FTX vs. KuCoin: Which Is Better?

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For experienced traders looking for a full-featured platform to trade crypto, both FTX and KuCoin are two options to consider. They are both premium cryptocurrency exchanges with very popular derivatives trading platforms and a huge selection of crypto. They also both offer ways to earn interest on crypto holdings, NFT platforms, and well-designed mobile apps for trading on the go. In this comparison, we assess the similarities and differences between FTX and KuCoin and evaluate which is the better option for serious crypto investors.

UPDATE 12/29/2022: FTX has entered into administration and is no longer available. Therefore, KuCoin wins this comparison by default. Here's a list of FTX alternatives that can also be considered.

FTX vs. KuCoin: A Quick Overview

	KuCoin	FTX
Website	https://kucoin.com	https://ftx.com
Promotion	Up to 500 USDT in bonuses	5% off trading fees
Fiat Currency	USD, GBP, EUR, CNY & 46 others	Crypto & 13 fiat currencies
Supported Cryptocurrency	806	319
Overall Rating	HedgewithCrypto Score 4.6/5 Visit KuCoin	HedgewithCrypto Score 3.8/5 Visit FTX
Review	Read our full KuCoin review	Read our full FTX review

FTX Overview

FTX is a cryptocurrency leverage exchange that is the brainchild of Bitcoin billionaire, Sam Bankman-Fried. As an advanced trader himself, Sam built FTX “for traders, by traders,” with a focus on advanced trading tools. FTX gives users access to cutting-edge trading markets such as derivatives, volatility products, prediction markets, and leveraged tokens.

FTX has over 1 million customers, even though trading launched only a few years ago in 2020. It is one of the top exchanges by trading volume as well, hosting billions of dollars in volume for both spot and derivatives markets. This makes FTX a good day trading platform crypto with its rock-bottom fees.

KuCoin Overview

KuCoin is a famous altcoin exchange that offers an incredible 700+ coins across thousands of trading pairs, ideal for altcoin traders. Since 2017, KuCoin has grown to support over 20 million users around the globe, making it one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world.

The exchange offers a lot of features that are well-equipped for beginners, investors, traders, and institutions. A brief list of products includes spot and futures trading, margin trading, leveraged tokens, interest-bearing accounts, and more. KuCoin also features a highly-intuitive mobile app that offers almost every feature that KuCoin and comes with a crypto social trading network.

Comparison of Features, Products & Services

FTX and KuCoin offer access to hundreds of cryptocurrencies and featured-packed derivatives trading platforms. Here is a comparison and overview of some of the common and unique features of both FTX and KuCoin.

FTX and KuCoin are available in over 150 countries around the globe. Both offer limited access in some countries due to their derivatives platforms. But while KuCoin is not available in the U.S., FTX created a sister company that can be accessed at FTX.US which is a licensed platform available for traders that reside in the United States. KuCoin is a huge crypto exchange, supporting over 20 million customers globally, while FTX is still growing, with just over 1 million customers globally.

Winner: FTX.

While both companies are available in 150+ countries, KuCoin is by far the larger company, with over 20 million users across the globe. However, the differentiator is that individuals within the United States can create an account FTX.US, while KuCoin strictly does not allow U.S. residents on its platform.

FTX is primarily a crypto-to-crypto platform that has an additional fiat gateway that supports 13 fiat currencies natively. The deposit methods available include wire transfers and direct transfers to bank accounts, with reasonable fees. In contrast, KuCoin supports a larger selection of 50+ fiat currencies through third-party gateway companies. KuCoin also allows users to use fiat currency to execute Peer-to-Peer (P2P) crypto trading on its platform. Similarities between the platforms include support for credit/debit card purchases through third-party gateways but have processing fees.

Winner: Draw.

While KuCoin supports more fiat currencies, FTX accepts fiat currencies natively without charging high third-party fees. Both support debit/credit card purchases and KuCoin offers P2P trading. Both offer flexible deposit methods, and it’s a matter of preference as to which one is superior.

