Gate.io Review

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Finding feature-rich cryptocurrency exchanges with competitive fees and many tradable assets can be challenging. However, Gate.io has been steadily taking market share from larger platforms, but is it worth using? Throughout this Gate.io review, we'll compare the exchange's features, fees, supported assets, security, and overall usability to help our readers decide whether it's the best option for them.

Our Take

4.1/5

HedgewithCryptoScore

Bottom line:

Gate.io is a well-rounded exchange that offers a good mixture of features, crypto pairs, and trading tools for beginners to intermediate traders. However, while the exchange will appeal to those seeking an all-in-one trading platform, its above-market trading fees, poor mobile app, and lack of accessibility in the US hamper its appeal to serious crypto traders.

Visit Gate.io

Trading Fees:

0.2%

Currency:USD, EUR, GBP, AUD, CAD, +80 Others

Country:Global (USA not allowed)

Promotion:

None available at this time

Pros and cons

• Excellent Selection of Assets
• Copy Trading
• Many Staking Assets

• Not Available in the US
• Poor Mobile App Performance
• Security Concerns

• Excellent Selection of Assets. Gate.io boasts more than 1,700 unique cryptocurrencies, making it the most diverse exchange on the market. As such, the platform is ideal for anyone looking to invest in lesser-known altcoins.
• Copy Trading. Gate.io has a highly active copy-trading community, it provides an excellent way for beginners to earn passively and for knowledge traders to bolster their earnings with no extra work.
• Many Staking Assets. Similar to the company offering a wide selection of tradable assets, Gate.io supports earning interest on 100+ assets, which makes it one of the best platforms to earn rewards, especially on low market cap projects.

• Not Available in the US. Unfortunately, Gate.io is unavailable in the United States. As such, traders from this region must find another US cryptocurrency exchange for trading.
• Poor Mobile App Performance. During testing for our Gate.io review, we were unimpressed with the mobile app. It was slow and buggy. As such, anyone looking to trade on the go should consider an alternative exchange.
• Security Concerns. Although Gate.io has stated that it's 'The Safest Crypto Exchange,' semi-frequent hacks have proved otherwise. Therefore, security-conscious investors/traders may prefer an alternative like Bybit, which has never been hacked.

Gate.io Compared and Alternatives

Exchange	Crypto Assets	Trading Fees	Rating	Promotion	Website	Review
Binance	350	0.1% (spot) and 0.02% / 0.04% (Futures)	Rating 4.8/5	Up to $100 welcome bonus	Visit Binance	Binance Review
ByBit	331 (608 trading pairs)	0% (spot), 0.06% / 0.01% (futures)	Rating 4.8/5	0% trading fees for 30 days (spot only)	Visit ByBit	ByBit Review
Kraken	222	0.16% (maker) and 0.26% (taker)	Rating 4.8/5	None available at this time	Visit Kraken	Kraken Review

Gate.io At A Glance

Established in 2013 and headquartered in the Cayman Islands, Gate.io is a well-known cryptocurrency trading platform serving more than 12 million users worldwide. However, the platform is unregulated and cannot operate in the United States.

Review of the Top Features & Services

Gate.io offers a beginner-friendly and easy-to-use trading platform to speculate on digital currencies. Below, we've reviewed the most notable features offered by the exchange.

Perfect for traders looking to swap one asset for another in a cost-effective manner, Gate.io convert instant and charges no commission. Furthermore, the simple, no-frills interface means that the tool is equally accessible to highly experienced users as it is to someone that has never completed a crypto transaction.

While being able to exchange cryptos instantly for zero cost is a massively useful feature not offered by many exchanges we've reviewed, there is a limitation. The range of supported cryptos is minimal. Only 44 cryptos can be swapped via Gate.io Convert, meaning the tool is best suited to quickly swapping well-known assets.

Screenshot of the Gate.io Convert feature.

Gate.io is a top exchange in terms of traffic, liquidity, and trading volumes. The platform is currently rated the 12th best exchange according to CoinMarketCap, which indicates that Gate.io boasts deep liquidity that will enable high-volume traders to place large orders with minimal slippage.

