What is KuCoin?
KuCoin is a Singapore-based exchange that was originally launched in Hong Kong in 2017, marketing themselves as 'The People's Exchange'. Their aim was to give people all over the world access to a simple and safe platform to buy and sell a range of digital currencies. They have certainly made an impact in the global crypto community, growing its user base to over 8 million in just 4 years, and serving one in four crypto holders worldwide.
My Overall Thoughts on KuCoin
I am really impressed with the range of services and coins available on KuCoin, and I can see why it is so popular around the world. KuCoin's interface can be slightly daunting for new users, but once you learn your way around the platform, you will love the low 0.1% trading fees and the abundance of trading tools available. These are my top 3 reasons to recommend KuCoin:
1) The trading fees on KuCoin are extremely low (0.1%) and you can reduce this fee to 0.08% if you pay your fees using their own token (KCS coin). If your trading volume is high, and you own a certain amount of KCS coins, your fees will be further discounted. If you choose to buy or sell crpyto on the P2P marketplace, there are NO FEES incurred at all!
2) KuCoin has over 250+ cryptocurrencies available to trade on the market, one of the widest ranges available, and they continually add new coins to their list. You will likely find the coin you are searching for on KuCoin.
3) KuCoin has an extensive array of additional features that aren't found on more basic crypto exchanges. Experienced crypto traders and investors will enjoy Margin trading, Spot trading, P2P marketplace, Futures trading and there are even ways to earn interest on your crypto, using Crypto lending and KuCoin KCS bonus.
My biggest criticism of KuCoin is that they although it is an excellent trading platform, it is not particularly suited for fiat to crypto conversions and vice versa. For example, if you want to purchase crypto directly on KuCoin, the fee ranges from 3% - 12% depending on payment method. Also, you cannot withdraw fiat currency from the exchange. I would suggest using another exchange, such as Coinmama, Coinbase, or Gemini to purchase your crypto using fiat, then deposit that crypto into your KuCoin account (fee-free) to take advantage of the excellent features and low trading fees.
To sum it up, if you are looking for low trading fees, a heap of features, and over 250+ different cryptocurrencies, I would recommend KuCoin as an exchange for you.
Key Features & Advantages of KuCoin
KuCoin has become one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, and that is largely due to the wide range of features and services they offer. KuCoin has plenty of advantages that set it apart from the other exchanges, let's look at some of the best features below:
What Services does KuCoin offer?
If you have spent a bit of time looking at which are the best crypto exchanges, you will know that there are tons of options and it's difficult to pick one. I hope I can help you decide by going into detail about the key services that KuCoin offers its customers.
Over 250+ different cryptocurrencies: KuCoin offers over 250+ different cryptocurrencies which is among the widest ranges found on crypto exchanges. KuCoin is always adding new coins to their platform so you can be among the first to buy the new crypto you have been researching.
Pro Tip: To access the entire range of 250+ coins, you need to trade on the Market. If you want to purchase crypto directly using fiat currency, you only have access to about 50 popular coins. To access the other coins, you will need to trade them on the market. USDT is a stable coin that is pegged to the US Dollar (it holds the same value as USD), which you can use to trade different coins. This essentially creates the same scenario as trading from USD to crypto. For example, if you want to buy a coin called MEM on KuCoin, you cannot buy it directly using your credit card. First buy USDT using your fiat currency, then go to Market and buy MEM using USDT.
Mobile app for iOS and Android: KuCoin has an app available for iOS and Android devices, so that you can trade wherever you are. The interface is sleek and even includes a trading bot that is not available on the desktop site. On the Google Play store, KuCoin's app has over 1 million downloads, with a high user review rating of 4.5 stars, from 13 000 reviews.
Buy crypto directly with fiat currencies: Buying crypto using your fiat currency (eg: USD) is probably how you will start your crypto journey on KuCoin. All you need to do is choose how much you want to spend in your fiat currency (KuCoin supports over 50 fiat currencies) and select which cryptocurrency you want to buy. Follow the prompts and you will see the digital assets in your KuCoin wallet almost immediately. There are about 50 different coins offered here. If you want to purchase a coin that is not available to purchase using fiat currencies, you need to trade on the market. Click here to read how to do that.
Pro Tip: If you want to avoid any immediate volatility then I suggest you buy USDT, which is a stable coin linked to the value of the US Dollar. You can use USDT to trade to any of the 250+ cryptocurrencies on the market. However, there is a fee of around 3-5% depending on which payment method you use, so if the coin you want to purchase is available in the list of 50 supported coins, it is cheaper to buy it straight away.
