7 Most Trusted Crypto Exchanges

Are you an investor looking for a trusted way to enter the risky cryptocurrency markets? Altcoins and Bitcoin are a totally new asset class that brought a lot of early investors life-changing profits and even today many new traders are making good money in these highly volatile markets.

Moreover, every crypto investor gets cold feet while opening up the search engines to check the live price of some hot cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, ETH, Monero, Polkadot, and so on; because that’s the thrill of dealing with digital currency.

Interestingly, each day brings in different decisions for investors. Someday, the right move seems like selling the cryptocurrency, and another day, the right arrow points the mind towards buying more! Regardless of the aforementioned moves, the difficult task is to choose the most reliable cryptocurrency exchange that will hold your mighty crypto and keeps it safe from hackers.

So how do you pick the most trusted crypto exchange? Firstly, I want to mention that trading cryptocurrency is just one of the features many exchanges are offering today. Because developments in crypto are moving fast, many exchanges are offering new financial services that are helping their users to be even more profitable.

Therefore, in this guide, I’m showing you the 7 most trusted crypto exchanges that besides trading and investing, are offering additional financial services to their customers.

7 Most Trusted Crypto Exchanges

Below a shortlist of the 7 exchanges that in my opinion are considered reliable and secure:

• Binance – Worlds most popular cryptocurrency exchange with almost zero fees
• Coinbase – Most reliable exchange to start with cryptocurrency(especially US customers)
• Kraken – US-based exchange that offers the most fiat trading pairs(AUD, EUR, USD, GBP)
• Bitfinex – One of the eldest in the list and mainly targetted professional traders
• Cex.io – Very popular crypto exchange mostly among EU and UK residents
• Bittrex – Reliable crypto exchange that is specialized in crypto spot trading
• Poloniex – US-based cryptocurrency exchange that offers crypto trading from anywhere in the world.

Most Reliable Crypto Exchanges: Comparisons

This comparison guide provides an overview of the most trusted crypto exchanges to buy, trade, and sell Bitcoin and other altcoins. The assessment is based upon thorough research into the platform’s features, trading pairs, payment options, supported currencies, trading fees, customer support, and security methods.

Exchange	Maker fees	Taker fees	Crypto assets	Promotion	Rating	Guides
	0.075%	0.075%	300+	10% discount on fees		Binance trading guide	Go here
	0.5%	0.5%	37	$10 bonus in BTC		Coinbase vs Coinswitch	Go here
	0.16%	0.26%	60	None		Kraken trading guide	Go here
	0.1%	0.2%	100+	None		Bitfinex trading guide	Go here
	0.25%	0.16%	70	None		CEX.IO trading guide	Go here
	0.25%	0.25%	45	None		Bittrex trading guide	Go here
	0.125%	0.125%	75	None		Poloniex trading guide	Go here

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7 Most Trusted Cryptocurrency Exchanges(To Trade Altcoins)

In general, if you want to trade Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies you have to sign up at a centralized cryptocurrency exchange first. Next, to proceed you will have to undergo a sign-up process once that is very straightforward.

Once done, the platform will automatically generate a wallet for you. Of course, you can also withdraw money or cryptocurrency, however, if you want to trade you need a wallet on their platform first.

Below are the 7 crypto exchanges that in my opinion are the most trusted and in random order because it also depends on which part of the world you are living in.

Binance

First, there is Binance, a crypto trading platform that is is founded by Changpeng Zhao, a well-known blockchain industry expert, and expert in setting up trading systems.

In my opinion, it’s the best cryptocurrency trading platform for beginners as well as the best altcoin trading platform if you consider the trading volume and the number of coins listed on the exchange(300+).

Additionally, based on daily(24h) trading volumes, Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. Also, it has millions of cryptocurrency traders using its platform on a daily basis.

Besides trading, Binance offers several other feature-rich products, including custodian wallets, crypto margin trading, lending service, and earning rewards with staking.

Trading a Binance can be done with almost zero fees(0.075%) and you can use this link when signing up. It will give you an additional 10% discount on fees for life 🙂

Features

• World largest altcoins trading platform
• Trading pairs available in stablecoins, fiat and altcoins
• Variety of deposit options for fiat(USD, EUR or GBP)
• Lowest trading fees in the market
• Passive income opportunities with staking pools or Binance earn
• Margin trading available for advanced traders

How safe is Binance?

