Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges of April 2024

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Understanding cryptocurrencies alone can be daunting, and if you’re new to crypto trading, finding the right brokerage to buy and sell popular assets like bitcoin, ether, and dogecoin can be another challenge.

The best cryptocurrency exchanges allow crypto-enthusiasts access to blockchain trading, advanced charting tools, portfolio customizations, and low trading fees. 

Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges

Most of the best cryptocurrency apps provide low fees, margin trading, and other features like staking rewards (interest rewards for holding crypto assets for a set period).

If you don’t want to use your exchange’s built-in wallet (if applicable), you’ll need to set up an external crypto wallet, such as one of the best bitcoin wallets, to store your assets securely. 

• Coinbase: Best crypto exchange for beginners
• Abra: Best crypto exchange for low fees
• Kraken: Best crypto exchange for futures and margin traders
• CEX.IO: Best crypto exchange for cryptocurrency selection
• eToro USA: Best crypto exchange for all types of traders
• Cash App Investing: Best crypto exchange for bitcoin

Here are the best cryptocurrency exchanges for low fees, human advisor access, and more in 2024. 

Compare the Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges

We’ve compiled some of the best cryptocurrency exchanges for buying and selling crypto assets. Keep reading to find the best crypto trading platform for you.

Coinbase: Best Cryptocurrency Exchange for Beginners

Coinbase is a user-friendly digital marketplace offering over 260 digital assets, including bitcoin, ether, litecoin, dogecoin, and ripple. The exchange also offers multiple investment options for individual and institutional clients. Some of its account features include staking rewards, mobile apps, and a Coinbase learning rewards account option that pays you crypto assets for watching educational videos.

Coinbase offers a few other options: Coinbase Pro and Coinbase Advanced Trade for experienced traders and Coinbase Prime for institutions and high-net-worth clients (individuals with at least $1 million). Coinbase Pro users get access to more advanced features like secure trading bots and real-time order books. 

Plus, Coinbase also launched the beta version of its NFT trading platform. For a limited time, it’s offering no transaction fees for creators and collectors who use the platform. Many NFT platforms charge 2.5% per transaction, so Coinbase’s offerings are highly competitive when it comes to pricing.

What to look out for: If you regularly use margin accounts to trade, Coinbase isn’t the best choice. The exchange doesn’t let you temporarily borrow money to trade crypto assets or offer futures (legal contracts that give you a choice to exchange security at a specific price on a forthcoming date).

Coinbase review

Abra: Best Cryptocurrency Exchange for Low Fees

Abra is a global crypto exchange serving individual and institutional traders in more than 150 countries. Along with the fact that Abra doesn’t charge any trading fees (though it earns income from the spread between different assets), the exchange also stands out due to its expansive selection of crypto products and features.

This includes trading for 75 cryptocurrencies, interest accounts that let you earn up to 10% on eligible assets, crypto-backed loans, over-the-counter (OTC) trading, and multiple educational guides for beginners. Its OTC services also give institutional clients access to interest-earning accounts, loans, and one-on-one account support.

In addition, Abra offers 0% interest loans.

What to look out for: Visa and Mastercard transactions have high fees.

Abra review

Kraken: Best Cryptocurrency Exchange for Futures and Margin Traders

Kraken has 215 cryptocurrencies and 7 fair currencies with various options for retail and institutional investors. Kraken is available in more than 190 countries worldwide.

Kraken also offers margin trading and futures trading. With a margin account, you can borrow up to five times your account balance to trade crypto assets. Futures trading — contracts that allow you to buy or sell an asset at a set price on an upcoming date — is available for bitcoin, ether, litecoin, bitcoin cash, and ripple.

The exchange also offers its own futures trading platforms. However, institutional clients can use expert insights, one-on-one consultations, account management support, and more.

All clients can use Kraken’s mobile app access and educational resources.

What to look out for: Kraken’s futures mobile platform isn’t currently available to US traders. In addition, only institutional and high-net-worth clients can utilize the exchange’s consultation and account management services. 

Kraken review

CEX.IO: Best Crypto Exchange for Cryptocurrency Selection

CEX.IO is a global crypto exchange supporting traders in 31 US states. It gives you access to bitcoin and more than 100 other crypto assets.

