Best Crypto Exchanges 2024: In-Depth Exchange Reviews

Why Do I Need an Exchange?

There are other ways to buy cryptocurrencies, including peer-to-peer trading and ATMs, but exchanges are the easiest way to trade fiat currencies for cryptocurrencies or to simply purchase cryptocurrency from the comfort of your home. With an exchange, you do not have to meet up with someone in person to buy cryptocurrency, and the fees are typically much lower than with Bitcoin ATMs.

The best crypto exchange for you depends on your needs. If you are exchanging Bitcoin for USD or CAD, you may need a cryptocurrency exchange that offers competitive rates for transferring fiat currencies to your bank account. If you are planning on cryptocurrency trading or simply are interested in diversifying your portfolio with a few different digital assets then you will want to peruse our crypto exchange reviews for the top crypto exchange in terms of trading fees, volumes, and transaction fees.

Here’s a video explaining how exactly crypto exchanges work:

What Are the Best Crypto Exchanges?

Listed below are some of the top Cryptocurrency exchanges. Users will have different preferences for their exchanges so it’s worth taking a little time and comparing the options. In addition some exchanges will not be available in certain jurisdictions.

Here’s a quick breakdown of the best crypto exchanges:

• Best All-In-One Solution: eToro
• Best Security and Low Fees: Kraken
• Best for Beginners: Coinbase
• Best for Alternative Assets: Public.com
• Best for Experienced Traders: Binance
• Best Mobile App: Crypto.com

Do All Exchanges Accept Credit Card or Bank Transfer?

Not all cryptocurrency exchanges accept credit card and bank transfer deposits, and some only support these methods through specific financial institutions such as SEPA. Some cryptocurrency exchanges exist only for trading cryptocurrency and therefore only accept deposits and withdrawals in cryptocurrency.

It is a good idea to pick a top crypto exchange from our crypto exchange reviews that allows you to buy and sell cryptocurrency with fiat currencies such as USD, EUR, GBP, or CAD. Each cryptocurrency exchange will offer different fees for the varying deposit and withdrawal methods that they accept, so we recommend figuring out how you would like to fund your account and whether you are planning on trading or holding your digital currency. Once you have determined that, you can look through our crypto exchange reviews for the exchange that will make your funds go the farthest.

An example of a crypto exchange dashboard. Credit: Coinbase.

What Should I Look for in a Crypto Exchange?

We’d argue that security is easily the most important factor for a crypto exchange because if you can’t trust an exchange with your coins than every other feature of the service is essentially pointless.

Other than security, however, there are some features that you should look for in a good crypto exchange:

Customer Support

It’s especially important to have good customer service and support when you’re just getting started with crypto. Good customer support will help you with your crypto questions and issues.

Available Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin and Ethereum are available on nearly every exchange but there are thousands of different coins that might be of interest to you. Make sure the exchange you’re interested in offers the digital assets that you’d like to trade.

Fees

Crypto exchange fees are extremely important to high-volume traders because it cuts into their bottom line. If you’re new to crypto then paying a 2% fee on your initial purchase isn’t the end of the world. But if you plan on making lots of trades you should probably find a low-fee exchange.

Payment Methods

You’ll likely want to use a debit card, bank transfer, wire transfer or credit card to fund your account. Some exchanges offer limited payment methods, however. Make sure the crypto exchange you’re signing up for offers the payment method of your choice. The best crypto exchange might not be the best for you if you can’t make a deposit.

Are Crypto Exchanges Safe? A Security Checklist

Over the couple years crypto exchanges have been in the news for all the wrong reasons. It’s not exactly a new development, however. Since the inception of Bitcoin there have been nefarious actors in the industry who have lost customers funds through deceit or negligence.

Fortunately reliable exchanges do share some common characteristics. The following is a checklist or cheat sheet for anyone looking for a better quality of crypto exchange. While it will be hard to find an exchange that checks all these boxes, the best crypto exchanges should have the majority covered.

Here some of the security factors you should consider when choosing a crypto exchange:

1. Is crypto secured in cold storage?

Cold storage is the best way for crypto to be stored and any decent exchange will hold the majority in cold storage.

2. Are customer funds held 1:1?

A proper exchange should hold your crypto for you. Period. There should be no trading or lending of customer assets.

