CoinEx

User Friendly
 

Bank transfer deposits

Bank card deposits

No fiat withdrawals

Mobile App

Beginner friendly features: 4

Ease of buying and trading: 4

Interface and user experience: 4

Education and learning: 4

Customer support: 3

Features
 

Spot trading

Futures trading

Advanced trading options: 3

Staking and savings: 2

Airdrops and launchpools: 2

Additional financial services: 2

Other products and services: 2

Decentralized wallet: 3

Fees
 
  • Spot Maker Fee: 0.2%
  • Spot Taker Fee: 0.2%
  • Futures Maker Fee: 0.03%
  • Futures Taker Fee: 0.05%

Additional 10% fee discount when using our referral signup link.

Additional $100 signup bonus when using our referral signup link.

Safety
 

 Exchange launched in 2017

Proof of Reserves

Regulatory compliance: 1

Reputation and reliability: 3

Asset safety and trust: 3

User account security: 4

Volume & Altcoins
 

 Number of altcoin pairs: 1200

 Last 24h trade volume (in BTC): 6,991

Features Score: 64 / 100
3.2
Total Rating: Good
Toggle feature descriptions
Beginner friendly buying
4
Beginner features such as fiat deposits, quick convert, recurring buys, demo trading.
Ease of buying and trading
4
How easy was it to deposit, convert fiat to crypto, and execute trades on spot market.
Interface and user experience
4
Usability, design and intuitivness of the interface and light and dark color schemes.
Advanced trading options
3
Derivatives, options, stocks, margin, trading bots and other advanced trading features.
Staking and savings
2
Number of available staking assets and overall yields.
Airdrops & Launchpools
2
Frequency, value and ease of joining various airdrops and launch events.
Extra financial services
2
Crypto debit cards, fiat withdrawals, loans, P2P marketplace.
Trading fees
5
Competitiveness of trading fees compared to other exchanges, including discounted rates with our referral bonuses.
Volume and liquidity
3
Overall volume, liquidity and spreads on spot and derivatives markets.
Altcoins selection
5
Amount and quality of listed altcoin trading pairs.
Regulatory compliance
1
Approvals, certificates and compliance with various agencies and institutions.
Reputation and reliability
3
Overall reputation of the exchange, user feedback and reviews, social media sentiment, trust and transparency.
Asset safety and trust
3
Use of cold wallet storage and multi-signature, user protection funds, proof of reserves, security audits, and other safety and insurance measures.
Account security
4
Availability of various account security features such as 2FA, anti-phishing codes, hardware keys, withdrawal or trading passwords.
Other products & services
2
NFT marketplaces, copytrading, subaccounts, gift cards, trading competitions and other features.
Mobile App
4
Usability, update freqency, platforms, design and ease of trading via the mobile app.
Decentralized Wallet
3
Decentralized self-custody wallet usability, operating systems, number of assets and blockchain networks supported, DeFi options and more.
Education and learning
4
Learning and news resources on the website, including instructional videos, articles, knowledge bases, FAQs and help center.
Customer support
3
Responsiveness and availability of customer support through different channels such as email, live chat, social media, and others.
Referral and signup bonuses
3
Benefits obtained through the use of our referral codes, including discounted fees, cash bonuses and other rewards.
CoinMarketCap Rating: 4.7/10
CoinGecko TrustScore: 7/10

Quick info:

Launched in: 2017
Based in: Samoa
Trust Score: 7/10 (Ranked #56)
Coins listed: 1200+
Trading volume: 6,991

Features overview:

  • Deposits: Cryptocurrency Bank cardsBank transfers
  • Beginner trading: Beginner-friendly interfaceSpot tradingMobile appCopytradingQuick convertRecurring buys
  • Advanced trading: MarginFutures & leverageOptionsTraditional marketsTrading bots
  • Financial services: Fiat withdrawalsDebit spending cardsCrypto loansP2P tradingStaking & Earn
  • Other features: Optional KYCSubaccountsLow trading feesWeb3 wallet

Restricted countries

CoinEx is not available in these 3 countries:

China, Hong Kong, United States.

CoinEx does not enforce KYC (know-your-customer) policies on accounts, therefore VPN use in unsupported countries is possible.

Available countries

CoinEx is available in 233 countries and territories.

