In this piece, we will take a look at the 12 best cryptocurrency exchanges in the U.S. For more exchanges, head on over to 5 Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges in the U.S.
The cryptocurrency market is one of the most popular ones in the world, especially with Gen Z. Its growth has been meteoric, with only a decade in between the rise of the world’s largest cryptocurrency Bitcoin to the numerous other cryptocurrencies that are present in the market today. Cryptocurrencies have several factors of allure that ensure everyday investors keep on piling money into them, even as global interest rate shocks lead to institutional capital fleeing to the safe haven U.S. dollar. These factors include the promise of a non central bank regulated currency and the chance of making massive returns in a short period of time.
On the flip side, investing in cryptocurrency also comes with several risks. The largest of these is the volatility of the sector, as prices are determined purely by sentiment and not by the value of an underlying asset. For instance, while the share price of Apple, the world’s most valuable technology company, is also swayed by investor sentiment, it also represents the current and future projected value of the firm which sells gadgets to make a profit. The wild swings can leave investors who have gone “all in” or those that have used leverage to finance their bets with large financial losses.
Cryptocurrency exchanges are in the news these days due to the spectacular collapse of FTX – an exchange run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate Sam Bankman-Fried. Mr. Bankman-Fried’s FTX minted its own tokens and used these to balance out the liabilities of its trading firm Alameda Research. When word broke out, investors balked at an exchange funding its own trading partner, which then led to a massive flood of capital exiting FTX which was unable to produce sufficient capital to cover these transactions.
Apart from FTX, a research report from Spherical Insights that came out in the third week of November (relevant since it was published after the FTX collapse) estimates that the segment was worth $33 billion last year. From this, it will grow at a whopping compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 30.08% to sit at an estimated $348 billion by the end of 2030. Cryptocurrencies flourished during the coronavirus pandemic, as major stock market crashes and stimulus checks led to ordinary, retail investors participating in large numbers into cryptocurrencies with the hopes of profiting off of price rises. Spherical Insights believes that mobile trading will help cryptocurrency exchanges to grow, and Bitcoin will continue to play a large part in the market.
Photo by André François McKenzie on Unsplash
Our Methodology
We studied the countless cryptocurrency exchanges operating right now to pick those that allow trading in the U.S. dollar fiat and meets the requirements to operate in America. They are ranked according to weekly visits, a crucial factor since higher visits are an indicator of the exchange’s technical strengths and are not influenced by higher value currencies such as Bitcoin.
Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges in the U.S.
12. Bitstamp USA, Inc.
Weekly Visits as of November 27th, 2022: 239,341
Bitstamp USA, Inc. is a British cryptocurrency exchange that is located in Luxembourg. The firm also has a U.S. division, which is headquartered in New York, New York. Its American arm has a separate chief executive officer, and the company as a whole, dubbed Bitstamp, is headed by a global chief executive officer.
Bitstamp USA, Inc. allows traders to trade in the U.S. dollar fiat, and it is also one of the seven firms that had sought approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) to secure operational compliance that is granted only when an exchange can demonstrate that is capable of meeting liquidity requirements and has adhered to anti money laundering and other practices to discourage criminal activity on its platforms.
Bitstamp USA, Inc.’s main exchange Bitstamp operates in over 100 countries and has more than four million users.
11. Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini)
Weekly Visits as of November 27th, 2022: 247,069
Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini) is an American cryptocurrency exchange that was set up in 2015. At the time, its primary aim was to let users buy and sell Bitcoin, however, it grew to add other cryptocurrencies to its portfolio as well. Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini) became the first licensed Ethereum Exchange in the U.S. in 2016, and it is also regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services (DFS).
Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini) offers a wide variety of products to its customers. These include clearing services, a mobile wallet, a credit card, a mobile application and settlement services. Additionally, the firm also provides institutional solutions to hedge funds, fund managers, asset managers, and corporations among others.
As of November 27th, 2022, an average of 247,069 weekly users had visited Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini).
10. bitFlyer
Weekly Visits as of November 27th, 2022: 402,066
bitFlyer is a Japanese firm that is headquartered in Tokyo and was set up in 2014. The firm is one of the most stable exchanges in the world, as it is yet to face an outage or a disruption to its trading platform. Additionally, bitFlyer also stores all of its crypto in cold storage, allowing it some security.
bitFlyer’s cryptocurrency exchange allows users to either trade with each other or trade with bitFlyer. The bulk of its transactions occurs in derivatives. These are financial instruments that allow investors to bet on whether the price of a commodity will rise or fall. The firm also allows users to buy cryptocurrency through credit cards or even loyalty programs that are similar to those that are offered by retailers. bitFlyer’s transaction volume stood at a massive $180 billion in 2021, and its average weekly users are 402,066.
9. Binance.US
Weekly Visits as of November 27th, 2022: 433,833
Binance.US is the American arm of Binance, which is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The firm was set up in 2017 after the U.S. government decided to ban its parent company. The new firm aims to comply with all regulations that are required for a cryptocurrency exchange to operate in America.
Binance.US is also a part of a cryptocurrency movement dubbed ‘stablecoins’. These look to back the value of a digital currency by having a U.S. dollar or other asset as a backup reserve. Binance.US’s stablecoin is called BUSD, and it is the third largest stablecoin in the world in terms of market capitalization as of January 2022.
Binance.US is an active participant in the U.S. cryptocurrency industry. It announced in November 2022 that it will join The Texas Blockchain Council, and also attempted to buy FTX but then withdrew the offer. The firm has also formed a Political Action Committee (PAC).
8. Bitrue
Weekly Visits as of November 27th, 2022: 439,247
Bitrue is a cryptocurrency financial services and exchange that was set up in 2018 and is based in Singapore. The firm offers more than 200 cryptocurrencies to its users and its other products include high interest yield farming, staking, and a futures trading platform.
Bitrue’s top traded currencies are Bitcoin, XRP, Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, and TRON. It lets users buy and sell cryptocurrencies through a bank account. The firm uses cold wallet storage for customer assets, and a dedicated insurance fund of 38 million XRP and 40 million BTR to compensate customers if its platform is hacked due to Bitrue’s negligence.
7. Crypto.com Exchange
Weekly Visits as of November 27th, 2022: 913,020
Crypto.com Exchange is the cryptocurrency exchange of Crypto.com. Crypto.com is based in Singapore, and it was set up in 2016. Alongside an exchange, Crypto.com also offers a wallet, a smartphone application, and a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace.
Crypto.com has partnered up with several companies to let them use cryptocurrency for their products. For instance, it teamed up with Time Magazine to allow its subscribers to pay in cryptocurrency, and with Shopify in 2022 to enable electronic commerce payments in digital currency as well. Crypto.com Exchange allows users to trade more than 40 different derivatives and more than two hundred pairs. The firm’s Cronos token bled market value in November 2022 after the FTX collapse, with its CEO assuring users that FTX and Crypto.com Exchange are different.
6. Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN)
Weekly Visits as of November 27th, 2022: 959,236
Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) is an American firm that is headquartered in San Francisco, California. The firm was set up in 2012 and it offers several products and services.
Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) lets its customers use a wallet, an NFT marketplace, an asset trading platform, a smartphone application, and an API for merchants to accept payments in cryptocurrency.
28 out of the 920 hedge funds polled by Insider Monkey during Q3 2022 had bought Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN)’s shares.
Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN)’s largest investor is Catherine D. Wood’s ARK Investment Management which owns 7.7 million shares that are worth $497 million.
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Disclosure: None. 12 Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges in the U.S. is originally published on Insider Monkey.
