CEX.IO Review: Pros, Cons, and More

Review Updated Feb. 20, 2023

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CEX.IO puts safety first and has never lost any of its customers' crypto funds. The exchange also offers low trading fees and other valuable features, including a great crypto staking program. But there are some areas where it could be better, with its complex deposit and withdrawal fees being particularly frustrating. Read our full CEX.IO review to find out more.

Ratings Methodology

Bottom Line

A safe place to trade cryptocurrencies and earn rewards through staking. The stripped-down platform available to U.S. customers may be disappointing to those who want more features.

Fees:

0%-0.25% trading fees

Account Minimum:

$20 deposit minimum

Full CEX.IO review

This cryptocurrency exchange is a good fit for: Intermediate to advanced crypto investors who want a stable exchange with crypto staking. Beginners may find CEX.IO's trading platform and fee structure overly complicated.

Pros

Earn rewards with crypto staking
Strong security
Low fees for spot trading
Organized lists of cryptocurrencies
U.S. licensed

Cons

Complicated fee structure
Many features are unavailable to U.S. customers
Frustrating identity verification process
Limited educational content

Top perks

Earn rewards with crypto staking

One of CEX.IO's best features is its Earn program, which allows you to earn rewards on your crypto holdings. U.S. customers can stake and earn rewards on several different cryptocurrencies, including:

CEX.IO Earn also offers crypto savings accounts with competitive interest rates, but it's not available in the United States at this time.

RELATED: What Is Staking in Crypto?

Multiple trading options

There are multiple trading interfaces on CEX.IO. The default spot trading platform provides charts and multiple types of orders, so it's a little advanced, but it doesn't take too long to get the hang of it.

CEX.IO also offers a super-simple Instant Buy option. Just plug in the type of cryptocurrency you want to buy and the amount. While it's easy to use, Instant Buy can be extremely expensive. Fees can get as high as 7%.

Margin trading is available as well, but not in the United States. For businesses, the exchange offers institutional trading with CEX.IO Prime.

Strong security

Safety is a must for any crypto exchange, and it's one area where CEX.IO excels. This exchange was launched in 2013 and has never lost any of its customers' cryptocurrency funds. It also uses industry leading security to keep its accounts and crypto safe, including data encryption and offline crypto storage.

COMPARE SECURE CRYPTO PLATFORMS: Best Cryptocurrency Apps and Exchanges

Low fees for spot trading

The fees on CEX.IO's default option, its spot trading platform, are very cheap. They're based on your trading volume, and the highest trading fee is 0.25%. That's why you should stick to the main platform and avoid using Instant Buy whenever possible.

There can be hefty deposit and withdrawal fees, but you won't need to pay those if you stick to bank account transfers.

Organized lists of cryptocurrencies

CEX.IO includes tabs for different types of cryptocurrency on its trading platform. If you're looking for the biggest cryptos, you could check out "Majors." If you're interested in decentralized finance (DeFi) tokens, click on "DeFi." Those are just two of several helpful lists, and you can also set up a list of your own favorite cryptocurrencies.

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What could be improved

Complicated fee structure

The trading fees on CEX.IO are understandable, but the deposit and withdrawal fees are a different story. Depending on the payment method you choose, deposits and withdrawals could have a service fee and a commission. Some fees are a percentage of the total transaction, and others are both a percentage and a flat dollar amount.

Making it even more difficult, you may not be able to see these fees in your country without signing up for an account. CEX.IO provides a page with its default deposit and withdrawal fees, but these can vary, including in the United States. We've provided the most recent fees we found for U.S. investors further below in the Fees overview.

Many features are unavailable to U.S. customers

CEX.IO has a lot of features that could be of interest, especially to more experienced crypto investors. The problem is that several of these features aren't available to U.S. customers yet, including:

Margin trading
Crypto-backed loans
Crypto savings accounts

Frustrating identity verification process

Multiple CEX.IO users have complained about problems with completing identity verification. Specifically, they mention that their verification attempts were rejected even after providing all the required information, and that the exchange didn't explain what the issue was.

I experienced this firsthand and found identity verification with CEX.IO much harder than with other exchanges. For comparison's sake, I've been able to get verified with several other exchanges, including Gemini and Coinbase, quickly and easily. CEX.IO, in contrast, continually rejected my attempts with no explanation as to why.

Limited educational content

CEX.IO has a blog that includes some educational articles, but posts are sporadic, and there are plenty of important subjects that aren't covered. Compared to other exchanges that have in-depth modules, CEX.IO comes up short. Beginner investors may not be satisfied with this exchange's educational content.

Average cryptocurrency selection

U.S. customers can buy and sell over 40 cryptocurrencies on CEX.IO (other countries have access to a much larger lineup of over 100 cryptocurrencies). That's certainly not bad, and to its credit, CEX.IO gives you access to most of the big cryptocurrencies.

On the other hand, several crypto exchanges offer quite a bit more. If you're a fan of smaller cryptocurrencies, you might need an exchange that gives you more investment options.

Alternatives to consider

If you want a beginner-friendly exchange: Gemini is a great choice if you're new to cryptocurrency investing. It has a well-designed trading platform, both on the web and in its mobile app. This exchange also has some of the best educational content, especially its in-depth Cryptopedia.