Trading fees

  • Spot trading fees: 0.20% maker and taker.
  • Futures trading fees: 0.03% maker, 0.05% taker.
  • Additional lifetime 10% fee discount with our referral code “sdgm5”.
  • Additional fee discounts when using native token to pay for fees.
  • Additional fee discount by holding native token or having specific trading volume outlined in charts below.
VIP Level Spot Rate Spot + CET Reduction Futures Maker Futures Taker
Regular User 0.2% 0.16% 0.03% 0.05%
VIP1 0.18% 0.144% 0.028% 0.048%
VIP2 0.16% 0.128% 0.026% 0.046%
VIP3 0.14% 0.112% 0.024% 0.044%
VIP4 0.12% 0.096% 0.022% 0.042%
VIP5 0.1% 0.08% 0.02% 0.04%

VIP Levels:

VIP Lv CET Balance (CET) Total Asset Value (USD) Spot Trading Volume (Last 30 Days) (USD) Futures Trading Volume (Last 30 Days) (USD)
VIP 1 ≥ 2,000 ≥ 10,000 ≥ 10,000 ≥ 50,000
VIP 2 ≥ 10,000 ≥ 50,000 ≥ 50,000 ≥ 250,000
VIP 3 ≥ 50,000 ≥ 100,000 ≥ 100,000 ≥ 500,000
VIP 4 ≥ 250,000 ≥ 200,000 ≥ 200,000 ≥ 1,000,000
VIP 5 ≥ 1,000,000 ≥ 500,000 ≥ 500,000 ≥ 2,500,000

Signup bonuses

For added benefits on CoinEx use the following code during signup:

sdgm5

Permanent 10% fee discount.

Signup bonuses amount: $100.

Referral, signup or invitation code must be used during signup/registration process. These codes are also automatically added to exchange signup links on our site.

There are never any downsides to using referral codes. Benefits can include fee discounts, deposit bonuses, cash rewards, access to exclusive events or trading competitions, or other advantages.

The referral codes allow exchanges to properly attribute users and distribute rewards, bonuses or fee discounts based on disclosed affiliate relationships. No personal data is ever shared with us.

CoinEx Review

CoinEx is a safe and reliable exchange operating since 2017. It features spot and futures trading, and is only restricted in very few countries. CoinEx has medium volume, and medium to low liquidity on its 1000+ assets listed on spot. Futures volume is great for low to medium volume traders.

The exchange accepts 60+ local currency deposits through several different 3rd party payment gateways. You can use credit cards, debit cards, or bank transfers to deposit. CoinEx also features staking and savings program for passive income on your spot holdings, loans, airdrops, launchpad, and very comprehensive and helpful learning resources.

Our detailed CoinEx review will explain and detail every aspect of this crypto exchange and help you decide if it’s the right platform to trade on.

CoinEx pros and cons

Our review process looks at practically every aspect of CoinEx. Here’s what we liked and disliked most.

Pros

  • Quick swap lets you convert assets with a couple of clicks.
  • Several different fiat payment gateways allow over 60 local currency deposits.
  • Large altcoin selection with over 1,000 assets listed.
  • Recurring buys allow regularly scheduled buys for easy dollar cost averaging.
  • Very easy to obtain signup bonuses.
  • Comprehensive help center and learning resources that explain every aspect of the exchange.
  • Staking and savings for easy passive income.
  • Competitive trading fees, which can be further reduced with native token and VIP levels.
  • Optional identity verification.

Cons

  • No fiat withdrawals.
  • Fiat deposits only through 3rd party gateways, some of which charge high fees.
  • Lack of traders in the P2P marketplace.
  • Account and trading interface supports dark theme, but some pages only support light theme.
  • Staking has low returns and few coins.

Our comprehensive CoinEx review below will provide you with a more detailed overview of every feature and aspect of this crypto exchange, and answer questions on trading, fees, safety and security, and more.

Is CoinEx good for beginners?

Overall, CoinEx is a decent crypto exchange for beginners. We attribute this to a number of factors, including an easy to use interface (very familiar to anyone who previously used another crypto exchange).

When it comes to trading, CoinEx offers a quick-convert interface called Swap, letting you swap between crypto assets with a couple of clicks. The menus are well-organized: features most traders care about are easily accessible, but not distracting.

CoinEx also has recurring buys, which is a good investment option for beginners. The trading interface has excellent categorization of assets, allowing targeted investments into specific ecosystems and blockchains.

We also really like the fact that CoinEx gives you a quick video tutorial on practically every feature when you use it for the first time. These quick guides will help you grasp the basics in no time, and are easily dismissible if you are already familiar with trading.

The exchange also has an enormously comprehensive help center with hundreds of educational articles and content. In addition, CoinEx supports subaccounts, allowing you to separate spot holding from trading funds.

Biggest downsides we found for beginners is lack of fiat withdrawals. If you want to cash out your crypto to your bank account, you will first need to transfer it to another exchange. Also, there’s no demo trading where you can practice trading with mock funds.

How to sign up on CoinEx

The signup process on CoinEx is simple and straightforward. It took us 2 minutes to get started, and all you need is email and password. You can also sign up with an existing Google account.

You can expand the section below for a step-by-step guide on how to create an account on CoinEx.

1. Visit CoinEx website and click the “Sign Up” link

Visit the website, and click the Sign Up link in header. You’ll be greeted with the following screen:

You need to punch in your email and create a password. Alternatively, you can sign up with an existing Google account. You will need to create a more complex password, including letters, numbers, and special characters, but a strong password is a basic security requirement that you should use on any service.