Gate.io averages around $450 million daily trading volume, more than Bitstamp and KuCoin - two of the world's most popular exchanges we've reviewed. Overall, regarding trading volume and liquidity, Gate.io is a leading exchange suitable for traders with large amounts of capital.

Similar to copy trading platforms like eToro and PrimeXBT, Gate.io offers its own social trading system that enables beginners to profit from cryptocurrency without much experience and lets well-regarded traders earn additional revenue in the form of a percentage of their copiers' earnings.

Example of a Gate.io copy trading profile details.

Lead traders on Gate.io are ranked by several factors, including monthly Sharpe ratio, returns, maximum drawdown, assets under management (AUM), and quantity of copiers. After clicking on a leader's profile, you can view their trading strategy, trading metrics, and commission percentage, making it simple to determine who's worth following.

With Gate.io's copy trading feature suitable for everyone, regardless of experience, it's a robust tool. Although the service itself isn't remarkably different from any other popular copy trading platforms, Gate.io has a bustling community meaning finding a trader you like or building a large audience is much more viable than on other exchanges.

A feature that will appeal to advanced traders looking to automate their workflow is Gate.io's crypto trading strategy bots. Using this tool, you can copy other users' bots, create your own, or use a pre-created strategy offered by the exchange. Compared to platforms like Binance, Gate.io offers far more customizability, making it the ideal choice for experienced traders.

Gate.io allows you to search through published strategies, filtering bots by factors like the strategy used (e.g., High Sharpe Ratio, Strong Growth, Stable Returns, etc.). Additionally, a leaderboard collates the ten best-performing bots for each category, highlighting copier investment/profits, making it simple to find a bot matching your trading preferences.

Example grid trading bot on Gate.io.

While testing the bots for our Gate.io review, we went through the creation process and were impressed by the customizability offered. For example, you can set tailored execution logic using variables like account balance, account leverage/margin, past profits/losses, and the pair's trading volume. Therefore, Gate.io's bots are a league above any competitor's offerings.

Further improving the tool's real-world usability, Gate.io offers a strategy backtesting system to see how a bot would perform based on historical market conditions. With the ability to earn a commission on your followers' earnings, Gate.io offers the most versatile and well-rounded bots of any top cryptocurrency trading bot platform we've reviewed.

Gate.io has a product called HODL & Earn which allows its customers to transfer funds from their Gate.io wallet to earn passive rewards as a low-risk alternative to trading crypto. Over 100 assets can be delegated with yields ranging from 0.15% to 150% APR. Compared to Bitfinex, which supports ten staking cryptos, Gate.io is highly versatile.

Although the list of supported assets is already impressive, Gate.io offers several products for each crypto. Lock & Earn is the most typical product; you choose between a flexible or fixed term ranging from 7 to 60 days and earn proportional interest on your crypto assets.

Gate.io HODL and Earn rates for Ethereum.

On top of Lock and Earn, Gate.io offers Sharkfin products that pay out variable interest based on whether the pledged asset stays within a predetermined price range or exceeds/falls below these parameters. After selecting a product, you can click on the asset to view key details like maturity date, forecasted returns, and minimum allocation.

Due to its long list of supported assets and extensive range of products, Gate.io HODL & Earn is perfect for people with a diverse portfolio of altcoins looking to earn interest on their holdings with minimal risk.

Investors looking to leverage their holdings to earn interest passively can utilize Gate.io's crypto lending tool. While most cryptocurrency exchanges offer a similar service, Gate.io is unique as it supports hundreds of lendable assets, meaning you can earn a yield regardless of how diversified your portfolio is.

To help you spot the best opportunities, Gate.io shows each supported asset's total borrowable amount and the current borrowed amount. Then, using this information with the past and estimated next APR, you can dial in your lending to optimize your returns. Additionally, you can set your minimum interest rates to ensure you only lend at your preferred rate.

The crypto lending platform is an excellent way to near-effortless earn a yield on funds held on the exchange. Similar to the company's trading bots, the Lend and Earn program offers excellent customizability, making it ideal for investors that prefer to always be in control of their assets.

