Crypto Exchanges Ranking 2024

Discover the best-rated crypto exchanges for 2024. All Exchanges have been tested by us prior.
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Best Crypto Exchanges tested and ranked

Finding a good crypto exchange for oneself is one of the first and most important tasks of all crypto investors before trading cryptocurrencies.

As the selection of crypto exchanges and brokers is constantly growing, we created this overview of recommended crypto exchanges for 2024 that we personally rate as the best exchanges for cryptocurrencies.

What are Crypto Exchanges?

Cryptocurrency exchanges are platforms that most importantly allow you to buy and sell cryptocurrencies for traditional fiat money.

Unlike the cryptocurrencies themselves, these crypto exchanges are operated by actual companies, which is the reason why users have to go through a registration process before using such sites for buying crypto.

Even though you can easily register and buy crypto on practically any exchange, they differ in many important aspects that we cover throughout this crypto exchange ranking.

Which Crypto Exchange suits me?

From our ranking of the best crypto exchanges and brokers, different trading platforms are recommended for various reasons. Due to availability concerns, we make a distinction between globally available crypto exchanges, and those only operating in Europe, when looking at which crypto exchange may be suited for you.

International Crypto Exchanges

International crypto exchanges offer trading of a wide range of cryptocurrencies in many regions of the world.

  • eToro logoeToro is our best-rated crypto broker
    ↳ Many deposit methods, easy usage, many coins

  • Kraken logoKraken is recommended by us for both beginners and traders
    ↳ Many coins, very low fees, easy and pro mode, automatic DCA

  • Coinbase logoCoinbase is one of the biggest, publicly listed crypto exchanges
    ↳ Many coins, trading tools, automatic DCA, higher fees than Kraken

European Crypto Exchanges

For users residing in Europe, we recommend the following top crypto exchanges from Europe for many reasons, such as faster registration, higher data protection, and much more:

  • Bitpanda logoBitpanda is especially recommended for crypto beginners
    ↳ Easy to use, many coins, automatic DCA, trading tools

  • Bitvavo logoBitvavo is recommended for cost-efficient crypto trading
    ↳ Very low fees, many coins, PayPal accepted, trading tools

  • Bison logoBison is a recommended broker for easy Bitcoin and stock investing
    ↳ Easy Usage, Automatic DCA via standing order

Crypto Exchanges vs. Crypto Brokers

Throughout this ranking of crypto exchanges, you will notice that certain sites for buying cryptocurrencies are labeled as exchanges while others are labeled as brokers. This is due to the reason that are two major different platforms for trading cryptocurrencies.

Crypto exchanges directly create trading markets to let users buy and sell crypto from each other. When you trade crypto at an exchange, you directly buy or sell your crypto to other users. This frequently results in lower trading fees, making cryptocurrency exchanges very cost-efficient.

Crypto brokers on the other hand act as a middleman between traders and markets. When you buy or sell crypto at a broker, the broker does the actual trade on an exchange for you. While these types of sites for buying crypto sometimes result in higher fees, they are often very easy to use and hence great crypto trading platforms for new investors.

1. eToro: World-famous Broker

etoro header

eToro is a well-known broker founded in 2007 that offers trading of 75+ cryptocurrencies among many other assets like stocks and commodities. On eToro, buying and selling many popular cryptocurrencies is particularly simple due to an easy trading interface.

In our crypto broker test, eToro logoeToro has been rated as the best crypto broker.

Unlike many other tested crypto brokers, purchased cryptocurrencies on eToro can even be withdrawn to your own wallet under disclosed circumstances.

Furthermore, the eToro broker has many branches worldwide and is regulated by institutions such as the CySEC, FCA, and ASIC, making it one of the best international platforms for buying crypto.

With a variety of tradable cryptocurrencies, eToro is a top crypto broker for buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies fast and easily with numerous deposit methods. We particularly appreciate eToro for its numerous deposit methods, such as PayPal, and interesting features like copy trading with a very large community.

From the overview of best crypto exchanges, eToro logoeToro stands out with many payment methods and a variety of tradable products. We, therefore, recommend eToro to investors who have an interest in many different investment assets or rely on specific deposit methods, such as PayPal.

