If you have just purchased your first Bitcoin using a fiat-to-crypto exchange and looking to diversifying your cryptocurrency portfolio by investing in altcoins, you will need a reputable cryptocurrency trading exchange.
- How do I get started trading crypto?
- Where do I trade crypto?
- What is the best crypto trading exchange?
- Which crypto trading exchange is suitable for beginners?
- Can I trade crypto with margin
These are all valid questions to be asking if your a beginner crypto trader. You need to understand the important factors in deciding what is a suitable trading exchange for you. Lucky for you, we have done the hard work (so you don't have to).
Also, if you don't have a hardware wallet to keep your profits secure, read our guide on the best cryptocurrency hardware wallets.
How To Trade Bitcoin & Crypto
To trade cryptocurrency using an exchange, follow these simple steps:
- Purchase Bitcoin using a fiat-to crypto exchange
- Sign up with a crypto trading platform such as Binance
- Deposit Bitcoin and activate 2 factor authentication
- Select desired cryptocurrency pairs to trade
- Use advanced orders (limit, stop or market) and risk management
- Withdraw profits to a cryptocurrency hardware wallet
Best Cryptocurrency Trading Exchanges
We have carried out extensive research to find the best cryptocurrency margin exchanges based on important user factors such as leverage amount, trading fees, charting features, technical indicators and platform security.
Exchange | Fees | Our Review | Rating | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | 0.10% | 4.8 / 5 | ||
 | 0.025% (M) 0.075% (T) | 4.7 / 5 | ||
 | 0.025% (M) 0.075% (T) | 4.6 / 5 | ||
 | 0.04% - 0.20% | 4.6 / 5 | ||
 | 0.5% | 4 / 5 | ||
 | Spread (varies) | 3.4 / 5 | ||
 | 0.025% (M) 0.075% (T) | 3.2 / 5 | ||
 | 0.025% (M) 0.075% (T) |
| 3 / 5 | |
 | Spread (varies) |
| 2.8 / 5 |
Cryptocurrency Trading Platform: Reviews 2020
We have reviewed each crypto trading platforms based on important factors such as user-interface, charting tools, available coins to trade, security features, spread and trading fees and customer support.
Binance
Binance is the largest digital currency exchange services in the world that provides a platform for trading more than 100 cryptocurrencies. The platform has seen a meteoric rise since being founded in 2017. Binance is the biggest cryptocurrency trading exchanges trading at 1.2 Billion daily volume and 1.4 Million transactions per second.
Binance is one of the most widely used exchanges for cryptocurrency traders with its large selection of coins to trade. The founders of Binance are revolutionizing the cryptocurrency industry and regularly bringing new functionality and assets to trade to the industry such as margin trading, OTC, futures, lending and staking.
Binance are a true believers of blockchain technology and aim to increase the freedom of money globally to significantly improve lives around the world.
Binance is well known for it support of a wide variety of coins. Traders are able to use the platform to trade multiple digital currencies, including, but not limited to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, EOS, Dash, Litecoin, NEO, Tron, Zcash, XRP Ripple and many more.
Related: Binance Review: Crypto, Trading & Fees
also supports numerous tokens, as part of ICO and IEO listings. Traders are able to take advantage of these new coin offerings and trade them before being listed on other exchanges. The platform has its own native token, called Binance Coin (BNB). Users can hold BNB to reduce commissions when purchasing cryptocurrency.
Binance attempts to cater for complete beginners and skilled traders with a basic and advanced trading interface. The advanced version has more powerful charting tools, a compact interface and additional parameters to analyse the asset.
It is worth mentioning there is a Binance mobile app for iOS and Android which is beneficial to investors and traders alike. The app is highly intuitive, easy to use, runs smooth and performs all the basic functions expected of a trading app.
This include live Bitcoin/cryptocurrency prices, ability to execute orders, manage trades, view P&L and search trade history.
Register an account with Binance and trade altcoins.
Bybit
Bybit is aiming to revolutionize today’s cryptocurrency market by combining the best of cryptocurrencies and traditional finance to bring about the industry’s safest, most reliable, fairest, and most user-friendly exchange to date.
It has become one of the best, if not the best cryptocurrency margin trading exchange with over 100,000 active users and counting. The daily trading volume on the exchange has seen astronomical growth with the founders even claiming to rank overall second in liquidity.
Related: ByBit Review (the BitMEX KILLER) – Should You Make The Switch?