Gate.io startup is a launchpad for Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) and Initial Coin Offering (ICO) cryptos. Currently, 749 projects have been launched, with almost $95 million raised. Compared to notable exchanges with an established crypto launchpad, like OKX, which has helped to establish 13 cryptos, Gate.io is a leader in this area.

The quality of projects launched via Gate.io Startup varies significantly. However, a few notable cryptos that were released through Gate.io include the LimeWire token (LMWR), Alex Lab (ALEX), and Play Token (PLAY).

Account and Verification Requirements

We went through the account creation process for our Gate.io review and noted that Know-Your-Customer (KYC) verification isn't a strict requirement. Initially, you only need to provide and confirm an email address and password. Then, however, to buy, trade, or deposit funds, you'll need to complete the KYC process.

There are several levels of verification on Gate.io. KYC-1 requires basic personal information like country of residence, name, and ID number. KYC-2 requires you to scan a photo ID (passport, driving license) and take a selfie. Finally, for KYC-3, you must provide proof of address (utility bill, bank statement).

Supported Fiat Currency and Deposit Methods

Gate.io lets you deposit any cryptocurrency that can be traded on the exchange, making it an excellent option for traders with existing holdings wishing to deposit their preferred cryptocurrency from hot and cold wallets.

Unfortunately, there is no way to deposit fiat currency on Gate.io directly. Instead, you must use one of the 85 supported fiat currencies to buy crypto on the P2P exchange. Alternatively, you can purchase crypto via debit/credit cards or bank transfers.

Supported Cryptocurrencies and Trading Pairs

One of the most significant benefits of trading with Gate.io is its vast range of cryptocurrencies. An impressive 1,752 unique assets are available on the platform, in addition to 183 derivates products that can be traded with up to 100x leverage, making Gate.io a robust day trading exchange for crypto, as there will always be promising opportunities on the platform.

Each asset on Gate.io is denominated in a mixture of USDT, BTC, and ETH, bringing the total number of tradable cryptocurrency markets to 2,902. Out of all the mainstream exchanges, Gate.io offers the most extensive range of cryptocurrency pairs, making it ideal for anyone looking to trade on a single exchange consistently.

Gate.io Fees

Gate.io has a relatively convoluted fee schedule that offers discounts for using GateToken (GT) or Gate.io points to pay fees. Additionally, the exchange offers volume-based fee reductions, making the platform appealing to frequent traders or those with large amounts of deployable capital.

The base rate for trading fees on Gate.io is 0.2% per transaction, with a reduction to 0% (maker) and 0.02% (taker) available for over $3 billion in 30-day volume. Future trading fees start at 0.015% (maker) and 0.05% (taker), with a reduction to 0% and 0.02% available for at least $3 billion worth of trades within 30 days.

However, Gate.io also offers zero-fee spot trading for maker orders on the following pairs: BTC/USDT, all USD-denominated pairs, all BTC-denominated pairs, and all ETH-denominated pairs. Additionally, you can trade all BTC-M-denominated perpetual futures contracts without accruing any fees.

For the average user, spot trading on Gate.io is similar to Huobi but twice as expensive as market leaders like Binance, Bybit, and KuCoin, which all boast a 0.1% trading fee based on our reviews. That said, Gate.io offers lower fees for high-volume traders, making the platform appealing if you're an experienced day trader conducting many transactions.

Although Gate.io does not charge a deposit fee, some withdrawal fees are far higher than the industry standard. For example, Bitcoin costs 0.001 BTC (around $26.50). That said, some assets are also cheaper than usual. For instance, Ethereum costs 0.0018 ETH ($3.25), and USDT costs $4.9 to withdraw. Therefore, checking out the Gate.io fee page before signing up is worth it.

Ease of Use

Gate.io boasts an intuitive interface that can be easily navigated due to all critical features accessible via the header menu. That said, most tools are hidden in submenus which could make finding a particular tool difficult if you've never used the platform.