In terms of markets and trading pairs, both FTX and KuCoin provide access to a wide selection of coins within the top 100 by market capitalization. Firstly, FTX has over 250 cryptocurrencies with 400+ trading pairs at the time of writing. In comparison, KuCoin supports a massive 700+ cryptocurrencies across thousands of trading pairs which is great for investors that are looking to buy altcoins.

For Kucoin, the available markets include:

• Spot. Access to thousands of trading pairs with up to 10x leverage.
• Futures contracts. Over 100 trading pairs on both standard and perpetual futures contracts with up to 100x leverage available.
• Leveraged tokens. Both LONG and SHORT positions on 100+ tokens with 3x leverage.

In comparison, FTX offers a greater selection of trading markets, including spot, futures, and even volatility products. Here is the full list of markets supported by FTX (also shown along top menu in the above screenshot):

• Spot. Buy and sell over 250 cryptocurrencies that can be traded against BTC, ETH and a selection of stablecoins.
• Futures contracts. Quarterly and perpetual futures trading with stablecoin settled contracts.
• Leveraged tokens. Over 100 leveraged tokens are available with four different leverage options; Bull (3x), Bear (-3x), Hedge (-1x), and Half (1/2x).
• Volatility. Speculate on the absolute value of the amount a cryptocurrency moves over a period of time.
• Fiat Trading (Forex). FTX supports fiat trading pairs of supported currencies, including USD, JPY, EUR, BRZ, and more.
• Prediction. While restricted in some locations, these products offer trading of predictions for upcoming elections (such as the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election).

Winner: FTX.

While KuCoin offers a large selection of coins, FTX offers far more markets to choose from that are best suited for experienced traders. With 250+ futures markets available (with leverage), 100+ leveraged tokens, and even volatility products and Forex trading, FTX is one of the top margin trading platforms and is the winner in this category.

Both FTX and KuCoin offer deep liquidity on popular coins and handle a lot of daily trading volume. FTX processes more than $2 billion in daily spot trading volume, while KuCoin handles around $1 billion per day. For derivatives trading, both are popular options as well, with FTX handling almost $7 billion per day, while KuCoin processes around $4 billion per day.

At the time of writing, FTX offers very deep liquidity, with a liquidity score of 728 (out of 1,000). KuCoin has an average liquidity score of 583, which is slightly better than average, but not nearly as good as FTX. KuCoin does have great liquidity on large cap trading pairs (around 700), but liquidity for the large selection of altcoins drags down the overall average. Liquidity ratings help determine whether users can place large orders and avoid excess slippage.

Winner: FTX.

FTX is one of the best exchanges for crypto whales, offering very deep liquidity on a large selection of coins. While KuCoin has a decent rating on its more liquid BTC/USD and ETH/USD pairs, FTX offers better trading volume all-around.

KuCoin is one of the best platforms that allows users to earn interest on their cryptocurrency, while FTX is very limited. KuCoin offers several ways to earn interest on coins, including staking, mining, and lending. There are varying levels of risk and reward for each choice. Firstly, investors on KuCoin have access to 6 products that can earn yield which include:

• Crypto lending. Lend out crypto to earn interest on short-term loans (up to 28 days max).
• KCS Bonus. Earn bonus KCS tokens from trading fees when holding tokens on the platform.
• Staking. Both fixed and flexible terms to earn fixed interest rates on crypto staking.
• Liquidity pool mining. Earn yield by collecting transaction fees from DeFi exchanges and protocol liquidity pools.
• KuCoin lottery. A lottery game that chooses winners of a large jackpot.
• Cloud Mining. Mine for tokens by pooling resources with KuCoin and avoid the upfront costs to purchase expensive mining hardware.

On the other hand, the offering on FTX is very selective and limited to staking only. Moreover, the choice of proof-of-stake coins in the staking section is also limited to FTT tokens are a few others. While staking FTT does have its benefits, including higher referral payouts, fee discounts and airdrops rewards, it's not as diverse as the options on KuCoin.

Winner: KuCoin.

While FTX users can stake FTT tokens to earn rewards, the options to earn passive income are too limited in choice, KuCoin is one of the best crypto-earning platforms available, offering numerous ways for investors to earn yield.