Binance is one of the few exchanges that has committed themselves to build their insurance funds what they call SAFU. Additionally, back in 2018, they launched this Safe Asset Fund for Users and they are allocating 10% of all trading fees it receives and storing it in a cold wallet. By doing this they are protecting users in extreme cases of exchange wallet hacks.

Coinbase

In particular, Coinbase is a USA-based cryptocurrency exchange. Based on daily trading volumes it’s one of the biggest and most popular exchanges in the world. They also support the instant purchase of several altcoins via Visa/MasterCard credit and debit cards.

To purchase altcoins with a credit card, your card should support ‘3D Secure’. To find out if your card supports this, you can just try adding your card to Coinbase and it will give you an error if it doesn’t.

Furthermore, you can buy any altcoin at this exchange, provided that they serve your country. At present, they serve more than 100 countries, but unfortunately, not all countries are able to buy and sell.

You can check if their service is available in your country here. Also, to give you some initial credit, Coinbase will reward you with $10 in Bitcoin if you sign up with this link and start trading $100.

Features

• Best cryptocurrency exchange for beginners
• Bank deposits are very quick
• Coinbase Pro available for advanced traders
• Very secure custodian wallets

How secure is Coinbase?

To protect the funds of their users Coinbase has set an insurance limit of $255 million on their hot wallet crypto holdings. Additionally, this wallet is insured by Lloyd’s of London-registered broker. In extreme cases, for example, wallet hacks, the cryptocurrency exchange can cover the losses for their users.

Kraken

Another most trusted exchange on this list is Kraken. Additionally, it’s one of the most reliable and safest cryptocurrency exchanges out there and has been around for a while already.

Founded in 2011, Kraken is a US-based cryptocurrency trading platform available in 48 US states and 176 countries. Also, because of its safe reputation, the exchange data is being used as a ticker(BTC/USD) on the Bloomberg terminal.

The Kraken platform specializes in offering Bitcoin trading services for the beginner as well as the professional trader. Besides trading in digital assets, it’s also possible to store your crypto in custodian wallets, crypto lending services, and staking cryptocurrencies.

Spot trading cryptocurrencies gives you a fee of 0.16% and this value decreases when USD volume rises. Additionally, margin trading is even cheaper where the rate is set to 0.01%.

Features

• US-based, licensed, and regulated cryptocurrency exchange
• Platform easy accessible from EU and US
• Most fiat trading pairs available(AUD, USD, EUR, GBP, or JPY)
• Full time staff to offer 24/7 customer support

How safe is Kraken?

Kraken is not being recognized as a financial institution in the US and therefore has no insurance on its hot wallet. However, to protect its users’ funds 95% of all crypto will be stored offline in a cold wallet. Moreover, deposits will be air-gapped, geographically distributed cold storage. They keep full reserves so that you can always withdraw immediately on demand.

Bitfinex

Bitfinex has been around for many years in the cryptocurrency space and is one of the exchanges with the highest daily trading volumes. To start trading at this exchange you have to sign up and go to a regular KYC/AML procedure first.

This online trading company is based in Hong Kong and has been operational since 2014. It gives its users the option to trade more than 100 cryptocurrencies/pairs in exchange for USD, EUR, ETH, or BTC. Depositing EURO or USD to this is exchange is currently only available by wire transfer.

Bitfinex is very popular among professional traders because of its high trading volumes and the possibility to go Long or Short. Therefore to start trading at this platform a minimal deposit of $10.000 is needed to get an account there.

Trading on Bitfinex

Bitfinex offers a very liquid order book and this makes it a very reliable exchange. Furthermore, it allows users to easily exchange Bitcoin, Ethereum, Polkadot, Litecoin, ETC, and many other digital assets with minimal slippage. Bitfinex also boasts a suite of order types to help traders take advantage of every situation.

Features

• Platform is very robust and offers high liquidity
• Special tools for advanced traders
• Offers also trading with fiat pairs(USD, EUR and GBP)
• Customer support 24/7 available

Can Bitfinex be trusted?

To be as secure as possible Bitfinex uses a policy to keep 99.5% of the funds offline in a cold wallet. Also, this cold wallet is a multi-signature wallet; requiring 4 of 7 hardware security modules (HSMs) in possession by globally distributed management team members to approve all transactions. To be able to do deliver daily services like withdrawals, 0.5% of total funds will be stored in a hot wallet.

