I have been meaning to write about the different exchanges that I currently use and my thoughts nad experiences with them. Of course, using an exchange is always going to be coloured by the "Not your keys..." mantra, these are good places to store your crypto as a temporary storage, somewhere close to the market for easy sale/purchase and fiat on-ramps. However, if you are interested in crypto, you really should be holding in self-custody, this is what crypto is all about... the individual control of your digital assets, and no accepting the IOUs of the existing financial system as being an acceptable solution.
Now, if you are a crypto old-hand, you will already know this... and you are more than likely to be comfortable with securing your own digital assets and the use of DEXs and all of that. That is all well and good, but don't ever be over-confident! All it takes is one bad slip and the whole thing can come down hard... and there isn't going to be anyone to complain to!
Anyway, most newcomers aren't going to be comfortable taking everything under their own responsibility... and that is also okay. Solutions will eventually have to be built out for these people. Until there are acceptable custody solutions, then exchanges are going to have to do. Not ideal, but a necessary stop-gap.
Anyway, here is a listing of the exchanges that I use, and what I think of them. Mostly good, and I tend to stay away from the really dodgy ones! Hopefully, this will be useful for the people who are looking to start their foothold in crypto. I had a friend do this for me once... years ago. Now, I guess I should pay it forward to the 95-99 percent of people who haven't yet dipped their toes into the crypto-verse!
Binance
Kucoin
CoinList
FTX
MXC
Coinbase
Crypto.com
Huobi
Gate.io
Bittrex
BitStamp
Poloniex
Okay... if you haven't heard of Binance, then this is definitely one of the exchanges that you should have an account on. It is one of the largest (the largest?) exchanges in existence at the moment... which represents phenomenal growth over the last few years. Of course, nothing is certain in the fast moving crypto ecosystem... but Binance has not stood still.... having launched their own smart contracts blockchain (BSC), and having an incredible amount of utility in their exchange token (BNB) but on-chain (o BSC) and off-chain (on the Binance exchange platform).
I had come to Binance a while back to catch some of the writing bounties that they had, and I've not looked back since then! I know that some of the crypto OGs don't really have a good opinion of the exchange and its influence in the ecosystem, but it has been good to me. So, no complaints... yet!
In the past, Binance has tried to avoid being regulated by presenting itself as a decentralised entity with no headquarters. However, in recent times... that trick has stopped working, and the exchange has found itself in hot water with regulators, mainly for it's derivative offerings. In hindsight, it appears that they have chosen the fast-growth strategy to capture market share, and then to slow down and sort out the chaos with regulators afterwards.
The exchanges holds regular crowd Launchpads and Launchpools, which allow BNB holders cheap tokens before exchange listings. I have to say, although I don't really always see the worth of the tokens, they have generally been very profitable investments, so I have had no complaints there! Of course, it doesn't hurt to have the backing of the world's largest crypto exchange behind your project!
Kucoin is the other major exchange that I use. The Singapore based exchange was one of many that had started to emulate the Binance model with very similar looking offerings and also launching their own smart contracts chain... however, I think that they don't quite have the financial clout to have it work as successfully for them!
They also have regular events and launches, which I have found much riskier than the Binance launches. Early profit on these launches tend to be quite small... and the price generally has a fast decline within the hours of listing... I've stopped taking part in the paid/subscription launches. I find that the chances of actually breaking even or making a small profit to be too small to be worth taking the risk.
However, the more interesting part of Kucoin is the Burning Drop events... this is where you lock the exchange token (KCS) in return for a drop of some new token before it is listed. Often there are other tokens that also can be locked (generally ETH and USDT) in seperate pools, and your allocation can be boosted by burning POLS (the Proof of Liquidity token that powers their savings products). Your tokens are generally locked for around 20 -30 days, and your allocation is partly unlocked before listing and over time. Given that you are only forgoing staking (KCS) rewards for that time, it is an easy way to make a profit out of the early listing volatility and to have a moonbag for later when the rest of the allocation drips out over time.
In recent times, the exchange has taken a swing towards lots of gamification of trading activities and even having a "gambling" section (they call it something else). I'm not really keen about that... I would advise staying well clear of those things! Crypto is risky enough already without appealing to the thrill of throwing the dice...
Now, CoinList is not really an exchange. There is an exchange attached to it, but I don't use it very much other than to fund what I really use CoinList for.
So, what is CoinList best for? Early crowdsales of vetted token projects... now, many of these projects are already backed by VCs and this will be the first time that the public will have access to sales. In a way, it is a bit dangerous... but I prefer it to the completely wild on-chain token sales that don't have any previous backing of VC firms... and to be perfectly honest, I would rather back a project that has money (and been investigated by) from a VC firm rather than something that an influencer has "researched".
