The next Solana or dogwifhat is out there; you just need to track it down. That said, we’re aware that it may be difficult to single out the best one in the sea of altcoins, each promising to be the next big thing.
Check our list of the best altcoin exchange platforms below, and you might just stumble upon the latest meme coin that will have TradFi scratching their heads!
Top Altcoin Exchanges
Below is a list of best altcoin exchanges by the number of altcoins they support that also fit our criteria for top exchanges.
Exchange Name | Number of Altcoins Listed | Trading Fee % | Liquidity Rating | Fiat Deposits? | Year Opened |
MEXC | 1,500+ | 0.02% | High | Yes | 2018 |
Gate.io | 1,700+ | 0.03% | High | Yes | 2013 |
Binance | 500+ | 0.1% | Very High | Yes | 2017 |
OKX | 350+ | 0.08%–0.1% | High | Yes | 2017 |
BloFin | 200+ | 0.01%–0.1% | High | Yes | 2019 |
Bybit | 200+ | 0.1% | High | No | 2018 |
Coinbase | 200+ | Up to 0.6% | Very High | Yes | 2012 |
Kraken | 200+ | 0.25%–0.40% | Very High | Yes | 2011 |
Exodus | 230+ | No trading fees (spread only) | Medium | No | 2015 |
Margex | 30+ | 0.019%–0.06% | Aggregated from 12+ providers | Yes | 2019 |
Best Altcoin Exchanges Reviewed
Forget about Bitcoin; if you want to watch your portfolio go stratospheric, you need a healthy bag of altcoins. In the following sections, you’ll see our picks of the top altcoin exchanges you can use to grow your collection.
1. MEXC — Overall Number 1 Altcoin Exchange
- Number of Altcoins Listed: 1,500+
- Trading Fees: 0.02%
- Liquidity Rating: High
- Fiat Deposits: Yes
- Year Opened: 2018
MEXC is the best place to buy altcoins — there are nearly 2,000 tokens, from large market cap alts like Solana and Dogecoin to meme coins like dogwifhat and Pepe, whose value can pump 100% without notice.
Right now, at MEXC, you can trade altcoins with 0% fees for spot and futures markets. To top it off, you can take advantage of MEXC’s margin and enjoy 100x leverage.
MEXC runs its own p2p marketplace, so you can easily purchase crypto via bank transfer, e-wallets, and credit/debit and avoid costly transaction fees. This altcoin trading platform boasts liquid pairs with over $1 billion in daily trading volume.
Apart from buying and selling cryptocurrencies, MEXC offers crypto loans where you can use your tokens as collateral and lock in low interest rates. Alternatively, you could stake your altcoins and watch your portfolio soar as you collect 100% yields.
Check out our detailed MEXC review to learn more about fees, payment methods, safety, and trading experience.
Pros:
- Wide range of altcoins
- 0% trading fee promotion
- $8,000 welcome bonus
- Over $1 billion in daily trading volume
Cons:
- No fiat withdrawals
- Only supports USD, EUR, and GBP deposits
2. Gate.io — Best Altcoin Exchange for Margin Trading
- Number of Altcoins Listed: 1,700+
- Trading Fees: 0.03%
- Liquidity Rating: High
- Fiat Deposits: Yes
- Year Opened: 2013
Gate.io is one of the top altcoin exchanges with over 1,700 tokens and more than 2,700 trading pairs to choose from. APE and GPU are just some of the low-cap alts that could blow up soon, and you can trade them at Gate.io. If you are after liquidity, you can’t go wrong with this altcoin trading app, which boasts over $7 billion in daily trading volume.
Apart from great liquidity and a huge selection of altcoins, Gate.io offers some of the best staking rewards on the market. With a click of a button, you can securely stake hundreds of altcoins and take advantage of APRs up to 499%.
When it comes to margin trading, Gate.io is our preferred altcoin exchange. It offers up to 10x for spot markets and a massive 100x margin for perpetual futures. Based on our experience, Gate.io also provides some of the lowest interest rates on the market, starting from only 0.01%.
Pros:
- Low trading fees
- Great selection of meme coins
- Up to 100x margin
- Amazing staking rewards ( up to 499% APR)
- Easy-to-use trading bots
Cons:
- Not available in the US and many other countries
- Complex trading software
3. Binance — Best Crypto Exchange for Altcoins for Liquidity
- Number of Altcoins Listed: 500+
- Trading Fees: 0.10%
- Liquidity Rating: Very High
- Fiat Deposits: Yes
- Year Opened: 2017
Binance has the title of the world’s biggest altcoin trading platform, with over 200 million users by accident. In fact, $100 trillion has been traded on Binance since it opened in 2017, the most of any other platform.
