Trading alternative cryptocurrencies, also called “altcoins”, can be highly profitable if done right. One key factor for having the best altcoin experience is choosing the right altcoin exchanges. Here, we must look at the available coins on the exchange, the number of coins, the trading fees, security, and user experience. We have analyzed over 100 crypto exchanges to compile a list of the top 5 crypto altcoin exchanges.
Top 5 Crypto Altcoin Exchanges Reviewed
At the end of this guide, you will know exactly what crypto exchange is best for buying and selling altcoins.
- MEXC – Best Altcoin Crypto Exchange Overall
- Kucoin – Most Popular Altcoin Exchange
- Gate.io – Second most Supported Altcoins
- Bitget – Best Altcoin Exchange for Day Trading
- CoinEx – Great Altcoin Exchange Alternative
1. MEXC
MEXC is the undisputed number-one altcoin exchange in the world. What makes MEXC special is the massive number of supported cryptos. With 1660 different altcoins supported on the MEXC spot market, hardly any other crypto exchange can compete with the crypto exchange. But it gets even better.
As the best altcoin exchange, MEXC also has some of the lowest trading fees. As MEXC has 0% spot trading fees, you will get the best value for money. That means you can buy and sell over 1600 altcoins on MEXC without paying any fees.
On MEXC, traders can not only access popular altcoins like Ethereum, Solana, or Dogecoin but also exotic and unknown cryptos that are only popular onchain. However, the high market cap cryptos support margin trading, while the new cryptos usually are not supported for margin trading.
Overall, MEXC is very fast with listing new projects that are popular on-chain, meaning that you will quickly be able to buy the hyped coins on a centralized exchange instead of having to use a decentralized on-chain exchange.
Aside from offering the best altcoin trading experience on the spot market, MEXC also has excellent altcoins available for futures trading with leverage. With 0% maker fees and 0.01% taker fees, MEXC also takes the lead as the cheapest altcoin exchange on the futures market.
In terms of user experience and reliability, MEXC performs very well. With a clean track record of 0 hacks and fast and helpful customer support, MEXC ensures a flawless experience for altcoin traders seeking a reliable crypto exchange.
It is safe to say that altcoin traders will immediately fall in love with MEXC. Not only do they offer over 1600 different altcoins on the spot market, but MEXC also has the largest number of altcoins on the futures market. To top it all off, MEXC has 0% spot fees and the lowest futures trading fees with 0% maker and 0.01% taker.
Supported Cryptos: 1700+
Trading Pairs: 2000
Futures Contracts: 380
Spot Fees: 0%
Futures Fees: 0% maker / 0.01% taker
KYC?: No, not required
2. Kucoin
Kucoin knows exactly what altcoin traders are looking for. That’s why Kucoins’ homepage slogan is “Find the next crypto gem”. With this slogan, Kucoin is referring to finding so-called “Altcoin Gems”, which are low market cap altcoins that are usually not listed on other exchanges yet and therefore have a lot of upside potential.
With 29 million users and over 730 supported altcoins, Kucoin has truly earned its spot as one of the best altcoin exchanges. Kucoin offers low spot trading fees, margin trading up to 10x, advanced order types, and an amazing interface that is easy to navigate. The new Kucoin trading terminal is one of the most user-friendly interfaces in the crypto space, making it a top choice for beginners looking for a reliable altcoin exchange.
The trading fees on Kucoins spot market start at 0.1% for both makers and takers, which is the industry standard. However, when holding the native Kucoin token KCS, you receive a trading fee discount of 20%, leaving you at only 0.08% spot fees.
Aside from offering great altcoin trading, Kucoin also provides excellent passive income products. Some of these products include staking, mining, and automated crypto bot trading. This enables crypto traders to let their money work for them and earn yield even when they sleep.
