Currency.com Review: A Wide Array of Assets, But Too Many Risks

For intermediate investors outside the U.S., Currency.com could be one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges to consider. It offers leveraged investing and accepts deposits from credit cards, bank transfers, and digital wallets. The platform features more than 1,700 assets to invest in, including cryptocurrencies, government bonds, indexes, shares, currency pairs, and commodities. Clients from 183 countries can access the platform, however, U.S. residents are not permitted to register, which drags somewhat on our ratings as does the complex fee schedule. See our full Currency.com review to decide if it's right for you.

This cryptocurrency exchange is a good fit for: Investors seeking a diverse investing platform, including cryptocurrencies, stocks, bonds, indexes, currencies, and more. But based on the complex fee schedules and availability, we think there are better cryptocurrency alternatives to consider.

Top perks

Wide range of assets

Currency.com is one of the best broker sites for its very particular kind of investments -- it has created a tokenized asset exchange that can be used to trade across a surprisingly wide range of investments. As of this writing, it has about 1,700 assets to pick from, with a goal of offering 10,000 in the future.

The website describes tokenized assets as clones of assets, pegged to the same value as the original, and says these digital mimics of stocks, precious metals, commodities, foreign monies, etc. mirror the activity of the underlying asset. Throughout this Currency.com review, you'll see how the site claims this tokenized approach as a key strength setting it apart from other exchanges.

Advanced trading platform

The exchange has real-time price charts and dozens more tools to help make investment decisions. It also has an industry news section. Its trading dashboard layout will be familiar to intermediate traders. While geared toward experienced traders, the platform has a demo function that lets newbies experiment with fake funds. It also has an app for Android and iOS, but U.S. residents can't access it.

Low minimum deposit and withdrawal levels

Currency.com has an extremely low minimum deposit level of only $5. That low barrier should help drive interest among investors at all levels. It also has low minimum withdrawal limits, which gives users greater flexibility in profit-taking and taxes. Currency.com's withdrawal levels are very competitive compared to other exchanges, and are as low as $100 or 40 USDC.

What could be improved

Tokenized assets may be risky

Currency.com claims its greatest strength is its 1,700 financial assets, which it hopes to expand to 10,000. That's an impressive number. However, any Currency.com review should note: the nature of those assets could also be considered its greatest weakness.

Currency.com only trades in cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets. When you purchase tokenized stocks, you do not receive an actual share. For example, AAPL.CX is a tokenized, exchange-traded asset reflecting the status of an Apple share on the Nasdaq exchange. Investors can buy an AAPL.CX token on Currency.com and trade it just like an Apple share. Currency.com offers tokenized versions of all asset classes. They allow token or mimic versions of government bonds, major stock indexes, securities, precious metals, and commodities.

The problem is that regulators don't like the idea of cloning other asset classes. That's because every type of financial investment -- other than cryptos -- is highly regulated by governments and agencies around the world. Disguising those regulated assets as unregulated crypto tokens is chafing governing bodies because it looks like a sneaky way to avoid trading laws. Central banks, treasury departments, and regulators want to shut those practices down.

The entire Currency.com business model -- and its competitive advantage -- is tokenized assets. Regulators do not appear to be fans of that arrangement. Investors might do well to wait and see what happens before funding any tokenized assets other than pure-play cryptos.

No access for U.S. investors

Currency.com is inaccessible to U.S. investors, but is available in 183 other countries. The exchange platform was founded and is headquartered in Belarus. Belarus was part of the Soviet Union for most of the 20th century. Many autocratic policies remain, though Belarus declared its independence in 1991. It's possible the ban against U.S. residents is a holdover from decades of political tension.

Centralized regulatory body is the government of Belarus

When regulation of the cryptocurrency space is on the way -- and it's needed in some respects -- the Currency.com model is not the best way to go. Currency.com is authorized and regulated only by its home country of Belarus, in Eastern Europe. While Belarus has diplomatic and economic relations with the European Union, it is not an EU member country. There is no mention on Currency.com of plans to cooperate with the EC or neighboring countries to develop unified crypto regulations.

Doesn't offer lending or borrowing against stored funds

More and more crypto exchanges offer lending services. This is especially true with the explosive growth of decentralized finance (DeFi). As of this writing, the exchange does not offer lending or borrowing.

If you want a full-service crypto exchange in the U.S.: Gemini is easy to use and offers a variety of trading features and rewards. The Gemini exchange also offers investors dozens of cryptocurrencies to consider. Its Gemini Earn feature is a unique aspect that sets it apart from Currency.com -- it offers users interest-earning on idle cryptocurrency balances.

If you're looking for an easy-to-understand fee schedule: Coinbase has much clearer and simpler fees than Currency.com, making it worth consideration.

Currency.com accepts deposits from credit cards, bank transfers, Union Pay, Yandex, and digital wallets. It has a minimum deposit of just $5, one of the lowest around. All customer funds are kept in separate accounts. The deposits cannot be accessed by the exchange, and they are not insured. The platform offers investment picks that include cryptocurrencies, government bonds, indexes, shares, currency pairs, and commodities. There are more than 1,700 assets to choose from.