3. Does the exchange have some form of proof-of-reserves?

Proof-of-reserves is a relatively new concept (and it’s not 100% foolproof) but it definitely does not hurt. Keep in mind that many exchanges list proof-of-reserves but not liabilities, which somewhat defeats the purpose. Publicly listed exchanges are arguably even better as their books are essentially open to the public.

4. Where is the exchange licensed?

Some jurisdictions are better than others for proper crypto regulation. The USA, Canada, U.K. and Japan all have strong reputations for crypto licensing. Some exchanges even offer partial insurance on users fiat currency. In addition good exchanges should go through regular security audits.

5. Is there KYC (Know Your Customer)?

KYC can be a pain but it’s also a sign that an exchange is regulated. Beware of exchanges that don’t require any form of identification. It’s also important an exchange uses encryption to protect customer’s information.

6. Is it possible to withdraw crypto?

Not everyone wants custody of their own crypto but it’s important to note that if an exchange doesn’t let you actually let you withdraw crypto than you are really just holding an IOU for crypto, rather than the real thing.

7. Does the exchange have a good reputation?

Even the biggest exchanges can fail but — in general — it’s a good sign when an exchange has successfully operated through multiple bear markets (and bull markets for that matter). Beware of newer exchanges that offer huge yields or unrealistic products.

Kraken is renowned for providing Proof of Reserves. Credit: Kraken

I Bought Crypto. Now What?

The crypto you bought is now on the cryptocurrency exchange and is stored in your exchange wallet. This is considered a non-custodial wallet, meaning you do not have complete control over your crypto assets stored in your wallet, the exchange does. Since exchanges deal with massive volumes of money and store large quantities of assets at many wallet addresses, they are an extremely tempting targets for hackers. The best crypto exchanges cycle assets to cold storage to reduce their exposure in the rare event of a hack. Here’s a look at the top 5 safest crypto exchanges.

The safest thing you can do with your cryptocurrency is to store it in a software or hardware wallet to which you hold the private keys. Software wallets are often free and are certainly a step up in security compared to keeping them on the exchange. Hardware wallets such as the Ledger Nano X or Trezor Model T are some of the best ways to store your assets in cold storage, meaning your crypto assets are offline, with no connection to the internet, making it extremely low risk of being hacked. Here are some of the best cryptocurrency wallets on the market today.

An example of a cryptocurrency hardware wallet.

Once you’ve secured your crypto there are a variety of different things you can do with it including the following:

• Send it to friends and family or clients
• Stake it to earn a passive yield
• Use it to buy NFTs
• Play around with DeFi
• Trade crypto with the goal of earning a profit
• Nothing. Simply hold it until it’s (hopefully) worth more

Why Do People Store Crypto on Exchanges?

Conversely there are a few interesting reasons why you may choose to store assets on the exchange instead of transferring them to a wallet:

Staking

Many exchanges offer both hard and soft staking options through their exchange. Hard staking means you have no access to those assets for the staking period and earn interest on that amount, while soft staking means you have the flexibility of taking the assets when you want and interest is often added daily. Top crypto exchanges such as KuCoin, Coinbase, and Binance offer both these options.

Events

Some exchanges offer trading competitions with rewards, where the top volume traders for an asset have a chance to win crypto or even physical prizes such as cars or electronics. Some of the top exchanges have gotten very creative with their events.

Crypto.com Exchange has an event which they call The Syndicate. Staking a minimum of 10,000 of their native token, CRO, for 180 days, gives users access to these events. During this 24 hour Syndicate, users have the ability to purchase a cryptocurrency offered at that Syndicate at a discount. This discount can be anywhere from 25%-50% off market price. Once the event has ended, users receive their discounted digital assets. Having these events has pushed CRO to the borderline of being a top 10 asset.

Convenience

While storing your assets on the exchange does come with the risk of exposing your assets, having them readily accessible to be traded for other cryptocurrencies or exchanged for fiat currencies is very convenient. Plus, each transaction you make sending to and from an exchange incurs a network fee. If you are likely to trade an asset, it makes more sense to leave it on the exchange. This is enable you to save on fees and increase your total income.

In addition some users may not trust themselves to secure their own crypto. While crypto is all about self-sovereignty, there’s nothing inherently wrong with using a highly-trusted exchange for custodial services.