While both FTX and KuCoin offer an NFT marketplace, KuCoin doesn’t offer very much. KuCoin has an NFT launchpad that allows users to buy, invest-in, and manage in-game NFTs, but links out to a third-party site to sell or mint NFTs. FTX offers a well-designed NFT marketplace with access to high-quality projects on multiple blockchains. It also charges very low fees (2%) to sellers, and buyers pay no fees.

Note: Depositing and minting of NFTs are only available on FTX.US, which is open to all countries.

Winner: FTX.

FTX offers a slick design and NFTs on both the Solana and Ethereum network, though we recommend buying NFTs elsewhere. KuCoin’s NFT offering is not very good and needs some work.

FTX vs. KuCoin: Ease of Use

FTX and KuCoin are both designed for advanced traders, with intuitive spot and derivatives trading platforms. Both offer detailed charting, access to live order books and depth charts, as well as fantastic mobile apps.

FTX is designed strictly for advanced users, with a complex trading interface that offers all the tools any experienced trader would expect. Beginners may feel overwhelmed on the platform, though the mobile app makes it a bit simpler to invest. FTX features built-in TradingView charting, live order books, and a fully-customizable layout that users can lock and unlock when needed. Users can quickly navigate between spot, futures, leveraged tokens, volatility products, and fiat trading.

Kucoin convert is suitable to beginners.

KuCoin is an advanced trading platform, but does cater to beginners, offering an option to “Buy Now.” The trading platform also features TradingView charting and offers quick access to margin trading and its derivatives platform. Users can also set up grid trading bots directly in the order form. The mobile app is well-designed and more beginner-friendly, though most of the advanced features are available there as well.

Winner: Draw.

Both platforms are intuitive, but it depends on your trading style. FTX is built “by traders, for traders,” according to its founder, while KuCoin offers a bit of everything, and is (slightly) more beginner friendly.

FTX vs. KuCoin: Trading Experience

Both FTX and KuCoin offer a comprehensive trading experience, designed for advanced traders. FTX offers a powerhouse trading platform, with a fully-customizable layout and advanced order form with almost any order type available. Users can quickly rearrange the windows in the trading interface to a layout they prefer. FTX does not offer a “favorites” list, but instead keeps a list of your recently viewed trading pairs.

Screenshot of the FTX trading platform.

FTX also offers an advanced trading platform, which is curious, because its standard platform is pretty advanced already. The main difference is the customization and ability to add custom windows, such as viewing multiple trading pairs at the same time. Finally, the FTX Quant Zone allows users to create a custom trading bot to execute trades, though it is much more advanced than a simple grid bot. For derivatives, FTX offers standard and perpetual futures with intuitive order forms and up to 100x leverage, as well as access to leveraged tokens.

KuCoin also has built-in TradingView charts with access to hundreds of indicators and drawing tools, designed for advanced traders. The trading interface shows live order books, depth charting, isolated and cross margin selections, and direct access to the KuCoin futures markets. KuCoin offers a favorites list to save crypto trading pairs and quickly access them.

The order form has a built-in grid trading bot that allows users to customize and create an automated trading strategy. Margin is accessible for spot trading directly in the order form as well. The derivatives platform offers the same charting and live view of orders, as well as standard and perpetual futures trading with up to 100x leverage.

Winner: FTX.

Both platforms are very well designed, with built-in TradingView charts and access to advanced charting software and features. Both offer intuitive derivatives trading platforms, but FTX offers more customization and choices, as well as a programmable trading “Quant Zone.” Advanced traders would do well on either platform, but FTX is the better overall trading experience.

FTX vs. KuCoin: Trading Fees

FTX offers very low trading fees to traders, starting at 0.07% per trade, with discounts available to high-volume traders and users that hold a large amount of FTT tokens. Free trading is available for the highest volume traders and those that hold FTT tokens, and there are even rebates available for market makers.

KuCoin also offers very low trading fees, with most trades averaging 0.1%, and there are discounts available for high-volume traders. The lowest fees are reserved for very high-volume traders and holders of the native KuCoin token (KCS). Small cap coins do charge higher fees, though, starting at 0.3%.

