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Best Crypto Exchanges In 2023 ⇒ Reviews For REAL Users +Referral Codes
- Thomas DeMichele
What is the Best Cryptocurrency Exchange? Updated for 2023
Cryptocurrency exchanges are websites where you can buy and sell crypto.
Here is our list of the best cryptocurrency exchanges in 2021 and going forward!
Some crypto exchanges are better for beginners, while others may be favored by those looking for coin selection, low fees, liquidity, leverage options, or products like futures and options. Meanwhile, some exchanges are the best for a given region, but not the best for others. In other words, the best crypto exchange for you likely depends on where you live and what you are looking for as an investor or trader.
For example, Binance offers very low fees and a wide range of coins, making it the most used exchange, but it can’t be accessed in some parts of the world like the US. Meanwhile, Coinbase is popular, especially in the US, due to its highly liquid USD pairs, while Robinhood has an intuitive interface which makes it great if you’re just starting out in cryptocurrency. Plus, Robinhood is good if you want to trade crypto stocks and they even offer commission-free trading. Also, Bybit is a top choice for traders who want to use leverage, and there’s always for this need as well!
In short, there isn’t one top exchange (…even if our writers are still debating about this to the present-day haha). There are a number of top exchanges to choose from. One last thing, the exchanges featured on this page all allow at least fiat deposits for account funding, offer exposure to the top coins, and have mobile apps for iOS and Android. In this sense, any of these exchanges could be your primary exchange, even though most traders will have accounts with more than one exchange (especially for selling crypto and transferring money back to their banks).
With that covered, in the article below, we will look at our top picks for exchanges based on metrics like coin and product selection, fees, ease-of-use, and liquidity, to help you find the best crypto exchange for you. Let’s get started!
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Coinbase
What do I get from How To Referral? $5 in free Bitcoin with our Coinbase referral link.
Coinbase is a US-based cryptocurrency founded in 2012. They are one of the leading platform for new investors, especially in the United States.
Coinbase offers various products, including crypto investing, trading, storage, earning opportunities, and even custodial accounts for institutions. Coinbase is even publically traded and has its own US dollar stable-coin called USDC.
In addition to being one of the most influential exchanges, they also have a great reputation for reliability and security. This reputation has been built up over time due to their security policies and practices. Coinbase has also built trust by making a concerted effort to comply with regulations and be transparent with its users.
While Coinbase has high fees compared to other exchanges, their ease-of-use and highly liquid USD pairs make them a must-use exchange for US customers and a solid onramp/offramp for international customers.
Lastly, while their lack of leverage options and coin selection puts them far behind global exchanges like Binance, their selection is fairly competitive compared to any other US-based exchange.
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Binance
What deal do I get for signing up to Binance? Well, if you use referral code “GRYRDBZW” during sign up, you will get a 20% discount on trading fees for life!
Binance is a cryptocurrency trading platform that has been making headlines in the crypto world for many years now. They have always been at the top of the list when it comes to trading volume and liquidity.
Binance offers some of the lowest fees out there, which should appeal to traders looking for affordable options at brokers or exchanges.
While the US version of their exchange, Binance.US, and other region-specific partners don’t offer all the global exchange’s benefits. Despite this, Binance’s global exchange is still one of our top picks due to its unbeatable fees, unmatched liquidity, and selection of coins and products.
In fact, users who aren’t restricted from using Binance’s main exchange will likely find Binance to be the only exchange they need due to their low fees, product selection, and unmatched liquidity on both spot and derivatives, as well as their robust selection of order types. Although those who want to trade futures will want to create a Binance Futures account as well.
As a drawback, Binance’s many features mean it is less beginner-friendly than other options on our list. This can be mitigated by their learning platform found here.
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Bybit
I am interested in Bybit but unsure if its for me? Maybe the referral benefit of $1610 in bonuses by using our Bybit referral code “How2Referral” can help change your mind!
Bybit is a cryptocurrency trading platform offering spot trading and derivatives. It is extremely popular with derivatives traders across the world due to its liquidity and ease of access and due to it offering up to 100x leverage on BTC/USD.
ByBit offers low fees at -0.0250% maker and 0.0750% taker for futures, high liquidity thanks to its large pool of users, and a fairly easy-to-use interface. The exchange also provides access to advanced tools such as market depth data charts that allow traders to have an overview of all bids and asks for every active trade.
Although this platform doesn’t allow KYC for US citizens, it is still a popular choice worldwide for derivatives traders.