All users can access CEX.IO’s instant buy feature (only for credit and debit card purchases), mobile app, staking rewards, and crypto-backed loans. But more advanced traders might prefer CEX.IO’s spot trading feature (this option lets you place different types of crypto market orders) and margin trading accounts. Institutions and businesses can use its aggregator and payment management services. 

It’s also important to point out CEX.IO’s fee schedule. The exchange has a maker/taker schedule based on your 30-day trading volume. Maker orders can’t be executed immediately since there are no other orders to match with them; however, taker orders match immediately, according to CEX.IO.

Its maker fees range from 0.00-0.16%, and its taker fees span from 0.01-0.25%. 

What to look out for: Transactions with debit or credit cards can be pricey at CEX.IO.

eToro USA: Best Cryptocurrency Exchange for All Types of Traders

The eToro USA crypto exchange offers a highly secure and easily navigable interface that gives you access to over 21 crypto assets. The exchange also supports traders in 140 countries; you’ll need at least $50 to trade. 

Regarding trading, you can either take the DIY approach or use one of eToro’s two hands-off options. The first, known as the CopyTrader^™ system, allows you to mirror the investment portfolios of other successful traders. US clients can only mimic other US investors’ portfolios.

The second option is SmartPortfolios. The exchange offers access to four pre-built portfolios — CryptoEqual, CryptoPortfolio, Crypto-currency, and TheTIE-LongOnly SmartPortfolio — that eToro regularly rebalances for you.

Finally, eToro offers something that many crypto exchanges don’t — stock and ETF trading. Users can exchange both full and fractional shares of stocks and ETFs without commissions. 

What to look out for: eToro doesn’t support traders in New York, Minnesota, Nevada, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa, Northern Marianas, and the US Virgin Islands.

eToro USA review

Cash App Investing: Best Cryptocurrency Exchange for Bitcoin

Cash App Investing is a user-friendly trading platform offering commission-free trades of more than 1,800 stocks and ETFs. Novice crypto investors easily buy, sell, send, and receive bitcoin when you link or Cash App balance in the mobile app. You can even designate a specific portion of your paycheck to be converted into bitcoin when you set up direct deposits. 

Send bitcoin to your friends fee-free with Cash App’s Lightning Network features. Cash App also provides an in-app custodial wallet to store your bitcoin assets. Starting trading with as little as $1 with bitcoin exchange fees varying from 0.75% to 3% depending on the total exchange amount. 

What to look out for: Cash App Investing only offers bitcoin. Consider other top cryptocurrency platforms if you want to invest in other cryptocurrencies like ether or dogecoin. 

Cryptocurrency Exchanges Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What Does a Crypto Exchange Do? 

A cryptocurrency exchange is like an online brokerage for cryptocurrencies, tokens (virtual assets created through existing blockchains), and other digital assets. Many of these exchanges offer investment options for active traders looking to buy, sell, or hold digital assets like bitcoin, ether, and litecoin. 

Most exchanges also offer custody and storage options for users looking to protect their crypto assets against theft and hacks safely. But then again, most exchanges aren’t solely personal wallet services. If you want to set up an external wallet with a bitcoin wallet provider or another storage wallet service, you can do so while maintaining your crypto exchange account. You can simply transfer assets between your exchange account and crypto wallet when necessary.

Are Cryptocurrency Exchanges Worth It?

This depends on your investment goals and needs. You can invest in cryptocurrencies in more than one place.  

And if you’re interested in low-cost options, note that you can also trade cryptocurrencies with fee-free brokerages like Webull and Robinhood. The catch with taking this route is that you won’t have as many crypto-specific features as you would with a Kraken or Gemini. 

You would essentially sacrifice a wider range of investments and account features for lower fees and limited cryptocurrency options. A cryptocurrency exchange may be the best option if you want a wider range of cryptocurrency-specific trading tools and account features.

Why You Should Trust Us: Our Expert Panel For The Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges

We interviewed the following investing experts to see what they had to say about cryptocurrency exchanges.

• Sandra Cho, RIA, wealth manager, and CEO of Pointwealth Capital Management
• Tessa Campbell, Investment and retirement reporter at Personal Finance Insider

What are the advantages/disadvantages of investing through a cryptocurrency exchange?