Cryptocurrencies purchased from eToro can only be sent to your own crypto wallet under certain conditions displayed on their website, and come with an additional service fee.

2. Kraken: Crypto Exchange from the US

kraken header

Kraken is a famous crypto exchange based in the USA. The crypto exchange offers trading of a large number of crypto coins and integrates all the necessary functions for investing in cryptocurrencies, such as automatic DCA and crypto staking, with very low trading fees.

We believe Kraken logoKraken is one of the best general-purpose crypto exchanges.

Luckily, Kraken offers both a simple user interface that allows beginners to start trading cryptocurrencies with low effort and an advanced trading mode 'Kraken Pro' with useful tools for traders.

In addition to a very large selection of tradable crypto coins, Kraken is particularly known for its high level of trustworthiness and transparency, as the crypto exchange implements a public proof of reserves of its customer funds.

With lots of useful investing features, very low fees, and a long successful history, we consider the Kraken logoKraken crypto exchange highly recommendable and trustworthy.

Trading crypto in Kraken's easy mode comes with rather high fees compared to Kraken Pro.

3. Bitpanda: European Multi-Asset Broker

bitpanda header

Bitpanda is a European broker for cryptocurrencies, stocks, ETFs, and precious metals based in Austria. The modern trading platform focuses especially on offering new investors a user-friendly and feature-rich introduction to investing.

Bitpanda logoBitpanda is the best European crypto exchange for beginners based on our test.

Bitpanda provides a very user-friendly trading platform that includes all the important features of a top crypto exchange, such as staking and automatic Bitcoin DCA .

In addition, Bitpanda maintains a large and growing selection of 200+ crypto coins that will satisfy the vast majority of crypto investors.

Furthermore, the 2014-founded exchange offers high regulatory compliance and is one of the first crypto exchanges with a license from the German BaFin.

Bitpanda makes it easy to invest in crypto assets, even for complete beginners.

We think the trading fees on Bitpanda are too high for serious, long-term investors.

To learn more about Bitpanda, take a look at our Bitpanda review with all important information for 2024.

4. Bitvavo: Crypto Exchange from Europe

bitvavo header

Bitvavo is a European crypto exchange based in the Netherlands. The exchange for cryptocurrencies offers very cost-efficient buying and selling of 175+ cryptocurrencies with particularly low trading fees.

At the same time, Bitvavo has a user interface for both beginners and experienced traders, making this exchange suitable for investors of any experience level.

Out of all the crypto exchanges reviewed by us, Bitvavo logoBitvavo is by far the best crypto exchange based in Europe when it comes to trading fees.

The Bitvavo crypto exchange also offers a high level of security by insuring up to €100,000 per user in the event of external hacks and by securely storing customer funds with the help of the 'Bitvavo Payments' Foundation.

What is very unique about Bitvavo is the fact that beginners benefit from the same low fees as advanced traders. Moreover, this crypto exchange accepts PayPal, making depositing at Bitvavo doable in real-time, which is rarely the case for most other crypto exchanges.

The crypto exchange Bitvavo logoBitvavo shines with very low trading fees, important security features, and a large selection of tradable coins. Therefore, we recommend Bitvavo to all crypto investors who want to get the most crypto for their money.

Bitvavo currently does not accept deposits by credit card and is not actively regulated.

5. Coinbase: International Crypto Exchange

coinbase header

Coinbase is an international crypto exchange listed on the US stock market, that offers trading of 230+ crypto assets with rich features, such as automatic DCA, staking, and an NFT marketplace.

The USA-based cryptocurrency exchange offers both a simple trading mode for beginning investors, as well as an advanced trading view for experienced traders, hence Coinbase can be used by any crypto investor.

Since its founding in 2012, Coinbase places a high value on regulatory compliance around the globe to enable a high level of trust. This effort is reflected in Coinbase being the first-ever crypto exchange to be licensed by the German BaFin.

Coinbase provides a great user experience with easy access to crypto trading with almost instant account registrations. Because Coinbase is listed on the US stock market, we believe this exchange is one of the most future-proof exchanges one can choose from today.

Trading fees on Coinbase are very high, and at best moderate in the Coinbase Advanced Trade mode.

