Expert Review of the Best
Cryptocurrency Exchanges

When choosing an exchange, pay attention to: security level (2FA, cold storage), trading and withdrawal fees, availability of trading pairs you need, liquidity, quality of user support, licenses and regulation. Also important to consider availability in your country and interface convenience.

For beginners, we recommend Binance or Bybit - they offer an intuitive interface, educational materials, demo mode for practice, and reliable support in Russian. Both exchanges have mobile apps and low entry threshold to start trading.

Storing on an exchange is convenient for active trading, but for long-term storage we recommend using hardware wallets (Ledger, Trezor). If storing on an exchange, be sure to enable 2FA, use a unique password and if possible activate whitelist for withdrawal addresses.

KYC (Know Your Customer) is an identity verification procedure. Most major exchanges require verification for withdrawals and using all features. Basic verification usually takes a few minutes and requires a passport or ID. Some exchanges offer limited trading without KYC, but with limits.

Spot trading is buying/selling real cryptocurrency at the current price. You own the asset and can withdraw it. Futures are contracts for price difference using leverage. Futures are riskier but allow earning on price drops and using greater leverage.

Fees vary: trading fees are usually 0.05-0.10% per transaction (maker/taker), withdrawal fees depend on blockchain network (from $1 to $50+ for Bitcoin/Ethereum depending on network congestion). Many exchanges offer discounts when paying fees with their own tokens (BNB on Binance) or with high trading volumes.

P2P (peer-to-peer) is direct trading between users. You buy cryptocurrency directly from another user, transferring money in any convenient way (bank transfer, e-wallets). The exchange acts as a transaction guarantor. P2P is convenient for deposit/withdrawal of fiat money with minimal fees.