The cryptocurrency industry has many players, each of whom is critical to its success. A cryptocurrency exchange is one of the key players and finding the best exchange can mean the difference between a smooth and profitable experience or frustration and losses. A cryptocurrency exchange is a marketplace where traders can buy, sell or trade cryptocurrencies. A good cryptocurrency exchange is one that charges the fair fees, has a great reputation and reviews from traders who have used it and from industry experts. It should also support a wide range of payment methods and offer great exchange rates. The best cryptocurrency exchange rates are:
Coinbase is arguably the most renowned and the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California and supports 32 countries, most of them in North America and Europe. The cryptocurrencies supported are Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum and Litecoin. Payments can be authorized to one’s bank account or use a credit card. Coinbase has a sister platform known as GDAX which offers traders a more traditional approach and where traders can swap one cryptocurrency for another. Coinbase is very simplified and is thus one of the best exchanges for beginners. It is however not the ideal exchange for those seeking more elaborate trading tools and a larger selection of trading pairs.
Kraken is based in San Francisco, just like Coinbase, and it’s the leading exchange in volume for European traders. It supports the trading of a number of cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stellar Lumens, Ripple, Litecoin, Monero, Zcash, and Dogecoin. Kraken also supports several fiat currencies including Euro, US Dollar, Japanese Yen, British Pound and Canadian Dollar. One of the reasons it is preferred by many traders is for it’s great exchange rates and low transaction fees. For the more experienced traders, it offers advanced features such as margin trading. These advanced features make it unsuitable for novice traders who are just seeking a simple user interface.
Binance has been one of the fastest growing exchanges in recent months, with this growth being attributed to its very simple interface and its fast transaction execution speed. Binance also has among the lowest transaction charges in the market. The charge stands at 0.1% and goes down to just 0.05% if one uses their native token, Binance Coin (BNB). It offers a great range of cryptocurrencies, from the well-known ones like Bitcoin and Ethereum to the less known ones like TRON, IOTA, Ripple and EOS. However, Binance does not support fiat currencies such as the US Dollar. This means that you have to purchase the cryptocurrencies first from other exchanges such as Kraken and then join Binance to trade them.
Poloniex has one of the highest trade volumes in the market and is loved by many, especially experienced traders. Its suite of productivity features is more advanced than other exchanges such as Coinbase which has dwelt on simplicity over functionality. Poloniex charges different fees for the maker and the taker of the trade, with the makers incurring below 0.15% while the takers’ fees go up to 0.25%. Just like Binance, Poloniex also doesn’t support fiat currencies and thus one has to use other exchanges like Coinbase to purchase the cryptocurrencies. Poloniex is more suited for experienced traders who can take advantage of such features as margin trading.
No list of cryptocurrency exchanges can be complete without mentioning Bittrex, though they are currently not accepting new users due to such high volume (hopefully this changes in the very near future.) Bittrex is based in Las Vegas, Nevada and has an emphasis on offering support for as many altcoins as possible. It is among the best exchanges for traders who wish to trade in altcoins and currently supports close to 200 altcoins. It offers some advanced market analysis tools which traders can use to make more informed decisions. It charges 0.25% on all trades. Those seeking the most affordable exchanges, therefore, avoid Bittrex while those seeking to indulge in extensive altcoins trading prefer Bittrex.