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Best Crypto Exchanges in 2022

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Here at the Coin Bureau, we spend a lot of time diving into many different crypto exchanges and platforms, providing videos and articles for news, reviews, and “how-tos”. After putting years of research into dozens of platforms, we decided it would be helpful to summarize our findings and give our opinion on the best cryptocurrency exchanges in different categories to help our community start their search in finding the best crypto exchange for their needs.

We hope this article will provide some valuable insight in helping narrow your search, as sifting through the jungle of the hundreds of different exchanges out there can be a daunting task. Many crypto users will have accounts with multiple different platforms to meet their different needs, and because keeping crypto diversified across different exchanges is often a smart way to go so you don’t have all your eggs in one basket.

This article primarily focuses on the most reputable, widely adopted, safest and secure crypto exchanges and is not an exhaustive list as there are hundreds of shady brokers and exchanges out there not worth mentioning. We would never recommend an exchange that we are not confident in or one that we ourselves would not use.

So, without further ado, let’s crack on.

Disclaimer: This article contains my personal opinions and views based on my findings. I have personally used, reviewed, and/or tested every mention in this article and actively use many of these platforms as part of my cryptocurrency investing and trading strategy.

Nexo Inline

Nexo Inline

Most Beginner-Friendly Crypto Exchanges: Kraken, OkCoin, Coinbase

Crypto investing can come with an overwhelming and difficult learning curve that prevents many from entering the market. Fortunately, there are some exchanges out there that pride themselves on being the perfect onramp for new users, and these exchanges could not be easier to use.

Anyone who has used online banking before will have no issues using these exchanges, I find all three of these easier to use than my online bank, and even easier than the website I use to manage my cell phone plan.

Each of these exchanges has a fiat on and off-ramp, meaning you can buy, sell, and trade digital assets and fiat, and even withdraw to your bank account, making these suitable for most beginner users’ crypto needs. They also host multiple other features which you can find in their respective individual reviews.

Beginner friendly crypto exchanges

Beginner-Friendliness is Key for Those New to Crypto. Image via Shutterstock

These 3 exchanges are regulated, highly secure, and available in the US and globally. To break these down a little further, I would say OkCoin is the best in terms of overall beginner-friendliness with the best UI/UX and has the best Earn feature to earn passive income on your crypto.

Kraken is the better choice for those who want to actively trade with very low fees. Kraken also takes the title of being the most secure exchange in the world as they have been around for nearly as long as Bitcoin itself and is one of the few top exchanges to never have been hacked. They also take the top spot for best customer support in findings from myself, general crypto sentiment from online reviews and forums, and an independent third-party review that tested the support of all the major exchanges. You can find out more about that in our Kraken review.

Beginner friendly exchanges

A Look at OkCoin, Kraken, and Coinbase

Most Secure Crypto Exchanges: Kraken, FTX

Even the most feature-packed and lowest fee crypto exchange means nothing if your funds get swiped from your account from a hack. Unfortunately, cryptocurrency exchanges have become popular targets for hackers, and many of the top cryptocurrency exchanges have suffered successful hacks that resulted in a loss of user funds.

Of the top 5 exchanges, only two have never been hacked successfully. FTX and Kraken have impressive security protocols, with Kraken even going as far as providing security advising, testing and services for other crypto companies as they seriously know their stuff when it comes to locking down and protecting customer funds.

Crypto security

Crypto Security Should be a #1 Priority. Image via Shutterstock

While Kraken and FTX are the most secure, the exchanges that have been hacked have since increased their security protocols and many crypto exchanges do have insurance funds in place and have reimbursed customers when they lost funds. Previous hacks shouldn’t necessarily deter you from using other exchanges, but understandably, many users only want to trust exchanges that have never been breached, making FTX and Kraken the best choices.

