KuCoin Review: Is it a Trustworthy Crypto Exchange?

KuCoin is a prominent crypto exchange that offers advanced trading options for a wide range of cryptocurrencies and a comprehensive support center for low fees.

Have you been looking for a trading site that allows you to trade everything from Bitcoin (BTC) and Litecoin (LTC) to Ripple (XRP)? You may have heard of KuCoin, but are wary of new coin trading sites.

If you’re curious about this versatile crypto trading site, you’ve come to the right place!

What is KuCoin?

KuCoin’s genesis was in 2012, when founder Eric Don ran into difficulties selling BTC on Mt. Gox, the most significant crypto trading site at the time.

As of writing, KuCoin is the world’s fourth-largest crypto trading database. It aims to be the world’s most accessible crypto exchange, leveraging cutting-edge technology to reduce the aura surrounding crypto.

How Does KuCoin Work?

KuCoin is a third-party cryptocurrency exchange that prides itself on being an accessible platform for newcomers. As such, it offers a “Beginner Zone,” offering people guides on setting up their KuCoin account, buying crypto and trading.

Investors mostly use KuCoin as a crypto storage and trading space. However, there are ways to earn passive income on KuCoin, the most popular being to lend cryptocurrency.

As for fees, KuCoin has your typical maker/taker fee structure, meaning that the prices you pay vary depending on whether KuCoin considers your order a “maker” or a “taker.” Makers provide new open orders that are filled by others, while takers fill existing maker orders.

Fees are also based on the class of coin traded, with popular coins categorized as Class A and Classes B and C being progressively more obscure.

KuCoin Product Offerings

KuCoin offers over 600 cryptocurrencies to buy, sell and trade, making it one of the most versatile crypto exchanges on the internet.

KuCoin App

The KuCoin mobile app is available for iOS and Android devices and has a sleek, beginner-friendly interface.

The app has the general approval of its user base, with over five million downloads on the Google Play store and an overall score of 4.3 stars from 123 thousand reviews.

KuCoin will charge maker and taker orders at different rates, with a 20% discount if you use the company’s proprietary KuCoin Shares (KCS) coin.

The app’s per-transaction trading fees work on a tiered system. You start at level 0 and gain levels based on how many KCS holdings you have or the BTC value of your 30-day average trading volume.

Class A	Maker	Taker	Maker w/KCS	Taker w/KCS
Level 0	0.1%	0.1%	0.08%	0.08%
Level 5	0%	0.07%	0%	0.056%
Level 12	-0.005%	0.025%	-0.005%	0.036%
Class B
Level 0	0.2%	0.2%	0.16%	0.16%
Level 5	0%	0.14%	0%	0.112%
Level 12	-0.005%	0.05%	-0.005%	0.04%
Class C
Level 0	0.3%	0.3%	0.24%	0.24%
Level 5	0%	0.21%	0%	0.168%
Level 12	-0.005%	0.0075%	-0.005%	0.06%

Futures fees vary tremendously during different times, so here’s a complete list of the different types.

KuCoin Express

KuCoin offers a fast trade feature that enables investors to use fiat currency, such as U.S. dollars or euros, to buy or sell crypto in a single click. You must register, verify your identity and bind your card to use it.

Fortunately, KuCoin accepts over 70 different payment methods, so you can be reasonably sure that KuCoin will take your favorite debit card.

In the interest of increasing accessibility, KuCoin offers a tutorial on how to buy crypto with a bank card. Still, to qualify, you must complete KuCoin’s advanced identity verification and use a Visa or Mastercard that supports 3D Secure.

The order confirmation screen displays the transaction fee. Keep in mind that your card issuer may charge additional fees.

Best for: investors who want a convenient coin-buying experience

Windvane NFT Marketplace

In May 2022, KuCoin launched the Windvane non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace to take its accessibility-first approach to a new frontier.

Windvane includes an NFT launchpad, allowing anyone interested in NFTs to see the hottest commodities and quickly mint the one they like.

If you see one you want, browse your chosen collection for the NFT you wish to buy. You can also play games that allow you to trade NFTs or earn crypto tokens.

We regret that we could not gather enough data on Windvane’s fee structure to give you an accurate fee table.

Best for: those looking to get started in the world of NFTs

KuCoin Wallet

KuCoin Wallet is KuCoin’s official wallet app on iOS and Android, where you can easily view the total amounts of all the coins you have and buy and sell more coins.

The wallet also allows you to send, receive and display NFTs. It is less expansive than the core app and is only compatible with Ethereum (ETH), Binance Coin (BNB), Polygon (MATIC), and the KuCoin Community Chain.

One exciting feature of the KuCoin Wallet is that it allows you to create a decentralized Web3 account, where you can trade, lend, play games, publish content, and purchase NFTs.

Additionally, the KuCoin Wallet fully covers DApps on the blockchain networks it supports. It’s like a parallel app store right in your wallet, and a security suite tested by a Hacken penetration testing audit protects all this Web3 power.

Best for: investors who want a convenient way to browse Web3 while trading on the most prominent blockchains.

KuCoin Earn

KuCoin Earn is KuCoin’s wealth management platform. KuCoin provides Flexible Savings, Staking, Polkadot and ETH 20.0.

You can buy these products on flexible terms (where you can withdraw funds at any time) or fixed terms (where funds are automatically redeemed at maturity). Fixed-term products generally yield higher earnings.

