Best Crypto Exchange in the UK

Over late 2021 and early 2022, the crypto market has seen a large corrected, with its market cap falling from nearly $3 trillion to just over $1.5 trillion. If you’re thinking of investing in cryptocurrency, now could be a good time to ‘buy low, sell high’ during this dip.

Given the positive price predictions of the crypto markets in 2024 and increasing use cases and institutional adoption, investors could expect a high ROI in the long run.

In this guide we review the best crypto exchanges in the UK, so that you can start investing in crypto.

Top 5 UK Crypto Exchanges – List

Since the selection of the best crypto exchange will be determined by your preferences and needs, we have provided a detailed review of each of the best crypto exchanges below to assist you in finding the right exchange for you.

Best Crypto Exchange in the UK in December 2024

Best Crypto Exchanges in the UK

If you are looking for the best crypto exchange to begin your investment journey, you have come to the right place. Read on as we review the best crypto exchanges and discuss their features, benefits, and drawbacks, among other things.

eToro – Overall Best UK Crypto Exchnage

eToro is a well-known crypto exchange in the UK, offering traders and investors a plethora of ways to engage with crypto trading. It boasts of the world’s largest trading and investing community, with over 20 million members across the globe. Many of eToro’s experienced and knowledgeable investors have outperformed market benchmarks.

This leading crypto exchange gives traders and investors access to over 2000 different financial assets, including currencies, ETFs, stocks, indices, commodities, and crypto assets, the majority of which can be leveraged on this platform, thereby giving almost everyone access to short-term, mid-term, and long term investment opportunities.

Note – leverage trading is a risky investment strategy that can result in increased losses. 

Furthermore, the eToro platform includes premium features such as Smart Portfolios and a Copy trader function to improve the user’s trading experience. eToro Investment Portfolios (Smart Portfolios) are collections of assets or people that have been strategically grouped around a common theme.

Similarly, the eToro platform’s Copy trader function allows users to replicate the trades of skilled, experienced, and professional investors.

For the benefit of its clients, eToro has also purchased insurance coverage from Lloyd’s of London. The insurance covers eligible clients who have suffered damages as a result of eToro’s insolvency or a negligent occurrence.

Cryptocurrencies supported: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, NEO, Ripple, IOTA, Stellar, EOS, Tron, Monero, Cardano, etc.

Demo Account: Yes

Educational Material: Yes

Fees: 1% spread

Minimum deposit: 37.04 GBP for UK clients

Special Features: Crypto-staking, Copy Trader function, Smart portfolios

Visit eToro

Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest. This is a high-risk investment and you should not expect to be protected if something goes wrong. Take 2 mins to learn more

OKX – UK Crypto Exchange With High Liquidity

OKX is a popular cryptocurrency exchange operating in the UK, providing users with a diverse range of opportunities for crypto trading. With a global user base exceeding 20 million members, OKX stands out as one of the largest trading and investing platforms worldwide.

This exchange grants access to a vast selection of over 350 cryptocurrencies. Leveraging is available for most of these assets, enabling users to explore short-term, mid-term, and long-term investment prospects.

OKX offers premium features like Smart Portfolios, which are strategically curated collections of assets or traders grouped around a common theme. Additionally, the platform incorporates a Copy Trader function, allowing users to replicate trades executed by experienced investors.

The exchange offers trading with minimal commissions and transparent fee structures, avoiding hidden charges

Demo Account: Yes

Educational Material: Yes

Fees: 0.1% for Market Makers and 0.15% for Market Takers

Special Features: Staking, Copy Trading

Visit OKX

Your capital is at risk

Bybit – Best crypto exchange for futures trading

Bybit is another well-known cryptocurrency exchange, with over 1.6 million users worldwide. It makes use of a customer-centric strategy in order to provide the best possible user experience.

Contrary to eToro, this top platform’s services are based on maker/taker fees rather than a buy-sell spread. Users have to pay about 0.1 percent in fees for spot trading and about 0.025 percent in rebates for limit orders in margin trading.

In contrast to Binance, Bybit is considered to have the ‘lowest spread,’ with a maker rebate. Another advantage of using Bybit is that the KYC (know-your-customer) process is not required. You are not required to submit a copy of your license or passport for identity verification unless you want to withdraw more than 2 BTC per day, which is more than most traders require.

Furthermore, this exchange is freely available to all crypto enthusiasts in the form of mobile apps and desktop-based programs. Bybit provides a high degree of leverage, low trading fees, and a market maker rebate.

In addition to crypto trading, the main orders supported on its platform include limit orders, conditional orders, market orders, and partial orders. Since Bybit has an insurance policy in place to protect its users in the event of a loss, this reputable crypto exchange is regarded as the most preferred platform for trading crypto derivatives.

