Kucoin Review: Summary
This KuCoin review will help you decide if it’s the right crypto exchange for you. In our review, we looked at security, features, user experience, trading fees, and a ton more so you don’t have to. Some drawbacks include: restricted for U.S traders, zero support for fiat withdrawals, and no funds insurance. We gave KuCoin 3.4/5 stars in our review.
Quality
Fees
SUPPORT
Cryptos
Security
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Key takeaways from our review:
- Huge selection of crypto coins to trade (700+)
- Affordable trading fees
- Great suite of crypto products for beginner and experienced traders
- KuCoin is restricted to US traders
- KuCoin gets poor customer reviews on ratings sites like Trustpilot, mostly around deposit/withdrawal issues and customer service
Pros & Cons
What Is KuCoin?
KuCoin is a reliable cryptocurrency exchange that helps you buy, sell, and trade your favorite crypto coins, tokens, and altcoins. They’re one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world and have one of the largest selections of coins to trade.
Source: KuCoin.com
Founded in September 2017, the global exchange operates from Mahé, Seychelles and has Johnny Lyu as its co-founder and CEO.
Currently, KuCoin offers a plethora of exciting crypto trading products and services: spot trading, margin trading, P2P fiat, futures, staking, crypto lending and even NFTs.
This range of top-class crypto services has led to a globalized user base, over $170M in funding, and a $10B valuation. The exchange has also accumulated over $1 trillion in trading volume, making it one of the largest global cryptocurrency exchanges by that metric.
KuCoin offers a broad range of promising, available-to-trade coins, including the mainstream assets and lesser-known coins you can’t find elsewhere.
Also known as “The People’s Exchange”, KuCoin is focused on fostering an inclusive, user-oriented crypto platform for its 20M users from 200+ countries and servicing them with 24/7 customer services.
KuCoin Company Information
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KuCoin Physical Address: | Mahé, Beau Vallon, Seychelles (undisclosed office location) |
KuCoin Trading Fees
KuCoin offers competitive trading fees that are some of the lowest fees in the industry. Using a maker/taker model, the fees are calculated differently based on the type of trading: spot or futures trading.
For each trading type, the actual fee is also classed based on your previous BTC 30-day trading volume or KCS funds held in the previous 30 days.
We've written up a complete guide to KuCoin fees here, so if you want to deep dive into the platforms fee model, that's the guide for you.
What are KuCoin maker taker fees? The maker/taker fee model at KuCoin ranges from 0.0125% - 0.1%, depending on what VIP level you are at. Orders providing liquidity (sellers) are considered makers and pay a maker fee, while orders taking liquidity out of the system (buyers) are considered takers and pay a taker fee.
KuCoin Spot Fees
KuCoin charges spot traders a low fee of 0.1% for both market makers and takers.
If you hold over 1,000 KCS (KuCoin token) in your account or have a spot trading volume of over 50BTC in the previous 30 days, you’ll have access to the trading fee discounts shown in the image.
Futures Fees
When you trade futures on KuCoin, you get charged 0.02% as a market maker and 0.06% as a taker.
Again, this fee could be much lower if you hold a minimum of 1,000 KCS in your account or have a spot trading volume of over 50BTC in the previous 30 days.
Deposit & Withdrawals
KuCoin allows fee-free deposits if you’re sending crypto from an external wallet into the exchange.
But when using any of the integrated third-party payment services for fiat currency deposits, you incur a fee based on your deposit amount.
KuCoin withdrawal fees vary by crypto asset and network conditions, just as most other exchanges.
The charges are usually minimal and you can see the minimum withdrawal amount per asset on this page.
KuCoin Products & Features
KuCoin has a wide range of products and features for advanced and beginner traders.
While we find the product selection a little overwhelming, they truly have something for everyone.
Buy Crypto
This section lets you buy crypto directly in your KuCoin account via various options.
Fast Trade
With the Fast Trade option, you can buy crypto in one click and pay with your desired currency and payment method.
KuCoin supports over 70 payment methods with this option including MasterCard, Visa and PayPal.
P2P
Peer-to-peer (P2P) is a marketplace that lets users buy and sell crypto assets by matching with other KuCoin users.
On the market, you can see KuCoin users who want to buy or sell various assets, along with their desired payment method, limit, set price and more.
Third-Party
You can also buy crypto using third-party payment services such as Simplex or banxa.
To pay for crypto, you can use Visa, MasterCard or even Apple Pay.
Markets
KuCoin has all its coins listed in the Markets section.
You can search for any token of choice and also view the coins listed in various categories including Payments, NFTs, Memes and more.