Criteria for Ranking Crypto Exchanges

When looking for a crypto exchange, there are some important factors that our ranking of top exchanges for cryptocurrencies is based on:

  • Duration of registration: While some crypto exchanges require long-lasting KYC, others offer instant registration.

  • Fees for crypto trading: Crypto exchanges charge a different amount of money per trade.

  • Difficulty of use: While some crypto exchanges only offer complicated trading views, others offer beginner-friendly interfaces with little room for error.

  • Crypto Selection: While Bitcoin-only investors will have it easy, altcoin fans need to check the availability of their favorite cryptos before choosing a crypto exchange.

  • Features: Certain features make investing in crypto easier, such as an automatic DCA savings plan, a mobile app, or advanced trading tools for pros.

  • Security: Crypto exchanges are known for offering very little regulatory safety. By choosing a locally regulated exchange, you can benefit from the highest security.

  • Local factors: Important factors for your specific region, such as general availability, regulations, and language of the exchange.

By considering these essential factors, you can quickly gain an overview of the best exchanges for buying cryptocurrencies that cater to your specific requirements.

Crypto Exchanges with Fast Registration

An uncomplicated registration process is an important component of good cryptocurrency exchanges, as long-lasting registration procedures are often the first barriers to entry.

On most platforms from this crypto exchange overview, a registration process with identity verification must be completed before trading any cryptocurrencies.

Luckily, the registration and verification process on most exchanges for cryptocurrencies can be performed within minutes with mostly just a government-issued ID and/or a basic utility bill that one has to scan and upload to the crypto exchange.

In our test, the exchange Kraken logoKraken and the crypto broker eToro logoeToro offered the easiest registration process.

Fortunately for European investors, many European crypto exchanges like Bitvavo logoBitvavo and Bitpanda logoBitpanda offer the fastest registration and verification process out of all platforms we have tested, as they mostly only require an ID.

Trading fees

Crypto exchanges and crypto brokers finance themselves through trading fees by keeping a small percentage of the trading volume for each crypto trade you make on their trading platform. If you want to make the best possible use of your investment capital, you should pay particular attention to the trading fees of crypto exchanges.

From our ranking, Kraken logoKraken and link logoBitvavo (EU), and Binance logoBinance are the best cryptocurrency exchanges with respect to trading fees.

Most other crypto platforms, which scored slightly lower in terms of fees, often offer other advantages instead, such as higher regulatory safety.

In fact, this is a very common trade-off in the world of crypto exchanges: As regulatory compliance comes with higher bureaucratic effort, more regulated cryptocurrency platforms, such as Bitpanda, often come with higher trading fees.

Automatic DCA

Another important feature to us when evaluating the best crypto exchanges is the functionality to execute an automatic crypto DCA strategy.

On crypto exchanges with automatic DCA, cryptocurrencies can be bought automatically on a regular basis without manual intervention.

The crypto exchanges Kraken logoKraken , link logoBitpanda (EU) , and Coinbase logoCoinbase offer automatic dollar cost averaging.

These crypto exchanges are useful for individuals who wish to invest regularly in cryptocurrencies without having to worry about the current market conditions, making them highly recommended.

Mobile Apps

Another feature that can be used to identify your personal best cryptocurrency exchange that is especially essential for mobile investors is the ability to invest on the go via a mobile app.

We found the crypto exchange Kraken logoKraken and crypto brokers eToro logoeToro and link logoBitpanda (Europe) to be best for mobile.

We found that these apps are particularly pleasing to use and implement most of the features that are also available in the web versions.

Which Crypto Exchange is the best?

While our test result shows some clear winners, finding the right crypto exchange is a subjective task that requires anyone to consider their individual circumstances.

For beginning investors, the best exchanges for buying crypto are those that offer a quick registration and a simple user interface with little room for error. These include in particular the crypto broker eToro logoeToro and the exchanges Kraken logoKraken and link logoBitpanda (EU) .

For more experienced crypto investors, on the other hand, low fees and the range of functions can be decisive factors when ranking crypto exchanges. From our test, the cryptocurrency exchanges Binance logoBinance and link logoBitvavo (EU) are particularly recommended for experienced crypto traders.

If you are still unsure of which platform to choose, take a look at our ultimate crypto exchange comparison.