To break these two down further, FTX/FTX.US is better suited for active traders and those looking for an “all-in-one” crypto platform that can do it all, while Kraken is better for those looking for more simplicity and better support. Both are suitable for global and US-based users.

most secure exchanges

A Look at Kraken and FTX

Best Crypto Asset Support: KuCoin, Binance, Gate.io

Asset support can be a determining factor when deciding which exchange to sign up for. If the best exchange in the world doesn’t support your favourite asset, then it is of little use to you. Fortunately, there are some exchanges out there with excellent asset support. KuCoin, for example, supports over 600 different cryptocurrencies!

cryptocurrencies

So Many Coins, So Little Time. Image via Shutterstock

If mass asset support and hunting for rare altcoins is your primary focus, you are going to want to look for exchanges regulated outside of the United States. Regulated US exchanges have quite a few restrictions on what tokens they can list, resulting in fewer assets supported.

KuCoin takes the crown here for best altcoin support, with Binance and Gate.io not far behind. KuCoin is also the best choice for users who want trading bots natively supported on the platform and is great for gamified trading contests and competitions. Binance is equally good for those looking for some fun with trading contests and giveaways.

Personally, of these three, I would opt for slightly fewer tokens and stick with Binance as neither KuCoin nor Gate.io are regulated, and Binance has the most features by far with more robust earn features, a crypto card, and heaps more.

KuCoin’s biggest weakness is that they do not have ways to withdraw fiat to a bank account easily, a function that Binance supports. This means that KuCoin is best used as a secondary exchange along with a primary exchange that supports fiat deposits and withdrawals. One of KuCoin’s strengths is that they are the only top 5 exchange that allows for a level of trading without needing KYC.

Best altcoin support

A Look at KuCoin, Binance, and Gate.io

Best Fiat Support: Binance, Gate.io, KuCoin

Most of the major exchanges will support depositing major fiat currencies like USD, GBP and EUR, but for anyone who does not use those currencies, exchange fees can be a serious pain in the butt and eat away at profits.

It is a good idea to find an exchange that supports your local bank’s currency. Impressively, Binance, Gate.io and KuCoin all support over 50 different fiat currencies for depositing funds, either directly, or via third-party purchase providers. Note that Binance is the only exchange of these three that offers fiat withdrawals to a bank account and a crypto card for spending those crypto profits.

best fiat support

A Look at Binance, Gate.io, and KuCoin

Best for Active Traders: FTX, Binance, KuCoin

If you are going to be actively trading and looking for advanced trading interfaces along with multiple tradeable markets, some of the more beginner-friendly exchanges likely aren’t going to cut it. Cryptocurrency trading platforms have matured and evolved, with some exchanges now offering options for margin trading, derivatives/futures trading, spot trading, leveraged trading and more.

Binance even offered tokenized stock trading at one point but had to cease due to regulatory reasons, and FTX is now venturing into stock trading. It is hard to choose a winner here as these three are all equally fee-friendly, offering trading fees so low they are nearly negligible, and a whole host of tradeable markets and assets.

For US-based users, then FTX.US is a clear choice. For those located elsewhere, it really is a toss-up and personal preference. Binance and FTX are regulation friendly, while KuCoin allows for a level of KYC-free trading. You’ll need to check out all three reviews to see which one appeals to what you are looking for in a crypto trading exchange.

best for active traders

A Look at Binance, FTX, and KuCoin for tradeable markets

Best for Multi-Language Support: Binance, Bitfinex, KuCoin

The crypto industry has enough jargon, new phrases, and made-up words making it confusing enough, let alone if you are trying to figure this all out in another language. Good thing there are some exchanges that offer impressive multi-language support.

Binance, Bitfinex and KuCoin all support dozens of different languages including Russian, simplified mandarin, and many languages for eastern European and smaller Asian-based countries.

Best exchanges for language support

Binance, KuCoin, and Bitfinex offer Multi-language Support

Exchanges with the Lowest Fees: FTX, Binance, KuCoin

If you are a frugal and responsible adult who is financially responsible and enjoys saving money, aka, if you’re a total cheapskate like myself, and you always want the lowest fees, then you’ll want to opt for one of these three low-fee crypto exchanges.

FTX, Binance, and KuCoin have the lowest fees by a considerably large margin when compared to exchanges like Coinbase. There is no clear winner of these three as the fees for these platforms are so low and are neck and neck, varying by fractions of a percentage.

If you take advantage of our deals page, you can lower the fees even more for these 3 exchanges with KuCoin coming out as the winner as Guy was able to sweet talk a really sweet deal with their team for the Coin Bureau community. New customers can receive a massive additional 60% off fee discount for life! I’ll link to all our sign-up deals for each exchange at the end of this article.