For each crypto asset, you can view its price, 24H change, 24H volume, market cap and a Trade button. If you're looking for a solid source of crypto analysis and coin breakdowns, you might want to check out our Token Metrics review.
Trade
This section is where your crypto trading game happens. As expected, there are various trading interfaces for Spot, Margin and Futures trading. The trading platform charts are built using Trading View, a common charting tool.
Spot
Spot trading allows you to set buy or sell orders for assets of interest in different trading pairs.
You can see your trading account balance, use comprehensive trading tools, view asset price movement and proceed to place buy/sell orders.
Margin
KuCoin’s Margin trading interface lets you trade desired crypto market pairs and maximize profits with leverage.
You could select leverage of 3X, 5X and up to 10X.
Warning: this feature is for advanced traders and should be approached with caution.
Trading Bot
By setting up trading bots in KuCoin, you can earn passive profits without monitoring the market.
Derivatives
The Derivatives section houses all your Futures trading activity.
Depending on your level of trading experience, you can choose any out of three interfaces: Classic, Lite or Brawl.
When trading Futures on KuCoin, you’re provided with comprehensive trading tools with up to 100X leverage.
This can help you maximize profit on any desired perpetual contract, but is very risky, so proceed with caution.
Earn
KuCoin has various products that let you earn extra interest on your cryptocurrencies.
Crypto Lending - Interesting Feature
You can earn interest on your crypto assets by lending them to other KuCoin users for a period.
Simply input the amount to lend, and pick the period (number of days) and desired daily interest rate.
You’ll see your estimated profit on the loan before lending your assets.
KuCoin Earn
KuCoin’s Earn product allows you to invest your digital assets and earn stable profits through professional asset management.
You can scroll through available earning products to invest your assets. And after subscribing to a product, you earn interest returns based on set rates and market conditions.
KCS Bonus
For holding KCS - KuCoin’s native coin - you get to earn bonus rewards based on the holding period.
The rewards are sent to your account once earned.
Cloud Mining
You can take part in KuCoin’s remote mining model and earn income distributed to your KuCoin account after mining starts.
KuCoin’s Cloud Mining services offer optimized algorithms for higher mining efficiency and high-yield investment products.
NFT
KuCoin supports investment in non-fungible tokens by housing various products that let you trade NFTs.
Windvane is KuCoin’s marketplace that allows you to buy, sell and swap your NFTs instantly.
You can simply connect a web3 wallet like MetaMask on the KuCoin platform, and start buying and selling NFTs.
Available Cryptos on Kucoin
KuCoin has 700+ crypto assets listed and available for trading on the exchange.
According to CoinMarketCap, the exchange is said to have precisely 724 coins with 1350 market pairs available (as of the time of writing this review). By comparison, Gate.io currently has 1,400+ and Binance currently has 393 coins.
Amongst the assets listed on KuCoin, some popular coins are Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum, (ETH), Cardano (ADA), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Polygon (MATIC).
Plus, you will find plenty of lesser-known, low-cap altcoins with future prospects on the exchange.
The KuCoin platform maintains one of the widest ranges of altcoins among other exchanges. And it is constantly looking to list new coins to its broad selection.
So if you want to get in early on any crypto gem with potential, chances are you’ll find it available on KuCoin.
How to Sign Up on KuCoin Crypto Exchange - Step By Step
Your crypto journey on KuCoin begins with signing up for an account via their website or mobile app. And you can use either your email address or phone number.
Here are the steps to sign up on KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange before you can start trading!
Visit the KuCoin.com and click the “Sign Up” button in the top-right corner of the homepage.
— On the registration page, you can either sign up via phone number or email address.
For the Phone option, you need to enter your phone number, request (and enter) a verification code, choose a strong password and enter your KuCoin referral code (you can use our code, rJMMLY9 and receive any promotional bonuses).
While for Email, you’ll need to enter your email address, request (and enter) verification code, enter a strong password and enter your referral code (optional).
Next, check the Terms of Use box and click on the big “Sign Up” button below. After this step, you have successfully signed up for a KuCoin account, and will land on the account overview page (shown below).
You can now proceed to go through the KYC verification process and fund your account.
It is extremely important to configure your KuCoin security settings for account and asset protection.
Click on “Account Security” from the drop-down menu and set up any or all of the options available: Google Verification, Trading Password, Safety Phrase, Restrict Login IP, Email and Phone.
That’s it, you’re ready to start trading on KuCoin.
KuCoin Alternatives
In case you’re not convinced about this cryptocurrency exchange yet, here’s how KuCoin stacks up to its closest rivals.
