The prices of various cryptocurrencies are skyrocketing on a monthly scale, fueling the unparalleled interest in cryptocurrency exchanges.
Right off the bat, the current supply of cryptocurrency exchange platforms caters to two levels of trading. You can opt for a professional approach, which will definitely require a registered account in order to unlock all the necessary trading features. This, in turn, means the verification of your personal ID will also be demanded. On the other hand, if you’re in the market for a straightforward, occasional trading approach, there are several options that require virtually no effort. This is the initial fork on the road and the first step toward choosing the best cryptocurrency exchange for your needs.
After thorough research on our part, we’ve compiled the ultimate up-to-date list of the top-rated cryptocurrency exchanges:
- Operates in 32 countries around the globe
- Incredibly low fees for all currencies
- Military-grade encryption for your data
- Customer support is at your service 24/7
- Multiple payment ways and currencies
- Exchanges are based on Fill-or-Kill orders
- Excellent protection of assets and data
- Quick-to-respond 24/7 customer support
- BTC purchase through PayPal available
- Instant deposits and smooth transactions
- A multitude of deposit/withdrawal options
- No min/max Bitcoin deposits required
- Low fees + smooth trading procedure
- No trading limits imposed by the company
- A multitude of payment methods
- Lenient verification policy/no ID required
- Hassle-free way to purchase Bitcoin
- Available in 226 world countries
- Make purchases via credit/debit card
- Refer friends and earn while buying
Choosing The Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges
We’ve applied our assortment of ranking determinants to the majority of currently operational cryptocurrency exchanges. We’ll guide you through some of the most relevant criteria used, which can also aid you in making the final decision.
Service quality is, arguably, one of our most vague ranking factors, but once you’ve received poor service, you know exactly what it entails. Things like user-friendly GUI, instant trades, quick bug fixes, and competent user support all fall under this category, alongside many other segments that differentiate a world-class cryptocurrency exchange from an average one.
We want to see the company data publicly available, paired with the info on their development teams and key people within the enterprise. This falls under our request for absolute transparency when it comes to the key aspects affecting users. Some of the sites also feature public audit pages, where you can always inspect the current state of the company.
Fees can greatly differ between exchanges, but they should always be clearly indicated on the website. Sadly, hidden fees and extra charges are not a rare occurrence in the industry, so be sure to also consult alternative sources of information (forums, for example), rather than solely focusing on the official website. If you’re just starting out, also make a quick work of digesting the difference between deposit, transaction, and withdrawal fees.
Nobody is interested in taking part in a repeated Cryptsy scenario, so we’ve paid special attention to the overall safety provided by the ranking candidates. We’ve thoroughly investigated their “insurance policy” and preparedness measures for potential hacking breaches. This category also refers to the overall security of your personal information and payment transfer data.
A predominant number of UK- and USA-based exchanges will require an ID verification of some sort in order to permit you to make deposits or withdrawals. Even the ones that allow anonymity can’t prevent major traders from asking for your ID before finalizing the trade. In short, the more constrictive the verification process, the higher the rank in our book. As previously mentioned, companies will feature variable exchange rates. A simple “shopping” tour can sometimes save substantial amounts of currency, with rates being known to fluctuate up to 10% and more in some cases.
Payment methods are a particularly important subject for this list. Does your exchange of choice support PayPal? Wire transfer? Credit & debit card? Payment limitations have very tangible repercussions when purchasing cryptocurrency. For example, using your credit card will always come at a premium price (the highest likelihood of fraud), but it’ll also require a positive identity verification. Using wire transfer is by far the slowest option (long bank-processing times) and so on.
The overall reputation of the company should also be a strong guiding force in choosing the best of the best. As with any service, different regions of the world are not all covered equally with exchange services for virtual currency. So, geographical restrictions also must be taken into account. We’ve done our best at identifying the most accessible ones, but be sure your country is eligible for all platform functions and tools before joining.
Administering all of the above-mentioned criteria, we’ve brought you a comprehensive list of the best cryptocurrency exchanges currently out there. We’ve narrowed the choices down to a short assortment of options, each representing a perfectly viable medium for your next venture into the world of virtual currency trading.
