Analysis topic
Photo: Maxim Hopman / UnsplashExchanges
These pieces compare exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, Binance and Gemini on licences, fees and custody, and read what exchange terms say about sending funds to gambling sites.
The exchange register holds the per-exchange records.
Every figure in these pieces traces to a document named at the foot of the page it appears on. Nothing here is a recommendation to gamble.
20 pieces, newest first
· 6 minCan you buy crypto with a credit card? What four exchanges and three card issuers sayIn the US, Coinbase, Kraken and Gemini accept debit cards, not credit cards, for crypto purchases. Crypto.com's Pay on-ramp lists credit cards at a 3.99% fee. Where a credit card purchase goes through, Chase, Capital One and American Express agreements class it as a cash advance with a 5% fee, minimum $5 or $10. · 6 minCoinbase scams: how the impersonation calls work, and what Coinbase says it will never askMost Coinbase scams are impersonation: a caller or text posing as Coinbase support pushes the customer to move coins to a "safe" wallet. Coinbase's help centre lists what its staff never ask for. In May 2025 Coinbase disclosed that bribed support contractors had taken customer data, including government ID images, for under 1% of monthly transacting users, which gave scammers real details to quote. · 6 minCoinbase vs Coinbase Wallet: a custodial exchange account and a self-custody wallet, and the Base app renameCoinbase is a custodial exchange account where crypto is "stored on the platform"; Coinbase Wallet is a self-custody app where Coinbase "never has access to your recovery phrase". The wallet's App Store notes called it Base app for months, and since version 30.11 say "We're now Coinbase Wallet." · 6 minCoinbase vs Gemini: licences, fees, custody and the Earn collapse, from the documentsBoth hold New York charters, but most US Gemini users now contract with Gemini Moonbase, LLC, which is not on the NYDFS list. Gemini's ActiveTrader fees start at 0.600% maker and 1.200% taker. Coinbase's record includes a $50 million NYDFS penalty and a 2025 insider data theft; Gemini's includes the Earn freeze of 340,000 investors. · 6 minCoinbase withdrawal time, fees and how to cash out, from the Coinbase Help CenterSelling crypto to a Coinbase cash balance is instant. Moving that cash to a bank takes 1 to 5 business days by ACH, about 30 minutes by instant cashout, or a same-day wire for $25, per the Coinbase Help Center on 14 October 2026. · 6 minHow to buy bitcoin with Cash App: the steps, the 0% to 2% fee and the spread, from Cash App's help pagesTo buy bitcoin on Cash App, open the Bitcoin tile on the Money tab, tap Buy, pick an amount and a funding source and confirm. Cash App's fee runs from 2.0% on buys under $500 to 0% from $2,000, and a spread of up to 0.75% (or 1%, on a second help page) sits inside the price. · 6 minHow to buy bitcoin in the US: the steps, and the fees Coinbase, Kraken, Cash App, Robinhood and PayPal publishBuying bitcoin in the US means opening a verified account at a broker or exchange, funding it, placing a buy and, optionally, withdrawing to a wallet. Fees published on 14 October 2026 range from 0% to 2.20% of the trade at five US apps, and most add a spread on top. One bitcoin is 100,000,000 satoshis, so any dollar amount can be bought. · 6 minHow to buy Solana in the US: which exchanges list SOL, what they charge, and what moving it to a wallet costsCoinbase, Kraken, Robinhood, PayPal and Gemini each list SOL on their own pages, read on 14 October 2026; Cash App's crypto disclosures cover bitcoin and stablecoins, not SOL. Buy fees follow each platform's general crypto schedule. On-chain, Solana charges 5,000 lamports per signature, and the refundable rent-exempt minimum is being cut by up to 90% in five steps from September 2026. · 6 minHow to buy USDT, which exchanges list it, which network to pick and what it costsIn the US, Coinbase and Gemini list USDT and Robinhood shows it for market data only. Tether sells directly only to verified customers with a 100,000 USD minimum. In the EEA, Coinbase, Kraken and Binance have restricted or delisted it under MiCA. The network picked at withdrawal decides whether the tokens arrive. · 6 minHow do you sell bitcoin? Exchanges, broker apps, P2P and ATMs, with each