When I first getting into the crypto world, I only heard of Bitcoin. But once I dived deeply into the space, I quickly realized there are tons of other coins to choose from.
Here’s the question:
- Where do you buy Bitcoin and other altcoins?
- Which is the best cryptocurrency exchange?
Before you start investing your hard-earned money in crypto, it’s important to know what a cryptocurrency exchange is.
What is a cryptocurrency exchange?
A cryptocurrency exchange (also known as digital currency exchange) is an online platform that allows you to buy, sell or exchange cryptocurrencies for other virtual currency like Bitcoin, ether and ripple or traditional fiat money like USD, GBP and EUR.
Types of Cryptocurrency exchange
There are generally two different types of cryptocurrency exchange platforms, classified based on the tradable currency.
- Fiat exchange: As its name suggests, Fiat exchange allows the exchange of USD, EUR, GBP and other government-backed currencies with the digital currencies.
- Crypto-to-crypto exchange: This exchange doesn’t accept any fiat money. It’s exclusively for cryptocurrencies to be exchanged with each other. Bitcoin/Ethereum is considered the most popular crypto pair.
Cryptocurrency exchanges can also be classified according to the price determinant on the platform.
- Trading Platforms: Similar to traditional exchanges, these websites are a marketplace where buyers and sellers can place “buy” or “sell” orders. They’ll take a fee for each transaction.
- Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Exchange Platforms: These platforms facilitate direct trading between potential buyers and sellers. Since there’s no exchange acts as an intermediary, they don’t provide a fixed market price. Instead the price depends on the two parties coming to an agreement.
IMPORTANT: Even though you can trade directly offline with your friends, it’s important to conduct transactions through P2P platforms. This is because they provide escrow, mediate transactions and resolve any dispute.
- Cryptocurrency Brokers: With these websites, anyone can visit the platforms and purchase cryptocurrencies. Just like foreign exchanges, crypto brokers will set the price of the crypto coins. They will usually charge a fee on top of the current market price.
As of writing, there are 500+ cryptocurrency exchange services on the Internet. With new ones being created every week.
Sifting through the many options to find the best crypto exchange can be incredibly challenging, not to mention time consuming and inefficient.
Also, you will probably have to use more than one crypto exchange to get the cryptocoins that you want.
For example, you can’t depend solely on fiat exchanges to buy certain cryptocoins. In fact, there are many altcoins only available for trading on crypto-to-crypto exchanges.
To simplify it, here are few important things to consider when it comes to choosing the best crypto exchange/trading website:
- Coverage,
- Security of funds
- Ease of use
- Reputation
- Number of pairs
- Fiat exchange
- Fees
- Verification requirements
Taking into consideration the criteria above, here are the 10 best crypto exchanges (in no particular order) for buying and selling cryptocurrencies.
Related reading:
- What is Cryptocurrency? Explain Like I’m Five
- What is Bitcoin and Why all the fuss with Cryptocurrency?
- How to Buy Bitcoin and Other Cryptocurrencies
- How to Invest in Bitcoin: The Ultimate Guide for Beginners 2022
- 7 Best Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Bitcoin Exchanges (Private, Secure, Low Fees)
The Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges
1. Binance – Best Overall
| Tradeable coins | BTC, ETH, XRP and 140+more |
| Fiat currencies | No, supports fiat in Malta, Singapore |
| Trading fee | 0.1%/ Fee discount with BNB coins |
| Deposit fee | Free |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary |
| Deposit Method | Cryptocurrency |
| App | iOS and Android |
| Language | English/ Dutch/ Chinese /Russian and 10 more |
| Coverage | Global |
Launched in July 2017, Binance has gone from nothing to billion dollar exchange site in the space of 12 months!
Now, it’s one of the most popular and fastest growing crypto exchanges on the Internet.
To get the most of Binance, you may want to use the Binance Coin (BNB), a native currency on the exchange.