Lastly, while Bybit does allow fiat deposits, fiat withdrawals are not accepted. In this sense, Bybit is unlikely to be your only exchange, at least if you ever plan to move profits back to dollars.
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Kraken
I live in the US but don’t wanna use Coinbase, what are my options?
Join using our Kraken referral code gbb1BX for ease of mind that your funds will not disappear over night. Kraken is the second largest and oldest US regulated exchange to date!
Kraken is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange. The main features that Kraken has are that it has an intuitive interface, low fees, access to the latest software tools, margin trading, advanced order types, and decent customer support.
Although it is one of the only US crypto exchanges to provide access to margin trading, there are capital requirements for this that will exclude most traders.
Kraken says it aims to be the “best and most secure” platform, and their history of mostly avoiding hacks backs this up. Despite this, their liquidation engine tends to be seen as lackluster versus their competition.
On the plus side, Kraken has earned trust in the community over time and acts as a decent alternative for US traders for everything from onboarding/offboarding to trading altcoins.
While Coinbase is our first pick between Kraken and Coinbase, one could argue that Kraken is a solid alternative to Coinbase and can be chosen as a primary or only exchange instead of Coinbase. With that said, they don’t offer as wide of selection due to their less aggressive listing policy.
The bottom line is we like Kraken as a crypto exchange. It is a longstanding US-based exchange, and at the time of writing this article, it is expected to go public soon, which adds to the trust factor. With these factors in mind, ultimately, Kraken makes our list of top picks due to its ease of use, good reputation, and sufficient liquidity for traders and investors alike.
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Crypto.com
Crypto.com, is that a website about crypto or an exchange?? While it may be a bit confusion at first, rest assured it is certainly a Cryptocurrency exchange!
Use Crypto.com referral code “bcza4g8ape” and get $75 in CRO as a signup bonus.
Crypto.com is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange with a global reach.
Crypto.com offers both fiat and cryptocurrency trading along with a Crypto.com Visa card.
Although they don’t have the liquidity other exchanges do, Crypto.com makes our list because of the wide range of products they offer and the fact that US citizens can use the exchange. Most exchanges with a wide product selection, and especially with great lending options and futures trading options, exclude US customers.
With this said, some coins and products are internationally restricted on Crypto.com. Still, the fact that Crypto.com has its doors open to the US and offers low fees means the exchange is worth keeping on your radar.
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Robinhood
I also trade stocks and options, show me something worth my time. We have you covered here with our Robinhood referral code that gives you the ability to get a free stock worth up to $225!
Robinhood gained its popularity as a brokerage account when it became one of the first to waive commissions on trades for stocks and ETFs. In recent years they expanded their platform by offering low-cost cryptocurrency trading through Robinhood Crypto.
Robinhood allows its users to place orders for some of the most popular cryptocurrencies and trade them commission-free. This gives users access to mainstay cryptos like Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and Ethereum without having to worry about fees and self-custody.
While we don’t see Robinhood as a replacement for the other exchanges noted on this page, Robinhood is an excellent platform for those trading with small amounts or those who just want to get started in crypto due to its ease of use and low fees.
Also, it is worth noting that both setting up an account, depositing, and withdrawing are cheap and easy with Robinhood, which adds to them being beginner-friendly.
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Conclusion
Coinbase and Binance are easily going to be our top choices in general. However, which of those you’ll pick as your primary exchange(s) really depends on where you live. Meanwhile, a newcomer can’t go wrong with Robinhood’s simple-to-use commission-free platform.
Beyond that, we also have some tools that are good for certain jobs. Crypto.com may be your best bet for lending, while Bybit could be your favorite choice for leveraging Bitcoin.
Of course, you may find that other contenders that didn’t make our cut, like Cash App or Gemini, are the right picks for you. You may even want to add something like Blockfi to the mix for lending and borrowing Deribit for options, or Uniswap and PancakeSwap for decentralized trading. Likewise, your regionality might mean you prefer, for example, our top pick for Korea, Bithumb, to our general top picks of Coinbase and Binance.
In short, we have the clear global winners, but then we have other very valid choices for niche-specific investors and traders and for those who reside in certain countries.
The bottom line here is this, there are other exchanges worth using beyond the ones we have featured, and there is a reason to have more than one crypto exchange account set up. Still, if you are looking for the best exchange, we strongly suggest starting with the brands we have mentioned on this page and working from there.
Whatever you do, though, don’t forget to apply our crypto exchange discount code first. As with most exchanges, you get a notable discount as a sign-up bonus, but it only applies to new accounts.
Happy trading! :)