Trading with Gate.io is accessible to novice and experienced traders as the charting interface can be switched from simple to professional modes. However, the main difference is a candlestick chart vs. a line chart rather than a simplified interface, hindering the service's usability and making the platform less appealing to true beginners.

Gate.io simple trading interface screenshot.

While the simple mode is lackluster, Gate.io offers multi-screen trading charts on up to four pairs, a seldom-seen feature on exchanges we've reviewed other than market leaders like Bybit. Moreover, with TradingView providing the charting software, you can rest assured that Gate.io offers plenty of analysis and crypto charting software to make finding promising crypto investments a breeze.

Several order types are available on Gate.io to help you enter a position at the best price. You can choose between limit, market, and time-condition orders. In contrast to most leverage crypto exchanges we've looked at, Gate.io supports POST, which only creates maker orders with reduced fees. Overall, Gate.io is an excellent option for experienced users but could overwhelm new traders.

Gate.io professional trading interface screenshot.

Gate.io App

Gate.io offers a mobile app accessible on Android and iOS devices. The app is rated 4.4/5 based on over 40,000 reviews on the Google Play store. However, on the Apple App Store, the app is only rated 3.6/5, indicating poor optimization for Apple devices, backed up by users complaining of slowness and being forced to jump through hoops to complete basic actions.

While testing for our Gate.io review, we immediately faced a bug causing the promotional material and login button to display placeholder text. Then, we noticed the app was very slow, with an apparent delay when accessing critical features like the exchange or futures trading. However, thankfully except for trading bots, all Gate.io features are available on mobile.

gate.io mobile app screenshots.

The Gate.io app is simple to navigate as quick links to the platform's primary features are available on the home screen and bottom menu. However, you must be logged in to see advanced features like Copy Trading and Lending, which could cause confusion if you've never used the app previously.

Trading on the Gate.io app is pleasant and straightforward. After navigating to a pair, you can view a custom or TradingView-provided chart, market depth, percentage of buy/sell orders, and the complete order book. With the available types of crypto indicators and drawing tools, the Gate.io app is excellent for performing detailed analysis without using another tool.

There is a reason why Gate.io is one of the fastest-growing crypto platforms. Its app is feature-rich and almost as comprehensive as the web platform. However, the lack of responsiveness and frequent bugs mean that although the Gate.io app is suitable for general trading, it's not ideal for critical activities that need to go off without a hitch.

Customer Support

Gate.io has worked hard to create an efficient support system for its users. The company offers an extensive support center with topics ranging from creating an account to trading futures. While the content in the support center is in-depth and features images, it would be nice if Gate.io had included some video guides to assist customers better.

Gate.io also offers an AI chatbot that can direct you to relevant articles or connect you to a live chat support agent, which we found responds almost instantly. Furthermore, you can create email support tickets if live chat is not your preference. However, no phone customer support line is available, which is detrimental to those wishing to speak directly with an agent.

Security Features

Gate.io strives to provide a safe environment for its customers. To achieve this, the company has implemented measures like real-time monitoring, cold storage for user funds, and transport layer security (TSL). However, these preventative measures haven't stopped the exchange from being hacked on several occasions, including in 2018, 2019, and 2022.

On top of its back-end security measures, users can enable Google Authenticator, IP address monitoring, and a withdrawal address whitelist. Additionally, Gate.io provides proof of reserves for its Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are currently over-collateralized.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

Gate.io is an increasingly popular cryptocurrency exchange that does a lot right. It offers an excellent selection of tools, including copy trading, staking, demo trading, and crypto lending. These features make the platform appealing to anyone not wanting to split their holdings across several platforms or seeking an exchange that does it all.

Unfortunately, Gate.io's merits could be outweighed by the negatives, depending on what you're looking for in an exchange. For low-volume traders, the 0.2% fee is excessive, especially considering 0.1% is the industry standard. Additionally, poor optimization for the mobile app and frequent security issues will alienate a large percentage of customers.

That said, for investors/traders looking for an altcoin exchange that supports many projects, it's hard to beat Gate.io. That said, as the platform is unavailable in the US, it's best suited to international traders looking to speculate on lesser-known cryptocurrencies.

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