One thing that should help you decide out of these three is that these platforms offer even lower fees if you hold an amount of their native platform token. As a platform’s token generally appreciates and depreciates with the strength and adoption of a platform, if you are going to be holding a considerable amount of an exchange token for the perks and discounts, it should be an exchange that you are confident in for its long term success and sustainable business practices.

Here is the trading fee structure for Binance:

binance fees

Image via Binance

Here are the trading fees for KuCoin:

kucoin fees

Image via KuCoin

And the trading fees for FTX:

FTX fees

Image via FTX

Best for NFTs: Crypto.com, OKX, FTX, Binance

With NFTs increasing in popularity, many users’ main reason for signing up for exchanges is for access to NFTs. Some crypto exchanges have really upped their NFT game and now provide a way to offer impressive NFT collections and have formed partnerships with some huge artists, athletes, sports clubs, and celebrities for NFT partnership and sponsorship deals.

Binance is the best place to mint, sell, and search for NFTs on the BSC network. The BSC network is an incredibly low-fee and efficient network for NFT minting and trading, and Binance has impressive NFT collections and partnerships with the likes of musician The Weekend and Football Star Ronaldo, among many others.

NFTs

Find Some Great NFTs on Binance, FTX, OKX, and Crypto.com. Image via Shutterstock

Crypto.com is fairly new to the world of NFTs but is making a huge entrance in a big way, now boasting one of the fastest-growing networks for NFTs and a well-built NFT platform. Crypto.com has formed some of the biggest partnerships in all of crypto with many sporting clubs, sports leagues, Formula 1, athletes, and the UFC. Crypto.com is the best NFT choice for sports enthusiasts and the Cronos network is also an efficient and low-fee network for NFTs.

FTX has the best marketplace for Solana NFTs, offering many popular Solana NFT collections and solidifying partnerships with the likes of NFL superstar Tom Brady, as well as many USA-based sports franchises. Solana is another low-fee network for efficient NFT transactions.

OKX has a popular NFT marketplace as well, supporting some of the biggest collections like Meebits, CryptoPunks, Mutant and Bored Apes, and more.

The above mentions also support Ethereum NFTs but there is no clear winner there as the NFT market on Ethereum is now massive and the best place to pick up Ethereum NFTs for you will be based on personal taste.

Best NFT Marketplaces

Crypto.com, OKX, FTX, and Binance are Great Places to Find NFTs

Best for DeFi, GameFi, NFT and Web3 innovation: OKX

Some cryptocurrency exchanges sort of just sit back and are happy only offering crypto trading, which is fine, they found their niche and are sticking to it.

Other exchanges are incredibly innovative, true trailblazers in exploring the new frontier of blockchain technology. Binance has normally led the pack, usually being the first to market in releasing new features and innovative products, but when it comes to really testing the waters in 2022, the exchange OKX is frontrunning other platforms in exploring Web3 and bridging the gap between CeFi and DeFi, while exploring Web3 innovation.

okx homepage

OKX-Actively Building a Better Future of Web3. Image via OKX

OKX provides users with a very simple way to access DeFi, DApps, NFTs, and GameFi which is great to see. Through the OKX wallet which acts as a portal to Web3, users can benefit from the power of DeFi protocols such as Compound, Curve, Aave, and more without the complexity of needing to know how to navigate the complex world of decentralized finance.

Through the app, users can also explore GameFi platforms, NFT marketplaces, DEXs, and a world of DApps. The biggest complaint and criticism against Web3 and DeFi adoption has been lack of usability, user-friendliness and intuitiveness, but OKX is making strides in making the whole space come together more seamlessly.

OKX

OKX is Making Strides in Creating a Next-Generation Web 3 Portal. Image via OKX

Best “All-in-One” Crypto Platforms: Binance, Crypto.com, FTX

Some exchanges specialize in one area, while others offer fully comprehensive platforms to meet just about every crypto user’s needs. Binance, Crypto.com and FTX are the leaders here as they do everything from fiat on and off-ramps, crypto trading, crypto debit cards, and earn features to NFTs, GameFi and way more than I can name in this article, but you can find more in their respective individual reviews linked at the bottom of this article.