It is a regulated exchange/launch platform... and if you take a look at the past launches, you will see that there are many really familiar names and huge returns! That said, it is NOT a place that you should go to for quick easy profit.... many of the sales are vested over a long time, and it can be quite difficult to get a purchase spot until your account has had a fair bit more time attempting to get into the queue system.
Unfortunately, the withdrawal fees here are significantly higher than the going rate in other exchanges... so, you will have to think carefully in order to batch your transactions to avoid getting nipped too regularly!
So... join the sales, but don't expect a purchase spot! However, if you take part in the exchange ecosystem, you will start to accumulate Karma which might just bag you a priority queue ticket! In that case, you can almost expect to get a purchase spot! Another exchange that I highly recommend!
FTX is one of the regulated exchanges from the United States. You can always tell the difference between the Western and Eastern exchanges... the Western exchanges are more austere and with much less emphasis on the gamification aspects, whilst the Eastern exchanges have incredibly wealth of offerings! Personally, I sometimes find that Western exchanges don't have exactly what I want... but the Eastern ones can be quite confusing and cluttered in their interface!
Anyway, FTX is the exchange with close ties to VCs and the Solana (SOL) blockchain... it has a decent enough fiat on-ramp that I use to onboard euros into and out of crypto. The time to deposit euros is quite variable... so don't expect fast transfers here, they can take a couple of days... or a week. However, I find that prodding customer support is a quick way to get it appearing within the hour.
Another really great thing about FTX is the free ERC20 withdrawals that come with staked FTT (the exchange token). This is currently one of the primary benefits of staking FTT, and it is actually quite useful... especially with Ethereum gas fees being a little bit unbounded. The exchange also offers free withdrawals of stablecoins as well!... that is also pretty handy, as there are enough exchanges that take a nice little chomp on the way out... often at rates that are not tied to the gas fees!
On the whole, it is worth having an account here... it has been one of the better fiat on/off ramps that I have used... even if their particular way of implementing euro deposits is a little clunky!
MXC was one of the first exchanges that I started experimenting with to get access to low cap tokens from a centralised exchange. Of course, if you want to get really the first bite of the low-cap pie... you should do it on-chain at one of the various DEXs... however, there is just so much crap and scams out there, and the Ethereum gas fees make it a pain in the arse to interact with without cringing.
So, generally by the time that tokens make it to MXC they have had some decent backing already from retail. This doesn't mean that they won't crash and burn... but it does mean that they have been in operation for at least a week!
Now, holding the exchange token (MX) does entitle you to vote for token listings (with an airdrop) and to take part in token sales as well. The quality of the sales are okay... but the MX requirement to take part is quite high if you are starting at this moment in time (at the time of writing, it is 5000 MX to take part in the minimum tier). However, if you can scrape that together.. it is still worth doing. Plus, more MX means that you get more of the proportional voting airdrops.
I'm a little bit weirded out about the voting for listing... there is no incentive for MX holders to NOT vote for the listing... and there is no option to oppose the listing, so it is a flawed game construction with no real benefit. The token WILL be listed, you can vote for it to get a proportional airdrop... or you can NOT vote and get nothing. There is nothing staked, and no alternative outcome to the game! I guess it is a way to pump the value of MX... but I would prefer a staking option.
Ahhhh... good old regulated Coinbase. It is still the exchange that I recommend first to newcomers as it is just well constructed and regulated... no faffing around, and people are more at home and familiar with the interface, and aren't bewildered by market books and trading charts... and the plethora of different products that other exchanges offer.
However, it is also recommended to move off it as soon as you can. Withdrawal fees are high... and there are much better options. But it is a friendly stress-free place to start your adventure!
Another thing that differentiates the Western and Eastern exchanges is the heavy reliance of Western exchanges upon celebrity marketing. I'm not really a fan of this... but it is the way of the West. We live in a crazy world that is completely dominated by the sham of marketing... and the United States are masters of this, and celebrities are the tools of marketing. Some famous guy who appears in films says something about crypto... sure, that is more convincing than a real expert! Bleah..
Anyway, Crypto.com is another regulated Western exchange, and it has launched its own smart contracts platform that uses its exchange currency (CRO) as the native coin. From memory, it is part of the Cosmos (ATOM) ecosystem.
