Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken are on top of the best exchanges at the end of 2022 — research

Cryptocurrency remains a very popular new asset class for investors. And this is despite the high-profile failures of 2022 and the prolonged crypto winter. Among Google’s top searches for 2022, Bitcoin surpassed TikTok, Apple, and the NFL.

At last count, there were more than 20,000 cryptocurrency projects worldwide, and the number of people using cryptocurrencies is about 295 million. Most of them are in the U.S. (20%), according to Debthammer. 

To buy cryptocurrency, you have to use the services of an exchange. There are about 500 of them, some more suitable for beginners, others for more experienced investors.

Here are the champions

Coinbase, Binance, and Kraken are the leaders among crypto exchanges (which is no surprise) in the Q4 of 2022, according to a ranking by research company Kaiko. The last three places were taken by Bibox, Yobit, and SouthXchange.

The biggest changes from Q3 to Q4: Binance.US jumped from 15th to 8th, and Cboe Global Markets climbed from 22nd to 13th. Bitstamp joins Coinbase and Kraken in the AA category.

1. Coinbase Exchange is an American cryptocurrency trading and investment platform where users can easily buy, sell, exchange and store cryptocurrencies. The platform is intuitive and beginner-friendly, supporting basic transactions, digital wallets, and withdrawals via PayPal. Maker fee 0.4% and taker fee 0.6%.
2. Binance is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume. In August 2022, the daily trading volume was $76 billion and the number of customers worldwide exceeded 90 million. On the platform, you can buy, sell and store your digital assets, as well as access more than 350 registered cryptocurrencies and thousands of trading pairs. The Binance ecosystem now includes Binance Exchange, Labs, Launchpad, Info, Academy, Research, Trust Wallet, Charity, NFT, and more. For each withdrawal, users pay a fixed fee to cover the transaction costs of moving the cryptocurrency from their Binance account. Withdrawal rates are determined by the blockchain network and can fluctuate without notice. Therefore, you need to check the amount of commission depending on what kind of currency and transaction it is. There is a zero fee for selected BTC fiat currency pairs and stablecoins, and a zero maker fee for BUSD pairs. More favorable conditions are offered to holders of BNB exchange tokens (the more of them, the higher the discount).
3. Kraken is a cryptocurrency exchange in the US founded in 2011. Customers can also receive rewards for staking coins. The exchange has a leading level of volume and liquidity in euros and allows users to trade more than 100 crypto-assets and 7 fiat currencies. It was one of the first crypto exchanges to offer spot trading, derivatives, and index products. Kraken serves more than 8 million traders and institutional clients and is backed by Digital Currency Group, Blockchain Capital, Tribe Capital, Hummingbird Ventures, and others. Flat 0.9% fee for stablecoins, and 1.5% for other crypto.

Kaiko ranks exchanges based on a weighted set of individual scores on six criteria: governance, business, technology, data quality, security, and liquidity. The management score receives the highest weighting (30%).

In order to be able to rank each exchange, the ranking is structured according to six criteria, using a proprietary scoring methodology developed and maintained by the Kaiko Index Team. Developed and maintained by the Kaiko Index Team. 

Each criterion is broken down into sub-criteria and assigned a weight for calculating the Kaiko Exchange Score, which serves as the basis for the ranking. The following sections of this document detail the weighting scheme and structure of each criterion.

In addition, the rating of exchanges Kaiko aims to encourage exchanges with consistently high performance and is calculated as follows:

About the criteria and what exactly they include, you can read more here.

Another view

By the way, as for the U.S., the list of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges looks different there, according to Insider Monkey’s rating.

1. Coinsbit. An exchange established in 2018 and headquartered in Estonia. It supports cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as popular Stablecoins. Coinsbit claims to keep more than 95% of its customers’ assets in cold storage, and it also uses a firewall to protect against intruders. The exchange allows its users to both give and take credit. 
2. Bitmart is based in the Cayman Islands and provides digital assets and investment services. It serves more than nine million users in over 190 countries. The exchange also offers spot currency and futures trading. In addition, Bitmart claims to keep its customers safe with an advanced system that is a combination of hot and cold wallets and multi-signature technology.
3. Bitget. A private financial services company registered in Seychelles. The firm was established in 2018. The exchange supports the USDC derivative margin and also allows users to trade without token conversion. Bitget also supports spot and futures trading.  Bitget claims to separate hot and cold wallets and has a $300 million fund to protect its assets.
4. Kraken is an American cryptocurrency exchange and bank. It operates in more than 200 countries and has more than nine million customers and supports more than $200 billion in trading volume per quarter. It also allows betting and supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies.
5. Blockchain.com Exchange is a British cryptocurrency company founded in 2011. It allows users to trade more than 90 different pairs. The explorer platform allows users to view transaction details as long as they have the transaction hash code. 

How can I make money on this?

It is possible to earn by using the services of crypto exchanges. That is, you can buy cryptocurrency on one exchange and sell it on another one, where it costs a bit more.

You can also save your money profitably if you compare commissions for different types of transactions at different cryptocurrency exchanges. Usually, the commission is different depending on what kind of token this is, whether the user has VIP or similar status, the amount involved, and so on.