Only partial KYC verification required: Some crypto exchanges require a lengthy verification process that includes sending photos of your identification, photos of yourself, and even voice and video recording of your face, just to be able to use the platform. On KuCoin, only partial verification is needed, and full verification is only requested if there is suspicious activity, or if you want to withdraw >5 BTC in a 24 hour period.
P2P marketplace - buy & sell with ZERO fees: KuCoin provides a P2P (peer-to-peer) marketplace where you can buy or sell cryptocurrency with another user at an agreed price. You can advertise how much you are willing to buy or sell, and if another individual likes your offer, then your deal is complete and you make the trade. There are also no fees using P2P marketplace which is a bonus.
Futures and margin trading: KuCoin offers futures trading with up to 100x leverage. There are two interfaces you can choose from when trading futures. The first is called Futures Lite which is simple to use, and is perfect for a quick futures trade. I have included a screenshot below. The second option is Futures Pro, which has full trading tools and supports up to 100x leverage. There is a screenshot of Futures Pro underneath the screenshot of Futures Lite.
Pro Tip: It is very risky to margin trade, as you can lose more than your initial capital. I would suggest that you only attempt margin trading if you are experienced, and remember that cryptocurrency can be extremely volatile.
KuCoin bonus - earn KCS daily: Any user that holds more than 6 KCS coins (KuCoin's own token) on the exchange can earn money from it, much like earning interest in the bank on a savings account. The bonus is given daily, with an estimated APR over 22%.
Pro Tip: You can use your KCS coins to reduce the fees you pay on your trades by 20%. This means that instead of paying 0.1% fee for trading on KuCoin, you will only be paying 0.08%. Consider buying KCS to reduce your fees as well as earn interest.
Crypto lending and borrowing: Another way you can earn interest on your crypto is to lend it to others on the KuCoin platform. There are over 70 different cryptocurrencies that you can lend, and you can choose a term of 7, 14 or 28 days. The daily interest rate depends on the amount of interest you want to charge. The higher your interest rate, obviously the more crypto you will make, but it's less likely someone will take up your offer, if there are better rates on the market.
If you are looking to borrow crypto, you can also do that on KuCoin. Simply select which coin and how much you would like to borrow, and the appropriate daily interest rate that suits you.
Pro Tip: If you lend USDT, you can earn interest without worrying about the fluctuations of the crypto market. It is also a good option for those planning on HODLing their crypto. If you aren't going to sell it in the short term, you may as well grow the amount of crypto you own.
KuCoin trading bot: KuCoin has several bots available to help you with your trading. On the desktop site, it appears that only Spot Grid Bot is supported; for the other three bots, you need to use the mobile app. A Trading Bot is a really useful tool to help increase your investment profits. You can choose the rules that your bot will follow, and it will execute trades for you automatically, meaning you can trade while you sleep. The bots are free and they run on a cloud, so you don't need to have your phone or computer in use to support it. You can even see the most successful bots ranked on a daily or 7-day basis, and copy their configurations to create the same bot on your own account.
Bank-level asset security: You can rest assured that your cryptocurrency is safe when you trade with KuCoin. The exchange implements many security measures, such as micro-withdrawal wallets, industry-level multilayer encryption and dynamic multi-factor authentication. This runs alongside their dedicated internal risk control departments who overlook all transactions on a daily basis. KuCoin was hacked in 2020, but they managed to recover a large portion of the funds. The unrecovered funds were covered by their insurance, so users did not suffer any losses due to this cybersecurity breach.
KuCoin Fees
KuCoin charges different fees for depositing, withdrawing, trading and purchasing cryptocurrency; I will go into detail below.
KuCoin Deposit Fees
If you are depositing cryptocurrency into KuCoin, there are zero fees incurred.
KuCoin does not support fiat deposits. However, if you want to buy crypto with fiat, you can do so at the time of purchase, without pre-funding your account.
How much is the fee to buy crypto on KuCoin?
I couldn't find a clear answer on any reviews or even from KuCoin's website. To find out the answer for this review, I purchased USDT using US Dollars on my own account. Since USDT is the same value as the US Dollar, the difference in what I pay, and the amount of USDT I receive will show the fee that is taken out. As you can see from the screenshots below, depending on the payment method, and the payment channel, the fees are different.
The best value seems to be SEPA, where you receive 96.93 USDT for $100. This means the fee that's charged is about 3.1%. The highest fee is when you Visa/Mastercard or Apple Pay using the Simplex payment channel, where they take a whopping 12.3%!