2. Verify your email

Once you click the Sign Up button, the exchange will ask you to verify your email address.

Do not forget to click the “Send code” link. Your confirmation code will not be sent unless you do. This is what the email will look like:

Punch in this code back on CoinEx to verify ownership of your email address, and your account is created. The entire process should take no more than a couple of minutes.

3. Start depositing or learning

Once your email is verified, you are greeted by a helpful first screen on CoinEx, which lets you claim cashback vouchers with your first deposit or trades, a number of beginner’s tutorials on how to make deposits, how to buy crypto, how to spot trade, and more. Furthermore, a few FAQs in the bottom of the page will answer several important questions and guide you on how to make your first crypto purchase and use the platform.

CoinEx beginner tutorials
Beginner tutorial videos on CoinEx.

We really love how CoinEx ensures first-time crypto investors are taken care of and can immediately learn how to dive into their first purchase with these tutorial videos.

How to deposit fiat to CoinEx

On CoinEx, you can convert your local currency to crypto either through P2P trading (peer-to-peer marketplace where you buy crypto directly from other individuals), or you can use their available 3rd party payment gateways. You can access both by checking out the “Fiat” option in the header menu.

Unless you are unable to use a traditional payment method such as bank card or bank transfer, we do not recommend P2P for beginners. P2P trading will also have higher fees and premiums. Additionally, we found very few individuals willing to trade on CoinEx’s P2P market.

For easy first Bitcoin buy, you probably want to use cards like Visa or MasterCard, bank transfers, and several other payment methods accepted by the payment gateways available in “Third-party Trading”. Some of the gateways also accept other payment methods including Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Revolut Pay, among others.

CoinEx supports over 60 different fiat currencies through their gateways. To avoid conversion fees you may want to check if yours is supported in the top-right, as indicated by the arrow.

Additionally, you can directly buy Bitcoin and Ethereum with your fiat, further avoiding potential future costs. USDT and USDC are US-dollar pegged stablecoins, and you can buy and use them to purchase any other coin available on the exchange.

You can click the “Buy” buttons without fear. Clicking will open another screen, detailing transaction costs (fees). These will depend on your selected payment gateway and method. In general, doing a bank transfer deposit is cheaper compared to buying with a bank card. Bank transfers can take up to 24 hours to clear (always depending on your bank – these gateways will typically credit your account instantly upon transfer completion). Bank card buys are typically processed within a few minutes.

The simplicity and convenience of some of the payment gateways does come at a cost. You will need to pay fees for buying crypto with your local currency. This can be upwards of 4% on some gateways, so it’s important to review them all and find cheapest fees available to you. Keep in mind some of the fiat gateways may be unavailable, depending on your region.

For larger purchases, it can be a good idea to register on another good fiat gateway exchange with much lower fees such as OKX, Binance or Bybit, and transfer crypto assets onto CoinEx. You can save a pretty penny this way. OKX won’t even charge you any deposit fees for bank transfers, which is far better compared to paying up to 4% per transaction.

If you already own crypto, you can deposit it to CoinEx easily and without deposit fees. Simply go to your “Assets” in menu, and newbie guide will show you how to deposit specific cryptocurrencies with ease.

CoinEx supports hundreds of crypto assets for deposit. Each one will have different transaction fees, depending on asset and network. Aside for unavoidable network fees associated with any blockchain transfers, there are no additional deposit fees imposed by CoinEx.

How to withdraw from CoinEx

CoinEx only supports cryptocurrency withdrawals. You can not directly withdraw fiat currency to your bank account. To access withdrawals, select “Assets” in the menu, then “Spot”, and choose “Withdraw”. You will be greeted by another newbie tutorial explaining how to make a crypto withdrawal from CoinEx.

If this is your first crypto withdrawal, we recommend going through the quick 1-minute tutorial to make sure everything goes smoothly. Make sure to select a matching network, such as ERC-20 or TRC-20, on both sending and receiving addresses.

Withdrawal fees with always depend on the asset (BTC, ETH, or any other), network being used, and current network congestion. For cheap withdrawals, it’s often a good idea to convert assets to USDT, and withdraw it through TRC-20 network. Fees will be a couple of bucks in total, regardless of the amount of money you are transferring.

You can find a full breakdown of withdrawal fees here. Here are a few most popular assets and their withdraw fees (excluding potential network transaction fees):

  • BTC: 0.0001 BTC fee
  • ETH: 0.00026 ETH fee
  • USDT and USDC: $2.6 fee on ERC-20 and TRC-20, and $0.065 on BSC

On most exchanges, USDT withdrawal fees are $1, so CoinEx is slightly more expensive in this regard.

As part of our review process we did a quick test, and we withdrew $50 in USDT to a hot wallet with the TRC-20 network. The withdrawal request was completely processed by the exchange within 10 minutes, and there were no issues whatsoever.

