Top crypto exchanges and wallets compared

About Top crypto exchanges and wallets compared

Crypto platforms in this ranking run from full exchanges to card accounts and a self-custody wallet, and the differences that matter for everyday money sit in a few places: what a trade costs, who holds the coins, and how quickly support answers. The list covers 424 brands, scored on cost, on trust and on the size of the offer rather than on anything reserved for professional traders. The main trade-off runs straight through the fee column, with taker fees stretching from 0% to 5.5% and a median of 0.2%, so a low headline fee can still be costly to use. Custody draws another line through the list: a centralised exchange custodies the coins for you, while a self-custody wallet keeps the keys on your own device, and that choice decides who is accountable if something goes wrong. The retail figures argue for care as well, with a median retail loss of 70.15% across this ranking. Read the entries below with that trade-off in mind, each brand set against the one ranked next to it.

How we picked

Scores are built from published weights: cost at 35%, trust at 40% and the offer at 25%. Cost reads the trading and withdrawal fees each brand charges, plus the deposit routes it accepts. Trust reads the legal entity, the regulators named against it and how the coins are held. The offer reads the coin list, the features attached to the account and the support channels on offer. Figures are taken from brand fee schedules, help articles, product pages and imprint, and from regulator registers where a brand is listed. Fees are quoted as published, so a maker fee and a taker fee are never merged, and a figure that applies to a particular plan or product keeps that qualifier in the entry. A missing detail is left out rather than scored against a brand, so a short entry does not signal a weak brand. Partners appear first, in the order their scores put them, and the rest follow in the same score order. Regulation is weighed rather than assumed, and custodial balances are treated as both a convenience and an exposure, so the trade-off is spelled out in each entry.

Our top picks

1. 2. XTB

   XTB earns a place in this ranking on cost. Its maker fee is 0% and its taker fee is 0%, so trading itself costs nothing, and withdrawals are Free above 100 USD/EUR. The catch is range, with a coin list of 45, the narrowest of the exchanges here, and funding by bank transfer only. Regulators named against XTB Limited include the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission, the FCA and KNF, and support runs on email, chat and phone. A demo account and a mobile app sit alongside crypto, and derivatives are offered. Trezor, ranked next, takes the opposite approach with no trading venue at all.

   • Minimum deposit: €0
   • Stock trade fee: €0
   • Account fee: €0

   Pros

   • The account fee is €0 and the stock trade fee is €0, which places XTB at 1 of 166 brands on the share dealing charge.
   • The minimum deposit is €0, putting XTB at 1 of 218 brands on the amount needed to start.
   • Deposit protection is FSCS up to GBP 85,000 and investor protection is EU ICS up to EUR 20,000, both stated with figures rather than vague wording.
   • Interest is paid on uninvested funds, calculated daily and settled monthly, with no minimum or maximum balance.
   • Support covers email, chat and phone, so email, chat and phone are all open to you.

   Cons

   • The inactivity fee is €10, and at 39 of 56 brands on that measure XTB sits well outside the free group.
   • A currency conversion fee of 0.5% applies even though the stock trade fee is €0, which bites on any US share held in a euro or sterling account.
   • Retail leverage runs to 1:30 and 77% of retail accounts lose money, so free dealing does not mean free from risk.
   • Fiat deposits run through bank transfer, and the deposit and withdrawal fee terms leave a charge on withdrawals below a set threshold in EUR or USD.

2. 3. eToro

   eToro holds the next place in this ranking on breadth rather than cost. Its taker fee is 1%, the coin list starts at from 150 and withdrawals cost $5 flat fee. The Cyprus entity eToro (Europe) Ltd is registered to the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission and named alongside SIPC, and as a centralised exchange it holds your coins. What lifts it above bunq is the product mix, with crypto running next to fractional shares, a demo account, copy trading and a mobile app, and derivatives offered. Funding covers card and bank transfers. Support runs on help centre alone, which is thinner than bunq. Vivid Plus, ranked below it, keeps a smaller coin list.

