Best Crypto Exchanges and Apps of April 2024

Established in 2011 and headquartered in San Francisco, Kraken is one of the most reputable cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. The San Francisco-based exchange enables investors to buy, sell, and store over 200 cryptocurrencies while charging low fees on its professional-grade trading platform, Kraken Pro. 

This feature-rich crypto exchange established itself as the go-to platform for professional investors in the early days of the crypto asset market, and it’s maintained its reputation as a reliable and professional trading venue. 

Kraken offers two platforms, its main trading platform and its professional platform, Kraken Pro. The exchange’s Pro dashboard provides highly customizable chart analysis tools, detailed insight into the order books, 13 order types, and high-speed execution. In addition to spot trading, Kraken users can also trade cryptocurrency using margin and execute crypto derivatives trading strategies. 

Cryptocurrency investors who use the instant buy feature will find a markup for the service. The fee will vary depending on the funding method, market conditions, order size, and asset type. When ready to execute the trade, investors will find the fee included in the pricing. Kraken and Kraken Pro both offer a tiered fee structure that allows high-volume traders to save on trading fees. For traders with 30-day volumes of less than $10,000, Kraken Pro’s maker fees start at 0.25% and taker fees start at 0.40%. However, maker fees can drop as low as 0%, and taker fees can drop as low as 0.10% (for traders with 30-day rolling volumes of over $10 million).

Moreover, Kraken has limited funding options, with wire transfers being the primary payment method for Kraken users. ACH transfers are not supported.

Coinbase was founded in 2012 to enable people to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin. Fast-forward to today, Coinbase is a publicly traded cryptocurrency exchange geographically decentralized with no headquarters and available in 100+ countries. It stands out for providing a user-friendly trading experience, robust security, and a range of advanced features for experienced traders.

Because of its large number of supported assets (5,500+) and easy-to-use platform, Coinbase has become the go-to exchange for many first-time crypto buyers. The platform has the look and feel of an online banking app, which most people are using already, making the transition to crypto investing simple.

Coinbase also insures the digital funds it holds on behalf of users and stores U.S. dollar balances in Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured bank accounts to prevent a loss of user funds in the case of a security breach. Trading accounts can be funded with a wide range of payment methods, including wire transfer and ACH transfer.

What’s more, Coinbase also offers options for storing crypto. The first is a custodial option for new investors: storing your coins on the Coinbase.com exchange. The second is a non-custodial wallet (Coinbase Wallet) for experienced crypto users. When storing your crypto on Coinbase.com, Coinbase holds the private keys and effectively stores funds on behalf of Coinbase.com users. With Coinbase Wallet, the user has complete control over their funds as they hold the wallet’s private keys.

While Coinbase is a suitable digital asset exchange for both new and advanced crypto investors, trading fees can be relatively high, ranging from 0% to 0.60% depending on trade volume. In addition, Coinbase’s user feedback is relatively poor. For instance, several Trustpilot users mention problems with customer support. Additionally, there are numerous stories of unexpected account closures that have tainted the exchange’s image.

Moreover, Coinbase has been charged by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly operating as an unregistered securities exchange. SEC Chair Gary Gensler claims that “Coinbase, despite being subject to the securities laws, commingled and unlawfully offered exchange, broker-dealer, and clearinghouse functions.” 

Coinbase has been in communication with the SEC for years in an attempt to ascertain how to comply with regulations to prevent fines. Unfortunately, without success, resulting in the current charges for the U.S.-based company.  

Despite the exchange’s drawbacks and the current charges by the SEC, Coinbase is still worth considering due to its ease of use.

After launching in 2016 and being founded in Hong Kong, Crypto.com has established itself as one of the leading global crypto exchanges. It’s now available in 90 countries worldwide, and it supports over 250 cryptocurrencies.

In addition to offering a large number of supported assets, Crypto.com provides a vast digital asset ecosystem composed of its own blockchain, Crypto.org Chain; a native token called CRO; a crypto visa card; yield-generating crypto products; and more.

What stands out the most, however, is the Crypto.com mobile app. While many crypto exchange mobile apps provide a watered-down version of the exchange’s web-based platform, Crypto.com put a strong focus on building an app that offers a wide range of products and features so users can benefit from this exchange’s ecosystem on the go. Mobile app users can buy, sell, trade, and earn interest on their crypto, as well as pay with crypto.

While Crypto.com offers an impressive amount of products and features, customer support is lacking. Additionally, unless you trade at higher volumes, you will end up paying trading fees of up to 0.075%.

If you are looking for an excellent mobile crypto trading experience, Crypto.com is arguably the best option thanks to its range of products and features, as well as its large number of supported assets.