I have found that the implementation of their regulated products to be a bit annoying... there are seperate apps and websites for their exchange, DeFi Wallet and Centralised Wallets. It is not so handy to have to keep switching between them.... however, they have the fastest euro deposit (SEPA) options around. I generally get the funds within a few hours, often much less. Plus, they also have the nicest VISA debit card... metal! There is nothing better than the feel and heft of this metal card... I LOVE IT! (however, I use the Binance one more as I have more BNB than CRO).
The withdrawal fees are higher than I would like... however, they have recently implemented L2 Ethereum withdrawals on selected ERC20 tokens (I think they are one of the first exchanges to do this!) which is definitely a game-changer. This hopefully will prod the other exchanges to start doing this as well... it is sorely needed!
Huobi is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world at the moment, and I have had an account there for quite some time. However, I've always found the interface too cluttered for my taste and the English version of the app and website are full of bad translations.... which doesn't really build much in the way of trust.
However, I have more recently been spending more time learning and exploring the interface as it is a decent exchange that lists many tokens that I don't get on Binance or Kucoin. Many of these are also fairly early in their listing adventure... which means that I can try and get earlier exposure to risky bets!
Even more interesting is their introduction to the Primelist events. The first one occurred earlier this week with the IMX token being offered to HT holders at 16 cents per token, with the amount that you could purchase being determined by your HT token holdings. If these occur more often, it is a great reason to hold HT and to keep Huobi as one of my primary exchanges to check in on! It also has a HIVE and STEEM deposit address, so that makes it easy to drip in blogging earnings!
Gate.io is another exchange that I had been avoiding until earlier this year. Again... same reason, cluttered interface with too much going on for my taste and the English version of the app/website is also dodgy with funny translations. However, it lists many highly risky tokens... so, I've found it interesting from time to time to take a punt on something that is highly risky but might pay off... whilst avoiding the nightmare of DEXs and the wild wild token world of potential scams.
Gate.io also has an incredibly long list of almost daily token launches... where you can purchase tokens quite cheaply in order to bootstrap a wide variety of crypto projects. These are definitely of dubious quality and backing... but I have noticed that the tokens do have at least an initial pump spike... so, I've just done it to get a steady stream of quick profits to shunt into other things. I probably should hang on to a moonbag for these projects too... but I haven't yet made that a habit!
Bittrex is one of the older exchanges that has lasted through the good times and bad. It is one of the few exchanges that actually list HBD and SBD which can make it a useful exchange for those who want to deal in the "stablecoins" of our blogging platforms. There was a time that I used it much more often... however, these days it is just sitting fairly dormant. I have a few assets still in there that I sometimes forget about, and they are just waiting for the day that Ethereum fees come down enough to consider moving them... or maybe I should just sell them to USDT and repurchase them on an exchange that I actually use more?
Still, it was nice to revisit the exchange... there is nothing wrong with it, it is a dependable workhorse, but it has since given way to exchanges with better mobile apps.
Ohhhh... another blast from the past that is still going strong. I used to use BitStamp as my primary fiat on-ramp quite some time ago. Again, much like the other exchanges of the era, it got overtaken by other exchanges with better mobile apps and the lure of exchange tokens. Sadly, I rarely use BitStamp anymore... I had to re-authorise my computer!
That said... there is nothing wrong with BitStamp. However, it does look a little old fashioned in comparison to other exchanges... however, it is better regulated, so those that like to play it safer are going to feel more comfortable with that!
Ahhhh... Poloniex. There was a time when Poloniex was one of the leading exchanges in the crypto space, and one that I used quite regularly. However, it has long since fallen from the its heady peak as the leading regulated exchange... and it has new management since a few years ago. I'm afraid that since then... it has been a bit more like a "look at me" exchange that is trying to copy the more successful ones... and in a cringy painful way.
This was its latest listing... and it is still up on the announcements. I think that that says more than enough.
I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x
Handy Crypto Tools
Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
Kucoin: My second choice in exchanges, many tokens listed here that you can't get on Binance!
FTX: Regulated US-based exchange with some pretty interesting and useful discounts on trading and withdrawal fees for FTT holders. Decent fiat on-ramp as well!
MXC: Listings of lots of interesting tokens that are usually only available on DEXs. Avoid high gas prices!
Huobi: One of the largest exchanges in the world, some very interesting listings and early access sales through Primelist.
Gate.io: If you are after some of the weirdest and strangest tokens, this is one of the easiest off-chain places to get them!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
Stoic: A USD maximisation bot trading on Binance using long-term long strategies, powered by the AI/human system of Cindicator.
StakeDAO: Decentralised pooled staking of PoS assets.
Poloniex: One of the older regulated exchanges that has come into new ownership. I used to use it quite a lot, but have since stopped.
BitStamp: A blast from the past... but still reliable!
