KuCoin Review

What is KuCoin?

KuCoin is a Hong Kong-based exchange that has been in operation since 2017. The exchange was created to give people all over the world access to a simple and safe platform to buy and sell a range of digital currencies with the company marketing themselves as “The People’s Exchange”. 

What services do KuCoin offer?

KuCoin has become one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world that serves one out of four crypto holders worldwide. They now offer a wide range of crypto services and the list is growing every year, lets look at the top services offered right now:

Buy crypto with fiat currencies:  This is probably how you will start your journey on KuCoin, with this option you can directly buy cryptocurrencies using your credit/debit card. Simply enter how much you want to spend in your fiat currency (KuCoin supports over 25 fiat currencies) and then select which cryptocurrency you want to buy. Follow the prompts and almost instantly you will see the crypto in your KuCoin wallet.

This particular KuCoin service supports credit or debit card via Simplex, Banxa, or PayMIR, or its Fast Buy service, which facilitates IDR, VND, and CNY purchases of Bitcoin (BTC) or Tether (USDT).

Pro Tip: If you want to avoid any immediate volatility then i suggest you buy USDT, which is a stable coin, meaning it will stay the same value as the US dollar but its still considered a cryptocurrency for trading purposes. After you have chosen your strategy you can start your trading.

Buy and sell 200 cryptocurrencies with low fees worldwide. This ability alone makes KuCoin super popular. KuCoin only charges a 0.1% fee per trade and even small fees for futures trading. As you can see below, the dashboard is pretty detailed, but don't worry if you find this intimidating, they have a more simple version for beginners called instant exchange.

Pro Tip: You cannot trade fiat-to-crypto on KuCoin, you can only trade crypto-to-crypto. USDT is a stable coin that is pegged to the US dollar which means it holds the same value as the USD. You can use this to trade into and out of different cryptos. This is essentially creates the same scenario as trading from USD-to-Crypto.

KuCoin Instant exchange: If you found the above trading dashboard too complex and detailed, do not worry, KuCoin have you covered, they have created their instant exchange tool which allows you to simply declare you want to convert an existing crypto balance into another crypto. This is great for beginners or people who just want to make one transaction and hold onto it. In the below screenshot you can see the default is set to buy BTC and pay with it from USDT. 

KuCoin p2p: This is a service KuCoin provides to its customers, p2p (peer to peer) is a marketplace where individuals can declare they are willing to buy or sell a particular cryptocurrency at a particular price. If they can find another individual willing to match their price then they can strike a deal and make the trade. The p2p marketplace has no fees which is pretty cool.

KuCoin Futures and Margin Trading: KuCoin allows their customers to long or short a cryptocurrency up to 100x leverage. If you are a margin trader then the trading dashboard looks exactly the same.

Pro Tip: Be very careful with margin trading, you are trading with other peoples money. I only recommend if for people who are very experienced.

Crypto Lending: This is a cool feature that is not talked about a lot, you can lend your crypto to people who want to do margin trading and get an average daily interest rate of 0.124%. Whats even cooler is you can lend a stable coin (USDT) so you don't need to worry about the fluctuations of the crypto markets. There are definitely other things to consider here but this is an interesting feature from KuCoin.

KuCoin trading bot: As far as I can see the bot is only available on the mobile app, but either way its a super cool feature. You can set the rules you want your bot to follow and it will execute your trades for you automatically, this means you can trade in your sleep. The bot is free and runs on a cloud meaning you don't need to have your phone or computer running to support it. KuCoin even gives you the ability to copy the configurations of other successful bots, they even show you the biggest winners over the past 7 days.

Excellent customer support service: KuCoin support is available 24/7, the only issues I have had is their English is not always superb but was never bad enough to be a big issue.

Bank-level asset security: KuCoin implements lots of security measures, including micro-withdrawal wallets, industry-level multilayer encryption, dynamic multifactor authentication, along with dedicated internal risk control departments which overlooks all transactions on a daily basis. This is not to mention the insurance they have.

KuCoin Fees

KuCoin uses a tiered based maker/taker fee structure which means as you level up the tiers (by trading more) the lower your maker/taker fees are. From the many exchanges I have seen KuCoin has one of the best fee structures I have encountered, they start off at an extremely competitive 0.1% maker/taker fee (compared to 0.5% at Coinbase). What I really like about the structure is that it's actually relatively easy to move up the tiers unlike their competitors, you can see the comparison in tiers between KuCoin and Binance here. User's also get the option to get a 20% discount on fees by choosing to pay them with the KuCoin native currency of KCS. 

