Are you looking for the best crypto trading platforms to diversify your Bitcoin portfolio? We have done the hard work for you and reviewed over 70 cryptocurrency exchanges to find the platforms with the lowest fees, is safe and supports your local fiat currency.
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Best Crypto Trading Platform
Based on our reviews, these are the top platforms to trade Bitcoin, crypto, stablecoins and DeFi tokens:
- Coinbase (safe and available worldwide)
- Binance (most popular and largest exchange)
- Bybit (trade crypto with leverage up to 100x)
- eToro (copy-trade the most profitable traders)
- FTX (leveraged tokens, margin, options trading)
- Kraken (safe, secure trading platform)
- PrimeXBT (crypto and traditional markets)
- Crypto.com (easy to use trading app)
- KuCoin (wide selection of altcoins & DeFi coins)
- Phemex (buy and sell crypto without fees)
Cryptocurrency Trading Platform: Comparisons
We have carried out extensive research to find the top crypto platforms for trading altcoins based on important user factors such as available trading pairs, user-interface, charting tools, fees, security features and customer support.
Exchange | Trading Fees | Rating | Review | Promotion | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Binance | 0.1% | 4.8/5 | 10% off trading fees | ||
 Coinbase | 0.5% | 4.7/5 | $5 BTC bonus (USA only) | ||
 Bybit | -0.025% / 0.075% | 4.7/5 | $1,610 Bonus & 15% APY | ||
 eToro | Spread only | 4.6/5 | None available at this time | Your capital is at risk | |
 FTX | -0.025% / 0.075% | 4.6/5 | 5% off trading fees | ||
 Kraken | 0.16% / 0.26% | 4.6/5 | None available at this time | ||
 KuCoin | 0.1% | 4.55/5 | 0% trading fees for 7 days | ||
 Crypto.com | 0.04% / 0.20% | 4.5/5 | None available at this time | ||
 Prime XBT | 0.5% | 4.3/5 | None available at this time | ||
 Phemex | 0% (Premium Members) | 4.15/5 | None available at this time |
Most exchanges recommend using a hardware wallet such as the Ledger Nano X. If you don't have a wallet, be sure to read our guide on the best Bitcoin hardware wallets to keep your trading profits safe and secure.
Top Crypto Trading Platforms: Reviews 2021
This comparison guide provides an overview of the best crypto exchanges to trade digital currencies. If you don't have Bitcoins, then you can use a global fiat-to-crypto service which accept deposit methods such as debit or credit card, PayPal and even Gift cards to obtain Bitcoin.
1. Binance
Binance is the largest digital currency exchange services in the world that provides a platform for trading more than 200 different cryptocurrencies. The platform has seen a meteoric rise since being founded in 2017. Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency trading exchange trading at 1.2 Billion daily volume and 1.4 Million transactions per second.
Binance has a mobile trading app for iOS and Android devices which is highly intuitive, easy to use, runs smooth and performs all the basic functions expected of a trading app. The app include live Bitcoin and crypto prices, ability to execute orders, manage each digital asset, view P&L and search trade history.
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2. Coinbase
Coinbase is widely known as a safe and reputable Bitcoin and crypto exchange that is trusted by thousands of customers worldwide including the United States. The exchange is popular for buying and selling cryptocurrency, managing a portfolio, recurring buys, mobile app to monitor the market, earning crypto and a secure wallet to store assets purchased on the platform.
The platform offers an advanced and professional trading exchange called Coinbase Pro, which is ideal for beginners and intermediate cryptocurrency traders. The exchange allows individuals looking to trade a wide variety of digital currencies on a secure and insurance-backed platform and supports debit cards as payment.
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3. Bybit
Bybit is a derivatives exchange platform that is designed to offer a seamless experience to margin trade digital coins like Bitcoin, Ethereum, EOS and XRP trading pairs with up to 100x leverage. The derivatives exchange offers perpetual contracts that follow the cryptocurrency price. Bybit has released USDT-settled perpetual contracts that can be traded on the exchange with high leverage.
Bybit is a popular platform in the crypto world with over 100,000 active users and counting. The daily trading volume on the exchange has seen astronomical growth and is currently ranked 3rd for derivatives exchanges.
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4. eToro
eToro is a global financial brokerage that provides financial trading and investing platform for several markets including Crypto, ETFs, Stocks, Indices, Commodities and Forex. It is suited for beginners that want to invest in different cryptocurrencies using a powerful and user-friendly trading platform. eToro makes it easy to trade the best digital currencies and altcoins with leverage, or practice trading using a virtual portfolio.
Getting started is easy with an intuitive trading interface that includes real-time crypto market research & news, advanced trading features and risk management tools and a social network feed to copy-trade some the most profitable crypto traders.