Withdrawal limits are $10,000 per 24 hours, and $50,000 per 30 days. But, this is only if your account isn’t verified (KYC process). Completing ID verification increases your 24-hour withdraw limit to $1 million.

It’s worth mentioning that you will need to bind a 2FA (2-factor authentication) in order to withdraw crypto from CoinEx. You can set up Passkey device such as Yubikey, one-time password authenticator such as Google Authenticator, or you can verify through a simple SMS with your mobile phone. 2FA is a basic security measure to protect your assets, and you should always enable it anyway.

Does CoinEx require KYC?

KYC (know-your-customer) is optional on CoinEx. You do not need to submit your ID or other documents in order to trade and access any feature on CoinEx. Aside from increased account security, the benefit of completing KYC are higher withdrawal limits.

CoinEx is unavailable in several countries, including China and United States. If you are not located in any of the restricted countries, you can easily complete the identity verification and increase your daily withdraw limit to $1,000,000.

Completing KYC requires you to submit basic info including your name and address, upload a photo of your national identity card, and do a quick facial recognition with your computer or phone camera. Mobile app installation is not necessary, but can be used for verification if you do not have a camera on another device.

Does CoinEx have welcome bonuses?

CoinEx has a $100 welcome bonus for new accounts. These are in the form of cashback vouchers.

  • $10 USDT voucher for depositing over $50 USDT
  • $30 USDT voucher for spot trading volume over $150 USDT
  • $60 USDT voucher for futures trading volume over $3,000 USDT

You need to claim these welcome bonuses within 30 days of creating your account. None of the tasks are difficult to complete. At the very least, you should claim the $10 voucher for a simple $50 deposit.

How to buy Bitcoin on CoinEx

We assume you already went through the deposit process explained above, and obtained your first crypto. If you purchased USDT, you can convert it to Bitcoin (BTC) easily with CoinEx’s “Swap” feature, or use the standard spot trading.

Buying Bitcoin with Swap

Swap, frequently known as Quick Convert on other exchanges, allows you to convert one crypto to another with a couple of clicks, in a very simple interface.

Sometimes, quick swap can have higher fees or spreads compared to spot market. However, if you’re not a day trader and don’t intend to buy crypto frequently, Swap can be a great way to buy Bitcoin or other altcoins quickly and with no hassle.

In our test, there was no spread (price difference from current market price), but we did pay 0.3% fee (standard spot fee is 0.2%). We also tested swapping USDT to CET, CoinEx’s native token.

Swapping $50 in USDT to CET cost us 0.30% in fees, but again there was no price difference between Spot and Swap.

It’s worth noting that the new user welcome voucher can also be used to offset Swap trading fees, so make sure to activate it before your first trade. Because of our test, we didn’t.

Buying Bitcoin on Spot trading

Spot trading is the main way to obtain altcoins. If you’re unfamiliar with spot trading interface, it may seem overly complex at first glance. But, you should get used to it.

If you ever did see the spot trading interface before, there will be nothing unfamiliar about CoinEx’s. It seamlessly adapts to any resolution, and works fine on a mobile phone too. Lack of customization is the biggest downside for us, as we were unable to reorder or hide any element of the spot trading UI. We would love to be able to hide the order book and have more screen real estate for the TradingView chart, but this was not possible.

We really like the way CoinEx groups up altcoins in specific categories. For example, if you want wanted to deploy funds into the Solana ecosystem or invest in AI projects, you can easily find many related altcoins.

Buying crypto with strategy trading

CoinEx allows two types of strategy trading: Auto-Invest Plan, and Spot Grid. Spot Grid is not a good idea for those who are new to crypto. Auto-Invest Plan, however, is an excellent way to DCA (dollar cost average).

Investing a small amount on regularly scheduled intervals (DCA – dollar cost averaging) has often proven to be one of the most effective investment strategies. CoinEx allows very advanced recurring buys, letting you select any available asset. Available recurring cycles are 1 hour, 4 hours, 8 hours, 12 hours, daily, weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly. Most other exchanges with recurring buys only let you select daily, weekly and monthly, so CoinEx is certainly a step ahead here.

Furthermore, you can even choose a total amount of money to invest. For example, you can automatically stop buying after your portfolio has over $1,000 in Ethereum. In addition, the platform will even notify you upon specific revenue goals. This is one of the best DCA tools we’ve seen on any exchange.

Futures and margin trading

Futures and margin trading on CoinEx is nearly identical to other exchanges. Same things we said about spot trading interface applies here, because the UI is nearly identical between spot and derivatives markets.

On Margin, you can borrow funds to trade with 10x leverage. On futures, both Isolated and Cross margin modes are available, and maximum leverage you can use is 100x.

In addition, you can create sub-accounts on CoinEx. Subaccounts ensure your main account funds are protected from liquidation in high-risk trading scenarios.

