KuCoin Review (2022)

Since launching in 2017, KuCoin has positioned itself as a feature-rich cryptocurrency exchanges. In 2022, it serves over eight million users.

Along with its wealth of services and markets, the platform lists more than 450 coins and averages just under $2 billion USD in spot transactions per day, putting it comfortably within the top 10 global exchanges.

If you’re interested in finding out more about KuCoin and the different services it offers, then stick around and keep reading this KuCoin review.

Advantages & Disadvantages

Pros

 Cons

What is KuCoin?

KuCoin is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange founded by Michael Gan and Eric Don in 2013. After nearly four years of development, KuCoin began operations in 2017, starting with a basic spot market and a peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency service.

Since then, the exchange has expanded substantially and now offer services ranging – such as cryptocurrency lending platform and even its own coin.

Before going into further detail, it’s worth pointing out that KuCoin doesn’t support any fiat trading pairs – although several USDT, USDC, TUSD, and PAX pairs are available.

What Services Does KuCoin Offer?

As stated in the intro, KuCoin is a feature-heavy platform offering a wide array of services.

This currently includes:

• Fast Buy Options
• Debit/Credit Card Purchases
• Spot Trading
• Margin Trading
• Crypto Lending
• P2P Exchange
• Pool-X
• KuCoin Dividends Program

Fast Buy

KuCoin’s ‘Fast Buy’ option makes it as easy as possible for users to purchase cryptocurrency.

Through the Fast Buy interface, users can buy Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Tether (USDT), and Pax Dollar (PAX) all at market price and with reasonable transaction fees.

To use this service, simply choose a payment method (bank card, WeChat Pay, or AliPay), enter the desired amount, and click the buy button.

More than 30 fiat currencies are supported, including GBP, EUR, USD, and CAD.

Debit/Credit Card Buys on KuCoin

You can also use Debit/Credit Card option option to purchase more than 45 cryptocurrencies – including Polygon (MATIC), Aave (AAVE), Dogecoin (DOGE), and Ripple (XRP).

These payments are not processed by KuCoin directly, but by one of two payment processors – Simplex or Banxa. For Simplex, fees range from 2.5% – 8% and Banxa is around the same.

If you use a credit card, it’ll likely be classified transactions as a cash advance (which usually incurs different, and extra, fees).

Spot Trading on KuCoin

With more than 450 coins and 900+ markets available, few exchanges can compete with KuCoin when it comes to variety.

In fact, of all top 10 exchanges, only Gate.io currently supports more coins/markets.

But as mentioned, KuCoin doesn’t list any fiat currency pairs – something that may be a significant drawback for some people. However, it does have several USD stablecoin pairings.

KuCoin comes equipped with a good number of drawing tools, technical indicators, and customizable features.

A benefit of KuCoin’s trading terminal is the ability to switch between the the different types of markets with ease (e.g., spot to margin). By contrast, many other exchanges (e.g., Kraken) require users to open up entirely different terminals.

There are two main drawbacks though:

• Only limit, market, stop limit, and stop market orders are available. Alternatives like FTX and Kraken support more order types.
• KuCoin doesn’t have a buy/sell interface that fits somewhere between their quick buy services and their trading station. Kraken, Binance, and gate.io all have options that allow users to put several conditions on buy/sell orders without opening up the trading terminal.

But overal? It’s pretty good – and provides you with access to many coins that you might otherwise have to purchase on a DEX like Uniswap at a significantly higher cost.

Margin Trading on KuCoin

One impressive aspect of KuCoin’s margin program is the higher-than-average leverage available, which goes as high as 10x. By comparison, many other popular platforms only offer up to 5x leverage on select coins.

Along with high leverage limits, KuCoin has more than 90 margin trading pairs available, with new ones being listed regularly. All margin pairs on KuCoin either have a USDT or BTC base, although two ETH pairs are available.

To trade on margin, KuCoin requires all users to first open a margin account, which can be done in just a few moments. Once set up, cryptocurrency can easily be transferred from your main account into your margin account to serve as collateral.

Crypto-Lending on KuCoin

KuCoin’s lending platform lets you lend out unused cryptoassets to users looking to borrow them.

As of now, KuCoin supports the lending and borrowing of more than 70 different cryptocurrencies, all of which have different daily interest rates. You can lend out coins for 7, 14, or 28 days.

