CEX.IO review
- Fiat currencies
- 3
- Supported assets
- 180
Summary
Buy and sell cryptocurrency or actively trade at competitive rates on CEX.IO.
There are exchanges out there that have higher international profiles or are more upfront about what they charge their brokerage clients on the spot market, but CEX.IO gets a lot of things right, and is hard not to recommend.
From its user-friendly experience to thorough security, to the range of brokerage and trading options on offer, this is a solid offer that credibly challenges the big players in the space.
Details
Product details
| Product Name | CEX.IO |
| Fiat Currencies | USD, EUR, GBP |
| Cryptocurrencies | BTC, ETH, USDT, XRP, SOL, BNB, USDC, DOGE, ADA, TRX & 170 more |
| Deposit Methods |
Bank transfer Credit card Cryptocurrency Debit card Apple Pay |
| Trading Fee |
Maker: 0.00 – 0.15% Taker: 0.01 – 0.25% |
| Deposit Fees |
Cryptocurrency: None Credit/Debit card: 0.49% – 4.99% + service charge Bank transfer: Fees vary Apple Pay: 0.49% – 4.99% + service charge |
| Withdrawal Fees |
Cryptocurrency - Fees vary Mastercard and VISA: 0.49% – 4.99% + service charge SWIFT: 0.3% + USD $25 (min $50) Skrill: 3.99% + USD $3.00 Epay: 3.99% + USD $3.00 |
What fiat and cryptocurrencies are supported?
- Supported fiat currencies: USD, EUR, GBP
- Supported cryptocurrencies: Approximately 180 cryptocurrencies
Which payments methods are accepted?
Available payment methods vary per market.
- Bank transfer
- Credit card
- Cryptocurrency
- Debit card
- Apple Pay
What's it like to use CEX.IO?
1. Buy and sell Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies easily across all of your devices from CEX.IO's brokerage service, with the convenience of using the same account you use for exchange trading.
2. One of CEX.IO's strongest points is the wide range of payment options it supports across various jurisdictions, with USD, EUR, GBP and Russian rubles all accepted.
3. Power users can move beyond the spot market and play the cryptocurrency markets, with CFDs on cryptocurrency and margin trading available up to 100x.
4. Take out a loan with your cryptocurrency holdings as collateral – all without a credit check.
5. However, watch out for pricing. Like many exchanges, CEX.IO could be more upfront about how much it charges for buying, rather than for trading on its platform.
Fees and limits
How do I create an account at CEX.IO?
We also strongly recommend you set up 2-factor authentication (2FA) on your account.
Staking and rewards
CEX.IO supports staking and claims, and rewards are calculated daily and distributed monthly. Staking rewards will vary by coin and may change over time.
You can currently stake the following coins on CEX.io:
- Solana
- Polygon
- Tezos
- Tron
- Cardano
- Zilliqa
- Cosmos
- Polkadot
- Flare
- Kusama
- Avalanche
- Ontology
- Kava
Additional features
If you're really serious about your trading, or work for a business that is, CEX.IO offers its CEX.IO Prime.
This is a proprietary matching engine that connects high-volume or institutional clients with liquidity providers, and it has also developed a suite of APIs to aid execution.
If you don't know what any of this means, don't worry, it's not meant for everyday retail clients, but it does speak to the seriousness of the operation.
Customer support
One of CEX.IO's strongest suits is its customer service.
Support is available 24/7, there's an online knowledge centre, dedicated support email addresses, a chatbot that becomes a live chat with a human being, and even a phone number you can ring.
This is a good show; CEX.IO even posts apologetic blog posts when the customer service pipes get clogged.
Is CEX.IO safe to use?
Regulation
CEX.IO is not regulated by the FCA in its native UK, and CEX.IO has had some run-ins with it in the past, but the FCA has long been reluctant to fully license cryptocurrency firms.
However, CEX.IO has been registered as a Money Services Businesses (MSB) with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), part of the US Department of the Treasury, and it has obtained a licence from the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) and Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs) in 32 US states.
The company also has a pending application for a digital payment token service licence with the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
Verification process
As befits such an ambitious company, CEX.IO's verification process is unusually thorough.
You need to be verified to unlock these functionalities:
- Buying cryptocurrency with your debit or credit card.
- Making card deposits of up to $3,000 and withdrawals of up to $10,000 a day.
- Trading with available cryptocurrencies using market/limit orders and API tools.
