Best crypto exchange? 24 exchanges sorted by what their documents say
What is the best crypto exchange?
No document can name one best crypto exchange, so this page sorts 24 by what their terms and the registers say. 14 have a licence found in a regulator's own register, 13 reserve a discretionary freeze without notice, and 12 have a primary-source incident on record. It is not a paid ranking. None meets all four documented criteria.
Documents last checked Reviewed by CryptoGuardz Register Desk, editorial desk
How this is sorted: by what the documents say, not a paid ranking. CryptoGuardz has no commercial relationship with any exchange below and earns nothing if you open an account. The order is four fields read from each exchange’s register record, in this order: whether a licence it holds was found in a regulator’s own register (a regulator warning sorts last); how wide its freeze clause is, from a clause with no discretionary ground and no waiver of notice, through one of the two, to both, with a clause that could not be read last; how many incidents are recorded from primary sources; and whether the terms state a gambling rule either way. Ties are broken by name. Corrections go to the corrections page.
All 24 exchanges, sorted
None of the 24 meets all four criteria. Below that the order follows the first criterion an exchange misses. A lower place means a documented difference, not a worse platform: nothing was traded and no withdrawal was run.
24 exchanges
| Order | Exchange | Licences found in a register | Freeze clause | Incidents | Gambling clause | Proof of reserves |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | eToro | 2 found in a register (CySEC, NYDFS) | Narrowest on record | 1 | Not verified | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 2 | Bitstamp | 1 found in a register (CSSF) | Discretion or no notice | 0 | Restricts some gambling | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 3 | Independent Reserve | 1 found in a register (MAS) | Discretion or no notice | 0 | Restricts some gambling | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 4 | Coinbase | 1 found in a register (CSSF) | Discretion and no notice | 0 | Restricts some gambling | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 5 | Gate | 1 found in a register (MFSA) | Discretion and no notice | 0 | Restricts some gambling | Published, self-signed |
| 6 | Kraken | 2 found in a register (CBI) | Discretion and no notice | 0 | Restricts some gambling | Published, signer not named |
| 7 | Shakepay | 1 found in a register (CIRO) | Discretion and no notice | 0 | Restricts some gambling | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 8 | Crypto.com | 1 found in a register (MFSA) | Discretion and no notice | 0 | Not disclosed | Published, outside signer named |
| 9 | KuCoin | 1 found in a register (FMA) | Discretion and no notice | 1 | Restricts some gambling | Published, outside signer named |
| 10 | OKX | 1 found in a register (MFSA) | Discretion and no notice | 1 | Prohibits gambling | Published, self-signed |
| 11 | Cash App | 1 found in a register (NYDFS) | Discretion and no notice | 2 | Restricts some gambling | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 12 | Gemini | 1 found in a register (NYDFS) | Discretion and no notice | 2 | Not verified | Not published |
| 13 | Robinhood Crypto | 1 found in a register (NYDFS) | Discretion and no notice | 2 | Not verified | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 14 | Bybit | 1 found in a register (FMA) | Not verified | 1 | Not verified | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 15 | CoinSpot | None found in a register | Narrowest on record | 0 | Restricts some gambling | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 16 | Swyftx | None found in a register | Narrowest on record | 0 | Prohibits gambling | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 17 | CoinDCX | None found in a register | Narrowest on record | 1 | Prohibits gambling | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 18 | Uphold | None found in a register | Narrowest on record | 2 | Restricts some gambling | Published, signer not named |
| 19 | ZebPay | None found in a register | Discretion or no notice | 0 | Prohibits gambling | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 20 | HTX | None found in a register | Discretion or no notice | 0 | Not disclosed | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 21 | WazirX | None found in a register | Discretion or no notice | 2 | Not disclosed | No data: page could not be loaded |
| 22 | Bitget | None found in a register | Discretion and no notice | 0 | Prohibits gambling | Published, self-signed |
| 23 | Binance | None found in a register | Discretion and no notice | 1 | Not disclosed | Published, self-signed |
| 24 | MEXC | None found in a register; on a regulator warning list | Discretion and no notice | 1 | Prohibits gambling | Published, self-signed |
Which is the safest crypto exchange?
The documents cannot settle that alone: what happens to a balance in a failure depends on the books, and no audit was read. What the records can say is narrower. 2 exchanges have a licence found in a register, a freeze clause short of discretion with no notice, and no primary-source incident on record: Bitstamp and Independent Reserve. No incident on record is not proof of none.
12 have incidents recorded: Cash App (2), Gemini (2), Robinhood Crypto (2), Uphold (2), WazirX (2), eToro (1), KuCoin (1), OKX (1), Bybit (1), CoinDCX (1), Binance (1) and MEXC (1). 12 have none. The terms of 9 say nothing about what happens to customer assets if the company fails: Gate, KuCoin, CoinSpot, Swyftx, CoinDCX, ZebPay, HTX, Bitget and MEXC.
Which exchanges hold a licence found in a regulator register?
14 of 24: eToro, Bitstamp, Independent Reserve, Coinbase, Gate, Kraken, Shakepay, Crypto.com, KuCoin, OKX, Cash App, Gemini, Robinhood Crypto and Bybit. A licence counts here only when the issuing authority’s own register lists it, and the entry for each says which company holds it, which is often not the company most users contract with. 9 had no licence confirmed in a register: CoinSpot, Swyftx, CoinDCX, Uphold, ZebPay, HTX, WazirX, Bitget and Binance. 7 of the exchanges without a confirmed licence claim one that was looked up and not found. MEXC appears on a regulator’s warning register instead.
Which exchanges can freeze an account without notice?
- Discretionary freeze, no notice required: Coinbase, Gate, Kraken, Shakepay, Crypto.com, KuCoin, OKX, Cash App, Gemini, Robinhood Crypto, Bitget, Binance and MEXC.
- Freeze clause read; discretionary ground or no notice: Bitstamp, Independent Reserve, ZebPay, HTX and WazirX.
- Freeze clause read; no discretionary ground, notice not waived: eToro, CoinSpot, Swyftx, CoinDCX and Uphold.
- Not verified: binding terms not read: Bybit.
Every freeze clause is quoted in full on the entry, with the date it was read. The safety page for each exchange lists the grounds the clause names. For Bybit, the binding global terms could not be retrieved, so no freeze clause is on record.
Which crypto exchanges allow gambling deposits?
None of the terms read grants a permission; what they do is draw the line in different places. 10 restrict unlawful, unregulated or unlicensed gambling only: Bitstamp, Independent Reserve, Coinbase, Gate, Kraken, Shakepay, KuCoin, Cash App, CoinSpot and Uphold. 6 prohibit gambling as a use of the account: OKX, Swyftx, CoinDCX, ZebPay, Bitget and MEXC. 4 name no gambling rule in the documents read: Crypto.com, HTX, WazirX and Binance, which is an absence and not a permission. For 4, the gambling clause is not verified: eToro, Gemini, Robinhood Crypto and Bybit.
A clause on unlawful or unlicensed gambling turns on the law where you live. In a country or US state that licenses online casinos locally, a deposit to a casino without that licence can fall within what those clauses describe. Each clause is quoted in section 10 of the entry. If gambling has stopped being fun, the responsible gambling page lists helplines by country.
Which crypto exchange has the lowest fees?
No data: the register records licences, clauses, reserves and incidents, not fee schedules, so it cannot sort by fees. A fee table read from each exchange’s own schedule would need a date and a source per figure, and none has been collected.