Likewise, when borrowing cryptocurrency, users must pick their preferred coin, their desired amount, and payback period. Borrowers must hold a cryptocurrency balance of equal or greater value than the amount they are borrowing.

If the borrower fails to pay back their loan within the agreed-upon time, KuCoin will automatically remove funds from their account to pay back the lender.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Network

KuCoin’s P2P network is a decentralized exchange that operates by linking two parties looking to exchange assets.

Currently, KuCoin’s Peer-2-Peer network lists Tether (USDT), Bitcoin (BTC) and KuCoin Token (KCS) and is accessible in over 20 fiat currencies.

For GBP purchases, I could only find listings if you were looking to buy Tether (USDT) with GBP. On the flip side, it didn’t seem like any KYC was required for buying cryptocurrencies using the KuCoin P2P network.

Staking with Pool-x on KuCoin

Launched in 2019, KuCoins pool-x service allows users to stake cryptocurrencies and operate nodes.

The service also includes a liquidity exchange and has developed into a proof-of-stake ecosystem with mining pools.

Pool-x currently supports a total of 16 soft staking options and frequently runs staking pool promotions which can number up to 10 at a time.

In essence, it allows users to participate in what has become known as proof-of-stake mining. It seems like one of the more advanced platforms offering this service (along with Binance, Huobi, OKEx).

KuCoin Dividend Program

KuCoin operates a unique dividends program in which 50% of each day’s trading profit is distributed to users holding 6 or more KuCoin Token (KCS), which is the exchange’s native token.

Along with acting like a dividend program, users who hold KuCoin Token (KCS) will receive reduced trading fees and access to the KuCoin VIP program (if you qualify).

KuCoin Token (KCS) is an ERC-20 based token that runs on the Ethereum network. As of now, it has a total supply of 200 million – although KuCoin plans on running a buy-back program to reduce the total supply to 100 million.

Supported Countries

KuCoin doesn’t have any limitations on who can open an account. That being said, it doesn’t offer KYC options to all countries.

However, it’s important to mention that KuCoin doesn’t have any mandatory KYC rules – but there are a few services that unverified users will be unable to access if you don’t verify your identity.

Supported Cryptocurrencies

KuCoin currently lists more than 450 small and large-cap cryptocurrencies.

For an up-to-date list of supported coins/tokens, visit here.

KuCoin Fees

KuCoins trading fees are some of the lowest around.

They start at 0.1% for both market makers and takers. Those who hold KuCoin Token (KCS)  will get even lower fees (up to 0.08% for both makers and takers).

High-volume traders who transact over 5 BTC in a 30-day period will receive slightly lower fees. For a complete overview of the trading schedule, head over here.

KuCoin Alternatives

The top alternatives to KuCoin include Binance, Coinbase Pro, Gemini, and Kraken.

All of these places have scores of 8/10 or higher on CoinMarketCap.

Is KuCoin Safe?

KuCoin’s reputation was hit hard in 2020 when hackers were able to run off with more than $275 million USD worth of cryptocurrency.

However, it’s important to understand that the hack was not due to a vulnerability in their platform – but rather the leak of a hot wallet key.

Still, the exchange holds a security score of just 2.3 on CryptoCompare. This is significantly behind Coinbase, Gemini, Kraken, and other popular cryptocurrency exchanges.

These issues aside, KuCoin employs the following security features:

• Password Protected Margin Account: Each margin trade requires users to enter a secondary password that is different to their account password.
• Two-Factor Authentication: All users can enable a second-factor verification on their account (e.g., Google Auth).
• Account Separation: All accounts are separated into a trading account and a main account. APIs are prohibited from accessing funds in the main account.

Bottom Line: KuCoin Exchange Review

No other cryptocurrency exchange offers the same collection of services as KuCoin does.

Here’s what stands out to me:

• Allows you to trade more cryptocurrencies, and on more markets, than alternatives.
• Some of the lowest trading fees in the industry (up to 0.1%).
• Several ways to earn interest on your cryptocurrency holdings.
• A dividends program that grants users a share of the trading profits.

To top it off? You can open an account in under a minute with just an email address.

Head over to their website to learn more.

Any Questions?

Thanks for checking out this KuCoin review!

Have something you want to ask?

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