Does CoinEx have high trading fees?

CoinEx has a very transparent fee structure, and is one of the cheaper exchanges out there.

  • Spot trading fees start at 0.2%, but can easily be reduced to 0.16% simply by paying fees in CET, native token.
  • Futures trading fees are 0.03% for makers, and 0.05% for takers. This is in line with most other exchanges.

You can also obtain additional trading fee reduction by upgrading your VIP levels. Our referral code also provides an additional permanent trade fee discount, but must be used during account creation.

VIP levels

In order to upgrade your status to VIP 1, you need to hold at least 2,000 CET (native token). Alternatively, you can have account balance over $10,000, or spot trading volume in 30 days over $10,000, or futures trading volume over $50,000.

The full breakdown of VIP levels on CoinEx can be found below:

Upgrading VIP levels gives you the following fee rebates:

For high frequency traders, obtaining higher VIP levels on CoinEx can lead to significantly reduced trading fees.

Overall, upgrading VIP levels isn’t overly difficult in terms of volume, or even one-time upfront costs if you want to hold CET. And, if you are paying for trading fees in CET, it will make CoinEx one of the cheapest crypto exchanges to trade on.

CoinEx native token: CET

CoinEx Token, or CET, is a native asset of CoinEx Chain. It’s an ERC-20 token, and its main purpose is to pay for trading fees on the exchange.

As mentioned above, owning CET on spot can also be used to upgrade your user VIP levels, leading to reduced trading fees imposed on transactions. Additionally, holding CET tokens will upgrade your referral rewards ratio, and potentially let you claim future airdrops.

Is CoinEx good for buying altcoins?

We think CoinEx is a solid choice for trading altcoins. They offer a very high selection of interesting altcoins, numbering over 1,000 different assets. All the popular cryptocurrencies you can think of are listed in the spot market, but there are also hundreds of lesser-known altcoins that you can invest in.

Of course, many of these altcoins are not recommended for beginners. However, those wanting to diversify their investments will find plenty of potential gems here. CoinEx is often one of those smaller exchanges that lists small-cap altcoins before larger exchanges, allowing for early purchases before potential significant price increases.

We did find CoinEx’s spot market liquidity to be lacking. However, this shouldn’t be a problem unless you are looking to invest thousands into unpopular or low-liquidity altcoins. Even then, a few well-placed limit orders will ensure an easy purchase at your desired price.

Is CoinEx good for day trading and scalping?

CoinEx has slightly over 200 different digital currencies listed on futures market, far fewer compared to spot. Additionally, CoinEx does not have the greatest volume either, which can make high-volume trading slightly challenging.

Traders looking to scalp with a few hundred or even thousand USDT will find no trouble doing it on this exchange. However, experienced traders who open positions in tens of thousands may find the lack of volume and liquidity to be troublesome to deal with.

Aside from volume issues, we encountered no issues when executing trades on CoinEx’s futures trading, even on a highly volatile day. The interface is smooth, and allows standard limit and market orders, as well as stop-limit and stop-market. A handy calculator is included, letting you quickly determine potential revenue for both longs and shorts, and liquidation price.

Does CoinEx have good staking yields?

CoinEx provides users with a basic savings and staking program. While it is a way to earn additional passive income with your spot holdings, the returns on this exchange are not very high.

The savings program, called “Financial Account” on CoinEx, allows you to earn compound interest on a small number of assets.

At this point, there only ten assets available for earnings, including USDT, TRX, ATOM, ALGO, BTC, SAND, FTM, ETH, DOGE, and LTC. APY (annual percentage yield) varies from as low as 0.07%, to maximum 0.54% on Tron. This excludes USDT, which provides a 8.23% APY currently.

As for on-chain staking, CoinEx only lets you stake Ethereum (ETH). We checked estimated APY over several days, and it was always in line with regular on-chain earnings you can get by staking elsewhere. Therefore, if you have idle ETH sitting in some wallet, you can consider transferring it to CoinEx for additional returns. The redemption period is estimated at 3 days.

When it comes to passive income through savings and staking, there are definitely better crypto exchanges out there. CoinEx has few assets, and very low yields compared to most other CEXs.

AMM on CoinEx

A unique offering on CoinEx is their AMM program – Automated Market Making. Similar to staking farms on DeFi, you can provide liquidity for the market by allocating certain altcoins plus USDT.

This is a very interesting and convenient way for experienced altcoin holders to earn income, because most centralized exchanges do not offer it. However, keep in mind that AMM is not always a good idea for beginners. In particular, because most of the 1,000+ coins on AMM markets are low-cap memecoins that are often risky to hold.

Does CoinEx have airdrops?