For derivatives trading, both offer a similar fee structure, which are some of the lowest fees in the market. Both offer rebates for the highest-volume traders and native token holders.

Winner: FTX.

While both platforms offer very low trading fees, FTX has lower spot trading fees by a decent margin. For derivatives trading, it is a toss-up, and it depends on how much of the native token users are willing to invest.

FTX vs. KuCoin: Mobile App

The FTX mobile app is available on Android and iOS mobile devices and gives traders access to most of the advanced features on the website. The Android app has a perfect rating of 5.0/5.0 based on over 32,000 reviews and over 1 million downloads, which is incredible. Based on our testing, the FTX app is responsive and well-designed.

The KuCoin mobile app is well-designed and offers a ton of features for both Android and iOS users. The Android app has been downloaded over 5 million times, and has a 4.4/5.0 score based on over 100,000 reviews. Based on our testing, the KuCoin app gives access to dozens of features, and is very responsive.

Winner: KuCoin.

While the FTX app has a perfect score on the Android marketplace, it doesn’t offer the total amount of features that the KuCoin app does. KuCoin has a quick jump menu to the top features, simple and advanced trading, and multiple ways to earn interest. This is why it’s one of our top 10 crypto apps available today. The FTX is good for advanced traders and its NFT marketplace but could overwhelm beginners.

FTX vs. KuCoin: Security of Assets

Both FTX and KuCoin offer solid security for user data and securing crypto assets, though KuCoin was hacked in the past. FTX is a regulated platform that requires KYC for account use, while KuCoin allows anonymous trading (with limits) and doesn’t require KYC for all users. Both platforms offer extra security features, including Two-Factor Authentication (2FA), withdrawal whitelisting, and cold storage of digital assets.

KuCoin was hacked in 2020 and lost over $275 million, which was mostly recovered, and users were paid back in full. FTX has never been hacked, and its owner (Sam Bankman-Fried) is a vocal proponent of crypto regulation.

Winner: FTX.

Both exchanges offer very good security, but KuCoin has been hacked in the past. FTX is one of the most secure exchanges in the world, which is why it hosts very large trading volumes and institutional traders.

FTX vs. KuCoin: Customer Support

Both FTX and KuCoin have a deep knowledge base of FAQs and articles on how to use the platform. KuCoin does not offer live human support but instead offers a chat with an automated bot to get answers. KuCoin does have a web ticketing system, but email responses may take a while.

FTX offers very little human support as well, with a simple web ticketing system and Telegram channel for chat support. Email support may take some time to respond, which is not ideal for immediate needs.

Winner: Draw.

Both exchanges offer very little human support and force users to submit tickets or use a social chat feature instead of built-in chat. There are no support phone numbers available for either company.

Final Comparison Scores

To conclude this comparison of which exchange is better between FTX and KuCoin, each crypto exchange has been scored using simple evaluation criteria as shown below.

Verdict: KuCoin or FTX?

Both FTX and KuCoin are two of the best-designed trading platforms for advanced traders that want access to a wide range of derivatives markets. With a huge coin selection, access to several trading markets, and leverage up to 100x (or 125x for FTX users), experienced and professional crypto traders will enjoy either platform.

KuCoin is an altcoin trading paradise, with access to 700+ coins and thousands of trading pairs. This makes it ideal for traders that are looking for access to those small-cap gems that could be the next big thing. With relatively low fees and an excellent mobile app, KuCoin is a solid choice for advanced traders. Moreover, users that want to earn interest will find KuCoin one of the best platforms for earning yield on their crypto.

On the other hand, FTX is ideal for traders that want to focus on speculative markets with access to very deep liquidity and multiple markets. The derivatives platform gives access to some unique products, including volatility products and even prediction products that can be traded. FTX allows full customization of the trading interface, and even the ability to create a custom trading bot, with some of the most advanced programming available to traders.

Overall, while both platforms are professional-level trading platforms and offer a wide range of trading tools and features for experienced crypto traders, FTX wins this comparison. KuCoin is a viable FTX alternative that should still be considered for its selection of altcoins to trade.

For more information, read our FTX review and KuCoin review.

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