KuCoin is a leading cryptocurrency exchange and one of the best options to trade a wide variety of digital assets.
Founded in 2017 by Johnny Lyu and headquartered in Mahé, Seychelles, KuCoin has grown to be a popular online broker with more than 10 million users across 200 countries.
Experienced and professional traders might find KuCoin as an ideal exchange for margin, spot, and derivatives trading with 100x leverage for futures contracts.
The exchange also features a lending service and an upcoming Non-Fungible Token (NFT) marketplace where users can seamlessly buy and sell NFT assets.
KuCoin currently has 600 cryptocurrencies available for trading, including the high-market cap ones such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), stablecoins, decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, and more, making the exchange an appealing option for traders looking to diversify their portfolios.
Is Binance Exchange Limited To Expert Traders?
KuCoin does offer a large set of financial instruments and features, but it’s not the most user-friendly exchange out there.
New traders might want to reconsider using KuCoin as their first choice.
The company has a help center that’s relatively decent, but several users have claimed extremely poor customer service, besides other problems within the site.
Pros & Cons Of KuCoin
Pros:
- Support for over 600 cryptocurrencies
- Ability to earn interests
- Low fees
- Suitable for advanced traders
- Several trading options, including futures, margin, and spot trading
Cons:
- Difficult to navigate
- Not user-friendly
- Not licensed in the US
- Poor customer support
- Lack of educational content
Our Take On KuCoin
KuCoin might not be the best option for beginners, as the interface is not the most user-friendly and educational content is scarce.
I would recommend KuCoin to professional traders who want to explore a wide range of crypto-related products and make the most out of their trading strategies.
The exchange, despite not being regulated worldwide, has become a reputable platform to trade a long list of cryptocurrencies.
KuCoin Fees
Generally speaking, KuCoin fees are relatively low compared to competitors.
KuCoin relies on the maker-taker fee system. Explained simply, a market maker is the one providing the liquidity for buy or sell orders that aren’t immediate trades.
This benefits the taker, who executes instant buy or sell orders.
Market takers usually pay higher fees than market makers as they don’t provide any liquidity to the exchange, although this varies according to the platform.
However, keep in mind the exchange has a tiered market-taker model with levels ranging from 0 to 12.
This relies on your trading volume on a 30-day basis: the higher your trading volume, the lower the fees you pay.
Users who pay their fees with KSC receive a 20% discount on trading fees.
KuCoin doesn’t charge deposit fees. It does, however, charge withdrawal fees depending on the cryptocurrency and its market performance.
Is KuCoin Safe?
This is probably KuCoin’s weakest point, as the exchange only leverages a few security methods such as encryption and multi-factor authentication.
In 2020, KuCoin was subject to a major security breach where nearly $260 million worth of crypto was stolen.
KuCoin’s insurance fund covered the losses, reimbursing affected users.
However, this leaves a bad stain on the exchange’s reputation.
Registration Process
Registering at KuCoin at first glance seems simple.
Type your email address and you’ll receive a verification code and then set up a password, as you can see in the image below.
As soon as you sign up you receive a 5 USDT trading coupon, which is a nice feature from the exchange.
You can view the coupon at the notification icon at the top right of the main dashboard.
Verifying your KuCoin account gives you more benefits regarding withdrawals, trading limits, and higher leverage. It only takes about 1 to 3 business days to verify your account.
You can opt for a basic KYC (Know Your Customer), which only requires submitting basic information about yourself.
The advanced KYC process requires you to submit a picture of a government-issued ID document, such as:
- ID Card
- Passport
- Drivers License
KuCoin is not legally licensed to operate in the United States.
While US-based customers are able to open a KuCoin account, they are quite limited when it comes to certain features, such as how much they can withdraw and how much leverage they can access.
If you’re a US-based citizen, you should proceed with caution or might as well just opt for a fully-licensed crypto exchange.
The reason behind this is: if a regulatory agency such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) starts cracking down on unlicensed crypto companies, you might be unable to withdraw your funds as your account would get frozen, therefore losing your capital.
KuCoin Site Experience
KuCoin’s interface might be difficult to navigate for beginners.
It’s not quite user-friendly but professional traders can find all the necessary features to take their strategies to the next level.
At the header of the dashboard, you can check the available features, such as Buy Crypto, Market, and Trade, and below you can see your account overview, and next to it the Deposit and Withdraw tabs.
At the very center, you’ll see four widgets regarding the different accounts available for you. Each account has a different purpose:
- Main Account: here’s where you can check the available cryptocurrencies for deposit and withdrawal, and make purchases with debit or credit cards. You can also transfer some of these assets (if you already have some of them) to your Trading or Futures Account and vice versa.
- Trading Account: used for crypto trading
- Futures Account: used for futures trading
- Financial Account: here you can see your portfolio and its overall performance, and your total profits.
KuCoin App Experience
KuCoin has an official mobile app in which users can trade crypto through various financial instruments, including spot, margin, and futures contracts with 100x leverage.