CoinEx has airdrops in the form of Learn & Earn experience with a lottery system. In order to qualify for frequent airdrops, your 30-day trading volume needs to be over $200. To earn free crypto on CoinEx with airdrops, you need to:

  1. Join a specific “Airdrop Station” event. They are usually open for participation for several days, so keep an eye on their news or newsletters.
  2. Take a few minutes to learn about the coin or token by reading their article.
  3. Take a short quiz and answer some basic questions about the token.

Rewards are distributed in the form of a lottery system. This means not all participants will win free tokens. From our research into past airdrops on CoinEx, you have about a 50%-75% chance to win them.

In this example airdrop for $HAC, there will be 2000 total winners, but fewer have joined so far.

Is CoinEx a safe exchange?

CoinEx launched back in December 2017. In September 2023, CoinEx’s hot wallets have been compromised, and hackers drained an estimated $70 million from the exchange. CoinEx resumed all operations ten days later. It’s worth noting that no user assets or deposits have been compromised, and there were no financial losses incurred by any customers.

Due to the hack, CoinEx did an extensive infrastructure upgrade to further bolster asset security. CoinEx has been operating without any major security issues or breaches before and since this theft.

Are deposits safe on CoinEx?

For security and safety, CoinEx employs cold wallets, ensuring customer funds are safe in case of other potential breaches of the platform. They employ proprietary offline storage systems, multi-location backups, and multi-signature protocols to ensure asset safety. Real time monitoring and automated alerts systems are in place to detect abnormal transfers.

The exchange also publishes proof of reserve. Most exchanges publish their reports monthly or quarterly, but CoinEx does it once every 6 months. Nevertheless, all customer assets appear to be accounted for, and PoR is a good step towards ensuring funds are safe.

In addition to the above mentioned security features, CoinEx also has a “Shield Fund” in place. 10% of all trading fees generated by the exchange go into this customer deposits protection fund. This ensures that in the event of future security breaches, the exchange has sufficient funds to reimburse customers for any losses.

Lastly, CoinEx is teamed up with SlowMist, a leading cybersecurity firm for regular security audits and enhanced platform security.

Account security features

As for customer’s account security, CoinEx features 2-factor authentication through Passkey, and SMS or authenticator app verification. It enforces the activation of 2FA before any trades can be executed, which does improve the safety of assets.

Additionally, CoinEx allows you to set up a withdrawal password for additional verification before funds can be taken off the exchange. You can also activate anti-phishing codes to help you identify official versus phishing emails. Similarly, you can bind your Google account to the exchange as an additional option for verifying official emails.

Furthermore, you can even set up a multi-approval email for withdrawals. We haven’t seen this security feature on many exchanges. Multi-approval is a security measure that requires the approval from another person’s email account before funds can be withdrawn.

So, is CoinEx safe to use?

All in all, CoinEx employs standard security options to keep accounts and funds safe:

  • Account security measures are sufficient to prevent unauthorized logins, transactions or withdrawals.
  • The use of cold wallets ensures that deposited funds are not exposed during potential security breaches or hacks.
  • Proof of Reserves reports act as a layer of transparency and proves that this crypto exchange has all customer balances accounted for.
  • Portion of profits generated from trading fees is added to a special fund that reimburses customer deposits in case of potential security incidents.

We haven’t seen any unaddressed security or safety red flags that would indicate CoinEx is scamming customers, mishandling funds, or using insufficient safety protocols.

Is CoinEx a regulated exchange?

In our research, we did not find any major country or government where CoinEx is regulated or licensed. The exchange is headquartered in Seychelles, and is subject to local laws and regulations. CoinEx does hold an MSB registration in the United States (Money Services Business; registration number 31000209902394), but does not officially service customers from U.S.A.

CoinEx complies with AML (anti-money laundering) policies and responds to official law enforcement requests. Keep in mind that the exchange doesn’t enforce mandatory KYC, therefore obtaining regulatory approval or licenses is challenging.

How to contact CoinEx customer support?

CoinEx customer support is available in 16 languages. Most questions and issues can easily be answered by reading their comprehensive Help Center resources. If you need to contact CoinEx support staff for assistance, you can only do so through a form on their website, or by directly sending them an email. The exchange does have active social media presence, but they do not provide customer support through any of these channels.

We tried sending a ticket about a basic deposit issue with supposed missing funds with their support as part of our exchange review. Here’s what happened:

  1. We sent a $10 USDT deposit over an unsupported blockchain.
  2. We raised a ticket complaining about missing funds.
  3. 30 minutes later, their support staff told us that they can confirm the transaction took place by checking the transaction hash, but they were unable to assist us with retrieving funds, which is what we expected.

They did express their regret over the loss of funds, and pointed us to articles in their Help Center that explained how to ensure no loss of funds during deposits and how to select the correct blockchain networks.

Overall, we found their support staff pleasant to deal with, and they seemed patient and polite while answering our newbie questions.