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Disclaimer: 67% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Cryptoasset investing is unregulated in most EU countries and the UK. No consumer protection.
5. FTX
FTX exchange is a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange built by traders, for traders. The platform differentiates itself from its competitors by offering a wide variety of indices and leveraged tokens that can be traded on the futures or options market. FTX is known for creating the world’s first cryptocurrency index futures that allows its users to capitalize on the rise or fall of a particular index in the form of a future contract. Index futures can be traded directly from within the FTX exchange platform.
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6. Kraken
Kraken is a Bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2011 that is based in the USA. The platform is a top 5 exchange based on traffic, liquidity and spot trading volume according to coinmarketcap.
Kraken has over 70 crypto pairs to buy, trade and sell with new assets added frequently. The cryptocurrency exchange includes advanced trading tools and automated portfolio monitoring to allow users to monitor the market and manage their portfolio using a single interface.
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7. Crypto.com
Crypto.com is a relatively new exchange that has quickly amassed a large following with over 1 million users on its platform. The crypto exchange provides a powerful alternative to traditional financial services, making it easier for everyone to start investing with Bitcoin and altcoins. Crypto.com is known for their crypto app that offers the ability to buy, sell, trade, spend, store, earn, loan cash and pay bills with crypto.
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8. KuCoin
KuCoin is an established exchange for trading altcoins and is often referred to as The People's Exchange' due to its popularity. Established in late 2017, KuCoin has surged to become a premium platform to exchange cryptocurrencies that has expanded its offering to include new and exciting services. KuCoin is one of the most popular platforms to trade altcoin with over 400 different trading pairs to choose from.
KuCoin has over 5 million registered users from 200+ countries and regions and popular in countries such as South Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Turkey, Russia, India and other regions. The exchange supports users from all over the world and accepts 46 fiat currencies such as USD, GBP, EUR and CNY. According to Coinmarketcap.com, KuCoin exchange is currently ranked #8 based on traffic, liquidity and overall high volume traded on its spot market.
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9. PrimeXBT
Prime XBT is a popular Bitcoin-based trading exchange that allows speculating on traditional financial products. Traders are able to trade a broad spectrum of markets including Forex (FX), cryptocurrency, commodities and indices using Bitcoin as collateral – a feature that not many exchanges offer today.
PrimeXBT is an award-winning platform for margin trading up to 1000x that features an intuitive, sleek and professional trading platform. The charting interface is fully customizable and supports multiple price chart display up to quad screen. This is unique to PrimeXBT allowing traders to configure the interface to suit their own style. For example, use the quad chart display to view multiple time frames of the same asset.
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10. Phemex
Phemex is a cryptocurrency exchange that is available to users worldwide to trade perpetual contracts such as BTCUSD, ETHUSD, XRPUSD, LTCUSD, XTZUSD and LINKUSD with up to 100x leverage. The derivatives platform is surging in popularity and is currently ranked #6 for daily volume on the cryptocurrency exchange according to Coinmarketcap.com.
Phemex is well-known for its zero-fee crypto trading on spot pairs for premium members using the web or mobile trading app. There is a membership pricing to unlock no fee spot trading which costs USD $0.19 per day. For frequent or large volume traders, this is a relatively small amount to pay for no trading fees.
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11. BitMEX
BitMEX is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform that offers high leverage contracts that are bought and sold in Bitcoin. It is one of the largest market makers and most widely used margin trading exchanges. Beginner and advanced users can buy and sell contracts for cryptocurrencies (not the actual coins themselves) combined with margin trading up to 100 times.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What Is A Crypto Trade?
Trading is a popular way to earn free crypto by speculating on price movements, with the expectation of making a net profit. A crypto trade is the result of placing a market or limit order using a cryptocurrency exchange, broker or CFD provider to buy or sell a digital asset at a certain or future price. Once the trade is executed, the position becomes live on the market and will rise and fall as the supply and demand ratio of the asset changes.
Should I Trade or Invest in Cryptocurrency?
The decision to trade or invest in cryptocurrency coins such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, XRP and Bitcoin Cash depends on how much involvement the person wants to have after purchase. An investor will buy when the asset is low in price with the goal to generate income or appreciation over time and sell Bitcoin or altcoins for a profit.
In comparison, a trader is more involved to manage a position over a shorter during such as hours, days or even weeks. The trader may use leverage to take advantage of volatility by trading the swings with a smaller capital amount. If price or direction exceeds a risk tolerance, the trader will exit the position and wait for the next opportunity to make profit in the market.
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How Much Money Can I Make Trading Cryptocurrency?
The amount of profit through trading cryptocurrencies depends on the traders level of experience, patience, discipline, risk management and having a sound trading strategy that is repeatable over a period of time. There is no guarantee to earn money trading and it is possible to lose more than the funds deposited into an account.