Instead of paying 0.1% regular trading fee, using BNB allows you to deduct 50% of the fee to merely 0.05% in the first year, according to the fee structure below.
Recently, Binance has just added payment support for 15 fiat currencies, allowing users to purchase cryptocurrencies with credit and debit card payments denominated in euros, U.S. and Canadian dollars, and Japanese yen directly on the platform.
You can then trade your fiat currency for any cryptocurrencies that you want.
It’s pretty easy, simple and fast to create a free account on Binance.
Even though if you don’t complete the personal ID verification process, you can still buy/sell and withdraw 2BTC/day. This means that almost anyone in the world can trade on the platform without much restriction.
Once you’ve verified your account, you can transact and withdraw 50–200 BTC for 24 hours.
They also offer mobile app for Android and iOS too, making it much easier to manage and trade cryptocurrency on the go.
Related reading:
- How do I Trade Cryptocurrencies on Binance?
- How to Buy Binance Coin at a Good Price
- How to buy Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies
2. Bit.com – Crypto Derivatives Exchange
| Tradeable coins | BTC, ETH, XRP and 200+more |
| Fiat currencies | No |
| Trading fee | Maker fees -0.01% to 0.02% ; Taker fees 0.035% to 0.07% |
| Deposit fee | Free |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary |
| Deposit Method | Cryptocurrency |
| App | iOS and Android |
| Language | English/Chinese |
| Coverage | Global |
Bit.com is a secure, easy and reliable platform to buy, sell and trade crypto and crypto derivatives. As a full-suite crypto exchange, Bit.com offers spot, perpetual swaps, futures and option trading of BTC, ETH, and BCH, with a particular highlight being pioneers to launch BCH options.
The exchange was launched by Matrixport in Aug 2020 and registered in the Seychelles.
Bit.com is a fairly new and young company that has grown very rapidly, it’s now the world’s 2nd largest crypto options trading platform.
Getting started with Bit.com is fast and simple. You can register a free account in 30 seconds and trade with as little as 10 USDT.
They offers a wide range of easy-to-use and innovative digital-asset financial services tailored for every level of expertise, such as:
Spot Trading
- USDT ,USDC and BTC trading pairs
- 200 tokens listed by 2022
Convert
- Instantly convert one crypto to another
Options Trading
- BTC, ETH & BCH options
- Up to 10x leverage
Futures Trading
- BTC, ETH & BCH perpetual contracts and futures contracts
- Up to 50X leverage
Savings
- Popular coins available
- Competitive interest rates
- No fees
- Safeguarded by Cactus Custody
Block Trading
- Ultra-fast transaction for futures and options in large volumes
- Avoid slippage
API Connectivity
- Cancel on disconnection
- Post only order
- Batch order
- Stop Order/ Trigger order (Futures & Options only)
3. Coinbase — Digital Currency Exchange
| Tradeable coins | BTC, BCH, ETH, ETC, LTC |
| Fiat currencies | USD, EUR, GBP, AUD CAD, CNY and 50+ more |
| Trading fee | Vary |
| Deposit fee | Credit/Debit Card: 3.99% ; US Bank Transfer: 1.49% (0.15 USD) ;
Wire Transfer USD: USD 10 |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary |
| Deposit Method | Bank Transfers / Credit / Debit Cards / Providers of the bank |
| App | iOS and Andriod |
| Language | English |
| Coverage | 32 countries |
Based out of United States and operational since 2012, Coinbase is arguably the most beginner friendly cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
Coinbase is a digital wallet service provider and secure online platform for managing, buying, selling, storing and transferring crypto funds.
Currently, it offers two main services:
- Fiat-to-crypto exchange: an instant exchange platform for newbie traders
- Coinbase Pro (formerly known as GDAX): an advanced trading platform that offers more powerful tools for experienced traders.
You may also want to check out Earn.com by Coinbase that allows anyone with a LinkedIn network of minimum 50 to earn Bitcoin by answering surveys and gigs.
