for new users 
• Over 360+ cryptocurrencies are available 
• Staking on 22 coins to earn interest 
• 24/7 support via Help Desk & Live Chat 
• NFT Marketplace 

Cons 

• Lack of advanced trading markets like derivatives and margin.
• Credit/debit card deposits are not supported.

Binance Australia

Founded in 2017, Binance has based in the Cayman Islands and it’s the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. This exchange supports the withdrawal and deposits of over 50 fiat currencies. Users have access to over 300 cryptocurrencies to trade with. Traders can buy and sell digital assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL) and Binance Coin (BNB),   

BNB is the indigenous token of Binance, it doubles as a utility token and provides discounts on transactions for its holders. Depending on how many BNBs are in holding, trading fees will range from between 0.1% to 0.04%.  

Besides the Binance crypto exchange, additional features include a Crypto Visa Card and Binance Earn, a digital asset staking platform.   

Its trading interface features advanced charting tools and its mobile app is available on both iOS and Android. They also reward their users with monthly promotions on certain trading pairs once they reach a certain milestone. 

Cost 

• Crypto deposit fees: Free 
• Fiat deposit fees: 0% to 3.5% 
• Crypto withdrawal fees: 0% to 2,5% 
• Taker fees: From 0.04 to 0.1% 
• Maker fees: From 0.02 to 0.1% 
• Futures trading maker fees: 0.02% 
• Futures trading taker fees: 0.04% 
• Instant buy/sell trade fees: 0.5% 
• Debit/credit card purchases: 4.5% 

Pros 

• An enormous selection of cryptocurrencies (300+) 
• Supports over 50 fiat currencies 
• Binance Earn and Binance Visa Card 
• Advanced charting tools 
• Low fees 

Cons 

• Not available in seven U.S. states and Ontario Canada 
• The Australian version has fewer crypto-to-crypto currency pairs than the global Binance site. 

Zipmex 

Aso based in Singapore, Zipmex is extremely amongst the crypto traders in South-East Asia. It is fully licensed in both Australia and Thailand.   

In addition to buying and selling cryptocurrency, it also offers many other interesting features. 

Zipmex gives its user the option to stake their cryptocurrency through two different platforms: ZipUp! and ZipLock. Both platforms yield good rewards in the form of crypto.  

ZipUp! offers decent APY rates and no lock-in period. However, if you are comfortable locking your crypto for up to 45 days, you should consider ZipLock’s as it provides a higher APY. 

Another feature on Zipmex is an ICO Launchpad, it’s called ZipLaunch. It allows eager investors to get early into promising DeFi projects or ICOs. 

One of the biggest drawbacks for ZipMex is its limited selection of digital assets, it has 41 coins to choose from. In addition, traders are almost forced to hold ZMT tokens in order to advantage of lower trading fees. 

Costs 

• Maker’s Fees: From 0.10% to 0.20% 
• Taker’s Fees: From 0.10% to 0.20% 
• Deposit Fees: Free 
• Withdrawal Fees: Varies by coin 
• Deposit Fees: Free  
• Withdrawal Fees: $5 

Pros 

• Some of the lowest trading fees in Australia (0.1%-0.2%) 
• The insurance policy covers up to $100 million USD  
• Instant Trading 

Cons 

• Investors are compelled to acquire ZMT to get the best benefits 
• Customer support is not available on the phone 
• No high-volume trading discounts 
• Limited crypto offerings 

Independent Reserve

Independent Reserve is one of the biggest crypto exchanges in Australia with over 200,000 users as of 2022. It is also registered with the Australian Digital Commerce Association (ADCA). 

Through its partnership with Lloyd’s of London, Independent Reserve is able that provides full insurance coverage for 100% of its digital assets. For extra security, the exchange keeps 97% of its coins secured in a cold storage environment and uses a Two Factor Authentication for verification.  