   • Minimum deposit: $1 to $10,000
   • Stock trade fee: $0
   • Account fee: $0

   Pros

   • Interest on the USD cash balance pays 3.8% on a variable basis, calculated daily and paid monthly, and withdrawals are allowed at any time.
   • Regulated by Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) and SIPC, with client asset protection of EU ICS up to EUR 20,000 and deposit protection of EU DGS up to EUR 100,000.
   • Minimum deposit $1 to $10,000 and minimum portfolio investment $500 keep the starting point low, and fractional shares are among the listed features.
   • A tax-sheltered ISA is available, listed among the isa on offer, alongside portfolio types covering etf, esg and cash.
   • Markets reach stocks, etfs and forex and derivatives are available, so shares, forex, crypto and futures sit in a single account.

   Cons

   • Withdrawal costs $5 flat fee each time, which makes small, regular transfers expensive next to the $0 stock trade fee.
   • Client asset protection of EU ICS up to EUR 20,000 sits well below deposit protection of EU DGS up to EUR 100,000, so a large share portfolio can outrun the cover.
   • Taker fee 1% sits above the 0.25% median, which matters for anyone trading crypto often rather than holding.
   • Support runs through help centre, so phone and chat are not part of the offering.

3. 6. bunq Spain

   bunq Spain is the Spanish build of the brand ranked ahead of it in this ranking, and it scores on the same strengths: maker and taker fees of 0.25% to 1.99% and 0.25% to 1.99%, a coin list from from 350, and bunq B.V. supervised by De Nederlandsche Bank and named alongside SIPC. Where it differs is the plan, with the free plan covering multi currency, crypto and virtual card, so multi-currency, a virtual card and travel sit beside crypto, and support spanning email, chat and help centre, wider than the bunq entry ranked above. Bitpanda, the brand ranked next, offers crypto with fractional shares, a demo account and a mobile app, but help runs on help centre alone.

   • Headline rate: 3.01%
   • Rate type: Variable
   • Minimum deposit: €10

   Pros

   • A monthly fee of €0 and an annual fee of €0, so an easy-access balance can stay open without a charge.
   • multi currency, crypto and virtual card puts multi-currency, crypto, a virtual card and travel features in the same app as the savings balance.
   • Deposits sit under EU DGS up to EUR 100,000 and the Spanish account is supervised by Banco de España.
   • A variable rate of 3.01% paid weekly, above the 3% median across savings accounts.

   Cons

   • The variable 3.01% sits below Starling Personal Account Debit Card at 4%, so the rate is not the reason to open it.
   • Support runs on email, chat and help centre only, with no phone line, while 74.4% covers a large share of the savings market.
   • The opening deposit of €10 sits above the €0.88 median minimum across savings accounts, which puts a floor under the first transfer.
   • Access terms cap free withdrawals at a monthly allowance that only widens after a year, so heavy movers pay more than the €0 monthly fee suggests.

4. 7. bunq: best for top-pick

   bunq opens this ranking because it pairs a supervised Dutch entity with a competitive cost of trading. Maker and taker fees both sit at 0.25% to 1.99%, and the coin list starts at from 350, well above the 77.5 typical of this ranking. bunq B.V. is supervised by De Nederlandsche Bank and named alongside SIPC, and crypto sits with fractional shares and a mobile app in the same plan structure. Founded in 2012, it is among the longer-standing brands here. Against that, support runs on email and help centre only, and as a centralised exchange it custodies the coins for you. eToro, the brand ranked next, charges a flat 1% taker fee and lists a shorter selection from from 150.

   • Premium from: €0
   • Monthly payments: Yes
   • Legal entity: bunq B.V.

   Pros

   • Investing sits in the same app, with stocks, etfs and crypto and fractional shares among the plan features.
   • The card runs on mastercard, and conversion costs 0.5% to 3% across 8 currencies.
   • Regulated in the Netherlands by De Nederlandsche Bank, with savings under EU DGS up to EUR 100,000 and investments under EU ICS up to EUR 20,000.
   • Aimed at expats, so a euro account follows you between countries.

   Cons

   • Support runs on email and help centre only.
   • The rate is variable, so the 3.01% headline can move in either direction.
   • Crypto trades cost 0.25% to 1.99%, with maker fees of 0.25% to 1.99%.

5. 9. Bitpanda Card

   Bitpanda Card sits in this ranking as a rewards-led crypto card. The offer recorded is rewards, rewards, on top of a coin list starting at from 650, among the longest in this ranking, run as a centralised exchange. Regulators named against Bitpanda GmbH include the Austrian Financial Market Authority, BaFin and the Malta Financial Services Authority, a heavier regulatory footprint than most brands here. A card that earns back on spending suits readers who want crypto in the background rather than in a trading session. bunq Spain, the brand ranked next, pairs crypto with multi-currency, a virtual card and travel features instead of rewards.