If you want to know more, check out this tutorial on how to earn Bitcoin in less than 1 minute.
Its mobile app is incredibly user-friendly and easy to use. By linking your Coinbase to your bank account, you can easily send and receive crypto coins using QR code.
Also, Coinbase is a relatively safe crypto exchange site with 98% of its coins is stored offline. If you’re a US resident, your Coinbase wallet is insured by the FDIC up to $250,000.
To start buying cryptocurrency on Coinbase, you need to register an account and provide ID verification, bank details and phone number.
4. Kraken
| Tradeable coins |
BTC, BCH, DASH, DOGE, LTC, XLM, EOS, ETH AND 12+ MORE |
| Fiat currencies |
USD, CAD, EUR, GBP, JPY |
| Trading fee |
0.00% to 0.36% |
| Deposit fee | Vary |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary |
| Deposit Method |
Bank transfer using SEPA (Europe), SWIFT (worldwide), (no credit cards unfortunately) |
| App | iOS and Andriod |
| Language |
11 (including English, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Spanish, French, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Portuguese) |
| Coverage |
Global with exceptions |
Founded in 2011, U.S based Kraken maintains an excellent safety record, with comprehensive range of safety measures, self-regulated approach, and security audits, making it a secure exchange to trade on.
As one of the world’s largest and most reputable cryptocurrency exchanges, Kraken offers plenty of services including futures contracts, Staking, OTC deck, account management, spot and margin trading.
What makes Kraken so different is its dark pool trading.
Dark pool is an order book that not visible to the rest of the market. This is best for traders who are looking to anonymously place large buy or sell orders without revealing their interest to other traders.. In the dark pool, each trader only knows their own orders.
Typically, outsized orders, when seen by other traders will cause the market to move unfavorably, making it more difficult to fill the order at the desired price. This unfavorable price movement may be avoided in a dark pool.
Another great thing about Kraken is that it introduces amongst the lowest trading fees in the industry:
- Regular trading fees range from 0.26%- 0.02%
- Stablecoin trading fee range from 0.20% -0.00%
- Dark Pool range from 0.36%-0.20%
- Margin fees 0.02%-0.01%
Here’s the fee schedule for regular spot trading:
While it is based in the US, Kraken allows anyone outside the US to trade and buy cryptocurrencies from its platform.
5. Kucoin
| Tradeable coins | BTC, BCH, ETH, XRP and 100+more |
| Fiat currencies | No |
| Trading fee | 0.1% / Fee discount with KuCoin Shares (KCS) |
| Deposit fee | Free |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary according to the cryptocurrency market’s performance |
| Deposit Method | Cryptocurrency |
| App | Android |
| Language | 12+ (Including English/ Chinese /Russian/ Spanish/ French ) |
| Coverage | Global |
Want to buy a new altcoin?
Chances are you’ll find those rare cryptocoins listed right on this exchange.
Kucoin is another great cryptocurrency exchange that provides an easy way to exchange cryptocurrencies.
With KuCoin, you can find a wide range of coins, both popular and unique coins such as 0x, SelfKey and Swarm, with highly competitive fees.
You are also free to use the mobile app (Android and iOS) to deposit, withdraw and trade crypto anytime anywhere in the world.
To get started with Kucoin, first you need to register an account using your email, no ID verification is needed. Then, buy BTC or ETH from ChangeNow and deposit your coins into your Kucoin account in order to trade other crypto coins on this cryptocurrency exchange.
Kucoin Bonus: By using the KuCoin’s native token, KuCoin Shares (KCS), you can enjoy special discounts on trading and receiving dividends.
For every 1,000 KCS you hold, you get 1% discount on trading fees, up to a maximum of 30%.
