Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Coinbase is a U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange that offers access to over 150 cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Cardano (ADA). Founded in 2012, it is one of the older cryptocurrency exchanges on the market, and it boasts over 89 million users and over $500 billion in quarterly volume. Coinbase is the best overall crypto exchange, offering a simple user interface, top-notch security, and access to a large selection of the most popular crypto on the market.

Coinbase is available in over 100 countries around the world, and in 49 U.S. states (excluding Hawaii). It offers competitive fees for trading crypto. Fees for high-volume traders are as low as 0.00%, with most trades charging between 0.40% - 0.60%. Great for beginners, Coinbase offers one of the easiest onboarding and buying experiences of any crypto exchange.

Coinbase also takes security seriously, with most assets stored in offline cold storage; FDIC insurance on deposited U.S. dollars; and multiple layers of data protection, including end-to-end encryption and geographically distributed data centers. All customers are required to pass Know Your Customer (KYC) identity verification, to help guard against fraud on the platform and to comply with U.S. regulations.

As a secure platform, Coinbase is trusted by millions for Bitcoin purchases, as well as secure storage through their crypto vault. With nearly $2 billion in daily Bitcoin trading volume, Coinbase is one of the largest volume exchanges for Bitcoin trading. Both Microstrategy and Tesla have used Coinbase to purchase billions of dollars in Bitcoin, and other institutions are following suit.

Overall, Coinbase offers an easy way to start buying and trading crypto, and continues to add more coins weekly.

Gemini is a U.S.-based crypto exchange founded by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss. With a strong focus on security and regulatory compliance, Gemini became the first SEC-regulated crypto exchange back in 2016, and it is licensed by the New York State Financial Services Department. It also recently received its SOC 2 certification, which is a third-party certification verifying the platform’s security and compliance. 

Gemini offers several security features for both retail and institutional investors alike. In addition to security features like two-factor authentication (2FA) and cold storage of crypto assets, Gemini also employs individual-level controls to further secure user accounts. Gemini customers can enable user roles within an account, giving specific permissions, which is ideal for institutional management with various personnel accessing an account. 

In addition, individual users can see all devices that have logged in, and remove access to any they don’t recognize. Users can also set up “whitelisting,” which restricts any withdrawals of digital assets to known wallet addresses only. As an added layer of protection, Gemini offers hot wallet insurance. If a user’s Gemini Hot Wallet is hacked and their funds are stolen, Gemini can reimburse the lost assets.

Overall, Gemini offers both individual users and institutional investors a highly-secure way to invest in cryptocurrency.

Kraken is a U.S.-based crypto exchange offering a wide range of tools for advanced crypto traders. Kraken provides a professional trading platform—Kraken Pro—which caters to day traders who want access to advanced charting and indicators; crypto pair trading; and multiple order types, including limit, stop, and take-profit orders. In addition, Kraken offers margin trading for qualified users, and access to crypto futures trading with up to 50x leverage.

Kraken’s professional trading platform offers very low trading fees, with discounts given to high-volume traders. It uses a maker/taker fee model, with fees ranging from 0.00% to 0.26%. Only the highest-volume traders can expect fees as low as 0.00%. With day trading typically involving a large volume of transactions per month, Kraken helps keep costs low for active traders.

Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the longest-standing crypto exchanges available and is used by over 7 million traders globally. This exchange is available in over 200 countries, as well as 48 U.S. states (excluding New York and Washington). 

Kraken’s robust selection of trading tools and relatively low fees make it a great option for active traders.

Bisq is a decentralized exchange (DEX) that comes as a downloadable software, allowing users to trade crypto on a peer-to-peer network. Bisq does not require user registration, as users are trading coins directly with others on the platform, and there are no KYC identity verification requirements to use the platform..

Bisq users can download the software, connect a funding account (bank account or crypto wallet), and begin trading. Bisq charges a platform transaction fee of 0.05% to 0.88% for trades, depending on the currency being used to pay for fees (Bitcoin or Bisq Coin). 

Bisq is unique, even as a decentralized exchange, as users can trade crypto, as well as fiat currencies. This means users can use their national currency (such as U.S. dollars) to make trades. Overall, Bisq offers a simple way for users to trade crypto, without the need for identity verification or lengthy sign-up processes.

Huobi Global is an international crypto-exchange offering access to over 340 cryptocurrencies, including a wide selection of altcoins. While Huobi Global supports some of the most popular altcoins on the market, such as Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL), it also has hundreds of smaller-market cap coins, giving users the ability to invest in some interesting projects.

Huobi Global was founded in 2013, has over 10 million global users, and handles billions of dollars in trade volume every day. Headquartered in the Republic of Seychelles, this exchange is available in over 100 around the globe but is not available in the U.S.

Huobi Global offers a simple way to buy crypto, as users can deposit fiat funds (such as Euro) and make a purchase right away. Trading fees are also relatively low, ranging from just 0.015% to 0.2% per transaction. In addition, Huobi Global offers advanced trading, including limit, stop, and trigger orders, as well as margin and futures trading. Overall, Huobi Global offers a wide range of cryptocurrency altcoins to buy, sell, and trade, including assets that aren’t available on many centralized exchanges.