CEX.IO

Founded in London, UK in 2013, CEX.IO is a multi-functional cryptocurrency exchange that provides multiple financial services. They offer brokerage services as well as a trading platform for users. Also, CEX.io provides users with a wide range of essential features to ensure they can conveniently buy, sell, and trade digital currencies in a trusted and secured environment.

For instance, SEPA transfers on CEX.io are really convenient even for those who possess little knowledge on how to go about it. Deposits are completely free while withdrawal attracts a €1 transaction fee.

Amongst EU citizens trading at this exchange is a good alternative mostly because of its high daily trading volumes where about 70 different altcoins can be traded.

Features

• No deposit fees
• User friendly interface
• Deposits above $3000 attract a stipulated amount of bonus

How safe is CEX.IO?

To safeguard the maximum of security the CEX platform uses a hot wallet only for companies’ funds in order to keep the exchange running. Therefore, 99% of all user’s funds will be stored in offline wallets that only can be accessed by using multiple signatures and whitelisted public addresses.

Bittrex

Another most trusted crypto exchange is Bittrex. Since the beginning of the crypto era, Bittrex has been around and gained much trust along the way.

Bittrex has one main service it provides which is its trading platform. The platform lists a wide variety of currencies and allows for standard spot trading orders to be executed.

The current trading engine seamlessly glues together automated trading features. For instance, stop-loss, good ’til canceled (GTC), an instant buy or sell, with all the standard technical charting tools a trader needs. Also, if you are a US resident trader, this is another good place to start trading cryptocurrency.

Features

• Platform is specialized in spot trading
• Fiat trading pairs available(USD or EUR)
• Simple and clear trading interface
• No deposit fees

Can Bittrex be trusted?

To safeguard the maximum security of users’ funds Bittrex also uses cold storage for 99% of the assets. Furthermore, in 2024, the platform announced that the funds in cold storage are insured for $300 million which is unique in the history of crypto trading platforms.

Poloniex

Finally, there is Poloniex, a crypto trading platform from the early days that is founded back in 2014. Furthermore, it’s a US-based exchange that became famous for offering crypto trading over the years.

In the past, crypto investors could use the Poloniex platform as a crypto-to-crypto trading platform. As of today this platform has extended its services and can be considered as a one-stop-shop for crypto trading.

Additionally, based on daily(24h) trading volumes, Poloniex is still a very large cryptocurrency exchange that offers its services to hundreds of thousands of crypto enthusiasts.

Besides trading, Poloniex offers several other feature-rich products, including custodian wallets, crypto margin trading, lending service, and earning rewards with staking.

Features

• Very reliable and available since 2014
• High trading volumes on spot pairs
• Customer support 24/7 available
• Easy sign-up procedure

How Safe is Poloniex?

Poloniex is not currently regulated, although its future plans are to become regulated. For now, Poloniex operates outside of the mainstream financial system and holds digital assets in offline cold storage wallets. For investors who want the security of a regulated exchange with money held in mainstream banking institutions, I would recommend an exchange such as Coinbase.

What is the safest Cryptocurrency Exchange?

If you rate the different measures the crypto exchanges explained above have taken, I can assure you that your funds would be safe. However, what is the safest cryptocurrency exchange if you want to know?

In my opinion, and according to the data below in the table, the safest exchange is Bitfinex, where they store 99% of the funds offline in a cold wallet. Also, the data on Bitinfocharts.com shows that about 184K in BTC of all funds is being held offline.

Exchange	Cold wallet(funds offline)	Amount of BTC	Rating
Binance	Unknown	288K
Coinbase	98%	Unknown
Kraken	95%	Unknown
Bitfinex	99%	184K
CexIO	99%	Unknown
Bittrex	99%	40K
Poloniex	Unknown	22K

…and that’s all you need to know if you want to start investing in cryptocurrency; the safest way possible! Besides, the 7 most trusted crypto exchanges described above are based upon my user experience in the past 6 years. In addition, during this period I have never experienced funds loss or being compromised by any of these platforms. Happy trading or investing!

The following articles might also be a good read for you:

• Changelly vs Coinmama: Two Platforms for Buying Crypto Fast
• Top 5 Do’s and Dont’s of Cryptocurrency Wallets
• Best Low Risk Crypto For 2024 and Beyond
• Crypto Lending vs Staking: Which concept generates the most Passive Income?
• Confidential: Best Places to Keep my Crypto Safe

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