A lot of crypto exchanges suffer from poor exchange volume, liquidity, latency, and unreliable services. This is where exchanges like Bybit have solved the problems with other exchanges to bring a safe and reliable trading experience.
If you're wondering if you can lose more than your initial margin on Bybit, the short answer is, NO. Bybit has an advanced liquidation back-end and insurance fund in place to prevent a trader from losing more than the initial margin. Trader can not suffer any losses beyond the initial margin that they have placed on a position.
Overall, ByBit is one of the best crypto exchanges in the world and a great choice for beginners and professional traders alike.
Create a FREE account with Bybit and start trading now.
FTX
FTX exchange is a relatively new platform to enter into the market. FTX 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 platform. Through innovation, the platform offers new and exciting ways to invest and speculate on cryptocurrency.
Sign up to FTX using our referral link and receive a 5% discount on your trading fees.
FTX offers extremely low trading fees in comparison with other crypto trading platforms. FTX fees for futures and spot markets are based on a tiered structure according to your trading volume. Essentially, the more you trade the lower trading fees you will pay.
Related: FTX Exchange Review – Should You Make the Switch?
FTX also users are rewarded with a trading fee discount by up to 30% by simply holding a certain amount of the exchange's native token FTT which is valued in USD. The discount amount is dependent on your currents FTT holdings.
FTX has developed an innovative asset for cryptocurrency traders, called Leveraged Tokens. These are ERC20 tokens that have leveraged exposure already applied to cryptocurrency assets. There are even EFTs that have leveraged exposure to numerous existing and popular cryptocurrency assets. For example, ETHBULL is a 3x long on the ETH token. This means, for every 1% ETH increase in a day, ETHBULL goes up 3%. The same applies when 1% ETH goes down, ETHBULL moves down 3%.
Using FTX leveraged tokens helps trader with risk management. The exchange automatically reinvests any trade profits back into the asset being traded. This means if your leveraged token position is sitting on a profit, the tokens will automatically put on 3x leveraged positions to it.
On the flip side, leveraged tokens will automatically reduce risk if the position is negative.
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 buy, trade and sell cryptocurrencies. Crypto.com is also well known for their crypto app which let's you buy, sell, trade, spend, store, earn, loan cash and even pay bills with crypto!
The user interface is one of the best considering it's still in Beta. The charts are sleek, intuitive, responsive and clean. Everything a crypto trader should be looking to focus on analyzing the charts, price action and positions without distractions (e.g. a troll box or excessive windows). The charting software and tools are provided by Tradingview, which most crypto traders will be familiar with.
The exchange provides support for the following crypto assets: BTC, XRP, LTC, MCO, EOS, XLM, ATOM, LINK, XTZ, BCH, VET and USDT which we expect to grow in the future.
As mentioned, Crypto.com is more than a crypto trading platform. The Crypto.com app can be used to:
- Purchase crypto using a bank transfer, debit or credit card or crypto
- Buy, trade and sell 50+ crypto pairs
- Send crypto instantly to other Crypto.com App users with zero trading fees
- Earn up to 8% interest on crypto and 12% on stablecoins
- Get instant cash loans using crypto as collateral
- Spend on goods and earn a 10% cashback bonus
- Track, monitor and manage your overall crypto portfolio
PrimeXBT
Prime XBT is a popular Bitcoin-based cryptocurrency 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 – something not many cryptocurrency exchanges offer today.
Prime XBT will suit a wide variety of skilled investors and traditional traders that want to profit in Bitcoin but prefer to trade familiar traditional markets they know and love.
When you first login to Prime XBT, the first thing you will notice is how well laid out, smooth and intuitive the trading dashboard is. There are no complicated menus or distractions - just an ease to use trading interface.
Related: Prime XBT Review: Is It Safe? Bitcoin, Trading & Fees
PrimeXBT charts includes all of the advanced trading tools that you would typically expect for a modern cryptocurrency trading platform such as drawing lines, rectangles, horizontal, Fibonacci retracement, arrows, text and so on. The platform has the functionality to allow multiple charts so you can display one asset across multiple time frames, or keep an eye on a few different assets at the same time.
PrimeXBT offers 1:100 leverage on all cryptocurrencies, commodities and indices available on the platform and 1:1000 leverage on Forex majors. All users are automatically provided with the buying (or selling) power equal to 100x times of the deposit value. PrimeXBT provides high leverage for other instruments, allowing traders to maximize trading profits.
The exchange charges two different types of fees: a trade fee and overnight financing. The trade fee for cryptocurrency assets is 0.5% each time you buy or sell on the market. The overnight finance fee varies for the different cryptocurrencies based on the liquidity.