6. Bitfinex
| Tradeable coins | BTC, BCH, ETH, ETC, XRP, EOS, NEO and 100+more |
| Fiat currencies | Yes, USD, EUR, JPY and GBP |
| Trading fee | 0.00% to 0.20% |
| Deposit fee | 0.0004 BTC \ None |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary |
| Deposit Method | Cryptocurrency, Wire transfer |
| App | iOS and Andriod |
| Language | English \ Chinese\ Russian |
| Coverage | Global except residents from Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ecuador, Kyrgyzstan and US |
Bitfinex is another popular cryptocurrency exchange in the world.
If you want to transfer fiat currencies to or from your Bitfinex account, you’ll need to complete a verification process by provide personal ID, phone number, email and address.
However, you don’t need to be verified to start trading on Bitfitnex.
Here’s how it works: First, buy btc on ChangeNow and then deposit into your Bitfinex account, and trade without needing to convert to fiat. No ID verification needed for crypto-to-crypto trading. Refer to the cryptocurrency withdrawal fees here.
Security: Bitfinex was hacked in 2016, resulted in 120,000 BTC stolen. But Bitfinex has taken immediate steps to rectify this problem and successfully compensated all the users in less than a year. This alone shows a lot of commitment on the company’s end.
7. Bitstamp – The world’s longest-standing crypto exchange
| Tradeable coins |
5 (BTC, BCH, LTC, ETH, XRP) |
| Fiat currencies | USD |
| Trading fee |
0-0.50% |
| Deposit fee | Free |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary |
| Deposit Method |
Cryptocurrency, International wire, Credit card |
| App | iOS and Andriod |
| Language | English |
| Coverage | Global |
Founded in 2011, Bitstamp is one of the longest standing cryptocurrency exchanges based in Luxembourg.
It allows people from all around the world to buy/sell between US dollar and Bitcoin safely.
Besides trading between crypto-to-crypto, you can also buy Bitcoin directly using debit/credit card.
To start, register an account using your email ID and verify your identity. You can choose to create a personal or corporate account. Then, deposit funds with your credit card or wire transfer. That’s it, now you can start buying, selling and exchanging coins on the exchange.
If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to trade between popular cryptocurrencies at low transaction fees, Bitstamp is about to become your favorite platform!
8. Bittrex
| Tradeable coins | BTC, ETH, XRP and 250+more |
| Fiat currencies | USD |
| Trading fee | 0.25% |
| Deposit fee | Free |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary |
| Deposit Method | Cryptocurrency, Wire transfer |
| App | iOS and Andriod |
| Language | English |
| Coverage | Global |
Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Bittrex is one of the world’s popular cryptocurrency exchanges.
The platform was founded in 2014 by three cybersecurity engineers with over 50 years of combined knowledge. They’re formerly worked as IT and security experts at Microsoft.
Bittrex is known for its ease of use as well as the security it provides its customers.
In this exchange, you have the option to buy/sell 254+ cryptocurrencies at very low fees.
If you’re ready, registering with Bittrex is pretty simple and straightforward. But you need to go through a verification process to start trading on the platform.
- Basic account (with 2FA enbled) : transfer up to 3BTC/day
- Enhanced account (with selfie ID): transfer up to 100 btc/day
- Check out Bittrex
9. Gemini
| Tradeable coins | BTC, ZEC, ETH, LTC |
| Fiat currencies | USD |
| Trading fee | 0.00% to 0.25% |
| Deposit fee | Free |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary |
| Deposit Method | Cryptocurrency, Wire transfer |
| App | No |
| Language | English |
| Coverage | U.S, Canada, U.K, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea |
Founded by the Winklevoss Twins, Gemini is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange where you can buy Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin and Zcash using US dollars-or just trade between these few altcoins.
What makes Gemini different from other platforms is the embrace of regulation and compliance. It’s the first licensed Bitcoin and Ethereum exchange in the US.
It offers high security and compliance as well as top-notch cold storage system to store coins and information offline.
Also, your US dollars are deposited into an FDIC-insured bank.