Sandra Cho:

“The advantages to investing through a cryptocurrency exchange are the ease of trading and functionality. These exchanges are built for cryptocurrency are are made as such.

“The disadvantages, however, are important. Recently, several cryptocurrency exchanges have gone under, and investors have lost significant amounts of money. Given that this industry and asset class is still relatively new, there are unique risks that are nor present in traditional investments like stock and bonds. Investing through a cryptocurrency leaves you at the will of the exchange itself, which has a non-zero possibility of going defunct.”

Tessa Campbell: 

“Investing through a cryptocurrency exchange offers several advantages, including access to real-time market data and research, trading strategies, and multiple cryptocurrency options to add to individual brokerage accounts, retirement accounts, and more.

“Some disadvantages include high trading fees, limited resources, and frequent fraudulent activity. These platforms are often criticized for their inadequate security measures, risky trading, and subpar customer support.”

Who should consider investing through a crypto exchange?

Sandra Cho:

“Investors with an extremely high-risk tolerance and those that understand the inherent risks in investing through cryptocurrency exchanges may want to consider using an exchange. However, they should be wary of the risks and the lack of oversight that is apparent in the industry.”

Tessa Campbell:

“You may want to consider investing through a crypto exchange if you’re primarily focused on trading crypto and other decentralized currencies. Moreover, you’ll want to have a high investing risk tolerance and a hands-on trading approach.”

Is there any advice you’d offer someone who’s considering investing in cryptocurrencies through a crypto investment app?

Sandra Cho:

“I would tell them to first potentially reconsider dealing with cryptocurrencies at all. The asset class is extremely volatile and unregulated. If they insisted, I would then tell them to do their research on the relevant exchanges and choose the one that is safest and best backed. As mentioned, many crypto exchanges have gone under recently, which is a huge risk to the investor.”

Tessa Campbell:

“Make sure you fully understand the risks involved in purchasing highly volatile cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, ether, or dogecoin. You should also ensure that the cryptocurrency exchange you’re investing through is free of scams, bad business practices, or public scandals. One way to check this is with the Better Business Bureau’s grading system.”

Other Cryptocurrency Exchanges We Considered

• Binance.US: Binance.US supports 150+ cryptocurrencies and other investment options for individuals and institutions. Its account perks include staking rewards, recurring buys, OTC trading, crypto trading pairs, and stablecoins (assets backed by US dollars). However, it may not be the best choice for beginner traders since its educational offerings are limited.
• Bitstamp: Bitstamp is a Luxembourg-based company offering more than 80 cryptocurrencies, with options for advanced traders and institutional traders. US clients can trade crypto assets through its subsidiary, Bitstamp USA. 
• Bittrex: Bittrex is difficult to beat regarding account security. In addition to two-factor authentication, the exchange uses a multi-stage wallet strategy to ensure funds are kept in secure, cold storage (offline storage). Bittrex’s transaction fees are also notably lower compared to other exchanges. Remember, though, that Bittrex isn’t available for residents of New York, Connecticut, Vermont, or Hawaii.
• Webull: This online brokerage only requires $1 to start trading crypto, but its investment selection is limited. Webull may not be the best crypto option to trade assets other than bitcoin, dogecoin, bitcoin cash, ether, litecoin, zcash, or stellar.
• Robinhood Investing: This brokerage’s commission-free structure appeals to those who prefer low-cost investments. Plus, while Robinhood Gold members can earn 5.00% interest on their brokerage cash, non-Gold members can still earn 1.50%. But like Webull and Robinhood, cryptocurrency selection is on the shorter side. The investment app only offers 17 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, bitcoin cash, bitcoin sv, ether, dogecoin, and others. 
• Uphold: This multi-asset digital investing platform offers “Anything-to-Anything” trading between different asset classes. It offers cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, environmental assets, and precious metals. 

Our Methodology: How We Rated the Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges

We applied Insider’s rating methodology for investing platforms to over a dozen exchanges to find the best options for cryptocurrency availability, low fees, asset/account security, user interfaces, and mobile access. Investment platforms are given a rating between 0 and 5.

We also explored whether exchanges offered services both for individuals and institutions, and we paid close attention to other account options like staking rewards, margin trading, and Stablecoin support.