The Top Crypto Exchanges Ranked By Experts
The 2017 bull run inspired thousands of people all around the world to bring countless exchanges into the cryptocurrency market. The allure of this lucrative business not only brought about new industry titans, but also some of the largest scams in the history of cryptocurrency. When thousands of players suddenly entered the market, it became complicated to keep track of the origin stories of each exchange.
Similar in many ways to the ICO boom however, exchanges are beginning to die off. Consolidation has been taking place, where the majority of value is once again being concentrated in a few key players. Winners are beginning to emerge as the dust settles.
The following article presents the best cryptocurrency exchanges, discusses what differentiates them from the competition, and why traders are joining these exchanges in droves. Each of these exchanges have demonstrated a commitment to being transparent, trusted, and secure. They have built valuable communities that have helped advance the mission of the crypto market. For these reasons, we believe these exchanges will become the pillars of the crypto space as we enter into 2020 and beyond.
Without further delay, let’s jump into the list of the top exchanges in the market today! Don’t forget to joining our Telegram group to keep up to date with all of the latest crypto exchange news.
Binance
Binance is nothing short of an amazing exchange that has also become a crypto institution. For many traders, Binance has become synonymous with cryptocurrency investing. While Coinbase may still take the cake for new traders, those who have already gotten their feet wet and are looking for a deeper crypto trading experience will find that Binance delivers.
The impressively wide range of product offerings, features, and tireless dedication to making the exchange a better place to trade all add up to make Binance a top crypto destination. Even if you can find the same assets on another exchange, you’ll have to ask yourself: Will the other exchange cover me in the event that my wallet is hacked? If the answer is no, then consider making Binance your new best friend.
CZ is transparent, available, and seems like a genuinely good guy with a desire to make crypto better for everyone. Binance exchange reflects that. Their mission to decentralize in the coming years is noble, and since they’re looked up to and imitated by nearly all the competition, they’ll likely lead the move toward mainstream decentralized exchanges in the future, too.
Binance also supports what we consider to be the best range of digital assets in the market. There’s a reason behind why getting an asset listed on Binance is regarded as a major accomplishment — it’s because they won’t list just anything. That attitude is a major benefit for traders and investors who are looking for quality over quantity.
Read the full review of Binance here.
KuCoin
KuCoin has built a well-deserved reputation as the premier exchange for altcoin hunting. In the current cryptocurrency exchange landscape, no one comes close to offering the sheer variety of lesser-known digital assets that KuCoin does. As such, the exchange fills a niche and has seemingly no close rival. One might argue that Binance shares overlap with KuCoin’s market, but in truth, the two exchanges complement rather than compete with each other directly.
KuCoin’s industry-leading security practices, which include the introduction of self-custody, make using the exchange less worrisome than might otherwise be the case. Beginners may find the exchange intimidating to use as most of the features available are better suited to traders who already know the crypto trading ropes. Funding a couple of different wallets is a rather advanced notion that may not come intuitively to someone just getting into the swing of things.
As cryptocurrency regulations tighten up around the world, the fact that KuCoin allows traders to jump in without going through verification protocols means they’ll likely see an influx of users in the coming months. That may have something to do with the exchange stepping up its design, support, and feature set recently, but ultimately, all of those improvements benefit what is quickly becoming one of the cryptocurrency’s most influential exchanges.
Read our detailed review of KuCoin here.
Bittrex
Bittrex has a lot going for it. Starting with the unprecedented number of assets available. They currently support 450 trading pairs which allow trading across a diverse range of assets. Due to the way Bittrex was originally created as a US exchange, they have since expanded through the launch of the “Bittrex International” exchange. This sibling exchange is available around the world so they are open to business for everyone who wishes to buy or sell cryptocurrencies.
Bittrex has some of the best customer support around as they have opened up channels on every social media platform like Facebook and Twitter. Even their normal support platform has been known to have reasonable response times, as well as quick resolutions.
The level of security on this platform is enough to deter even the most confident of cybercriminals. With their layered theft protection and security, it’s easy to see why the crypto community is flocking to Bittrex. They are confident in Bittrex’s ability to keep user funds safe.
In addition to the security, the trading on Bittrex is nothing short of stellar. Bittrex has some of the lowest minimum trade limits in the market. With a minimum trade size of .0005BTC across the board, this allows users with smaller portfolios to still take advantage of novel trading strategies like rebalancing.
There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of cryptocurrency exchange platforms out in the world right now, all of which have their own unique features and benefits. Bittrex seems to be one of the platforms people keep coming back to, simply because it’s an easy platform to use. Their security, UI, asset selection, and customer service make Bittrex the complete package. Few negative things can really be said about this exchange.
Read our detailed review of Bittrex here.
