How to choose a crypto exchange: a neutral checklist

Start with the company, not the app

An exchange is a brand; your account is opened with a specific company, and some exchanges use different companies for clients in different countries. Find the legal name of the company that would serve you in the terms of use, then look it up in the regulator’s own register. We do not recommend exchanges in this guide — the checklist works for any of them.

1. Licence or registration — and what it covers

• Which register? Regulators name their own lists. In the EU, the supervisors tell consumers to check the ESMA register of authorised crypto-asset service providers. In Canada, the Financial Consumer Agency (FCAC) points to the Canadian Securities Administrators’ list of crypto trading platforms authorised to do business with Canadians. In Australia, ASIC says businesses providing virtual asset services, “such as exchanging money for virtual assets (such as crypto), must be registered with AUSTRAC”. Elsewhere, ask your financial regulator; our “is crypto legal” pages quote what each country’s regulators say.
• What does it cover? The EU supervisors warn that a firm may be authorised for only part of its activities, so check which services the licence allows. The FCAC adds: “Some CTPs claim to be registered businesses, but this isn’t the same as being registered with a securities regulator.” Read what the register entry says the company may actually do.
• Is it on a warning list? Search the regulator’s list of unauthorised firms and IOSCO’s I-SCAN list, as the EU supervisors suggest.

Using an unauthorised firm has a cost. The EU supervisors warn that such firms may not be subject to any consumer protection rules, and that the risks of fraud, mismanagement of assets or insolvency may therefore be higher.

2. Is your country accepted?

Read the exchange’s list of restricted countries in its terms of use, and check which company serves your country. If your country is excluded, do not open an account by hiding where you live: the terms you accept are the ones that apply when something goes wrong.

3. Who holds your crypto, and what if the exchange fails

On an exchange, the company holds the keys. The FCAC warns: “If the crypto trading platform or wallet provider that has your crypto assets goes out of business or bankrupt, you may lose your money.” The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) lists “the failure of a firm, poor segregation of client funds or cyberattacks” among the ways you can lose money, and says that in the UK it is “highly unlikely you will be covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme”. Even under the EU’s MiCA rules, the supervisors note that “you will not benefit from compensation schemes”.

Questions to ask:

• Are client assets kept separate from the company’s own money, and does the client agreement say so?
• Does the exchange publish a proof of reserves? If it does, check the date, whether it compares the assets with what the exchange owes its customers (its liabilities) or shows assets only, which coins it covers, and whether an outside firm checked it and to what standard. A snapshot on one day says nothing about the next.
• Could you move long-term holdings to a wallet you control? Our guide on self-custody explains the trade-offs.

4. Fees, all of them

The FCAC’s advice is short: “Find out what fees apply. These may include fees to exchange crypto assets for cash and trading platform fees.” Add up, for the amounts you will really use:

• trading fees (for example a maker and a taker rate) and the spread between buy and sell prices;
• deposit fees for each way of paying in your currency, and the exchange rate used if your currency is converted;
• withdrawal fees for each coin and each network, plus the minimum withdrawal;
• fees for card purchases, quick-buy screens and conversions, which are priced separately from the trading fee.

The crypto profit calculator linked on this page shows how buy and sell fees change your break-even price.

5. Networks, limits and withdrawals

• Does the exchange support the networks you need for the coins you use? Tether, for example, asks platforms to make it “explicitly clear (both publicly and within their platform) which protocols they support”. A deposit on a network the exchange does not support may never be credited.
• What are the daily and monthly withdrawal limits, and do they rise only after more identity checks? Make a small test withdrawal before you deposit more.
• How long do withdrawals in your currency take, and to which accounts? They should go only to an account in your own name.

6. Your currency and P2P

Check which local deposit methods exist — bank transfer, card, mobile money — and in which currency. Some exchanges also run a P2P marketplace where you buy from other users; if you use one, read our guide to P2P safety first, because the payment happens outside the exchange.

7. Security features

Look for two-factor authentication — Singapore Police recommend “an authenticator application rather than SMS-based verification, which is more susceptible to interception” — withdrawal-address lists you can lock, login alerts, and a clear way to freeze your account if it is compromised. The same police advisory suggests using, where possible, platforms licensed or regulated by Singapore’s financial regulator, the Monetary Authority of Singapore; wherever you live, ask the same question about your own country’s regulator.

8. Records and leaving

Make sure you can download your full transaction history. Canada’s tax agency tells users of exchanges to “regularly export a history of your activity” in case “the exchange ceases operating, stops offering services in Canada, or you lose access to your account” — useful anywhere, and essential for tax.

Warning signs

• No legal company name, no licence or registration number, or one that does not match the register.
• Promised returns, bonuses for depositing, or pressure to deposit quickly. In the UK, for example, the FCA says regulated crypto marketing should carry risk warnings and that “you shouldn’t be offered any free gifts to join or refer a friend bonuses”.
• A “fee” or “tax” demanded before you can withdraw.

Crypto is risky on any exchange, and you could lose all the money you put in.