In addition to buying and selling cryptocurrencies, users can have access to a complete library full of investing strategies. These strategies can even be applied to an AutoTrader feature. For institutional traders, this exchange offers a VIP Over-the-Counter (OTC) trading service. 

Independent Reserve’s trading platform can be accessed on desktop as well as on a mobile app for both iOS and Android.  Fiat currency can be deposited with ease through the Osko and the BPay network.  

Cost 

• Exchange Trading Fees: 0.6% 
• Spreads: 0.41% 
• Deposit Fees: Free 
• Withdrawal Fees: Free  
• Deposit Fees: varies by network mining fees 
• Withdrawal Fees (Crypto): Varies by network mining fees 

Pros 

• Accept 4 fiat currencies as deposits (AUD, USD, NZD, SGD) 
• Have an AutoTrader feature 
• 97% of crypto coins are held in cold storage 
• 100% of digital assets are insured through Lloyd’s of London 
• Instant account verification for most traders 
• Mobile app available on iOS and Android 
• OTC trading services for VIP clients.  

Cons 

• Only offers 29 cryptocurrencies 
• Higher transaction fees 

Swyftx 

Swyftx was founded in 2018 by Angus Goldman and Alex Harper. Registered and regulated by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC), Swyftx is both a crypto exchange and also a staking platform for certain cryptocurrencies. 

Swyftx supports 16 cryptocurrencies, including Cardano (ADA), Solana (SOL), Cosmos (ATOM), and Polkadot (DOT). Interest rates users can earn depends on the crypto they’re staking, with annual rates ranging anywhere from 5.12% (on Bitcoin) to 101.24% on (Axie Infinity). One thing users appreciate about Swyftx’s staking platform is that there’s no lock-up period, which means you can stake and withdraw your assets at any time with no penalty. 

Staking rewards are paid out daily directly into the Swyftx Crypto Wallet in the same currency that you’ve staked. The minimum staking amount is $1 AUD, with no maximum. 

All in all, Swyftx is a strong staking platform, but it lacks some important features as a crypto exchange, which is why we don’t recommend it so strongly. 

Cost 

• Trading Fees: 0.6% (discounts apply to higher trading volume) 
• Spreads: 0.41% 
• Staking Fees: Free 
• Deposit Fees (Fiat): Free 
• Withdrawal Fees (Fiat): Free  
• Deposit Fees (Crypto): Free  
• Withdrawal Fees (Crypto): Free 

Pros 

• Up to 23% annual interest on select cryptos 
• Available on mobile and desktop 
• Supports 16 cryptocurrencies 
• Two-Factor Authentication 
• TradingView charts 
• Real-time data 

Cons 

• Can take a while for users to get used to 
• Customer support can be lengthy as a result of a large customer base 
• Does not offer margin trading, derivatives or Futures markets 

CoinJar

CoinJar is a well-established crypto trading exchange, it has been around for 9 years and it is currently based in Melbourne. It does have plans to has plans to expand its operations to the UK in the future.  

It is also one of the very few platforms that offer a physical crypto debit card. Launched in early 2022, the CoinJar Crypto Debit Card lets you use your cryptocurrencies to make everyday purchases. It can be used everywhere Mastercard is accepted.  

They also have over 10 bundles of diversified crypto, ideal for beginners and experienced investors alike. Some of the most sought-after bundles are the DeFi Bundle, the Stablecoin Bundle, and the Green Bundle (eco-friendly).  

Cost 

• Currency Conversion: 1% 
• Instant Buy: 2% 
• Maker’s Fees: From 0.1% to 0.04% 
• Taker’s Fees: Free 
• Deposit Fees: Free 
• Withdrawal Fee: 1% 
• Deposit Fees: Free 
• Withdrawal Fee: Free 

Pros 

• Plenty of additional features 
• The platform is very friendly for beginner traders. 
• Low fee structure. 
• The exchange can be accessed by mobile app 
• To offset the transaction fees on the exchange, CoinJar offers its user Reward points that can be used at the Rewards Store. 

