Trying to figure out how to get started in crypto investing can be scary. It’s way too easy for crypto newbies to feel overwhelmed by a slew of new and over-complicated information that can leave them feeling more confused than before they started out.
That’s why we’re going to start at the very beginning: choosing a trustworthy exchange to buy, sell and hold your crypto assets. Today, we’re going to take a critical look at everything that you need to know about the US-owned cryptocurrency exchange: Kucoin.
Check out our full round-up of the best crypto wallets here
In This Review
What is Kucoin?
Officially registered in Seychelles, Kucoin was technically founded in Hong Kong in 2017.
Positioning itself as ‘The People’s Exchange’, Kucoin has emerged as market-leading crypto exchange, growing its user base to approximately 11 million users world wide.
As of today, Kucoin offers its investors a staggering selection of over 600+ cryptocurrencies. This means that you can purchase major tokens like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and Ripple (XRP) and if you were looking for a more obscure token, chances are you’ll find it on Kucoin.
The Kucoin platform and mobile application is definitely aimed more towards seasoned investors, as the user-experience could be seen as daunting by newbies. If you’re looking to scoop up lesser-known coins, Kucoin is definitely one of the top choices.
To get a better understanding of Kucoin, let’s use a classic pros & cons list to weigh up the verdict.
Pros & Cons of Kucoin
Pros
- Enormous Selection of Tokens & Altcoins: Perhaps one of the most frustrating experiences is getting completely set up on a new app or platform and then realizing that the random, niche altcoin your mate mentioned to you isn’t actually available on this app you’ve just signed up for. You definitely won’t have this problem on Kucoin, as it offers over 600+ digital assets, covering one the widest ranges of tokens you could possibly ask for. Kucoin is always more digital assets to the platform.
- Extremely Low Fees: Kucoin offers some of the lowest fees in the entire industry, charging just 0.1% per trade, offering investors an incentive of 0.08% fees if they use its native KCS token.
- Can Be AUD friendly: By default Kucoin lists crypto prices on its platform and app in US dollars, however Aussie users can easily switch to view assets in AUD.
- Packed With Different Features: Kucoin offers more advanced investors a massive selection of unique trading features such as staking, margin trading and leveraged futures. If you’re looking to trade different cryptocurrencies in a range of different pairings or fiat currencies, then Kucoin is the exchange for you.
- Great for International Users: Kucoin also offers over 45+ different fiat currency options, meaning that transferring funds around the world is simple and easy for almost every user.
Cons
- Can Be Complicated: As Kucoin is aimed more towards seasoned investors, complete newbies may find interacting with the platform a little difficult initially. If you are just looking to buy and hold different cryptocurrencies long-term, other more beginner-friendly exchanges such as CoinSpot, Swyftx or Digital Surge may be a better choice.
- Poor Customer Service: While Kucoin is loaded with features, customer service is lacking when compared to other exchanges like CoinSpot, Swyftx or Digital Surge. While these large Australian-owned exchanges all offer some form of LiveChat customer support Kucoin does not, meaning that technical or administrative issues can often be frustrating to resolve.
Kucoin Fees Explained
Fees are ultimately how crypto exchanges and platforms make their money, so it’s really important for investors to understand how much they’re paying every time they make a trade. Fee structuring can be pretty tricky, as platforms often like to disguise hidden costs in the form of strange fees.
Kucoin has some of the lowest fees in the cryptocurrency industry.
Kucoin Deposit & Withdrawal Fees
Depositing your fiat currency onto Kucoin can become expensive quite quickly. If investors want to use Kucoin, it’s best to use another exchange with cheaper fiat deposits to purchase crypto and then transfer it to Kucoin, as its fiat-onboarding fees can be quite high.
- If investors choose to purchase crypto directly on Kucoin via a credit or debit card, the fee can be as high as a staggering 12%.
- However, if you choose to onboard your fiat via a 3rd party service such as Banxa, it will incur an approximate 3% fee and you may also be charged an international conversion fee by your bank.
Kucoin Transaction Fees
Despite the fiat deposit process being clunky and expensive, Kucoin’s transaction fees are extremely low and extremely simple.
Spot Trades: Kucoin fees for spot trading begin at a blanket 0.1% fee. Kucoin offers investors a further incentive of a 20% discount if they use Kucoin’s native KCS token to pay fees. This means that investors only end up paying 0.08% per trade.
Is Kucoin Safe to Use?
No matter your experience level, the security and safety of the platform used to buy and sell digital assets is usually a top concern for crypto investors. Kucoin is among the most secure and reliable cryptocurrency exchanges in the Australian market.
Kucoin is a well-established and secure exchange that works to ensure that investor’s funds are safe at all times. They undertake many different security measures including micro-withdrawal wallets and multilayer encryption.
Despite being hacked in 2020, and having approximately US$275 million stolen from the exchange, Kucoin worked hard to recover over 80% of the stolen funds and promptly reimbursed investors for the remaining assets that went missing. They increased security measures directly afterwards and have not suffered an attack since.
All Kucoin login activity is further protected by 2FA (two-factor authentication) that requires investors to enter a code generated on their registered mobile device to sign in to the Kucoin platform.
Kucoin Alternatives
If Kucoin doesn’t have the tokens you’re looking for, or the fees are slightly too high for your looking, the alternatives listed here are ranked in order of similarity and preference for using AUD.
- CoinSpot: Australia’s largest cryptocurrency platform with more than 350 digital assets available.
- Cointree: An Australian operated exchange and fully AUSTRAC-regulated. Offers similar features to Kucoin but with a smaller selection of tokens and slightly higher fees.
- Digital Surge: Another Australian exchange with more than 200 cryptocurrencies that operates natively in AUD. Has a quick verification process but higher fees than CoinSpot.
- Binance: The largest crypto exchange in the world based on daily trading volume. Binance is oriented more strongly towards non-Australian users and is more suitable for advanced traders looking for niche pairs.
- Coinbase: Possibly the most well-known exchange in the world. Investors can trade a variety of different cryptocurrencies but fees are high and all values are denominated in USD.
- eToro: Offers commission-free crypto trades with the added bonus of social and copy trading.
Overall Kucoin Conclusion
Kucoin is definitely a solid choice for Australian crypto investors who are looking for an extremely wide selection of tokens. While the Kucoin interface can be daunting at first, its extremely low fees (just 0.1% per trade) and enormous selection of 600+ cryptocurrencies as well as support for 45+ fiat currencies make it an enticing prospect for investors. Kucoin’s additional features such as staking, futures, and margin trading make it a great option for seasoned crypto enthusiasts.
Despite suffering attacks in the past, Kucoin has undertaken new security measures to ensure that investor funds remain safe. Finally, Kucoin’s low fees and colossal selection of digital assets make it an enticing choice for any investors. On Kucoin, investors can purchase all of the major crypto assets, such as BTC, ETH, BNB, XRP, ADA, as well as almost any altcoin imaginable.
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