Coinbase Pro
Coinbase Pro may be the most well-known cryptocurrency exchange in the United States. With a highly intuitive trading interface, it provides a seamless experience between the consumer-friendly Coinbase wallets to the trader friendly exchange. This allows users to easily purchase their first cryptocurrency through Coinbase and then transfer these funds to the Coinbase Pro exchange to be traded for other assets.
Not only is Coinbase Pro a perfect choice as the next step for consumers, but it provides all the expected features necessary for professional traders. In fact, they have gone above and beyond most exchanges with the way funds are secured. Fully regulated in the US, the platform is FDIC insured for USD funds held in your Coinbase wallet (up to $250,000).
Trading on Coinbase Pro is blissful. High liquidity, low deposit and withdrawal fees, and lightning trading speeds make it an enjoyable experience for everyone. The trading interface is intuitive with more detailed trading charts powered by a real-time data feed for a smooth experience. With high volume and liquidity, it is an excellent option for high volume traders because of its low transaction fees. Whether you’re trading on the website or using the API, Coinbase Pro securely provides the most valuable tools to implement your portfolio strategy.
Read the detailed review of Coinbase Pro here.
To take advantage of everything Coinbase Pro has to offer, learn how to create a diverse portfolio with Coinbase Pro here.
Huobi
Overall, Huobi offers an elevated exchange experience that lives up to its high-flying reputation as one of crypto’s best exchanges. It’s not easy to impress when it comes to exchanges but Huobi does exactly that with its instant customer service, fast and smooth user interface, and highly secure exchange with a litany of options for protecting your account.
About the only thing that’s not to like is that some aspects of the exchange are quite confusing. The excess of domain names and complicated presentation of its VIP memberships against Huobi Token make it difficult to parse through which is the best option. It’s odd that Huobi even bothers with VIP membership at all when it can simply roll all those benefits into owning HT at different tiers (like Binance does).
Despite those shortcomings, Huobi delivers where it counts and gives us access to tokens from the Asian market that we wouldn’t otherwise feel comfortable trading.
Read the full review of Huobi here.
Kraken
After taking a deep dive into Kraken’s offerings, it’s hard to find anything not to like. Let’s be clear about one thing, however. Kraken isn’t aimed at the retail investor crowd as much as it is targeted toward experienced traders and institutional investors.
Kraken has spent years cultivating its offerings toward a more advanced crowd and, as such, has crafted margin trading, futures trading, OTC trading, and dark pool offerings that will make pro traders salivate. That, combined with Kraken’s second-to-none security rating and time-tested excellence, put the exchange in a class all of its own.
Now, not everything is gravy in Kraken’s world. Just like anyone else, Kraken’s got issues of its own. What stands out to the negative is Kraken’s paltry digital asset offerings. In a crypto market jumping with exciting new properties, Kraken’s decision to stay with a drab selection of assets is questionable.
Additionally, some traders may not enjoy the volume-based fee schedule. Retail investors, in particular, won’t benefit from the arrangement that seems specifically targeted at pro traders.
These qualms aside, Kraken makes no bones about who it wants on the exchange. Beginners looking for a simple fiat to cryptocurrency on-ramp for BTC or ETH will be happy, as will advanced traders who need a high-volume exchange with excellent liquidity and institutional amenities like OTC trading.
Read the full Kraken review here.
Poloniex
Poloniex may just be the most famous exchange which hasn’t amounted to much. Surrounded in mystery, there isn’t significant information publicly available about how Poloniex got started or who were the key company players. Regardless, that didn’t stop them from obtaining exceptional success and rocking the crypto world when they were bought by Circle in 2018.
As far as the exchange itself, it’s inoffensive. Nothing impressive stands out about the exchange, although they do a few basic things well. One of those things was certainly not their user support. While the Circle buyout helped stabilize their customer support, there was a point at which Poloniex had over 140,000 unanswered support tickets. The complete disregard for customer satisfaction took a heavy told on their reputation.
Even now it seems Poloniex has still only been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. Whether it was the flash crash that took down CLAM traders or the continuous removal of functionality for US customers. Poloniex will have a long climb back to the top.
Overall, it’s hard to say where Poloniex is going. They don’t seem to have a clear plan of action for which market segment they will be targetting or how to attract a growing userbase.
Read the full Poloniex review here.
Conclusion
Considering everything discussed throughout this article, we’ve found there are clear advantages to every exchange listed. No matter what exchange you decide to use for trading, make sure it works for you. No two exchanges are the same, which means different traders will feel at home on different exchanges. While KuCoin has a lot going for it, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot to like about each and every one of the other exchanges listed here.
Shrimpy is an account aggregating platform for cryptocurrency. It is designed for both professional and novice traders to come and learn about the growing crypto industry. Trade with ease, track your performance, and analyze the market. Shrimpy is the trusted platform for trading over $13B in digital assets.
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Additional Reading
How to Make a Crypto Trading Bot Using Python
Cryptocurrency Trading Bots - The Complete Guide
Automated Cryptocurrency Index Funds - Personal Asset Management