Cons 

• A limited number of cryptocurrencies can be accessed. 
• The trading fees are based on a floating spread that will increase during volatile market conditions. 
• Customer support agents cannot be reached on weekends. 
• Traders cannot take to short positions crypto pairs. 
• Only Australian investors can withdraw and deposit fiat currency. 

Kraken

Kraken is a crypto exchange and bank that was founded in 2011. Today, the company’s headquarter is located in San Francisco and it has many offices across the world.      

The crypto trading platform on Kraken is simple and user-friendly. It’s catered to the new traders in the cryptocurrency market and offers them a simplified and approachable trading interface. Its service is available in every country except for Cuba, Iran, and North Korea. 

Kraken is one of the few global crypto exchanges out there that caters to both retail and institutional traders. It also provides cryptocurrency pricing updates directly to the Bloomberg Terminal on Wallstreet, New York.  

As one of its stand-out features, Australian traders are allowed to trade on margin accounts with a leverage of up to 1:5 in the cryptos spot market and leverage of up to 1:50 in the cryptos’ future derivative market.   

Kraken exchange also comes in a Pro version. It allows users to have access to advanced features on the trading platform as well as lower transaction fees. 

Cost 

• Trading fees: 0% – 0.26% 
• Crypto credit card purchases: 3.75% + €0.25 
• ACH crypto purchases: 1.5% 

Pros 

• Wide selection with over 90 cryptocurrencies to trade 
• Simple and intuitive user interface 
• The exchange provides plenty of educational resources for its new traders 
• Excellent 24/7 customer support that can be contacted through a variety of methods 
• The user interface offers advanced trading tools 

Cons 

• A complicated trading platform might be difficult for new users to use 
• A slow verification process for intermediate and pro-level accounts 
• The website may experience laggings on occasions 
• Doesn’t have credit cards and debit cards deposit as deposit methods 

Summary 

It’s hard to choose the best cryptocurrency exchange in Australia that suits your needs. Each exchange has its own unique features as well as disadvantages. So instead of picking the one that’s the best, we highlighted the benefits of each crypto exchange and matched them with the type of traders that they are best suited for.   

Quick disclaimer. Remember, crypto is extremely volatile and quite unregulated. Crypto has no UK or EU investor protection like other traditional methods of investing. Like any investment, you are risking your funds and could lose all of it.

eToro

eToro offers multiple investment options: crypto, stock and CDFs. One of the main benefits of eToro is the amount of different coins you can buy. They offer over 115 cryptocurrencies to pick from. Of course, this includes the likes of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and other popular coins. 

eToro is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). Their trading platform is decently advanced so seasoned investors will enjoy extra features not found on all exchanges. eToro comes with a crypto wallet for you to store your crypto on their exchange, too. 

It costs nothing to start an account with eToro. For the beginners, you can enjoy their demo trading platform to get a feel for how it works. Using the demo platform will also give you a feel for the extreme volatility in crypto! 

Another benefit of eToro is a 0 fees deposit system. You’ll only have to pay fees on spreads. Another potential fee to be aware of is currency exchange. eToro operates in USD, so you will need to trade the pound or whichever currency you have to the USD. When you withdraw your funds, you incur a $5 charge. You have to withdraw at least $50. 

These are some of the main things to consider with eToro. Overall, it’s a pretty suitable platform for UK crypto users! 

Coinbase

Coinbase is one of the most established exchanges out there. They boast some of the highest users and trade volume. Coinbase gives you the choice of over 500 coins and tokens to buy and sell. Of course, this includes coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Luna. 

The sophisticated trading platform allows you to schedule buys and sells into the future. Their IOS, android and web apps are really useful and smooth. You can always be checking your trades, the market and what’s going on.  

Coinbase includes a crypto wallet. You can use the wallet to connect to decentralized exchanges (as opposed to a centralized exchange like Coinbase) and make use of the different services they can offer. For example, you could use your Coinbase wallet to connect to PancakeSwap (a popular decentralized exchange on the Binance Smart Chain) to then quickly trade your coins away from the exchange. 