Company background and history

CoinEx was established in December 2017, and quickly rose to prominence in the cryptocurrency exchange world. It was founded by Haipo Yang, who previously created ViaBTC, a leading Bitcoin mining pool. In their own words, CoinEx leverages deep industry expertise to offer a reliable and innovative trading platform.

Company’s Linkedin page claims they are headquartered in Seychelles, although some resources mention Samoa and Hong Kong as their base of operations too. According to their company profile, they employ over 250 people.

CoinEx is dedicated to providing secure, efficient, and professional trading services to its global user base. The exchange supports a wide range of digital assets and offers services such as spot trading, futures trading, margin trading, and various financial products.

CoinEx customer reviews

  • Google Play Store: 4.2 / 5
  • App Store: 3.9 / 5
  • TrustPilot: 2.3 / 5

CoinEx has garnered mixed reviews from users on Trustpilot. Positive reviews often highlight the platform’s reliability during high market volatility. Users appreciate the low transaction fees and the user-friendly interface. Additionally, CoinEx’s various promotions, such as AMAs, giveaways, and airdrops, receive praise for adding value to the user experience.

On the flip side, negative reviews frequently mention issues with the platform’s performance during peak times, leading to difficulties in executing trades. Some users also express concerns about the exchange’s regulatory status and transparency. Furthermore, there are occasional complaints about customer service responsiveness and the time it takes to resolve issues.

Overall, while CoinEx is praised for its low fees and promotional activities, it faces criticism regarding performance stability and regulatory clarity.

It’s worth noting that many crypto exchanges have very low TrustPilot ratings. Example recent negative customer reviews for CoinEx include issues such as password not accepting quotation marks, obviously inexperienced traders getting funds liquidated with bad trades, and some even asking for refunds on bad investments.

Is CoinEx legit or scam?

  • CoinEx has been operating since 2017, and employs over 250 people across the world. The company is headquartered in Seychelles.
  • Their company location, employee records and other corporate information is not easily accessible. This exchange is not as transparent with their operations as most others.
  • In 2023, the exchange suffered a hot wallet hack which resulted in an estimated loss of $70 million. However, no customer funds were lost.
  • CoinEx has adequate security measures in place, including cold wallets, multi-signature protocols, and other security precautions and tools to ensure funds safety.
  • Additionally, 10% of all trading fees generated are funneled into a user protection fund, which will reimburse customers in case of future hacks, exploits, or other security breaches.
  • There are no major regulatory approvals in any country to add additional confidence in CoinEx’s legitimacy.
  • CoinEx is a top 50 exchange by volume on reputable tracking sites like CoinMarketCap and CoinGecko.

Overall, CoinEx has been operating with only one large problem since launch. The one major security incident they had did not result in customers losing money. This also prompted the exchange to add additional safety measures and bolster their security.

While we would like to see this exchange and company provide more transparency into their operations and ownership, we have seen no evidence to claim CoinEx is a scam. We consider it a legitimate crypto exchange. Lack of regulatory approvals and compliance is attributed to their privacy-focused approach and optional KYC, and is similar to other no-kyc exchanges.

As is the case with most crypto exchanges, you should always be cautious. Only keep a small portion for your portfolio or trading funds on the exchange, and take the rest of your assets into self-custody.

CoinEx FAQs

  • Is CoinEx available in United States?

    CoinEx is currently not available in the United States. The US is a hard market for many legitimate crypto exchanges to operate in, and because CoinEx operates with optional KYC it is not likely they will officially support customers from the states soon.

    Because CoinEx has optional identity verification, it can be accessed from United States through a VPN service. However, we always advise investors to trade on exchanges that are fully available in their jurisdictions.

    As for other large markets, CoinEx also does not operate in China.

  • Does CoinEx have a mobile app?

    CoinEx does have a mobile app, allowing you to buy Bitcoin and trade from anywhere. Both Android and iOS applications are available.

    On Google’s Play Store, their mobile app is rated with a 4.2, and Apple’s App Store rates the mobile app at 3.9 score.

    During our quick test, we had no problems logging in and executing trades in their mobile app (we used Android version). The trading interface displayed less data compared to desktop version, but that was expected due to smaller screen size. Most of the information is still accessible, just not immediately visible on the screen.

    CoinEx mobile app

  • Which local currencies can you use to buy Bitcoin on CoinEx?

    You can buy crypto with over 60 fiat currencies on CoinEx. Here is a complete list:

    USD, EUR, JPY, KRW, AED, AMD, AUD, BDT, BGN, BOB, BRL, BWP, CAD, CHF, CLP, COP, CZK, DKK, EGP, GBP, GHS, GTQ, HKD, HUF, IDR, ILS, INR, IQD, ISK, JMD, JOD, KES, KWD, KZT, LKR, MAD, MNT, MOP, MUR, MXN, MYR, NGN, NOK, NZD, OMR, PAB, PEN, PHP, PLN, PYG, QAR, RON, SAR, SEK, SGD, THB, TRY, TWD, TZS, UAH, VND, ZAR.