This exchange curates the best altcoins on the market, protecting novice traders from scam projects. Binance also offers low trading fees, starting from 0.10%, even if you’re a retail user and trading less than $10,000 per month.
You can score a 25% discount on trading fees by holding BNB, Binance’s token. BNB has been one of the best-performing altcoins of all time, up over 520,000%, and is still worth storing in your portfolio.
Binance is one of the most secure altcoin exchanges with a world-class customer support team. The platform also supports instant fiat deposits and withdrawals via credit/debit cards, e-wallets, and bank transfers.
Pros:
- Amazing liquidity
- $100 trillion cumulative trading volume
- Excellent reputation
- Tight spreads for hundreds of altcoins
- Top performing in-house altcoin (BNB)
- Fiat withdrawals
Cons:
- Limited features in many countries
- KYC required
4. OKX — Best Altcoin Exchange for Deposit Methods
- Number of Altcoins Listed: 350+
- Trading Fees: 0.08%–0.1%
- Liquidity Rating: High
- Fiat Deposits: Yes
- Year Opened: 2017
OKX is another altcoin exchange that earned a top spot on our list. It offers everything from p2p trading, allowing you to purchase altcoins via fiat payment methods like Skrill, Wise, and Visa, to margin trading, where you can invest in your favorite meme coin with 10x leverage!
The liquidity is great at the OKX exchange, with a daily trading volume of over $5 billion. This platform also attracts lots of professional traders due to rebates, fast trading speeds, market data, and VIP loans, so you won’t experience any slippage.
OKX offers very competitive trading fees, starting at 0.08%. You can even receive 0.005% per trade if you are a VIP market maker.
This altcoin trading platform is loaded with advanced features like options, trading bots, loans, and staking.
Pros:
- Various altcoin options
- 10x leverage on spot altcoin pairs
- Institutional trading service
- Borrow and stake tokens
- P2P altcoin trading
Cons:
- Overly complex advanced features
5. BloFin — Best Altcoin Exchange for Trading Bots and Copy Trading
- Number of Altcoins Listed: 200+
- Trading Fees: 0.01% – 0.1%
- Liquidity Rating: High
- Fiat Deposits: Yes
- Year Opened: 2019
BloFin has been cruising under the radar since its launch in 2019. However, it’s quickly become one of our go-to altcoin exchanges thanks to its low fees (0.01%) on over 200 trading pairs. BloFin is also a margin-friendly trading platform offering up to a whopping 125x leverage, which is perfect for riding meme coin pumps.
BloFin’s top feature is the copy trade function, which you can use to automatically mimic the positions of profitable altcoin traders and lock in winning trades. BloFin is also home to pre-configured bots that’ll trade for you. Meanwhile, you can test your latest altcoin strategies by demo trading.
Once you register at BloFin, you can take advantage of this altcoin exchange’s generous $5,000 welcome bonus. Simply complete different challenges like making your first deposit and trades to unlock free cash!
Pros:
- Been operating for over 5 years
- Copy highly profitable altcoin traders
- Paper trading available
- Up to 125x leverage
- Fees as low as 0.01%
Cons:
- Limited number of low-cap altcoins
- KYC required
6. Bybit — Best Crypto Exchange for Altcoins for Options
- Number of Altcoins Listed: 200+
- Trading Fees: 0.1%
- Liquidity Rating: High
- Fiat Deposits: Yes
- Year Opened: 2018
Bybit is one of the best altcoin exchanges when it comes to innovation. It’s constantly releasing new trading features and pushing its competitors to keep up. Bybit focuses on high-quality altcoins, enabling you to trade over 200 tokens. The spreads are tight even for low-cap tokens, and fees can be as low as 0.005% for spot markets if you are a VIP user.
This is one of the only altcoin trading platforms that offers options. These financial derivatives allow you to speculate on the price movements of altcoins and are an excellent way to short tokens without blowing up your portfolio.
Bybit also boasts low-cost margins of up to 100x and the copy trading feature, where you can mimic the positions of profitable traders. Also, when you sign up, you will find mystery boxes and bonuses of up to $5,020!