There are a few fees to consider with Coinbase. The fees combine together and are determined by the payment method, size of the order, market conditions and other things like volatility and liquidity of the coin you’re buying. 

Coinbase is registered with the FCA, as well as having a withdrawal fee, but a 0 deposit fee.

Gemini

Gemini was started by two famous figures from the Facebook story… Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. Gemini is great because it is simple to use even for the brand new investor. Yet, there are also some nice features for experienced investors to take advantage of. Overall, Gemini makes it easy for you to get involved in crypto, with their simple interface, education section and wide variety of coins to choose from. Gemini lists 50+ coins to buy like Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano, Polkadot and more. Enjoy trading, managing, and dynamic price alerts amongst other trading tools with Gemini. You can also set up various scheduled trades like you can with Coinbase. Again, also like Coinbase, Gemini has smooth web app, IOS and Android options software for you to take advantage of. 

Gemini offers you a crypto wallet for you to store your crypto on. Choose between a hot wallet (has connected to the internet), or a cold storage option which is much safer. 

Gemini is free to deposit, registered with the FCA, and charges withdrawal fees. 

Bitpanda

Like eToro, Bitpanda allows you to invest in stocks as well as crypto. Bitpanda gives users over 50 of the top cryptocurrencies to choose from, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin and more. You can open an account for free but have to deposit at least 25 euros to get started. A cool feature with Bitpanda is being able to trade your crypto for other assets. For example, you could use Bitcoin to buy gold, ironically! 

Bitpanda also allows you to schedule investments over time. If you plan to dollar cost average (DCA) into Bitcoin, you could set a payment schedule on Bitpanda so it does it for you automatically. Bitpanda also has a crypto card that you can use to spend like cash. Crypto.com has a similar model. This is a great benefit as you don’t have to go through the stress of changing your crypto to fiat and withdrawing it to your bank.

For a more advanced experience, users can upgrade to Bitpanda Pro, which gives you more trading options. For example, you can gain price matching capabilities, automated clearing, settlement and netting processes. This isn’t necessary for those new to crypto, but those who are seasoned investors should consider Bitpanda Pro! 

Bitpanda aren’t registered with the FCA, but there aren’t any withdrawal or deposit fees.

Coinsmart

Coinsmart is simple to use. Their mission is to make crypto more accessible to use. They’re achieving that and have a clean and simple platform that just about anyone should be able to understand.

Coinsmart offers the top coins like other exchanges, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and more. They have desktop and mobile options. They aren’t registered with the FCA, but you don’t have to make a minimum deposit, and there are withdrawal fees. 

Coinsmart’s focus on simplicity means it has a few less features than other exchanges, but it’s worth checking out for those who are new to cryptocurrency exchanges. 

Revolut

Revolut was popularized as a personal finance app. However, they have introduced the ability to purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum and 25+ other coins. You can even choose to invest as little as $1 to get involved. 

Revolut has built in features like price notifications (e.g. you want to buy Bitcoin at $20,000, you will receive a notification). Revolut also produces crypto news, so you learn about what’s happening in crypto within the app. 

A cool feature Revolut has is a round up service. You can gather all your spare change and invest into your favorite coin. Revolut charges a fixed fee for converting fiat currency into crypto. The fee is 2.5% for normal users and 1.5% for Premium and Metal users. This is the only fee involved. 

Enjoy other aspects of Revolut like savings features, accounts made specifically for investing, exchange + trading, and international fiat currency transfers. 

Revolut is a good option for someone who wants a money management app, but also wants to buy cryptocurrency. It’s good for someone who isn’t particularly interested in getting super involved in crypto. Perhaps if you just want to buy a bit of Bitcoin or Ethereum and forget about it, Revolut would be an easy way to do that. Enjoy 0 withdrawal fees if you want to take your crypto or fiat currency out!