Supported Cryptos: 700+
Trading Pairs: 1324
Futures Contracts: 185
Spot Fees: 0.1% maker / 0.1% taker
Futures Fees: 0.02% maker / 0.06% taker
KYC?: Yes, required
3. Gate.io
Gate.io is a top contender as one of the best altcoin exchanges. The exchange was founded in 2013, making it one of the oldest platforms on this list. With 13+ million users, Gate.io secures itself a spot as one of the largest crypto exchanges worldwide.
Altcoin traders can access over 1700 digital assets on Gate.io, making it the altcoin exchange with the most supported cryptos. The trading dashboard is relatively well-designed, ensuring a great experience when trading altcoins on the spot market.
While Gate.io impresses users with its sheer number of supported altcoins, the spot trading fees are on the more expensive side. With 0.2% for both makers and takers, Gate.io charges twice as much as most competitors, which is our key criticism of Gate.io. On the other hand, Gate.io has low fees for futures trading, with 0.015% maker and 0.055% taker. With 240 supported futures contracts, Gate.io has a decent amount of altcoins available for altcoin traders looking to use leverage of up to 125x.
Gate.io not only offers a great altcoin trading platform but also a large selection of passive income products, including staking, mining, copy trading, and more.
Supported Cryptos: 1700+
Trading Pairs: 3003
Futures Contracts: 242
Spot Fees: 0.2% maker / 0.2% taker
Futures Fees: 0.015% maker / 0.055% taker
KYC?: Yes, required
4. Bitget
Bitget is known to be one of the best derivatives crypto exchanges. Boasting over 20 million users, 10+ billion in daily trading volume, high leverage, and low fees, Bitget is, without a doubt, the perfect choice for serious crypto enthusiasts.
What many crypto traders don’t know is that Bitget also has a large offer of altcoins on its exchange, making it a top contender as one of the best altcoin exchanges. With over 580 supported altcoins on the spot market, altcoin trades will have a great time using the platform. With popular altcoins such as Ethereum, Cardano, Solana, and even the latest hype coins such as MiladyToken, Shiba Inu 2, or PepeCommunity, Bitget is always up to date with the trends.
While offering an excellent platform for buying and selling altcoins, Bitget is also incredibly well-designed. With a smooth and beginner-friendly interface, even new users will have an easy time navigating through the website. At the same time, Bitget is not compensating for advanced trading tools and order types, meaning advanced traders will find everything they need to execute their trading strategies.
With spot fees of 0.1% (for makers and takers) and futures fees of 0.02% for makers and 0.06% for takers, Bitget charges relatively low rates.
Overall, Bitget is a great cryptocurrency exchange offering low fees and a wide variety of the best altcoin picks.
Supported Cryptos: 600+
Trading Pairs: 800
Futures Contracts: 220
Spot Fees: 0.1% maker / 0.1% taker
Futures Fees: 0.02% maker / 0.06% taker
KYC?: Yes, required
5. CoinEx
CoinEx is a popular no-KYC crypto exchange. Where CoinEx shines most is its extensive selection of over 700 different altcoins. These can be traded with ease on the CoinEx spot market with low fees and decent liquidity. The spot fees start at 0.2% for makers and takers. However, the fees can be reduced when holding the CET token to as low as 0.08%, making CoinEx one of the most affordable altcoin exchanges.
With a very well-designed and beginner-friendly trading interface, CoinEx caters not only to experienced traders but also to beginners. CoinEx has done a great job designing an incredibly user-friendly trading dashboard.
For crypto traders seeking higher-risk products, CoinEx also offers futures trading. On the CoinEx futures market, over 120 altcoins can be accessed with a maximum leverage of 100x.
Aside from trading options, CoinEx offers several passive income products such as staking, mining, and automated market making (AMM). For the AMM program, the CoinEx fees are reduced by 50%, making it an excellent option to earn passive income on the side.
Supported Cryptos: 720+
Trading Pairs: 1108
Futures Contracts: 120+
Spot Fees: 0.2% maker / 0.2% taker
Futures Fees: 0.03% maker / 0.05% taker
KYC?: No, not required
What is an Altcoin?