It is essentially the borrowing cost to finance a leveraged position overnight. If you open and close a leveraged position within the same trading day, you are not subject to overnight financing.
With an excellent charting interface, zero deposit fees, competitive trading fees and various traditional assets to trade with leverage, PrimeXBT is without a doubt one of the best cryptocurrency trading exchanges to trade with Bitcoin.
Register and account and trade with Prime XBT.
Plus500
Plus500 is a leading CFD provider in Shares, Indices, Forex, Cryptocurrencies, ETFs, Options, and Indices. It is a regulated CFD provider that offers its services to customers in over 50 jurisdictions across the world through its different subsidiaries.
Plus500 allows its massive customer base to trade the world's most popular cryptocurrencies with up to 30x leverage. Plus500 cryptocurrency CFD's include Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Neo, Ripple XRP, EOS, Cardano, Tron and Monero and are available to trade 24/7. There is also a Crypto 10 Index.
The trading platform of Plus500 is simple to use and easy to navigate that is suitable for experienced traders. It even provides an option to configure real-time alerts for the price movements of instruments.
Alerts can be configured based on price, % change and traders sentiments whereby a notification can be sent based on a certain percentage of buyers or sellers reaches a predefined level. This feature can be used with great effect to counter-trade the market and is not offered on cryptocurrency margin platforms mentioned in this review.
Related: Plus500 Review: Trading Crypto CFDs, Features & Fees.
Plus500 cryptocurrency CFD trading platform includes all of the risk management tools expected for a trading platform. These include stop loss orders, trailing stops and guaranteed stop levels.
Adding a Guaranteed Stop order to your trading position puts an absolute limit on your potential loss. Even if the price of the instrument moves significantly against you, your position will automatically be closed at the specified price, with no risk of slippage.
Plus500 is a CFD service meaning that you trade the difference in price but don't own the actual asset. In terms of fees, Plus500 trading platform offers customers most of its services free of charge.
The exchange charges the difference between the Bid and Ask spread and does not charge commission on trades. There is a overnight and inactivity fee. To view the full spread charge for each cryptocurrency, visit the Plus500 instruments page. Plus500 also do not charge a deposit or withdrawal fee.
Create a CFD trading account with Plus500
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 the largest and most widely used margin trading platform in the world. It's users are able to buy and sell contracts for cryptocurrencies (not the actual coins themselves) combined with margin trading up to 100 times.
This means only Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals are permitted. It is a great platform for cryptocurrency digital traders looking to increase their BTC holdings by trading the market.
Sign up to Bitmex using our referral link and receive a 10% discount on your trading fees for 6 months.
The trading interface does appear to be a little dated compared to the newer exchanges such as Bybit and PrimeXBT, however the charting package by provide traders with advanced trading tools to refine their trading edge in maximize profits and minimize risk. BitMEX charts offer a wide range of time frames and tools to draw trend lines, add indicators and draw chart patterns to perfectly time a trade order using a market, limit or stop order.
Read: BitMEX Review – Is It Still Reliable? (Do Not Sign Up Until You’ve Read This)
Active positions are displayed at the bottom and can be easily monitored. The asset, position size, entry price, margin, and unrealised P&L are all displayed and update in real time. Pending orders can be displayed as well which provides the option to review, modify or delete the order.
A great feature with BitMEX is the leverage trading calculator which can determine the potential profit and loss on an order based on the amount of leverage. More importantly, it will display the liquidation price so you can adjust the leverage and position size to suit your risk tolerance levels.
Trading fee's are a important consideration when selecting a cryptocurrency trading exchange. It becomes even more critical when trading larger position sizes and on a futures exchange where you are paying fees on positions that are much larger than your margin.
BitMEX exchange works on a maker & taker model so the trading fees are dependent on the type of order (e.g. futures or contracts) and the cryptocurrency coin. Users that place a traditional futures BTC order will earn a small compensation, as BitMEX rebates the maker trader 0.025% and charges the taker 0.075%.
In summary, Bitmex is suited to intermediate cryptocurrency traders who are familiar with trading volatile risk assets and exposure to margin trading. The exchange has done a lot of things right to become the worlds largest cryptocurrency derivatives platform to speculate on the market to earn Bitcoin.
Deribit
Deribit is a popular trading platform that has done a lot of things right to make our list for best crypto leverage trading platforms. The exchange allows traders to take advantage of up to 100x margin trading Bitcoin futures or options.
