Gemini

Gemini Exchange Review – Introduction

Gemini is a New York-based crypto exchange regulated in the United States, and available in the US and over 60 other countries. This platform is a great fiat on-ramp and off-ramp, with direct to exchange deposits and withdrawals and low deposit/withdrawal fees.

Gemini’s high regulatory compliance, wide selection of payment methods and high safety make it an excellent alternative to industry’s leading on-ramp choices such as Coinbase, Kraken or Crypto.com.

In our Gemini review we’ll explain why to use the exchange, and go over its features, fees and safety.

Who is Gemini for?

Gemini is a highly regulated exchange mainly used by institutional investors, but also available to small-time retail investors. The platform offers a safe and easy trading environment, and is one of the best choices for diversifying your spot portfolio.

In United States, United Kingdom and European Union, only spot trading is available. Derivatives trading is available outside of these jurisdictions in about 35 countries. Gemini also does not have many trading pairs listed. For these reasons plus high trading fees, Gemini is not a platform suitable for day traders.

Gemini can be a very safe place for basic cryptocurrency investing, as long as you don’t expect hundreds of altcoins. This is a safe exchange for your assets if you are interested in mainly trading Bitcoin, Ethereum, and a few dozen other major altcoins. Gemini is also an excellent fiat gateway for cheap or even free crypto purchases, with free crypto withdrawals to other unrestricted exchanges.

Despite Gemini’s focus on large investors, the easy to use interface and quick convert (expensive!) features are suitable for beginners. Platform also has recurring buys, allowing you to purchase your favorite cryptocurrency at scheduled intervals (daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly).

Furthermore, Gemini is one of the few exchanges accepting PayPal deposits, letting you easily convert your PayPal balance into crypto. Keep in mind PayPal will only be available to those in the US.

Deposits – How to buy crypto with fiat on Gemini?

Gemini is one of the best entry points into crypto. You can easily convert your fiat currency into cryptocurrency with Gemini’s varied and surprisingly cheap deposits.

Customers can deposit fiat in USD, AUD, CAD, EUR, GBP, SGD, and HKD currencies. All bank transfers are free of extra charges (excluding your bank fees, of course).

Overall, Gemini is one of the cheapest fiat onramps you will find. On-ramp fees are comparable or even cheaper compared to most popular entry-level exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, Binance or Crypto.com.

Withdrawing fiat or crypto from Gemini

Fiat withdrawal fees are equally cheap, but fewer options are available. Bank transfers are for the most part free. Domestic USD wires cost $25, and FAST transfers cost $3 Singaporean dollars. Alternatively, customers can also order Gemini’s credit card. The card lets you withdraw crypto as fiat on any ATM, or use it for everyday payments at any merchant supporting bank card payments.

Gemini’s crypto trading fees can be very high, but traders can withdraw crypto tokens easily to cheaper exchanges. Surprisingly, Gemini does not charge any crypto withdrawal fees. Of course, blockchain network fees will still apply.

Trading – How to trade crypto on Gemini?

On Gemini, you can trade crypto on Spot and Derivatives market. Spot is available in all countries, but derivatives is very restrictive. Full list of countries supported is in the “Restricted countries” section above. In general, Gemini has the fewest available countries out of all exchanges listed on Cexfinder.

Spot trading warning: make sure to swap from Gemini’s default trading to the “ActiveTrader” interface. In default or basic interface, the fees are an absolute killer ranging from 1.49% (limit or maker order) up to 2.49% (instant or taker order)! In ActiveTrader, fees are much lower.

Trading through ActiveTrader is identical to using Spot trading on any other exchange. Fees start at 0.2% (maker), and go up to 0.4% (taker).

On derivatives, fees go from 0.02% (maker), up to 0.07% (taker) per transaction. Up to 100X leverage is available when trading futures, with both cross and isolated margin.