KuCoin Withdrawal Fees
When you withdraw cryptocurrency from your KuCoin account, there is a flat fee that varies depending which coin you are transferring. To see a full list of KuCoin's cryptocurrencies and their respective withdrawal fees, click here.
KuCoin does not support fiat withdrawals.
KuCoin Trading Fees
KuCoin fees for spot trading (buying and selling crypto) start at a low 0.1% and you can easily access a 20% discount if you use KCS coin (Kucoin's token) to pay your fees. This equates to only 0.08% per trade.
Trading fees compared against other popular exchanges
KuCoin | Binance | Coinbase | Bybit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Trading Fees | 0.08% | 0.10% | 4.5% | 0.10% |
If you are a large-volume trader (based on last 30 days) or you hold a lot of KCS, you can access even greater discounts, shown in the table below. At the highest rate of discount, Makers actually receive a rebate of 0.005% (get paid to trade), and the Taker's fee is only a tiny 0.02%.
KCS Holding | Trade Volume (BTC) | Maker/Taker | KCS Pay Fees (Maker/Taker) |
|---|---|---|---|
0 | <50 | 0.1%/0.1% | 0.08%/0.08% |
1000 | >50 | 0.09%/0.1% | 0.072%/0.08% |
10 000 | >200 | 0.07%/0.09% | 0.056%/0.072% |
20 000 | >500 | 0.05%/0.08% | 0.04%/0.064% |
30 000 | >1000 | 0.03%/0.07% | 0.024%/0.056% |
40 000 | >2000 | 0%/0.07% | 0%/0.056% |
50 000 | >4000 | 0%/0.06% | 0%/0.048% |
60 000 | >8000 | 0%/0.05% | 0%/0.04% |
70 000 | >15 000 | -0.005%/0.045% | -0.005%/0.036% |
80 000 | >25 000 | -0.005%/0.04% | -0.005%/0.032% |
90 000 | >40 000 | -0.005%/0.035% | -0.005%/0.028% |
100 000 | >60 000 | -0.005%/0.03% | -0.005%/0.024% |
150 000 | > 80 000 | -0.005%/0.025% | -0.005%/0.02% |
Pros and Cons of KuCoin
- Large crypto exchange with over 8 million users worldwide
- Extremely low fees of 0.1% with a further 20% discount if you pay with KCS
- Mobile app available for iOS and Android
- Over 250+ cryptocurrencies available
- Additional features such as crypto lending, trading bots, margin trading, futures trading
- High fees when buying crypto with fiat (3%-12%)
- Cannot withdraw fiat currencies
- Poor customer service - no live chat support
Verdict
KuCoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrency exchanges, and it has a lot going for it. Extremely low trading fees, P2P marketplace with no fees, over 250+ cryptocurrencies, and packed full of additional features that advanced traders love, like trading bots, futures, margin trading, and crypto lending.
A couple of downsides to KuCoin is that if you want to purchase crypto using fiat, there will be a minimum fee of 3% and you also cannot withdraw fiat currency from the exchange. This may not be the best exchange for those that are new to cryptocurrency, but for experienced traders, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
If you are looking to compare other options, Binance is the largest crypto exchange in the world by trading volume. You can read my full review of Binance and I also have an article comparing KuCoin to Binance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, KuCoin is a legitimate and reliable cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2017. It has expanded rapidly in recent years and now serves over 8 million users.
Yes, KuCoin is a safe cryptocurrency exchange. You can trade comfortably on KuCoin, knowing that your digital assets are secure on the exchange. KuCoin utilises several layers of security, including micro-withdrawal wallets, industry-level multilayer encryption and dynamic multi-factor authentication. They also have dedicated internal risk control departments who overlook all transactions on a daily basis.
Yes, KuCoin is a trusted cryptocurrency exchange established in 2017 and used by over 8 million customers around the globe. It uses multi-layered security, including micro-withdrawal wallets, industry-level multilayer encryption and dynamic multi-factor authentication. KuCoin even has internal risk control departments overseeing all the transactions made each day.
It doesn't matter how secure a crypto exchange is, there is always the chance that hackers find a vulnerability. KuCoin was hacked in 2020, but the important issue is how they dealt with it. KuCoin managed to recover a large portion of the stolen cryptocurrencies, and the remaining unrecovered funds were covered by their insurance policy. Their users did not lose any money as a result of this cybersecurity breach.
Yes, KuCoin is available to US residents. You won't be able to access the KYC verification, but this is not required. You can still use the platform without full verification.
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