The platform has seen a surge in trading volume and is currently ranked second in overall trade volume behind Binance. The exchange has recently expanded to include Bitcoin and Ethereum futures that can be traded with leverage.
The CEO founder of Deribit is a former options trader since the late 90’s and a Bitcoin enthusiast who has created the platform Deribit, which comes from the words derivative and Bitcoin.
Deribit offers perpetual futures contract for Bitcoin and also contracts which expire quarterly. The fees for the perpetual contract are 0.075% for market takers and a 0.025% rebate for market makers.
The fees for quarterly contracts are 0.05% for market takers and a 0.02% rebate for market makers. Options fees are 0.04% of the underlying or 0.0004 BTC per option contract. This is quite reasonable compared to other cryptocurrency margin exchanges such as Bitmex.
Deribit's charting package will not draw too much excitement but provides all of the features one would expect trading the markets. The charting package is provided by TradingView, which is widely used and will add some familiarity for new users.
Deribit take security very seriously and like other exchanges, store approximately 99% of customer deposits in cold storage. Vast majority of funds are stored vaults with multiple bank safes.
This adds an airgap between the users funds and the internet to prevent hacking attempts. This can delay withdrawals from the exchange, however this is a worthwhile compromise.
The exchange also has an extensive bounty program to identify any vulnerabilities before the hackers do.
Create an account with Deribit to trade Bitcoins with leverage.
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.
The platform is known for social trading in which users are able to copy trade from some of the most profitable traders, or get copied yourself to earn a second passive income.
eToro recently expanded its offering to include cryptocurrency enabling its clients to trade and invest in Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin and 12 other popular digital coins. These assets are traded in the form of a CFD which means you don't actually own the cryptocurrency, just speculate on the price movements only.
The trading platform on eToro is well designed for beginners and is available on desktop and mobile devices.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I Trade or Invest in Cryptocurrency?
This article is focused on the active trading of cryptocurrency and where to find the best platforms. For a small percentage of traders, it is an occupation or even a part time source of income. Both methods involve risk, however there are a few differences that we will cover using Bitcoin (BTC) as an example.
An investment is generally considered a long term process, where by the goal is to generate income or appreciation over time. With respect to Bitcoin, investors objectives may be to diversify their portfolio, hedge against fiat currencies, or strong believers in blockchain technologies. Broadly speaking, investors will not be too fazed by the short term fluctuations in the price and volatility.
In comparison, Bitcoin traders will take the view of speculating on the price and undertake short to medium positions over a few hours, days or weeks. The objective is to buy low and sell high and to take advantage of volatility by trading the swings. 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.
Why Should I Trade Cryptocurrency?
Cryptocurrencies are relatively new asset class. Platforms such as CMC Markets, IG and Pepperstone are starting to offer cryptocurrency trading, however these traditional sites suffer from high trading fee's on cryptocurrency pairs. Traditional financial market traders and investors are showing greater interest in cryptocurrency. The advantages of trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are due to the following reasons:
- Increased Volatility. The cryptocurrency market has experience significant volatility, particularly between December 2017 and December 2018, where the price of Bitcoin surged to an all time high of $19,200 and collapsed in 12 months to a low of $3,200. The extreme and often rapid price moves presents opportunity for all types of traders that will use leverage to exploit the price movements to make profit. There is an element of risk involved so adept risk management and strict discipline is essential part of any trading strategy.
- 24/7 Market Hours. Cryptocurrency never sleeps. It can be traded all day any day of the week, month or year. This is mainly due to the fact there is no centralized governance of the market. Individuals are free to trade Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies on exchanges all over the world.
- High Leverage. A number of cryptocurrency platforms that we have covered in this article provide leverage up to 100 times the initial margin requirement. This in itself has attracted both newbies and savvy traders into the cryptocurrency space. With the prospect of earning more Bitcoin that is earmarked to appreciated over the years due to limited supply, the financial incentive to trade cryptocurrency is becoming obvious to traditional traders.
- Easy To Trade. The exchange fees to trade cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin as the most liquid cryptocurrency are minimal compared to other traditional exchanges. The process to deposit or withdraw Bitcoin is accessible to most people around the world using a reputable exchange. This means that trading cryptocurrencies can be traded globally, with less stringent requirements for personnel verification if using a crypto to crypto exchange.
How Much Money Can I Make Trading Cryptocurrency?
Profits will depend on your patience, trading decisions and the success of your trading strategies. There are no holy grail trading strategies or guarantees of earning a profit trading the markets. Before you trade with size, it's recommended to use a demo account to learn and backtest a particular crypto trading strategy.
