What are the Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges for US Residents?
In the United States, cryptocurrency investors don’t have as many choices as traders in other countries. This is due to regulatory requirements in the United States. These rules are designed to protect investors, prevent tax fraud, and reduce money laundering.
One thing to keep in mind for investors in the USA is that exchanges must follow KYC regulations. This stands for “Know Your Customer.” Crypto companies are required to ask for proof of identification, such as a driver’s license, address, and social security number.
Selection Criteria
Many factors need to be considered when choosing a crypto exchange. Below are some of the key criteria we used to evaluate these exchanges.
- Reputation
- User Interface
- Customer Service
- Security
- Features
- Coin/Token Selection
- Transaction Fees
- Trading Volume
- Liquidity
#1 FTX US
FTX.us is a version of the FTX.com international exchange that is specifically designed for residents of the United States. FTX started in 2019 and was created by the world’s youngest billionaire, Sam Bankman-Fried.
The company has a great reputation and good customer service. It’s GAPP audited, fully regulated and based out of the USA & the Bahamas. The platform is also reliable, easy to use, and offers excellent security.
Features
FTX.us goes far beyond simply buying and selling cryptocurrency; it offers many services:
- Cryptocurrencies can be purchased, sold, transferred, and received.
- Built-In Crypto Wallet
- NFT marketplace
- Trading Automation (Quant Zone)
- FTX Pay (Works Like PayPal, But Uses Crypto)
- The FTX Card (Crypto Visa Debit Card)
- Platform for Derivatives (Options and Futures)
- Stock Trading (Rolling Out Now)
FTX also has a great selection of advanced order types. These get you out of losing trades and allow you to collect your profits from good trades. As far as we are concerned, they should be available on every exchange, but unfortunately, many platforms don’t offer them.
FTX’s order types include:
- Market Orders
- Limit Orders
- Stop Loss (Market & Limit)
- Trailing Stop Loss
- Take Profit (Market and Limit)
Transaction Fees
The exchange offers some of the best trading fees available in the United States. One tip to remember when it comes to transaction costs is that maker fees are typically much cheaper than taker fees.
Maker fees are what you pay for limit order transactions. When you select the limit order option, you are helping to “make or create” the market by setting a specific price you want to buy or sell at.
Taker fees are what you pay when you place a market order. Market orders are like using a “Buy or Sell Now” button. Essentially, you are saying, buy or sell now at the best available price. You are taking liquidity away from the exchange and paying a premium for it.
Cryptocurrency Coin/Token Selection
FTX.us offers more than 30 popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche, Doge, and Shiba Inu. It doesn’t have as many cryptocurrencies as some exchanges, but it does offer enough diversity for most investors, and the selection is always growing.
Liquidity and trading volume
The FTX group of exchanges (FTX.us and FTX.com International) are both top-ranked exchanges and collectively hold billions of dollars in crypto assets. Both exchanges are very popular with investors. They also have high trading volumes, and offer excellent liquidity.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Low transaction fees
- Advanced order options
- Excellent NFT marketplace
- Built-in crypto wallet
- Easy to use interface
Cons
- A smaller selection of cryptocurrencies
- Staking is not currently available for US customers.
Conclusion
In our opinion, FTX.us is the best crypto exchange for most people in the United States. It’s safe, secure, and well-funded. FTX is one of the world’s top ranked exchanges, offering some of the lowest transaction fees, great security, and an easy-to-use interface.
We would love to see FTX bring more coins and tokens to their US Exchange. With their international platform already offering hundreds of crypto assets, we’re sure they will continue to expand the selection on their US exchange. Fortunately, they already offer most of the top crypto coins and tokens, so this won’t be an issue for most investors.
The platform also has best-in-class features such as Advanced Order Types, Derivatives Trading, and Trading Automation. When you combine this with their other offerings, such as FTX Pay, NFT Exchange, and FTX Card, you get an array of services that’s hard to beat.
The Bottom Line: FTX.us is a great exchange! We think it’s the best choice, unless you really, really, really want to buy a coin that isn’t listed on the exchange!
FTX.us’s website address is: https://ftx.us/home/
#2 Coinbase
Formerly known as GDAX, Coinbase is a San Francisco-based exchange that has been operating since 2018. Coinbase is licensed, regulated, and operates in the United States and more than 100 other countries. It has nearly 90 million users and is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
It’s reliable, easy to use, and has decent customer support. If you simply want to buy and hold onto Bitcoin or another crypto for the long term, Coinbase may be the exchange for you.
Features
- Cryptocurrencies can be purchased, sold, transferred, and received.
- A cryptocurrency wallet app is now available.