Altcoin refers to any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin. The idea behind that is that Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency, while all the other coins are just “alternatives”; hence, they are called altcoins or, in other words, Alternative coins.
In the early days of cryptocurrencies, most exchanges only offered trading for Bitcoin. Over the years, we saw more and more coins being launched every day. Nowadays, every crypto exchange offers Bitcoin but also altcoins as the demand is high. However, not every crypto exchange is a good place to trade altcoins. That’s why we compiled a list of the best altcoin exchanges in the world.
What are Altcoin exchanges?
Altcoin exchanges are cryptocurrency exchanges that are especially good for trading altcoins. There are numerous factors to consider when selecting an altcoin exchange. Our list of the best altcoin exchanges is based on extensive research from real traders. We took all key factors into consideration, such as supported altcoins, value for money, on and off-ramp fees, security, and more.
In the next section, we dissect every criterion that you absolutely must look at in order to find the best crypto exchanges for altcoins.
How To Choose an Altcoin Exchange
Choosing the right altcoin exchange can be tricky. There are hundreds of crypto exchanges out there, some of them with bad intentions. Below, you will find a list of all key factors and measures that we analyze in order to find the best crypto altcoin exchanges in the world.
Number of Coins
Altcoin traders rely on exchanges offering a wide variety of digital assets. While most exchanges like Binance and Coinbase only list the largest cryptocurrencies, the real opportunities lie within the small altcoins as they have the largest upside potential. We have compared all crypto exchanges based on how many altcoins they support, as this is an important thing to consider as an altcoin trader.
Trading Fees
Fees can easily eat up a large portion of your profit. That’s why it is important to look for an altcoin exchange with low trading fees. We have found some of the best altcoin exchanges in terms of value for money, as lower fees mean higher profits.
The average spot trading fees are at 0.1%. However, we have found even cheaper options like MEXC with 0% trading fees for altcoins on the spot market. Other alternatives, such as Kucoin, also offer a trading fee discount to get fees of 0.08%, which is still an amazing rate. On the more expensive side, we have Gate.io with 0.2% fees, while Coinbase will swindle you out of 0.6% fees.
Liquidity
Liquidity refers to the limit orders resting in the order book. We have buy-side liquidity (limit buy orders orders) and sell-side liquidity (limit sell orders). By opening a trade with a market order (executed immediately), we take the liquidity out of the order book. That’s why it is always important to look at the liquidity before buying altcoins. Often, unpopular altcoins have thin order books, and their price can be easily impacted by large orders.
User Experience
For user experience, there are three key things to look out for. A simple user interface, no lags or network issues, and customer experience. In our list of the top 10 altcoin exchanges, we have only included crypto exchanges that work smoothly, are easy to use, and offer 24/7 live chat. This will ensure you the best user experience when trading altcoins.
Deposit Fees
While some exchanges charge fees on crypto deposits, we made sure that the presented altcoin exchanges in this list don’t charge any fees for crypto deposits. However, there are always fees for fiat deposits or credit/debit card purchases. These differ for each currency and payment method.
Withdrawal Fees
After purchasing cryptos on the best altcoin exchange, it is time to secure your digital assets on a secure wallet. For this, you will have to withdraw your altcoins. The last thing you want is an altcoin exchange mismanaging user funds. The best altcoin exchanges in this list charge low crypto withdrawal fees, which means you get to keep more to yourself.
Security
The last thing you want to happen is an exchange stealing your funds. That’s why we only included some of the most reputable crypto trading platforms.
Final Thoughts
Trading altcoins can pay off a lot if you make the right decision. One of the biggest factors for your success in altcoin trading is your choice of the right altcoin exchanges. In this guide, we have presented you with the list of the best altcoin exchanges in the world.
Overall, MEXC is the clear number one altcoin exchange due to its wide variety of supported cryptos, a user-friendly platform, and it offers the lowest trading fees, which means more profits for you. Other great options for trading altcoins are Kucoin, Gate.io, and Bitget.