There is no “best” here out of these three as again, it comes down to personal preference, but if you are someone who only wants to deal with one exchange that can do everything crypto-related, then you will want to sign up for one of these three.

best all in one crypto exchanges

Crypto.com, FTX, and Binance Offer the Most Comprehensive Platforms That Support Multiple Crypto Needs

Most Passive Income/Staking/Earn options: Binance

If your main goal is earning as much passive income on your hodl stash as possible, then Binance is going to be your go-to. They have, by a substantial margin, the largest earn section and offer more earn products than any of the competition and is one of the reasons they remain the largest and most popular exchange in the world.

Binance Earn

Binance Offers More Earn Products Than any of the Competition. Image via Binance

Highest Staking APYs: OkCoin

OkCoin doesn’t take a cut of staking income and they leverage many platforms and protocols, sourcing the highest APYs possible for their users without going into any insanely risky DeFi plays that offer unsustainably high APYs.

If you want an easy-to-use platform that offers good APYs on many popular crypto assets, OkCoin is worth checking out and is great for users located in most countries, including the US.

OkCoin earn

OkCoin Offers Some of the Highest Staking Rewards Available

Best for Wealth-Management: SwissBorg

SwissBorg is a little different to the other mentions on the list as they position themselves as more than just an exchange, they are a crypto wealth management platform. That may sound complicated, but it really isn’t. In fact, I struggled not to put SwissBorg into the “most beginner-friendly” category as well, as it is very simple for new users.

As a part of the wealth management features, SwissBorg offers some unique ways to earn APY on crypto, manage digital wealth, and their Thematics feature offers ways to gain exposure to diversified portfolios of tokens in different categories, providing simple diversified crypto investment exposure in one click.

Using the SwissBorg app is kind of like having your own financial advisor and portfolio manager in a convenient app that fits in your pocket, all without paying extortionate fees for advisors in stuffy business suits. Definitely worth looking into in my opinion.

SwissBorg

SwissBorg Provides Comprehensive Crypto Investment Products

Best Decentralized Exchanges:

If you want to avoid KYC and centralized platforms and dive into the wonderful world of DeFi for swapping tokens, providing liquidity, yield farming and more, then these are my top picks for decentralized exchanges (DEXs) on the major networks:

EthereumUniswap

PolygonQuickSwap

AvalancheTrader Joe

Tron-Socialswap

SolanaSerum

Cronos-VVS Finance

CardanoSundaeSwap

Near-Ref Finance

Fantom-SpookySwap

Tezos– QuipuSwap

Algorand– Tinyman

BSCPancakeSwap

Telegram Inline

Telegram Inline

If you want to learn more about any of the exchanges mentioned in this article, you can find links to the unsponsored, unbiased, and honest reviews below:

FTX Review

Using our FTX sign-up link will cover your first $30 dollars in trading fees and give you a 10% fee discount for life.

FTX.US Review

Using our FTX.US sign-up link will cover your first $30 dollars in trading fees and give you a 10% fee discount for life.

KuCoin Review

Using our KuCoin sign-up link will get you a massive 60% fee discount for life and a free trading bot.

Binance Review

Using our Binance sign-up link will get you a free $10 and 20% fee discount for life.

SwissBorg Review

Using our SwissBorg sign-up link can get you up to 100 EUR for free.

OKX Review

Using our OKX sign-up link can get you a nice 40% trading fee discount for life.

Kraken Review

Coinbase Review

Crypto.com Review

Huobi Review

OkCoin Review

Bybit Review

PrimeXBT Review

Providing financial education to those who need it most has always been a passion of mine. While working as a Financial Advisor, I had my eyes opened to the world of crypto and its potential to help make the world a better place. I believe that blockchain technology can build a brighter future and am excited to be part of it.

If you enjoy the hours of research I put into my articles and find them entertaining and insightful, please consider sending a tip as it really helps me out and I greatly appreciate it. BTC, ETH, LTC, XRP, BNB, DOT, SOL, VET, XLM, ALGO, AVAX, LINK, USDC, USDT, MATIC can be sent to tayler88.crypto


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