They can also manage their portfolios, earn interest, and deposit or withdraw cryptocurrencies.
The KuCoin app performs very well and the navigation speed is quite smooth.
Home is where the main dashboard is and shows current data and market prices for a long list of crypto assets.
Next, we have the trading interface which is accompanied by several features, such as timeframe, indicators, the order book, recent trades, and more.
The app can be downloaded via App Store (for iOS) or Play Store (for Android). It’s also found on the website.
The app, just like the desktop version, is more suitable for advanced customers as the interface is not user-friendly at all and can be difficult to navigate.
On Settings, we can find the following features:
- Enabling access with Face ID (both for Android and iOS users)
- Anti-Phishing Safety Phrase
- Refer friends and receive rewards through the KuCoin Referral Program
- Complete Tasks and earn USDT through the Rewards Hub
- Change the language, currency, payment method, and other functions
Trading Options
KuCoin is well-known for offering a range of crypto-related products, such as futures and perpetual contracts, which is an appealing feature for advanced traders.
The trading interface is provided by TradingView, which means we get access to a long list of trading tools and features, such as timeframe, indicators, order book, and trade history.
There are several crypto-related products you can trade, from spot to margin trading to derivatives, such as futures and perpetual contracts with up to 100x leverage, depending on the cryptocurrency.
The Market section is where users can find all of the cryptocurrencies available for spot, margin, and futures trading.
There are other interesting products that can be sound on the Derivatives and Earn tab. For example, in the Earn section, we can find:
- Crypto lending: users can lend their crypto-assets and receive interest in exchange
- KuCoin Earn: this is a wealth management program that allows users to access a wide range of financial products, such as staking —locking funds in a crypto wallet to receive rewards—, and increase the value of their portfolio.
- KuCoin Win: KuCoin’s entertainment platform features several play-to-earn (P2E) using KCS —KuCoin’s native token.
- KSC Bonuses: by holding KSC, users can receive daily bonuses sent directly to their Main Accounts.
- Cloud Mining: KuCoin’s remote platform allows users to join a mining pool to mine several Proof-of-Work (PoW) cryptocurrencies without having to deploy computer hardware.
- KuCoin Spotlight: businesses and startups can launch their tokens via KuCoin Spotlight. The platform has successfully launched more than 20 projects.
On Derivatives, we can find four different futures products, such as:
- Futures: traditional futures trading with 100x leverage
- KuCoin Futures Lite: a simplified version of KuCoin’s Futures platform, ideal for users keen to experiment with this type of investment product.
- KuCoin Leveraged Tokens: users can trade leveraged assets without needing collateral, unlike traditional margin and futures trading.
- KuCoin Futures Brawl: this mode is a type of game where users can go long (buy) or short (sell) on assets and win points against other players.
There are two additional features within the exchange, which users can find very valuable, and these are:
- Trading Bots: KuCoin allows users to enable fully-customizable trading bots to perform crypto trades automatically when conditions are met, helping them to manage their portfolio.
- Education: KuCoin offers educational content via the Support Center page, which also contains a FAQ with answers to common questions. However, educational resources are quite limited.
Banking At KuCoin
KuCoin allows you to deposit with fiat via third-party apps such as Apple Pay and Google Pay.
You can also choose a credit/debit card.
Deposit fees can be a pain point, but it depends on how you view them, as they are relatively low compared to competitors. KuCoin does not allow wire transfers.
The exchange supports staking and over 600 cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins and DeFi (decentralized finance) tokens, mainly:
- Bitcoin (BTC)
- Binance Coin (BNB)
- Cardano (ADA)
- Ethereum (ETH)
- Polkadot (DOT)
- Dogecoin (DOGE)
- Litecoin (LTC)
- Ripple (XRP)
- USD Circle (USDC)
- Tether (USDT)
KuCoin Geographic Restrictions
KuCoin offers its services to nearly 200 countries, such as:
- Australia
- Austria
- Canada
- Chile
- Colombia
- Peru
- Sweden
- Belarus
- Germany
- Russia
The issue with KuCoin is that it is not regulated by any financial regulatory agency.
KuCoin has a KYC countries list, which means that users from the supported countries are able to go through the KYC process.
Users from unsupported countries, such as US and UK customers, are still able to open an account but are limited when it comes to deposits, withdrawals, trading, and other features.
This imposes risks because if a financial regulatory agency such as the SEC or UK’s FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) decides to crack down on unlicensed crypto exchanges, your account most likely would end up frozen.
KuCoin Customer Support
KuCoin, just like the majority of exchanges, doesn’t offer phone or email support.
When in trouble, the only two resources available to users are a live chat and the support center with a basic FAQ.
Another weak point of KuCoin is its customer service.
There are over 600 negative reviews on Trustpilot, with most users complaining about poor customer support and problems when depositing or withdrawing funds.
The average rating is just 1.5 out of 5 stars, and another concerning factor is that several users have reported missing funds on their accounts and market manipulation.