Binance
KuCoin and Binance are similar cryptocurrency exchanges, serving a globalized customer base with the opportunity to buy, sell, and trade popular cryptocurrencies. Whe we compared the two platforms, we found that both offer a suite of crypto products, a broad number of available cryptocurrencies, low fees and strong security mechanisms. For KuCoin, you get access to more coins, with over 700 available-to-trade coins while Binance offers less coins and is more suited toward intermediate to advanced crypto traders. As a downside, KuCoin faces regulatory restrictions in some regions like the U.S. So if you’re based in the US, you should look towards options like Binance.US or Coinbase.
Bybit
KuCoin and Bybit are both cryptocurrency exchanges with an intuitive interface, great support, strong security mechanisms and account funding methods.When it comes to a wide selection of crypto coins, an impressive suite of crypto products, low fees, and a global user base, KuCoin leads the way. Bybit has its forte in derivatives and futures trading.
The exchange also maintains low fees and has never been hacked, which indicates strong security features. But Bybit has fewer available coins and fewer products when compared to KuCoin.
Gate.io
KuCoin and Gate.io are similar centralized exchanges with a wide variety of crypto products and crypto coins as well.While KuCoin is a relatively new exchange that started in 2017, Gate.io has existed since 2013. KuCoin offers much lower fees, impressive security features and excellent customer support to its global user base. It also shines when it comes to seamless account payment methods.
On the other hand, Gate.io maintains top security mechanisms and great customer support for a global user base. But its high fees (relative to KuCoin) and regulation status make it the lesser option for users outside the U.S
KuCoin Reviews and Ratings
On TrustPilot, KuCoin has a poor rating of 1.9 with over 700 reviews. While on G2.com, KuCoin maintains a fair rating of 2.7 out of 5 stars with 29 reviews.
This poor user rating, which is common with most centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, shows that KuCoin is lacking in a number of areas.
While scrolling through TrustPilot, common complaints we noticed were related to auto-liquidation, slow deposits/withdrawals, peer-to-peer (P2P) scams and unhelpful customer support.
On G2.com, most of the negative feedback was about stolen assets, suspended withdrawals and unhelpful customer support.
Amidst the barrage of negative reviews on both review sites, some users had praised the exchange: low fees, diverse selection of coins, security features, and a variety of excellent trading services.
Furthermore, KuCoin has a review collections page that reflects its reputation as a world-leading exchange. The page aggregates reviews from top media platforms like Forbes Advisor, The Ascent, The Balance and Investopedia.
KuCoin Customer Support
KuCoin offers multiple support options to ensure you don’t get stuck while using the platform.
First, its help center has a FAQ section where you’ll find answers to commonly asked questions.
Second, you can use the seamless 24/7 live chat support to talk to a customer service rep. For complicated issues, you could also submit a ticket via email, describing your issue in detail.
Asides these, KuCoin maintains a solid presence on various social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, LinkedIn, Reddit, and Instagram. And a good thing is most of these social channels are available in multiple languages.
You can always drop your issues in their social community and a support representative or KuCoin user will be there to guide you.
KuCoin Crypto Exchange FAQs
KuCoin offers top-class security mechanisms such as multi-factor authentication, separate trading password, advanced SSL encryption, a bug bounty program, cold wallet storage and an insurance scheme that makes it safe and reliable for users around the world.
Currently, KuCoin has over 20 million users. The Seychelles-based exchange announced it had achieved this user base landmark in the first half of 2022.
KuCoin’s Rewards Hub offers a rich selection of learning resources suited for beginners to earn rewards while they learn and stay abreast on the blockchain, web3, web2, cryptocurrency, trading and other related topics.
Yes, KuCoin has launched a non-fungible token (NFT) platform, Pool-X and a marketplace, Windvane where you can buy, sell and trade NFT.
Verdict - Should You Trade through KuCoin Crypto Exchange?
KuCoin is a global centralized exchange (CEX) giving 20M users the ability to buy, sell, trade and invest in a WIDE range of digital assets.
The platform’s popularity is rapidly growing for major reasons — low trading fees (according to industry standards), a broad selection of cryptocurrencies, free crypto deposits, and impressive security mechanisms.
Its suite of exciting crypto products such as Crypto Lending, KCS Bonus, KuCoin Earn and Trading Bot makes it a worthy choice for newbie and advanced traders as well.
Overall, KuCoin is right for you if you’re a trader outside the U.S and you need a secure exchange to buy low-cap, less-popular digital assets while enjoying access to innovative crypto products.