Pros:
- User-friendly altcoin trading platform
- 100 to 1 leverage
- Altcoin options
- $5,020 in mystery boxes and bonuses
- Altcoin copy trading
Cons:
- Not available in the US
7. Coinbase — Best Altcoin Exchange for Security
- Number of Altcoins Listed: 200+
- Trading Fees: 0.6%
- Liquidity Rating: Very High
- Fiat Deposits: Yes
- Year Opened: 2012
If you’re looking for a secure and trustworthy altcoin exchange, we recommend Coinbase. This is one of the original trading platforms that launched in 2012, making it pre-historic in crypto years.
Coinbase is a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ with a market cap of over $52 billion and is the largest exchange in terms of trading volume in the US.
You can forget about slippage and wide spreads because the exchange is home to over 10 million active traders. Moreover, you’ll be happy to know all customer assets are held 1:1, and as the exchange is publicly traded, it has to show proof of its assets every quarter to regulators.
Coinbase boasts some of the best altcoin trading apps, with over 2 million reviews and a 4.7-star rating on the App Store and Google Play. The app allows you to effortlessly buy over 200 altcoins by simply entering your credit/debit card.
Pros:
- High trading volume
- Great reputation
- Top-notch security
- Tight spreads
- Best altcoin trading app
- Fully regulated in the US
Cons:
- High trading fees
- Lack of low-cap altcoins
8. Kraken — Best Altcoin Exchange for Advanced Trading Tools
- Number of Altcoins Listed: 200+
- Trading Fees: 0.25%–0.40%
- Liquidity Rating: Very High
- Fiat Deposits: Yes
- Year Opened: 2011
The Kraken altcoin exchange has forged a stellar reputation over the last decade. This trading platform holds 95% of its reserves in cold storage (well out of the reach of hackers) and uses state-of-the-art encryption.
Kraken offers trading pairs for over 200 altcoins, and fees are reasonable, starting at 0.40% for taker orders. There is also an instant buy feature, where you can purchase altcoins via your credit/debit card with fees as low as 1%, compared to 5% on most exchanges.
Kraken has a Pro version for serious altcoin traders. This platform gives you access to lower trading fees, in-depth market data, low latency trading, increased margin, and OTC trades where you can take a huge stake in an altcoin without moving the market.
Pros:
- 0% fees for high-volume traders
- 1% fees for card transactions
- 24/7 live chat support
- Cheap margin trading
Cons:
- Limited number of fiat currencies
- No crypto loans
Altcoin Exchanges: What Are They?
An altcoin or alternative coin is any cryptocurrency that is not Bitcoin. Following that train of thought, an altcoin exchange allows you to buy and sell altcoins. Currently, there are over 2.4 million cryptocurrencies in existence, but on most platforms, you can only purchase a handful of them.
Altcoin trading exchanges specialize in lesser-known cryptocurrencies and have liquid markets for hundreds and even over 1,000 tokens.
As Bitcoin has gone mainstream, the returns are no longer what they used to be. Gone are the days when you could 100x your money with ease.
That’s why this new generation of crypto investors and traders flock to altcoin exchanges in a bid to find the next Ethereum or Bitcoin. They dream of 10,000x returns and turning a few thousand dollars into generation wealth.
How to Select the Best Altcoin Exchange
We’ve created a comprehensive methodology to identify top-performing altcoin exchanges. We focus on key factors like the number of altcoins listed, trading fees, security, payment methods, and liquidity.
Highest Number of Listed Altcoins
If you stick to altcoin exchanges with less than 100 altcoins, you’ll never get involved with meme coins early. In fact, by the time the next dogwifhat shows up on these exchanges, you’ll be the exit liquidity as the smart money dumps its bags on you.
If you go back to our top list, you’ll see that MEXC is hands down the winner in this category. Most altcoin exchanges have under 300 tokens, but at MEXC, you can instantly buy and sell over 1,500 altcoins!
Most Competitive Altcoin Trading Fees
Trading fees can cost you a fortune. Certain altcoin trading exchanges are committing highway robbery and stealing over 1% of your money every time you hit the buy or sell button.
At the same time, some exchanges barely charge anything, and if you’re a big-time trader, you can even qualify for rebates.
To ensure you maximize your profit, we purposefully look for altcoin exchanges that charge the lowest fees possible.
MEXC again wins in this category — at the moment, it’s running a promotion where you’ll pay zero fees for limit buy/sell orders for all spot and futures altcoin trades, and market buy/sell orders will cost you just 0.02%!