Trading on Currency.com

Users must complete the required know your customer (KYC) process to enable deposits using fiat money from a bank or credit card. The KYC process must also be completed for cryptocurrency transfers from another exchange or digital wallet.

The traditional funds supported are U.S. dollar (USD), European Union euro (EUR), British pound (GBP), Russian ruble (RUB), and Belarusian ruble (BYN). Supported cryptocurrency deposits include: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Litecoin (LTC). The minimum crypto deposit amounts are 0.001 BTC, 0.03 ETH, and 0.1 LTC. If less is deposited, the funds do not appear on your balance -- funds only appear once the deposited amount is more than the minimum.

Currency.com has another unusual feature. Each crypto deposit and withdrawal requires a number of separate confirmations to be verified. Bitcoin requires two confirmations, and ETH requires 12. The number of confirmations required can be even higher if the deposit value is higher. This is a strange verification process that could cause delays entering or exiting a specific price point.

For spot and contract trading, the Currency.com dashboard is typical of crypto exchanges. Along the left of the screen is the vertical trading menu where you select your asset and type of trade. The middle of the screen has two views stacked atop each other. The top section has the "order book," or pending trade feed. Directly beneath that is a graph that shows price movement and trading volume. Along the far right of the Currency.com trading screen are its "Buy" and "Sell" buttons. The dashboard allows several types of limit orders to help traders minimize losses and maximize profits.

Currency.com has several fee structures, as outlined in the tables below. The exchange requires withdrawal fees for all cryptos. There are no fees for account deposits.

When you withdraw funds to an account outside of Belarus, the site levies an extra 15% fee. Currency.com has additional fees for various transactions on its platform.

For credit card deposits onto the site, the following tables break down the transactional fees depending on the fiat money used.

U.S. dollar

British pound

Russian ruble

Belarusian ruble

European Union euro

Currency.com uses a Russian payment service provider for credit card deposits. Transactions using Visa or Mastercard are executed with an exchange to Russian rubles or U.S. dollars, which means the final sum might differ from the intended deposit.

Currency.com offers a respectable 87 cryptocurrency trading pairs for spot and contract trading (Spot trading describes buying or selling assets now. Contract trading is agreeing to buy or sell an asset at a certain price in the future -- also known as future trading.) Some of the coins and tokens available for both kinds of trades are:

• Bitcoin (BTC)
• Ethereum (ETH)
• Ripple (XRP)
• Dogecoin (DOGE)
• Polygon (MATIC)
• Litecoin (LTC)
• ChainLink (LINK)
• Snythetix (SNX)
• Uniswap (UNI)
• Tether (USDT)

Currency.com states repeatedly on its website that security is a top priority. To bolster that point, the site includes the following statement:

"Currency.com is directly authorized and regulated by the Hi-Tech Park (HTP) of Belarus. This means that we're subject to the strictest scrutiny from the world's only jurisdiction with overall legal regulation of businesses based on blockchain technology. It also means that your rights -- as an ICO participant -- are protected by the highest laws in the land."

This reads more like marketing puffery than an outline of crypto security. For clarity, the High-Tech Park (HTP) of Belarus is a geographical cluster of tech companies. "The HTP of Belarus" is a term similar to "Silicon Valley on the West Coast," or "Research Triangle Park in North Carolina." While the HTP may have a solid technological reputation within Belarus, it has no legal or regulatory blockchain standing beyond those borders.

Additionally Currency.com claims that every year its platform is inspected by an independent auditor. The auditor for the 2020 report was KPMG, but the audit report is only available in Russian, even though the platform can be accessed in more than 180 countries. That doesn't inspire confidence for the individual investor when reports of Russian hacker attacks seem to be increasing. Potential investors and traders are encouraged to do further research.

Aside from those issues, Currency.com seems to have solid safety practices and procedures. It requires two-factor authentication (TFA) every time you engage the platform. The TFA screening is triggered at login, when making deposits or trading, and at other points. The site also uses two additional kinds of email encryption and verification. This system is designed for secure document upload, aiming to prevent tampering with any aspect of your information and holdings.

Currency.com also deploys physical security measures. It claims its servers are locked in private cages at a remote data center, with armed guards, video surveillance, and retina eye scans for entry.

Additionally, all deposits made on the site go directly into an encrypted cold wallet. Cold wallets are secure computer hard drives not connected to the internet, while hot wallets are connected. Disconnected wallets can't be reached by a cyberattack. Currency.com states that coins stored in its hot wallets are used to maintain operational liquidity. It's not explained who provides that liquidity.

For security reasons, stored funds cannot be borrowed, lent, or staked. The only way to earn a passive income with Currency.com is through its affiliate program. The program allows participants to earn a commission based on the fees of downline referrals you bring to the platform.

• You live outside the U.S.
• You are an experienced trader or investor
• Limited passive income and no borrowing is okay with you
• The idea of access to thousands of diverse assets is appealing
• You don't mind that the site has links to an autocratic government
• You want access to free trading, training, and industry information