To subscribe to a product on KuCoin Earn, hover over the coin you wish to buy products for, click the Transfer In or Subscribe button for the product you want to use and then enter the amount you wish to purchase.

You can view your purchased products by selecting a product type in your KuCoin Financial Account. You can redeem funds from your Flexible Savings or Staking products by clicking the Transfer Out or Redeem button.

Funds from a fixed-term product are automatically saved to your account upon maturity. All redeemed funds are credited to your Main Account.

Keep in mind that interest payments will fluctuate in response to market conditions.

KuCoin Wealth

KuCoin is currently working on a new wealth management platform called KuCoin Wealth, which distinguishes itself from KuCoin Earn by offering structured products.

Structured products are individualized financial instrument packages, tailor-made to meet the risk-return needs of the individual purchasing them and the market conditions. There are different packages for bullish, bearish and oscillating markets.

KuCoin Wealth promises investors increased returns with controlled risks and a diverse portfolio combining structured products with traditional linear products.

When launched, KuCoin Wealth offers two types of structured products:

• Principal-protected structured products act like savings, guaranteeing your principal while providing additional returns.
• Aggressive structured products are exposed to more market risk but yield higher returns.

There are two products currently planned for KuCoin Wealth. The first will help investors accumulate wealth passively, earning significant returns without following the market in real time.

The second will help clients multiply their principles without liquidation risk.

OTC Trading

KuCoin allows you to buy or sell Tether coins “over the counter” at a set price. There are tabs for BTC, ETH, KCS, and USD Coin, but they are currently out of stock.

KuCoin even allows sellers to create and manage ads for your peer-to-peer Tether.

Spot Trading

KuCoin allows you to do spot trading for a dizzying variety of blockchains. Once you’ve found the coin you want, mark it as a favorite to make it easier to find later.

On the coin’s screen, you can observe the latest market trends, see an order book and the latest trades with that coin, and view a market depth chart.

Margin Trading

KuCoin’s Margin Trading system packs the same features as its spot trading system for investors willing to take more risk for a bigger payout.

Futures Trading

KuCoin’s Futures Trading lets you see real-time market trends charted over one minute, five minutes, 15 minutes or an hour.

Once you’ve selected your coin and are ready to place an order, input your price, the amount of crypto you wish to buy and the leverage you want to use, and then place your order.

KuCoin Trading Bot

KuCoin offers free software for investors to automate their crypto trading. The bot can use various strategies: spot grid, dollar-cost averaging (DCA), futures grid, smart rebalance and infinity grid.

The KuCoin DCA bot is for investors who believe in time in the market over timing the market. It works by buying target assets regularly and establishing an average buy price over time.

This strategy allows you to go all in at the right time. Spot grid trading is the most popular bot trading strategy, best suited for volatile markets. Bots using this strategy will buy low and sell high in specific ranges.

You can use the bot’s recommended settings, adjust the parameters to your liking or use the configurations used by the KuCoin platform’s top traders.

The KuCoin trading bot can be a source of passive income at no cost. However, the reality is that all trading involves risks, so trade responsibly and avoid emotional decisions.

Crypto Lending

Crypto Lending is another way KuCoin users can earn passive income. To use this feature:

1. Select the tab for either lending or borrowing.
2. On the lend tab, choose the coin you want to lend and input the amount you wish to lend out of your principal account balance, the length of time you want the loan to last and the interest rate you want to use (between 0% and 0.09%).
3. Keep in mind that KuCoin uses a priority interest rate for auto-trading.
4. When you want to borrow, you must input your preferred interest rate (within the same range as before). From there, KuCoin will give you the maximum amount you can borrow, and simply input the amount you want.

Who Should Use KuCoin?

KuCoin has something for everyone. Crypto beginners will love KuCoin’s ease-of-use features, trading bots and responsive customer support.

Advanced traders will get a thrill from KuCoin’s market analysis tools and the sheer variety of available tokens to trade. Everyone will love KuCoin’s competitive trading fees.

One major flaw of KuCoin is the low volume of trades compared to exchanges such as Binance, Coinbase, or even OKX. This has a detrimental effect on KuCoin’s liquidity.

In addition, investors should remember that KuCoin is not licensed in the U.S. It was also the victim of a massive hack in 2020, where hackers stole about $250 million worth of crypto.

However, KuCoin successfully recovered about $222 million following the incident. The company has since implemented its Safeguard Program, designed to quickly eliminate damage in the event of any future hacking attack.

How Does KuCoin Compare?

Getting Started with KuCoin

To create a KuCoin account:

1. Click the Sign-Up button from KuCoin.com.
2. Once on the Sign Up page, input your email address, click the “Send Code” button and input the code you received.
3. Set your password, check the Terms of Use agreement and click “Sign Up.” After you’ve signed up, we recommend logging in and clicking “Account Security” to set up Google verification, a trading password and an anti-phishing safety phrase.

Once you’ve done all that, you can start depositing currency into your account and using that currency to make your first trades!

Is KuCoin a Trustworthy Platform?

KuCoin is the most user-friendly crypto exchange platform on the internet, yet it has plenty of meaty features for crypto market veterans.

The sufficiently savvy can even use it as a source of passive income through bot trading and earn interest through lending. Albeit tarnished by the 2020 hack, KuCoin has been doing its best to make its platform more secure than ever.

KuCoin FAQs

Find some frequently asked questions about KuCoin below.