Launched in 2014 in New York City by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, Gemini stands out for putting a strong emphasis on security and compliance. The New York-based exchange has hot wallet insurance to make sure user funds remain safe in the case of a security breach.

Gemini also encourages users to utilize two-factor authentication to secure their accounts and provides the option to review and approve devices used to log onto the trading account. Another standout security feature of Gemini is that it is SOC 2-certified, which means that third-party auditors have verified the company’s security and compliance frameworks.

Built with advanced traders in mind, Gemini provides a professional-grade trading dashboard and supports over 80 digital currencies and tokens. Gemini also offers a cryptocurrency reward card and allows users to pay for goods and services with crypto.

Gemini's main platform and active trader platform use different fee structures. The primary platform charges fixed amounts for smaller trades and a very high 1.49% on trades above $200. The active trader platform charges maker and taker fees up to 0.4%, with reductions as your volume grows. These are also on the high side. However, paying the comparatively high fee may be a small price to pay for Gemini’s highly robust security.

Traders and investors who prefer to trade on a highly secure platform will appreciate what Gemini has to offer.

Founded in 2017, BitMart is a global cryptocurrency exchange that’s available in over 180 countries. It allows users to buy, sell, and store over 1,500 digital currencies and tokens. 

Incorporated in the Cayman Islands, BitMart has established itself as a leading trading venue for small and mid-cap cryptocurrencies. BitMart offers more assets and trading pairs than its market-leading peers, so Investors looking to add newly launched or obscure crypto assets to their portfolios will likely find what they are looking for on this exchange. 

Additionally, BitMart customers can use the exchange’s Earn feature to receive interest on crypto assets held with the exchange. However, BitMart Savings is not available to investors residing in the United States. Moreover, experienced crypto traders can trade perpetual swaps on over 100 cryptocurrencies on BitMart with up to 100x leverage. Users can also access trading fee discounts when holding the exchange’s native token, BMX.

While BitMart has a lot to offer for experienced crypto traders, the exchange has received some poor customer feedback over the years. For instance, several complaints from users reported withdrawal issues, poor customer support, and a lack of transparency. However, there are at least some positive reviews as well.

Moreover, BitMart suffered a security breach in December 2021 that resulted in the loss of $196 million in user funds. While BitMart has promised to reimburse users, the hack has made a substantial dent in the exchange’s reputation. 

Despite these drawbacks, crypto enthusiasts interested in trading a wide range of lesser-known cryptocurrencies will find what they are looking for on BitMart.

Launched in 2013 by Block, Inc. (formerly Square, Inc.), and headquartered in San Fransico, Cash App allows individuals in the United States and the United Kingdom to send, spend, bank, and invest. It’s essentially a mobile banking app geared towards peer-to-peer payments, but it also has an investment component. Users can invest in stocks, ETFs, and Bitcoin through Cash App. Unlike its peers, such as Robinhood and Venmo, Cash App also lets users withdraw their Bitcoin to third-party wallets, which makes it stand out from its competition.

In early 2022, Cash App’s CEO Jack Dorsey announced that the company has started to roll out support for the Bitcoin Lightning Network to enable near-instant Bitcoin transfers at almost no cost. 

The main drawback of using Cash App to buy and store Bitcoin is that the in-app wallet is custodial, which means the company holds your virtual currency on your behalf. While custodial wallets can be convenient, they are also regarded as less secure than non-custodial wallets. However, since you can withdraw your Bitcoin from Cash App, you can move your cryptocurrency into a personal wallet to which you hold the private keys.

Cash App’s Bitcoin trading fees vary and are only shown when you are asked to confirm your buy or sell crypto transaction. When you trade Bitcoin, Cash App uses the mid-price and adds a spread fee.

Launched in 2014 and headquartered in Barcelona, Catalonia. Bisq is an open-source cryptocurrency trading software that enables individuals from across the globe to trade a range of digital currencies and tokens in a peer-to-peer manner. It currently does not disclose how many cryptocurrencies it supports.

This decentralized exchange does not require users to complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) identity verification process, nor is the trading software limited to users in specific jurisdictions. On Bisq, users can buy and sell Bitcoin and other types of crypto using various payment methods, including bank wire transfers, ACH transfers, and cash deposits. 

While Bisq is popular among early cryptocurrency adopters as it stays true to many of the values that Bitcoin was built on, such as decentralization, privacy, and sovereignty, the exchange is not very beginner-friendly. The escrow mechanism used in the peer-to-peer trading process may be challenging for new users while the comparatively slow trade execution could deter first-time users and active traders. Additionally, the exchange is more targeted at making smaller trades as trading volumes are lower than on centralized global exchanges. 

However, for experienced crypto investors who prefer to trade on a decentralized, KYC-free platform, Bisq offers everything you need to buy and sell cryptocurrency.