10. Huobi
| Tradeable coins | BTC, ETH, XRP, EOS, DASH and 90+more |
| Fiat currencies | Yes, USD, EUR, JPY and GBP |
| Trading fee | 0.2% |
| Deposit fee | Free |
| Withdrawal fee | Free |
| Deposit Method | Cryptocurrency |
| App | iOS and Andriod |
| Language | 13 including English/ Chinese/ Korean |
| Coverage | Global |
Founded in 2013, Houbi is one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchange service provider.
Originated in China but following the Chinese government’s crackdown on crypto exchanges in 2017, Huobi has rapidly expanded its financial services to serve the international market.
They also offer a mobile app (iOS and Android) that allows you to manage, store and trade cryptocurrency on the go.
It’s pretty easy to register an account with Houbi. You’ll need to provide your email ID, name and selfie ID.
11. HitBTC
| Tradeable coins | BTC, ETH, XRP, ZEC, DASH and 200+more |
| Fiat currencies | No |
| Trading fee | 0.10% |
| Deposit fee | 0006 BTC |
| Withdrawal fee | Vary |
| Deposit Method | Cryptocurrency, SEPA, SWIFT |
| App | iOS and Andriod |
| Language | 13 including English/ Chinese/ Korean |
| Coverage | Global |
Looking to get started in crypto trading but have zero experience? No worries.
HitBTC is one of the easiest ways to get hold of multiple cryptocurrencies.
You don’t have to go through complicated registration process. Simply register with your email and a strong password, then you can start trading over 200+ crypto coins.
To take advantage of the low fees, you might want to buy bitcoin on ChangeNow first and send the BTC to your HitBTC account.
Security tools and features:
- Automatic logout
- Email notifications if there’s any new IP logins
- Login History- show all the latest activity
- Whitelist of withdrawal addresses
- 2FA enabled
- cold storage system for certain cryptocurrencies
Kriptomat is an EU-based exchange platform for buying, selling, transferring and story cryptocurrency.
You can rest assured you’re dealing with a legit and transparent company, as Kriptomat is fully licensed in Estonia and regulated under the EU regulation.
If you’ve never dabbled with cryptocurrency exchanges before, you do so within minutes on Kriptomat.
Simply create a free account on Kriptomat, verify your identity and you’re good to go.
You can Bitcoin and other 33+ cryptocurrencies using a variety of payment methods:
- SEPA bank transfer:
- Credit card
- Neteller
- Zimpler
- Skrill
- Sofort
Once the money hits your account, you can exchange your EUR to Bitcoin and pay a 1.45% trading fee.
If you don’t want to wait for SEPA deposit and want to get hold of some crypto instantly, then you can use credit card. But convenience comes at a price, there’s 3.70% processing fee for credit card instant buy.
Conclusion
So now you know which are the best, reliable and popular cryptocurrency exchanges that you should use.
By using the cryptocurrency exchanges on this list, you will be able to buy/sell almost all of the cryptocoins that you want.
Each crypto trading platform has its unique features and benefits. The main differences are fee schedule, supported countries, supported coins and fiat currencies, and security.
It might be a good idea to register for few exchanges so that you have access to as many coins as possible.
Tips:
- Always turn on the two-factor authentification (2FA) and be more secure.
- I also strongly recommend you to use a reliable hardware wallet like Ledger Nano S or Trezor to store your crypto assets.
Since cryptocurrency exchanges have been highly vulnerable to thefts and hackers, it’s very risky to keep your digital currency using free wallet on exchange sites.
P.S: Don’t rely on exchanges as your wallet to HODL your crypto investment.
Here’s some helpful articles that you can read next:
- How to Secure your Cryptocurrency: Cold Wallet vs. Hot Wallet
- 10 Best Bitcoin Wallets You Should Use to Protect Your Crypto Investment
- 3 Best Hardware Wallets for Storing Bitcoin and Cryptocurrencies (for long term)
- How to Setup a Ledger Nano S Hardware Wallet
- Crypto 101: The Ultimate List of Cryptocurrency Resource
- What is Bitcoin and why all the fuss with Cryptocurrency?