- Pay with Epay, Skrill or QIWI services.
You'll need your passport, driver's licence or other government-issued ID, and users in the US will need their social security number.
CEX.IO will ask you not only for a photo of this document, but a selfie with the document, along with thorough information from the document – issue numbers, and so on.
The selfie sounds like a lot, but think of it as like a passport photo – so no sunglasses.
There are also "verified plus" and "corporate" verification levels, but most retail users won't be needing these.
Security features
There's no such thing as a totally secure cryptocurrency exchange, so bear that in mind and do take the usual security precautions regarding your own private data.
For its part, CEX.IO is accredited to a level 1 standard (the highest) for data security according to industry standards developed by leading legacy financial services and payments providers.
Compare CEX.IO against other exchanges
Compare other products
We currently don't have that product, but here are others to consider:
How we picked theseFrequently asked questions
Isn't there a British second-hand entertainment retailer called CEX?
Yes, but the two businesses are not connected.
All user-submitted reviews must meet our review guidelines. These set out our standards and expectations, including that the review is from by a genuine user of the relevant product or service and that it is honest, authentic and respectful. We explicitly prohibit fake or otherwise misleading reviews and we check all submissions, but we make no guarantee as to the authenticity of any published review or reviewer. Some reviews may be submitted (regardless of sentiment) in exchange for entry into any competition(s) for which we are the promoter.
There are problems
Having used many exchanges my dealings with CEX.io left a lot to be desired. Having numerous funds deposited in my account, they deemed it suitable to delist one of the currencies, then applied storage fees (without notice), which while small at first they then proceeded to quietly dip into my account. Obviously they wern't able to help themselves fast enough, so then reworked their fees, (again without any notification). Before then helping themselves further to my funds. Therefore I noticed this greatly increased cash grab and was able to transfer out both what was left of that currency plus all the other currencies held on the exchange, (with some difficulty) but not before they had helped themselves to thousands of pounds. Customer service was of zero help, and of course there was flat out refusal and really no hope of recovering the currency realistically without taking them to court. CEX.io is NOT registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. In fact they have withdrawn that application and as far as I can tell have shifted the business offshore to avoid regulations. The London address is nothing more than a serviced office. According to companies house they also began action to strike off CEX.io from the company registar in just March 2023, (should the company be struck off then all assests held become property of the crown). The action was repealed later in March however it should give serious concern that the strike off action was started in the first instance. They have also been served a cease and desist by the FDIC in Feb 2023 for fradulently claiming US dollar funds were insured to the tune of $250k when in fact they are not. There are historical questions on the exchanges liquidity, leading many users it seems to have issues with withdrawal. It seems from numerous reviews in other places it would seem these kinds of issues are still occuring too frequently. Along with the misrepresentation that they are insured and or regulated, would also hint that the company has a culture of dishonesty. And questions on the companys filings would also indicate poor organisation or other admin problems. I would not recommend or trust any worthwhile funds with CEX.io there are many better and more honest exchanges to conduct business with that are correctly registered and insured. I would urge anyone contemplating investing here to be careful with their due dilligence.
Fast, easy, reliable
Been using the exchange for more than a year now with no problems. Super reliable and great fee structure!
A crypto exchange you can trust
I've been using CEX.IO for two years now. All I can say is that I'm delighted with their staking services and rewards, crypto selection, and moderate to low fees. Customer support is at your disposal whenever you need help.
Great Regulation
CEX.IO is top of the line when it comes to regulation. Those old and new to crypto can navigate this platform with ease.
Cool mobile app
Downloaded their mobile app, it's nice. I can see my balance growth and decline, buy crypto wherever I go, check prices anytime. And it lets you sell crypto, which I can not do on the website.
Good exchange
This is a pretty good exchange with low fees and it's safe - I never had any issues with them, unlike others. All in all, decent.
Nice exchange
I have been using this exchange for more than 4 years, I like its spot service and staking program. Also, they support many payment methods, including Visa and MC.
Solid exchange and more
Using the platform for trading, staking. Can;t really ask for more - they have good number of markets, impressive list of payment options (incl visa/MC support), decent mobile app. Happy so far
I have a big issue with the app
The app gets stuck after i set the 4 digit pin but the website is fine
More fiat currency
I like the platform, easy and simple to use for beginners, should ad more fiat currency
Thomas Finder
Journalist
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