What Is The Best Crypto Trading Platform For Beginners?
If you're a beginner that is learning how to trade crypto, ByBit is a suitable platform that is easy to use and beginner friendly. Bybit provides the following features that are suited to beginners
- Quick easy to register and create an account
- User interface is clean, easy to use and intuitive
- Detailed FAQ section with numerous step-by-step guides
- Testnet where you can trade crypto using a demo account
- Mobile phone app available to monitor trades
What Is The Best Crypto Platform to Trade Altcoins?
Binance is one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges to trade altcoins. The platform is a leading crypto provider that offers the highest daily traded volume and liquidity across all its altcoin pairs.
What Is The Best Cryptocurrency Exchange for Day Trading?
Day trading is a popular method of speculating on the markets to make a profit. It involves buying and selling on the intraday price charts and typically involves an increased number of trades with high leverage compared to swing or position trading on the larger time frames.
We recommend ByBit as the best exchange for cryptocurrency trading the following reasons:
- Day traders make a higher number of trades, so low trading fee's are critical. ByBit fee's are very low compared to other exchanges which can charge as much as 4 x more in fee's that will eat into your profit in the long run
- Ranks overall second in liquidity with an ever increasing daily trading volume, meaning you can make fast trades and get the best prices
- Up to 100 x leverage on the futures products such as BTC, ETH, EOS and XRP. The amount of leverage varies for each product and can be adjusted after a trade is made, which you can't do on other derivatives platforms
To view our top picks for the best crypto leverage trading exchanges, read our full review here.
Can You Trade Cryptocurrency Without Paying Fees?
There are several crypto exchanges that offer zero-fee crypto trading. Using these exchanges will increase your overall profitability in the long run as you don't have to pay trading fees and commissions that can accumulate over time.
What Are The Best Cryptocurrency Trading Sites?
How To Find The Best Crypto Trading Charts' is a commonly asked question. Majority of fiat-to-cryptocurrency exchanges will have their own charting system, but there can be limitations.
If you want to take cryptocurrency trading seriously, or want to 'learn how to trade crypto', you will need access to reputable crypto charting sites with a clean, intuitive, easy to use visual representation of each cryptocurrency asset and with all of the tools to perform technical analysis.
How Do I Track My Cryptocurrency Trades?
Keeping track of your cryptocurrency investments can be a real pain, particularly if you trade across a number of exchanges. Thankfully, there is a solution called CoinTracking. It analyzes your trades across multiple exchanges and generates real-time reports on profit and loss, the value of your coins, realized and unrealized gains, taxation calculator and report, and so much more.
With the prices for 7002 coins and assets, you’ll always get the complete overview of your entire cryptocurrency portfolio in real time. For get more information, watch the video below.
Where To Store Your Cryptocurrency?
The vast majority of cryptocurrency trading platforms will have their own online wallet to store your assets. Being a trader, it is easy to become complacent and leave your cryptocurrency on the exchange. You should really deposit coins to the exchange, make the trade and withdraw the coins out. If this is not viable for your trading style, then only leave a small percentage of your coins on the exchange and assume there is a chance your account will get hacked and lose everything. As an example, a cryptocurrency exchanged called Coincheck was hacked for $500 million in 2018.
To be safe, we recommend that you store your coins on a hardware wallet such as the Ledger Nano S. It supports majority of the popular coins and you can be rest assured your portfolio is safe. To know which hardware wallets is suitable to store cryptocurrency, read our article on the best hardware wallets.
If you cannot afford a hardware wallet, there are other options to store your cryptocurrency such as:
- Desktop wallet such as Exodus are downloadable client in the form of a desktop application. The interface provides a connection to your cryptocurrency directly.
- Mobile wallets such as Mycelium and Trust Wallet comes with their own risks as the private keys are stored on the device. However come with an ease of use and convenience factor that allows your to trade and keep your cryptocurrency secure while on the move.
- Online wallets such as Blockchain are accessible through the internet to store your cryptocurrency transactions. They are hosting on servers outside of your control and will generally include encryption, however are still vulnerable to hacking.
Conclusion: Best Exchanges To Trade Crypto
There you have it. Our top picks are for the best cryptocurrency platform are:
Now it's time for you to comment.
What do you think of these exchanges?
Have you traded with any of the crypto exchanges?
Do you agree with our list for the best crypto exchange to trade altcoins?
Leave us a comment below with your thoughts and share with your network if you found this useful.
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