If you want a larger selection of cryptocurrencies: There aren't many U.S. exchanges that can compete with Coinbase in this area. It lets you buy and sell over 200 cryptocurrencies. To make it even better, you can also earn free cryptocurrency on Coinbase by completing its educational modules.

Offer	Gemini Exchange	Coinbase
Rating	Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars. 4.50/5 Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor.	Rating image, 4.50 out of 5 stars. 4.50/5 Our ratings are based on a 5 star scale. 5 stars equals Best. 4 stars equals Excellent. 3 stars equals Good. 2 stars equals Fair. 1 star equals Poor.
Commissions	$0.99-$2.99 orders < $200, 1.49% for orders at least $200 (default), 0% - 0.40% (Gemini ActiveTrader)	Variable fees (Coinbase), 0%-0.80% (Coinbase Advanced Trade), $29.99 monthly (Coinbase One)
Next Steps	Open Account for Gemini Exchange Read Full Review	Open Account for Coinbase Read Full Review

How CEX.IO works

CEX.IO is a London-based cryptocurrency exchange where you can buy, sell, and trade dozens of digital currencies. It's licensed and regulated in the United States, as well as other countries around the world.

The exchange lets you deposit and withdraw fiat money using several payment methods, including bank account transfers, PayPal, debit cards, and credit cards. Fees vary depending on the payment method. You can buy cryptocurrency using CEX.IO's spot trading option or Instant Buy, although the latter only accepts card payments and has higher fees as a result.

While some other international exchanges have separate U.S. platforms, CEX.IO works differently. It offers the same trading platform to all users. However, U.S. customers aren't able to access certain features, including margin trading, crypto-backed loans, and crypto savings accounts.

Fees overview

CEX.IO bases trading fees on your 30-day trading volume. It uses a maker-taker fee model. That means if your order is filled immediately, you're charged a taker fee. If your order isn't filled immediately, you're charged a maker fee.

Here is the CEX.IO fee schedule for up to $100 million in 30-day trading volume:

30-day trading volume	Maker/taker fee
Up to $10,000	0.15% / 0.25%
Over $10,000 to $100,000	0.13% / 0.23%
Over $100,000 to $500,000	0.09% / 0.19%
Over $500,000 to $1,000,000	0.07% / 0.17%
Over $1,000,000 to $2,500,000	0.05% / 0.15%
Over $2,500,000 to $5,000,000	0.03% / 0.13%
Over $5,000,000 to $10,000,000	0.01% / 0.11%
Over $10,000,000 to $20,000,000	0.00% / 0.10%
Over $20,000,000 to $50,000,000	0.00% / 0.08%
Over $50,000,000 to $100,000,000	0.00% / 0.07%

Data source: CEX.IO

This exchange accepts several different payment methods, but it has a complicated fee structure for deposits and withdrawals. Depending on the payment method, there could be deposit fees, withdrawal fees, and a commission. If you want to avoid fees, stick to ACH transfers from a bank account.

Here's the CEX.IO fee schedule for deposits and withdrawals:

PAYMENT METHOD	DEPOSIT FEE	WITHDRAWAL FEE
Visa	2.99%	Service charge: Up to 3% + $1.20. Commission: Up to $3.80
Mastercard	2.99%	Service charge: Up to 1.8% + $1.20. Commission: Up to 1.2% + $3.80
Bank transfer	0%	Service charge: 0.3% + $25
ACH	0%	0%
PayPal	2.99%	Service charge: 1% + $5. Commission: 2% (maximum $16)

Data source: CEX.IO

Cryptocurrency selection

CEX.IO offers over 100 cryptocurrencies, but fewer than half of them are available to U.S. customers.

In terms of cryptocurrency selection, the U.S. version of CEX.IO is in the middle of the pack. You can buy and sell most of the major cryptocurrencies, including standouts like:

There aren't any glaring omissions. It's missing some reasonably popular cryptocurrencies, including Algorand (ALGO) and Ethereum Classic (ETC), but the main area where this exchange is lacking is smaller crypto projects.

Is your cryptocurrency safe with CEX.IO?

Your cryptocurrency is safe as can be expected on any cryptocurrency platform with CEX.IO. This exchange has excellent security practices, and since its launch in 2013, it has never lost any of its customers' funds.

Here are a few of the most notable ways CEX.IO protects your cryptocurrency and your personal information:

It holds most of its customers' cryptocurrency funds offline in cold storage. Cold wallets aren't connected to the internet. Since it keeps crypto offline, cold storage is the safest type of crypto storage.
It offers two-factor authentication (2FA) and makes it mandatory for withdrawals. 2FA requires that you provide both your account password and a code sent to your mobile device. This is one of the simplest and most effective ways to keep your account secure.
It's compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard and uses SSL encryption. In addition, only authorized CEX.IO personnel have access to user data.

It's also worth mentioning that CEX.IO is committed to following government regulations and collaborating with regulators. While some other exchanges have tried to skirt the rules and run into legal issues as a result, this is unlikely to happen to CEX.IO.

CEX.IO is right for you if:

You're looking for an exchange where you can stake crypto and earn rewards.
You want to be able to buy and sell cryptocurrencies using several payment methods.
You have experience investing in crypto and don't need a beginner-friendly platform.