Cryptocurrencies supported: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Tezos, Chainlink, Cardano, Polkadot, etc.

Demo Account: Yes

Educational Material: Yes

Fees: 0.1% for Bybit

Minimum deposit: None

Special Features: lowest spread, no mandatory KYC process, fewer fees

Regulation: N/A

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Your capital is at risk

Binance Highest trading volume crypto exchange

Binance is the leading crypto exchange across the globe in terms of the trading volume. It offers all of its users an amazing crypto trading experience at a low cost. When making purchases on this exchange, users are not required to pay any transaction fees, allowing them to increase their earnings without incurring any additional costs.

Binance allows you to make leveraged spot and margin trades. The fact that it has the most altcoins on its platform demonstrates its dominance among crypto exchanges. Binance uses a volume-based pricing system and all of its users can access MetaTrader 4 software.

This software keeps you up to date in real-time on all trends, trades, and alerts. The popularity of the MT4 Binance trading platform can be attributed to the fact that it is one of the most simple and dependable ways to conduct business on the Forex market.

Using this trading platform has a number of advantages, one of which is that it may assist you in learning how to trade and gaining a better understanding of how the entire trading process works. Binance customers can use the “Expert advisors” option to receive a variety of investing recommendations from professional traders in order to increase productivity.

Cryptocurrencies supported: Binance Coin, Dogecoin, Ripple, Ethereum, Cardano, Litecoin, and 100+ other cryptocurrencies

Demo Account: No

Educational Material: Yes

Fees: 0.1% for Binance, reduced to 0.075% if BNB coin is used to pay fees

Minimum deposit: 7.44 GBP

Special Features: supports Metatrader 4 software, no transaction fees

Regulation: Binance is in the process of applying for UK regulation

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Coinbase – Most popular crypto exchange by no. of users

With over 10 million members, Coinbase is one of the largest crypto exchanges where you can buy and trade a variety of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and others. One of the advantages of using Coinbase to acquire any cryptocurrency is that you can do so using a variety of payment methods, such as debit/credit cards, bank transfers, PayPal, and so on.

Furthermore, Coinbase’s platform only supports spot trading and does not support leveraged trading. Coinbase Pro is a premium feature of this cryptocurrency exchange that allows you to trade with a limit order on the chart. For various transactions, Coinbase has a maximum limit on fees in place. You will be charged when you deposit or withdraw money, as well as when you buy or sell a cryptocurrency.

The total transaction cost on Coinbase is approximately 1.49 percent of the transaction value. For instance, if you want to buy $100 worth of bitcoin with a debit card, you’ll have to pay $1.49.

Coinbase has highly advanced security mechanisms in place on its platform to ensure that your transaction is completely secure. For instance, whenever you log in, it checks for two-factor authentication (2FA) and includes multi-signature logins to protect your cryptocurrencies.

Therefore, Coinbase is the perfect choice for all crypto enthusiasts who are particular about the safety and security standards of any crypto exchange.

Cryptocurrencies supported: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Aave, Cardano, USD Coin, Dash, Dogecoin, etc.

Demo Account: No

Educational Material: Yes

Fees: 0.1% for Coinbase

Minimum deposit: 37.04 GBP

Special Features: massive customer base, advanced security measures

Regulation: Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN)

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Your capital is at risk

KuCoin – Best UK crypto exchange for low market cap altcoins

KuCoin is recognized for giving a user-friendly experience to all of its customers, making it simple for beginners to start trading in cryptocurrencies. It provides a wide range of cryptocurrency services, such as a fiat onramp, peer-to-peer (P2P) marketplace, crypto staking, margin trading exchange, futures trading exchange, non-custodial trading, crypto lending, and much more.

KuCoin, which was founded in 2017, has established itself as a one-stop solution for all crypto operations, making it a reputable exchange in the crypto sector. The exchange is also known for offering over 200 cryptocurrencies to all of its users.

If you want to generate passive income, this platform allows you to do so via the crypto staking tool. KuCoin’s systems have extensive security features, such as dynamic multifactor authentication and multi-level encryption, to ensure the complete safety of your crypto assets.

KuCoin is a good choice for all newcomers because it has a high level of liquidity, a large number of users, a diverse selection of supported assets and services, and low trading fees. In addition to the aforementioned benefits, this cryptocurrency exchange gives its customers an excellent crypto trading experience with low trading and withdrawal fees.

Moreover, it offers a wide range of altcoins on its platform, making it simple for traders to diversify their investment portfolios. On top of it, KuCoin provides excellent 24/7 customer support to its users in order to resolve any trade-related concerns or queries.

Cryptocurrencies supported: Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether, Binance Coin, Cardano, XRP, USD Coin, Dogecoin, etc.

