Centralized crypto platforms have taken a lot of flack in recent months due to the shenanigans of a few bad actors. The main concern for users is the need to trust a third-party intermediary to manage their funds. But despite this, there are still many reasons to want to use a CEX.
The biggest advantage of CEXs is that they’re often much easier to use, with easy-to-understand user interfaces that enable beginners to get started trading in a matter of minutes. What’s more, CEX platforms can generally offer much deeper liquidity than even the most popular DEX platforms, making them the only suitable choice for professional, high volume traders.
So while DEX platforms might be gaining in popularity, there will always be a sizable audience for CEX platforms. With that in mind, we’ve chosen three DEX platforms that we feel are the best around, in terms of trading functionality, ease of use and low costs.
StormGain: Best CEX For Trading Options
Founded by Alex Althausen, StormGain has emerged as one of the top crypto exchange platforms for European traders thanks to its development of multiple features designed to make trading more lucrative and rewarding.
StormGain enables experienced traders to get the most out of the market with an array of different trading options and order types. For instance, it offers a basic options spot trading market that enables traders to buy and sell assets at the established market price instantaneously.
Spot trading is the most popular market for crypto traders and involves buying and selling tokens at the listed price. When a user initiates a trade, it will be entered into StormGain’s order book, which will rapidly search for a matching bid. Once the seller has been matched with a suitable buyer, the trade is executed immediately, making for lightning-fast transactions.
StormGain also allows futures trading, where traders can hedge against market price movements. With futures contracts, traders are essentially speculating that the price of an asset will move up or down over a set period of time. The user buys a contract that enables them to buy an asset at a given price at the time it expires. The trader will either profit on the deal or lose, based on whether or not the asset’s price appreciates or depreciates at the time of expiry.
A third kind of trading option on StormGain is leveraged trading, in which the user is able to borrow funds from the exchange in order to increase their stake. Looking deeper at its trading options, we find that StormGain also offers novel markets such as crypto indices and tokenized assets, as well as a cloud mining program that provides rewards to users.
Added to these trading options, StormGain is also unique among CEXs in that it operates its own, fully decentralized trading platform. StormGain DEX allows traders to maintain self-custody of their assets in their own wallet, which is simply linked to the platform. Users trade with one another via smart contracts. However, uniquely among DEXs, StormGain DEX is able to tap into the liquidity of its CEX platform to ensure traders can buy and sell at their desired price, without suffering from slippage. Very few CEX platforms can compete with StormGain’s trading options, hence it’s our favorite choice for experienced traders.
Coinbase: Best CEX For Beginners
Coinbase is one of the most user-friendly exchanges around thanks to its simple interface, robust security and its extensive library of educational content.
No doubt you have already heard of Coinbase, which is probably the best-known exchange in the U.S. Not only is it one of the most reputable platforms, but it excels at lowering the barrier for entry to new cryptocurrency users. It begins with a seamless onboarding process and a step-by-step guide to executing your first trade.
Coinbase is also home to a comprehensive portal of educational materials, with guides to things like the basics of blockchain, an explanation of crypto terminology, and a deep dive into hundreds of popular cryptocurrencies. What’s more, users can actually get paid in crypto for reading this stuff thanks to its novel Coinbase Earn program, which pays small rewards to users who participate in its learning modules.
We should also mention its security, which is as good as any in the industry. Notably, Coinbase offers two-factor authentication on its desktop and mobile platforms, and it stores 98% of its funds offline in so-called cold wallets. It also has an insurance policy with the U.S. FDIC that covers deposits of up to $250,000. It provides a level of reassurance that few other exchanges can match, making it an excellent choice for novices and cautious investors alike.
Bitstamp: Best Exchange For Low Fees
For some traders, especially those who trade in smaller amounts, one of the most important considerations is that they don’t get stung by high trading costs. Hence, Bitstamp is well worth a look thanks to its extremely competitive maker and taker fees and zero-cost withdrawals.
Low fees are offered by many CEXs as a way to entice new users to try out their platforms, but what they don’t say is that they will make up for this with expensive costs associated with coin transfers and bank withdrawals. So, you might purchase Bitcoin on its platform for minimal fees, but the moment you transfer that BTC to your own wallet, the exchange will take a sizable cut. That doesn’t happen with Bitstamp, which is notable for minimal costs on all transactions.
Bitstamp’s exact fees depend on the specific cryptocurrency, but they’re as low as you’ll find anywhere. Maker fees range from 0.3% to 0%, while taker fees average between 0.4% and 0.3%, making it one of the lowest cost exchange platforms around. Even better yet, traders whose 30-day trading volume is less than $1,000 won’t have to pay any fees at all, which is ideal for those who only want to buy crypto now and again. Furthermore, Bitstamp’s withdrawal fees are also very low, with ACH transfers being entirely free to users.
As one of the longest-established crypto platforms around, Bitstamp has a long history of secure and transparent operations. It notably became the first platform of its kind to secure an EU Payment Institution license, and it has also been granted a BitLicense by New York’s financial services department, NYDFS. Bitstamp did suffer a hack many years ago in 2015, losing more than $5 million worth of funds, but to its credit it was able to fully reimburse all users without delay.
Conclusion
There are literally hundreds of CEX trading platforms to choose from, but we think the above platforms are among the best all-rounders in the business. When it comes to multiple trading options, few platforms can compete with StormGain. For user-friendliness, Coinbase is hard to beat, and for low cost trading, Bitstamp is always a solid choice.