    CoinEx fiat currency deposits

    Complete list of available fiat deposit currencies can always be viewed by clicking on “Fiat” in the main menu, then “Third-party Trading”. The list is displayed in the top-right corner as shown in the image.

  • Does CoinEx have a DeFi wallet?

    CoinEx Wallet is the exchange’s decentralized multi-cryptocurrency wallet. You can use it to take self-custody of your assets, with a private key as standard security. The wallet is available on Android and iOS, and as a standalone APK file.

    The Wallet supports cross-chain swaps, staking, price tracking, and access to decentralized apps. Over 50 mainnet assets are supported, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Near, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Atom, Tron, Stellar, XRP, Binance Coin, Matic, Polkadot, Fantom, Avalanche, Arbitrum, Optimism, Base, Solana, and more.

    ERC-20, TRC-20, BEP20, ARC20, and several other networks are supported.

    For safety reasons, you should always download the wallet from links on CoinEx’s website here.

  • How do loans work on CoinEx?

    Crypto loans on CoinEx allow you to use your existing crypto assets as collateral, and borrow other crypto assets. You can use the borrowed assets for trading or staking, and even withdraw it.

    For example, if your spot account has only Bitcoin, you can take out a loan and borrow funds with BTC as collateral to purchase another token that you expect will rise in price. As a result, you can keep profits from the price increase in another asset, while still owning the exact same amount of Bitcoin.

    Keep in mind that crypto loans are risky, because the market can always turn against you. Make sure to understand the risks and market dynamics before you risk your spot assets to take out crypto loans.

  • Does CoinEx have a referral program?

    You can refer others to use CoinEx with your referral link and receive a portion of their fees. With highest VIP levels, this can be up to 40%. Furthermore, CoinEx has an Ambassador program with high trading volume requirements, but awards up to 50% of referee’s trading fees.

    Rewards and rebates are received in CET, exchange’s native token.

    To help support Cexfinder, don’t forget to use our referral code to sign up for CoinEx. Your benefit will be a permanent trading fee discount, and there are no downsides to using it whatsoever.

What are best CoinEx alternative exchanges?

To find best alternative exchanges to CoinEx, you need to identify your interests and investment preferences. Here are several exchanges we recommend as top CoinEx alternatives based on specific criteria:

Keep in mind the list above does not apply country restrictions. Some of the exchanges may be unavailable in your region, so use our country list to find top exchanges in your place of residence.

Final score: Is CoinEx a good exchange?

Our review tackled dozens of factors. We reviewed all CoinEx features and tested deposits, withdrawals, customer support, and trading. Our team has given a score to important aspects of the exchange, and here are the results:

Features Score: 64 / 100
3.2
Total Rating: Good

Pros

  • Quick swap lets you convert assets with a couple of clicks.
  • Several different fiat payment gateways allow over 60 local currency deposits.
  • Large altcoin selection with over 1,000 assets listed.
  • Recurring buys allow regularly scheduled buys for easy dollar cost averaging.
  • Very easy to obtain signup bonuses.
  • Comprehensive help center and learning resources that explain every aspect of the exchange.
  • Staking and savings for easy passive income.
  • Competitive trading fees, which can be further reduced with native token and VIP levels.
  • Optional identity verification.

Cons

  • No fiat withdrawals.
  • Fiat deposits only through 3rd party gateways, some of which charge high fees.
  • Lack of traders in the P2P marketplace.
  • Account and trading interface supports dark theme, but some pages only support light theme.
  • Staking has low returns and few coins.

Overall, CoinEx is a solid exchange for day traders, especially those who need a reliable no kyc crypto exchange with many listed altcoins. We liked a lot of things about this exchange, but there are also aspects that need a bit of polish.

Executing trades was smooth and we had no problems whatsoever. Deposits were credited within a couple of minutes after blockchain confirmations, and our withdrawals were processed quickly.

We would like to see cheaper fees for fiat deposits, but that’s only relevant for those who do not have a cheap fiat gateway already. If you already hold crypto, you will find trading fees very reasonable. Those interested in trading futures will find CoinEx’s fees competitive: getting one or two VIP levels is not overly expensive, and can reduce fees to below industry standard. On top of VIP levels, you can also pay for trade fees in CET, the exchange’s native token. Plus, you can use our referral code during signup to obtain a lifetime fee discount with absolutely no cost or downside.

Staking yields on CoinEx also disappointed us a bit, as current returns are below those we found on many other crypto exchanges. On the other hand, some cryptocurrency exchanges do not provide any staking features, which still puts this one ahead of others. We also liked that CoinEx went a step further compared to most smaller exchanges and also provides a web3 wallet, and we hope they will continue to develop it with new features.

All in all, if you are looking for a reliable no-kyc trading platform to trade on, CoinEx is a great small to medium sized exchange that can provide you with all the tools you will need.