• Advanced order types: Expert traders may notice a lack of advanced order types such as iceberg or TWAP, but basic limit, stop-limit and market orders are of course available.
• Volume and liquidity: Gemini’s trading volumes are also fairly low. But unless you’re opening 6-figure positions, liquidity won’t be a problem. Despite position sizes, you will have zero issues when trading large market cap assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Solana.
• Interface customization: You can drag and drop, rearrange and resize elements on the trading interface. However, overall customization options are rudimentary and may not be sufficient for expert traders.
• Crypto trading fees: In comparison to other CEXs, Gemini’s maker fees are industry average, while taker fees are above average. The fees will be acceptable to anyone investing long-term. Others who plan to trade frequently may wish to consider trading on other exchanges.

Crypto Exchange Fee Comparison

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Features – What other features does Gemini have?

• Nifty NFT marketplace integration: seamlessly integrated into Gemini is Nifty, an NFT marketplace where you can buy and sell NFTs. While NFTs are not nearly as popular nowadays, users wanting to buy fancy collectibles can do it easily with Gemini.
• Staking: Gemini offers staking on only three assets: Solana (SOL), Polygon (MATIC), and Ethereum (ETH). APRs range from 1.5% to 2.5%. Because not all CEXs have staking, we applaud Gemini’s effort to add it. Unfortunately, due to very few assets and low yields, Gemini is not good for staking.
• PayPal deposits: very few exchanges let customers deposit via PayPal, and Gemini happens to be one of those. Sadly, this deposit method is currently only available to customers from United States.
• Gemini Card: Gemini Credit Card is a standard physical Mastercard with up to 4% cashback. It has no annual fees, and zero foreign transaction fees. This beautifully designed metal card comes in three colors, and is currently available only in the USA.
• TradingView integration: You can execute trades on Gemini directly on TradingView charts. Simply visit Account Settings > Applications to get started. API keys are also available for use in other 3rd party trading tools.
• Users and roles: Additional users with specific roles can be added to Gemini accounts. For instance, you can create a new user who can execute trades, but without any withdrawal permissions.
• Recurring purchases: You can set up scheduled purchases on Gemini, and buy cryptocurrency on a specific schedule for DCA investing.

Gemini isn’t as feature-packed as some of the most popular exchanges, but for most users their array of services will be sufficient. After all, the platform’s strengths are in easy deposits and withdrawals, and high safety.

Safety & Security – Is Gemini safe?

• Established in 2015, with no known hacks or security incidents since then.
• Publishes proof of reserves, letting anyone verify that all customer deposits are stored safely.
• Headquartered in New York, and subject to capital reserve requirements, cybersecurity requirements, and banking compliance standards set forth by the NYDFS and the New York Banking Law—on par with traditional financial institutions.
• Uses air-gapped offline cold storage wallets to store customer funds. Small portion of funds used for day-to-day operations are stored in hot wallets.
• Hot wallet also insured against losses. Additional funds insurance is available for certain types of deposits or in some countries.
• World’s first exchange and custodian with SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 security certificates. Provides safe crypto custody services to institutions and businesses.
• Has 3rd party security assessments, annual penetration testing, scam and account takeover mitigation tools, and other security and safety features.
• Individual regulatory licenses in 38 states in the USA. In New York, Gemini is licensed for digital assets custody by the state under New York Banking Law.
• International licenses include Greece, Ireland, Italy, United Kingdom, and France.
• Two-factor authentication (2FA) strengthens account security with SMS, Authy, Passkeys, or hardware keys. Users can set up withdrawal address whitelists to block withdrawals to newly added addresses.

The biggest safety downsides are in the account security department. There are no login notifications, no 2FA via Google Authenticator, no account freeze, or anti-phishing codes.

Gemini is one of the world’s largest custodians, used by many reputable institutions for safe crypto storage. There is zero evidence to suggest Gemini is a scam, fraud, mishandling user funds, or engaged in any illegal activities. It’s one of the world’s most regulated exchanges and is considered very safe to use.

Final thoughts – Is Gemini good or not?

Well-known Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss founded Gemini back in 2015. Since its launch, the platform has earned and solidified its reputation as one of the world’s most trusted and safest exchanges.

The platform mainly caters to institutional users, businesses and high net-worth individuals. However, its intuitive user interface makes it easy to use even for newcomers.

Due to more popular and well-known alternatives, Gemini often gets overlooked by many traders. However, even small-time retail investors can consider using it. If you need a secure alternative CEX with easy deposits, you should definitely consider Gemini as one of the top choices.