How To Start Cryptocurrency Trading?
To begin trading cryptocurrency, follow these steps to get started:
- Create an account with a crypto trading exchange such as Binance
- Verify the registered email address and complete ID verification
- Purchase Bitcoin directly with fiat or transfer crypto to the exchange from a wallet
- Select the crypto trading pair to trade (e.g. BTC/USDT)
- Click on the Buy or Sell buttons to long or short the market
- Withdraw profits from the exchange to a hardware wallet
Which Cryptocurrency Is Best For Trading?
The most popular cryptocurrency asset that is currently traded is Bitcoin, which has the largest market cap compared to other altcoins such as Ethereum and Polkadot. An average of 12 Billion dollars worth of Bitcoin is transacted every day across trading exchanges like Binance, Coinbase and Bitstamp.
This makes Bitcoin the better cryptocurrency to trade as it the largest, most well-known and liquid digital asset in the world. Trading Bitcoin suitable for all types of people from beginners, professional traders, day traders, hedge funds and retail investors.
How Much Money Do You Need To Start Trading Crypto?
Individuals can begin trading cryptocurrency on an exchange using the minimum amount, which can be anywhere from $10 to $50 depending on the platform. For example, users can begin trading with USD$10 on Kraken which can be funded using a bank transfer. If trading with leverage, the capital amount can be smaller as the position size can be increased with leverage. However, it is best practise to start with an amount the trader is comfortable with losing, or use a demo trading account to trade without any money.
What Is The Top Crypto Trading Platform For Beginners?
The best cryptocurrency exchange for first time users to start trading is eToro in our opinion. Users can sign up an account within minutes and start trading on a simple interface. eToro features a world-class social platform to learn and copy-trade the most successful traders, includes a comprehensive suite of useful how-to guides and a demo trading account to practise trading without no money.
What Is The Best Crypto Platform to Trade Altcoins?
Binance is the top cryptocurrency exchanges to trade altcoins due to its wide range of coins offered on the platform and low fees with over 200 trading pairs. In addition, Binance is the leading crypto provider with the highest daily traded volume and liquidity across all its altcoin pairs. Deep liquidity allows users to obtain the best prices and spreads when trading digital assets.
Which Crypto Trading Platforms Have A Demo Account?
Finding a cryptocurrency trading exchange with a demo account is useful for new traders and beginners to learn how to trade or become familiar with the trading tools. Top platforms such as eToro, Phemex and Bybit offer free demo accounts to fund with practise money to simulate trading in the real crypto markets.
Can You Trade Cryptocurrency Without Paying Fees?
There are several crypto exchanges such as Phemex that allow zero-fee crypto trading for the popular assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Bitcoin Cash. A no fee trading exchange is the cheapest way to trade cryptocurrency as it will increase overall profitability by eliminating hefty fees and commissions that can accumulate over time.
Where To Store Your Cryptocurrency?
Storing cryptocurrency on an exchanges can be risky as the owner has no control on the security of their investment against crypto hackers and scams. The best way to store cryptocurrency is on a reputable cryptocurrency wallet which is kept under the possession of the investor. A few of the most popular Bitcoin and Ethereum hardware wallets are the Ledger Nano X, TREZOR T and CoolWallet Pro.
Using a cold storage wallet provides an airlock between internet-connected devices and the asset. The Bitcoin private key which give the right to access the cryptocurrency (send, transfer and receive) is kept on the wallet and not an exchange.
Related: What Is A Bitcoin Private Key? A Must-Read For Beginners
Even if the hardware wallet is damaged, lost or stolen, the funds can be accessed using a variety of back-up options such as using a recovery phrase. The cost of a hardware wallet is a small price to pay for your peace of mind.
Wallet | Dimension | Rating | Price | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Nano Ledger X  | 72mm x 18.6mm x 11.7mm | 5/5 | $119 USD | |
Nano Ledger S  | 56.9mm x 17.4mm x 9.1mm | 4.5/5 | $59 USD | |
TREZOR T Model  | 64.0mm x 39.0mm x 10.0 mm | 4.3/5 | $159 USD | |
TREZOR One  | 60.0mm x 30.0mm x 6mm | 4.1/5 | $59 USD | |
KeepKey  | 38 mm x 93.5mm x 12.2 mm | 3.6/5 | $49 USD |
Conclusion
We hope our guide on the top cryptocurrency platforms was useful to choosing the best platform that suits your requirements. With trading, beginners should exercise caution as it is very possible to make money, but can also lose more than the funds deposited.
It is important to be aware that several crypto trading exchanges have been hacked as these sites store huge volumes of money. If you plan to trade, remember to not hold you money on these exchanges for too long and make sure you withdraw profits to a reputable crypto hardware wallet for safe keeping.
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