- NFT marketplace
- Coinbase Card (Crypto-Visa Debit Card)
- Borrow (Limited Availability: Use Bitcoin as Collateral for a Loan)
Cryptocurrency Coin/Token Selection
Coinbase has more than 150 cryptocurrencies listed. It’s still missing several great coins and tokens, but overall, their selection is very impressive. One thing to keep in mind is that you won’t find newer coins or small crypto projects on Coinbase,
Transaction Fees
Coinbase’s transaction fees are higher than many other crypto exchanges. If you trade frequently, use Coinbase’s wallet for transfers, or use the Buy/Sell/Convert feature, the fees can really start to add up.
This would be our biggest complaint with the platform: the fees seem higher than they need to be. Since many traders on Coinbase are new to cryptocurrency, they often don’t realize they are paying high fees. And honestly, if all you are doing is buying some Bitcoin or Doge and holding onto it for several years, it probably doesn’t matter. However, many people opt for a more strategic and profitable approach to investing.
Liquidity and trading volume
One of Coinbase’s key advantages is its high trading volume. More transactions take place on Coinbase than on any other crypto exchange in the United States, and it has the second-highest trading volume in the world. This means that liquidity is usually not a problem.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Convenient and easy-to-use
- reputable and secure.
- A Good Selection of Cryptocurrencies
- NFT Marketplace
Cons
- High transaction fees
- There are no advanced order types.
- It does not offer new or smaller crypto projects.
Conclusion
Coinbase is another good option for residents of the United States. The exchange is well respected and secure. It’s also feature-rich, easy to use, and offers a good selection of cryptocurrencies.
Keep in mind that Coinbase is geared towards beginners, which means their fees are higher than other exchanges, and they lack advanced order types. You will need to keep a close eye on transaction costs and also on when to get out of a losing trade or take your profits.
Bottom Line: If you can’t find a coin on FTS.us, look to see if it’s listed on Coinbase. It is a good exchange that lacks some features and has higher fees, but it’s worth the trade-offs to get the crypto you want.
Coinbase’s website address is: https://www.coinbase.com/
#3 Crypto.com
Founded in 2016, Crypto.com boasts more than 10 million users. It’s fully regulated and operates in the United States and more than 90 other countries. Like many other crypto startups, it was founded in Singapore.
Crypto.com is one of the fastest-growing in the US, which is not with nonstop TV ads, endorsements from big celebrities like Matt Damon, and renaming the Los Angeles Lakers’ Staples Center to Crypto.com Arena. In fact, if we were to rank exchanges solely based on marketing presence, Crypto.com would certainly be number one. As with most crypto exchanges, crypto.com isn’t known for incredible customer support. However, it certainly doesn’t have the worst customer service, lets say mediocre.
Features
- Cryptocurrencies can be purchased, sold, transferred, and received.
- Built-In crypto wallet
- NFT marketplace
- Crypto staking rewards
- Crypto.com Card (Crypto-Visa debit card)
Crypto Coin/Token Selection
With more than 250 cryptocurrencies to choose from, Crypto.com has the best selection of coins and tokens of any crypto exchange available in the United States. If you’re looking for a crypto asset not available on other exchanges, there is a good chance you’ll find it on Crypto.com. Providing US investors access to new and small projects is one of our favorite features on this exchange.
Transaction Fees
Crypto.com trading fees fall somewhere in between FTX.us and Coinbase. They are not the highest or the lowest. In general, they could best be described as having slightly lower transaction fees than most other US-based exchanges.
Liquidity and Trading Volume
With billions of dollars of crypto assets flowing through the platform, you don’t need to worry much about trading volume or liquidity. Crypto.com is one of the top 10 rated crypto exchanges in the world and processes millions of transactions each week.
Pros and Cons
Pros
- Easy to use inferface
- Fantastic selection of cryptocurrencies
- Integrated crypto wallet
- Reasonable transaction fees
- Staking rewards
- NFT marketplace
Cons
- Higher transaction fees than FTX.us
- Not based in the United States
- Mediocre Customer Support
Conclusion
Crypto.com clearly has a lot to offer. It’s easy to use, has an excellent crypto selection, fair prices, and great staking rewards. If you can’t find what you’re looking for at FTS.us or Coinbase, give Crypto.com a try. Or better yet, do what we did and open an account at all three exchanges. Like the old saying goes, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”.
Bottom Line: Crypto.com is a good place to stake crypto and earn rewards. It also has an excellent selection of hard-to-find crypto, not listed on other exchanges. The transaction fees aren’t the cheapest in town, but they’re fair.
So, which exchange should you pick in the US?
We recommend FTX.us. They offer the best fees and overall experience for both new and experienced traders. They are also one of the largest and most reputable exchanges. If you can’t purchase the crypto you want on FTX.us, check out Coinbase and Crypto.com. For those that want to earn rewards for staking crypto, take a look at what Crypto.com has to offer.