Demo Account: Yes

Educational Material: Yes

Fees: 0.1%

Minimum deposit: None

Special Features: Crypto staking, User-friendly platform, advanced security mechanisms

Regulation: N/A

Visit KuCoin

Your capital is at risk

What is a cryptocurrency exchange?

A crypto exchange can be understood in form of an online marketplace from which you can purchase and sell any crypto asset or fiat currency. In a nutshell, it acts as a middleman between crypto buyers and sellers.

Essentially, a crypto exchange functions similarly to a brokerage, and you can make your purchase here using a variety of deposit methods. To transact on a crypto exchange, you must first register and have your identity verified.

Newcomers frequently misinterpret the terms “crypto brokers” and “crypto exchanges.” As a result of the ambiguity, both names are frequently used interchangeably. A crypto broker, as opposed to a crypto exchange, acts as a go-between for a trader or investor and a market (or exchange).

Unlike on a crypto exchange, users do not own the item they are trading and do not swap any digital assets they own. When you hear the term “crypto broker,” it means that you do not own the cryptos; instead, you trade long or short contracts for them using leverage.

As brokers act as an intermediary and complete the trade for you, they charge reasonable fees. Furthermore, in order to provide you with transaction facilities, a stock/forex broker must possess a decent amount of capital for trading, let’s say $25k.

Moreover, anyone with a few dollars can easily trade on a cryptocurrency exchange. Because of these distinctions, you should exercise caution when using the terms “broker” or “exchange” in relation to cryptocurrency trading.

How do we rank the best UK crypto exchanges?

The presence of multiple crypto exchanges makes it difficult to find the right crypto platform to begin your investment. Since different exchange offers different services and features, it is critical to take into consideration your priorities and requirements while choosing your exchange.

Given below we have explained some of the features which are essential to be found across the best crypto exchanges in the UK.

Safety & Regulation

If you use an unregulated or unprotected crypto exchange for your trading, then your investment gets exposed to many malware, hacks, and security flaws. As a result, you must always choose crypto exchanges with an advanced security system to keep your investment safe. For instance, the eToro platform has high-level safety measures to ensure the maximum protection of your cryptocurrencies.

Similar, other crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Bybit, and Binance also use the best security measures like two-factor authentication (2FA) and multi-signature logins to protect your investment.

Further, it is always advisable to select crypto exchanges that are well-governed or licensed by reputable international organizations such as the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom or the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).

Number of Cryptos

In case you want to diversity your investment portfolio, then you would be looking to distribute your money among various cryptocurrencies. Therefore, as an investor, it is preferred to choose a crypto exchange that supports a wide range of cryptocurrencies on their platform.

For instance, the leading crypto exchange, eToro platform offers a plethora of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, NEO, Ripple, IOTA, Stellar, EOS, Tron, Monero, Cardano, etc.

Fees

In the normal course of your transaction, you’ll have to pay a fee for buying or selling any crypto on an exchange. This fee is usually charged in the form of a trading commission. As an investor, you must always prefer crypto exchanges with lower transaction fees.

Similarly, many crypto exchanges require a minimum deposit. Check that this criterion is within your budget before you select any crypto exchange. Further, before selecting any crypto, you should also investigate whether or not withdrawals are charged on that exchange.

Trading Tools & Features

Nowadays, crypto exchanges offer many trading tools and features to improve users’ trading experience. For example, eToro provides features like Smart portfolios and the Copy Trader function to help beginners in learning the art of crypto trading.

Automated/Copy Trading

Crypto exchanges like the eToro platform offer their users a variety of features that allow them to understand the nuances of crypto trading. The Copy trader function, for example, allows the amateurs to imitate an experienced investor’s trade moves and trade in the same way they do. This function prevents excessive profit losses by regulating drawdowns.

Payment Methods

Now, you can invest in your favorite crypto using a variety of payment options at a reputable crypto exchange. eToro, for example, gives a variety of payment methods, such as e-wallets and a lot more.

Customer Service

The best crypto exchanges are distinguished by their commitment to providing excellent customer service. Every customer query must be resolved on time for healthy business growth. As a result, exchanges that focus on resolving customer issues on time are on every investor’s wish list.

Speed & platform user experience

If you’re new to crypto investing, you’ve probably realized how important it is to use a user-friendly platform for crypto trading. Every investor wants to invest in an exchange that provides a positive trading experience via a user-friendly interface.

What fees do UK crypto exchanges charge?

Though investors have many options in terms of choosing their crypto exchange, however, there are only a few exchanges that do not hide their fees structure. It is essential to choose the right exchange that does not mislead the investors with its overlapping charge structures, and discounts.