provider's own feesBitcoin is sold through an exchange, a broker app, a peer-to-peer market or a bitcoin ATM. Stated fees on 14 October 2026 run from 0% plus a spread of up to 0.75% on a Cash App sale of $2,000 or more to 4.99% at a CoinFlip kiosk. Every sale is a capital gain or loss event for US tax. · 6 minHow to withdraw bitcoin from Cash App: speeds, fees, minimums and selling to dollarsCash App sends bitcoin to an outside wallet at three speeds. Standard is free, takes 24 hours or less and needs at least 0.001 BTC; Rush and Priority charge a network fee plus up to $2 or $3. Selling to dollars costs 0% to 2.0% plus a spread, and the cash-out to a bank is free or 0.5% to 2.5%. · 6 minKraken vs Binance: who can use each, what they charge and what regulators settledBinance.com must keep a "complete exit from the United States" under its 2023 Treasury settlement; Americans use the separate Binance.US, unavailable in 16 states and regions. Kraken serves US residents except in Maine and New York. Binance's entry spot fee is 0.100%; Kraken Pro's is 0.40% maker and 0.80% taker. · 6 minWhat is Binance? The companies, the regulators, the 2023 US guilty plea and BNBBinance is a crypto exchange launched in July 2017 by Changpeng Zhao. Its terms, effective 21 July 2026, bind users to three Abu Dhabi Global Market companies. In 2023 Binance Holdings pleaded guilty to US anti-money laundering and sanctions charges and agreed to pay $4,316,126,163 to the DOJ. BNB is the native token of BNB Smart Chain. · 6 minWhat does it mean to stake crypto? Proof of stake, lockups, slashing, exchange terms and taxStaking crypto means locking coins in a proof-of-stake network so they back a validator, in return for rewards and at the risk of slashing. Solo Ethereum staking needs 32 ETH. Coinbase takes a 35% commission and Kraken 30% on flexible staking. The IRS taxes rewards as income when you gain control of them. · 5 minWhat is USDC on Coinbase? Circle's dollar token, Coinbase's rewards terms and redemptionUSDC on Coinbase is a dollar token issued by Circle that Coinbase lets customers buy, hold and convert at $1 for $1 with no conversion fee. Coinbase advertises up to 3.75% APY on USDC, which its help centre calls a loyalty program funded by Coinbase, open in the US to Coinbase One members only. · 7 minCrypto tax in India, by the text of sections 115BBH and 194S and the 2025 Act that replaced themIndia taxes income from transferring crypto at a flat 30% under section 115BBH, allowing only the cost of acquisition and no set-off of losses. Section 194S takes 1% TDS on transfers above Rs 10,000 a year, or Rs 50,000 for a specified person. From 1 April 2026 both rules sit in the Income-tax Act 2025. · 8 minCrypto tax in the UK, from HMRC's Cryptoassets Manual, the 2026 to 2027 allowance and the rule on gambling winningsHMRC treats most personal crypto as an asset liable to Capital Gains Tax when it is sold, swapped, spent or given away. Gains above the £3,000 annual allowance are taxed at 18% or 24% from 6 April 2026. Betting winnings themselves are not chargeable gains, but moving crypto in and out of a casino can be. · 8 minIs crypto legal in India? The RBI ban, the 2020 court ruling, the 30% tax and FIU-IND registrationOwning and trading crypto is legal in India. The RBI's 2018 ban on banks serving crypto firms was set aside by the Supreme Court on 4 March 2020, gains are taxed at 30% under a 2022 amendment with 1% TDS on transfers, and since March 2023 exchanges serving Indians must register with FIU-IND or face blocking. · 6 minSending crypto from an exchange straight to a casino: what the exchange can doOf twelve exchanges on the register, OKX, Bitget and MEXC prohibit gambling transfers outright, OKX and Gate attach a freeze or confiscation power to their gambling clause, Coinbase can claw back a transfer it links to prohibited use, and Binance, Crypto.com and HTX say nothing. Routing through a self-custody wallet moves the balance out of reach of those clauses; it does not change what they say. · 6 minWhere crypto casino deposits come from, and what exchange and DEX terms say about gamblingThree of twelve exchanges prohibit gambling transfers with no licensing exception, five restrict only unlawful gambling, and three are silent. None of fifteen DEX, aggregator or in-wallet swap terms mentions gambling at all.