   • Annual fee: €0
   • Currency conversion fee: 0%
   • Rewards type: Cashback

   Pros

   • The annual fee is €0 and the monthly fee is €0.
   • Crypto asset spending earns cashback of 1% cashback on crypto asset spending.
   • The currency conversion fee is 0%.
   • The card uses Visa under visa.
   • The service lists oversight involving the Austrian Financial Market Authority, the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority and the Malta Financial Services Authority in FMA (Austria), BaFin (Germany) and Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA).

   Cons

   • The cashback applies specifically to crypto asset spending at 1% cashback on crypto asset spending, rather than every purchase.
   • Bitpanda Card is described as a credit card under credit and separately as a debit card under debit, which makes its classification less clear.
   • The rewards offer consists of cashback at 1% cashback on crypto asset spending, with no other reward type identified in rewards.

6. 10. Bitpanda

   Bitpanda reaches this ranking on a broad offer and a wide regulatory base. Bitpanda GmbH is named with the Austrian Financial Market Authority, BaFin and the Malta Financial Services Authority, and the coin list runs from from 650, among the longest here. Features cover crypto, fractional shares and mobile app, so crypto sits with fractional shares, a demo account and a mobile app. Support is the weak point, running on help centre only, which is thinner than the exchanges ranked above it. Bit2Me, the brand ranked next, lists a shorter coin set at 244 but pairs staking with custodial balances and a wider set of help channels.

   • Minimum deposit: €1
   • Stock trade fee: €1
   • Markets: Stocks, ETFs, Crypto, and 1 more

   Pros

   • You can start with €1, so a small amount opens the account and the entry point sits well inside the field.
   • Stock trades cost €1 a share, a flat price you can work out before you deal.
   • Deposits cost Free deposits, so moving money in does not eat into your first investment.
   • Cash on the account pays 1% cashback on crypto asset spending, which softens the cost of spending while you hold crypto.
   • Regulated by FMA (Austria), BaFin (Germany) and Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA).

   Cons

   • Investor protection stops at EU ICS up to EUR 20,000, so a large portfolio can sit above the cap.
   • Support runs on help centre only, so a question that needs a person has no listed route.
   • The crypto side alone lists from 650 coins against a field median of 71.5, and custodial custody means the keys are not yours.
   • Metals, where spreads are usually wide, are a smaller slice of the field at 10.3%.

What to look for

Trading fee

The trading fee is the cost you feel on every order, and the maker and taker rates are quoted separately rather than merged. The typical taker fee across this ranking is 0.2%, with the top of the range at 5.5%.

Coin list

A long list signals liquidity and choice, but it only helps if it covers what you plan to hold. Providers in this ranking typically list 77.5 coins, ranging from 1 at the low end to 9,000,000 at the high end.

Retail losses

Crypto trading loses money for most retail accounts, and fee cuts do not change that. The median retail loss across this ranking is 70.15%, and even the mildest figure here is 40.3%, so a cheap fee matters less than a plan you can stick with.

Custody

Who holds the keys decides who is accountable if a platform fails. The brands in this ranking split between 57.2% custodial balances and 42.8% self-custody, and the hardware wallet at rank six sits firmly on the second side of that line.

Funding routes

Getting money in is the opening test. Bank transfer is the most common route in this ranking at 91.9%, with card funding at 52.9% and SEPA transfers at 31.4% behind it.

Support

Help matters when a withdrawal stalls. A help centre is the most common channel in this ranking at 84.3%, ahead of email at 64.5%, while live chat at 39.5% and phone support at 23% are less common.

Frequently asked questions

Top crypto exchanges and wallets compared by country

• Australia
• Austria
• Brazil
• Canada
• China
• France
• Germany
• India
• Italy
• Japan
• Mexico
• South Korea
• Spain
• United Kingdom
• United States

Providers compared head to head

• ActivTrades vs XTB
• ActivTrades vs eToro
• ActivTrades vs Gemini
• XTB vs eToro
• XTB vs Gemini
• eToro vs Gemini

The data behind this ranking

All data and the CSV