In this section, we will examine the pricing structures of popular crypto exchanges, which will assist you in anticipating the cost of your crypto investment:

Trading fees

Many exchanges charge trading fees from the users and keep it as their main source of revenue. Trading fees are generally charged on all types of crypto trading, be it fiat to crypto trading, or crypto-crypto trading.

To attract market makers, many exchanges charge lower trading fees from them. Similarly, some exchanges do not even charge any fees on any trading transaction.

Deposit/Withdrawal fees

Sometimes, users are required to pay fees for making deposits and withdrawals, though deposit fees are usually less common than withdrawal fees because exchanges want their users to deposit money into their accounts.

On the other hand, customers are also required to incur additional withdrawal fees in the form of blockchain transaction costs. They might even have to pay additional fees in case they are from a different country or region.

For instance, Kucoin charges withdrawal fees from its users. Further, exchanges such as Bybit, and Coinbase, typically do not charge funding fees from their customers.

What are the UK crypto taxes?

The guidelines released by Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) govern the definition of taxable and non-taxable events in the case of cryptocurrencies. It is worth mentioning that taxes charged on crypto assets are equivalent to those on conventional income. In case you have suffered any losses while owning any crypto asset, you can deduct it from your total taxable income, and then carry these losses over to the next year.

HMRC rules subject income earned from cryptocurrencies to the capital gains tax, whether they are sold, received in the form of an earning from work or mining, traded from one crypto to another, or used to make purchases. From these rules, you can also have an idea regarding how much tax you will be subjected to.

While arriving at your taxable income, you can deduct some allowable expenditure from your gains. These allowable expenses would include transaction fees charged before uploading the transaction on the blockchain, costs incurred while drafting contracts for a transaction, buyer or seller advertising charges, and a lot more.

As far as capital profits are concerned, there are two types of gains in this bracket: short-term capital gains and long-term capital gains. Profits made from selling crypto held for less than a year come under the purview of short-term capital gains, while profits earned from selling crypto held for more than a year come under the bracket of short-term capital gains.

Since short-term capital gains have a higher tax rate than long-term capital gain, it is advisable to keep your cryptocurrencies for a longer time to avoid paying higher taxes.

How are UK crypto exchanges regulated?

In the United Kingdom, cryptocurrencies are not recognized as legal tender, instead, they are treated as property. Any crypto exchange in the UK should register itself with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The goal of such regulations is to guarantee that the exchanges in this volatile industry protect consumers’ assets.

Crypto exchanges in the UK are not permitted to trade crypto derivatives. As an investor, it is always wise to select a well-regulated crypto exchange for your trading.

Coinbase is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority in the United Kingdom. It is also overseen by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). However, KuCoin and Bybit, unlike Coinbase, are not registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the United Kingdom.

How to trade crypto in the UK?

The introduction of Metaverse has opened the flood-gate of opportunities for cryptocurrencies. Considering the bright prospects of these digital assets, it is advisable to start investing in crypto assets from now onwards. Given below are the steps to make your first purchase from the best crypto exchange in the UK, the eToro platform:

Step 1: Opening an Account

Go to the eToro platform’s official website and click “Join Now”. Then, create your login credentials by entering the necessary information, such as your name, address, user name, phone number, and email address. Alternatively, you can also sign up with your Google or Facebook account.

Step 2: Uploading Your Identification

Once you’ve opened an account on the eToro platform, finish the KYC (know-your-customer) process by getting your identity verified. You can confirm your identity by providing a copy of your passport or driver’s license. To furnish your proof of address, you can provide a utility bill or bank statement.

Once you’ve uploaded all of the required documents, your account will be authenticated within minutes.

Step 3: Depositing Funds

Once you are done with the identification process, the next step involves the funding of your eToro account. For depositing money in your account, eToro accepts a variety of payment methods. debit cards, a bank account, and other methods can be used to fund your account.

Step 4: Exploring the Crypto market

After funding your account, then you have to choose the cryptocurrency which you want to buy. Just go to the search bar, and type the name of the crypto that you want to buy.

Step 5: Placing the Trade

Once you have typed the name of your desired crypto, click on the “Trade” button, and enter the amount that you would want to invest in that crypto. Now, click on the “Open Trade” button to complete the transaction.

Conclusion

Cryptocurrencies are predicted to display exponential growth in the upcoming times, which is why it becomes essential to start investing in these digital assets for now so that one can make huge profits whenever the bullish run of this industry comes.

Therefore, in case you are planning to start your crypto investment, then you must select your crypto exchange after doing some background research as selecting the right exchange is important for a decent trading experience in this market.

Since it is difficult for beginners to select the right crypto exchange for starting their investment journey, we would recommend choosing that crypto exchange that is not only well-regulated by the top regulatory bodies but also provides additional services which would enhance your trading experience. Considering all these reasons, it is apt to choose the eToro platform as your crypto exchange.

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