Overall I am super happy with the trading fees at KuCoin, they start of really competitive and drop fast as the tiers increase, the additional discount you get when you pay with KCS is great too.

More about Kucoin

Since its launch, KuCoin has gained a reputation for giving cryptocurrency traders access to one of the biggest selections of cryptocurrencies available on the market as well as being an early adopter of new coins, which means that savvy investors have a huge variety of choice of both established and upcoming cryptocurrencies when they choose to use the platform for trading. 

KuCoin has gained popularity among professional and amateur cryptocurrency traders thanks to their unique rewards system, which not only allows users to cut down on trading costs – which can soon add up -  but also gives them access to a passive income through the platform’s native cryptocurrency, KuCoin Shares. KuCoin also scored well in our breakdown of the best cryptocurrency exchanges available in the US.

Pros and Cons of KuCoin 

Some of the pros and cons of using the KuCoin exchange include: 

Key Features of KuCoin

As an exchange, KuCoin gives users on the platform access to most typical cryptocurrency services. Where this exchange differs from others is the sheer amount of trading pairs on offer for both established and up-and-coming coins. As an exchange known to be an early adopter, KuCoin gives savvy traders the ability to invest in cryptocurrencies that are often not available on other platforms while they are still cheap, making it a solid choice for traders willing to take a chance on up-and-coming coins. 

KuCoin was also one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to have embraced the latest craze in cryptocurrency fundraising, initial exchange offering (IEO), with KuCoin even launching their own platform to give their users a head-start in the industry. The Spotlight IEO Platform was responsible for the launch of MultiVAc as well as Trias, both of which garnered much media attention despite their mediocre market performance. 

Finally, one of the most notable features of the KuCoin platform is its unique rewards system that allows traders to not only save on trading fees but also provides passive income for users through the KuCoin dividends system. The system is based around KuCoin’s native cryptocurrency, called KuCoin Shares, which can be traded with several coins, but which is only available to purchase through the KuCoin exchange.

Advantages of KuCoin Shares

KuCoin Shares give holders access to several platform-specific features, including the Spotlight IEO Platform, as well as discounts on trading fees up to a maximum of 30%. However, the key benefit of holding KuCoin Shares is that those users are liable to receive dividends from trading fees collected on the KuCoin platform. 

Through the unique KuCoin dividends system, KuCoin pays out 50% of all fee revenue from the platform each day to holders of KuCoin Shares, with the revenue divided up equally among every KuCoin Shares token held on the KuCoin platform. This means that KuCoin Shares holders can earn a passive income through the platform on top of having access to reduced trading fees for every 1,000 KuCoin Shares token they hold. 

Security: How Does KuCoin Stack Up

One of the biggest concerns in the cryptocurrency industry is security. Despite the cryptocurrency industry’s best efforts, and constant updates to security systems, hacks are still a leading cause of concern among traders, and for good reason.  The biggest hack of 2020 saw Japanese exchange Coincheck lose virtual assets valued at over $534 million, which resulted in the exchange freezing all deposits and withdrawals from all cryptocurrencies on its platform except for Bitcoin. In the Coincheck hack, hackers targeted a lesser-known cryptocurrency called NEM, which reportedly fell 11% after news of the hack started circulating online.

While KuCoin has implemented several security features into its user interface, the platform did fall prey to hackers in 2020 with KuCoin reporting that roughly $150 million in virtual currency was stolen from the exchange in September. Fortunately for KuCoin users, the company has robust insurance coverage which allowed for the compensation of affected users following the breach. 

Compare KuCoin against other exchanges:

Verdict

KuCoin is an innovative player in the cryptocurrency industry and the exchange has seen significant growth since its launch in 2017; it is now considered a top player in the industry in terms of reliability and security. The platform itself is easy to use and intuitive and, should users have issues, their 24/7 customer support service is available through a variety of channels including via the website and email. 

In terms of service offerings, being an early adopter of lesser-known, small-cap cryptocurrencies means the platform is suited for both experienced traders looking for the next big name in cryptocurrency as well as new traders looking to gain exposure to a huge selection of cryptocurrencies at a range of values. 

When looking for a reputable exchange with a good service offering, robust security, and access to a diverse range of cryptocurrencies, traders would be hard-pressed to find a platform more suited to the task than KuCoin. 

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