Largest Trading Pair Liquidity
Trading fees aren’t the only thing to consider when buying and selling altcoins; you must also look at the market depth and spreads. Many exchanges have wide bid and ask spreads, which can result in an instant loss.
For example, if you purchase an altcoin with a $100 ask and a $95 bid, you’ve experienced a 5% unrealized loss.
If you’re trading size, you also need to consider market depth. Namely, if you want to get out of a position immediately, you need a counterparty. If you try to market-sell a position at a low-volume altcoin exchange, you can crash the market and suffer a huge loss.
To ensure you can trade quickly in and out of positions without suffering losses, we look for altcoin exchanges with high trading volume and tight bid/ask spreads.
Binance is the king when it comes to liquidity. After all, it’s the world’s biggest altcoin exchange with a cumulative trading volume of a whopping $100 trillion. No matter what size you trade, you can easily get in and out of positions at this altcoin exchange.
Wide Range of Deposit Methods
Many altcoin exchanges only accept crypto deposits or charge hefty fees if you want to use your credit/debit card. To save your money and give you options when adding funds, we recommend altcoin trading exchanges that accept a variety of payment methods, from altcoins you’ve never heard of to Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer, and e-wallets. We also look into the costs so you never overpay.
OKX is the best altcoin exchange if you’re looking for flexible deposit methods. It has a buy crypto feature where you enter your card and instantly receive crypto in your account. Alternatively, you can pop over to OKX’s p2p marketplace, where you’ll find sellers who accept everything from Skrill and Neteller to Wise, Revolut, and bank transfers.
Credibility and Safety
Trading altcoins is already risky enough due to shady anonymous developers, market volatility, and the fact that most coins have no intrinsic value. The last thing you need is to compound the risk by entrusting your cash and tokens to an unsafe exchange.
We only recommend altcoin exchanges we’ve personally used. We’ve analyzed these platforms in-depth and selected those that employ encryption, protect accounts via 2FA, and keep assets in cold storage.
All the altcoin trading platforms we use have been around for years, and if they have suffered breaches, they have always compensated users.
Coinbase is the most trustworthy and secure altcoin exchange. The publicly listed company boasts over 100 million users and has been operating since 2012. Also, the cash held at the exchange is FDIC-insured, and cryptocurrency is insured in case of theft or cybersecurity breaches.
Fee Structure on Altcoin Exchanges
There are different kinds of fees you need to be aware of when using altcoin exchanges, including the following.
1. Transaction Fees
Transaction fees refer to buying altcoins at exchanges via fiat payment methods. These costs can be surprisingly high, as many exchanges rely on 3rd party platforms like MoonPay and Onramper, which can charge you up to 10%.
So before you whip your credit card out, double-check the exact amount you will pay because some of these 3rd parties can hide their charges.
2. Trading Fees
Every time you buy and sell an altcoin, the exchange charges you a trading fee. This is how these platforms generate the bulk of their profits. The trading fee is always a percentage of your transaction. For example, if the exchange charges a 0.1% trading fee and you buy $1,000 worth of Solana, you’ll pay $1.
If you’re investing in crypto for the long term and following a buy-and-hold strategy, a charge of 0.1% or 1% won’t impact you too much. However, if you’re making frequent trades, hunting for the lowest fees is crucial, as they can quickly gobble up your profits otherwise.
3. Network Fees
When you deposit or withdraw an altcoin from an exchange, you’ll need to pay a network fee. These costs tend to be very low, rarely exceeding more than a few dollars. They are transparent, so you’ll see the exact amount you’re paying before you confirm the transaction.
4. Spreads
Spreads are a hidden fee that many novice traders won’t even realize they’re paying. The spread is the difference between the market buy (bid) and sell (ask) price. Ideally, you want these numbers to be as close as possible.
As a general rule, the lower the market cap of an altcoin, the worse the spread. If you pull up buy and sell prices for Ethereum, you’ll notice the bid/ask is almost the same.
The greater the difference between the bid and ask, the bigger the unrealized loss you suffer when you buy an altcoin. For example, if you purchase X token for $110 but the highest bid price is $100, you’re now sitting on an unrealized loss of $10.
Bottom Line — What Is the Best Altcoin Exchange?
The undisputed best altcoin exchange is MEXC! You can trade over 1,500 tokens, the most of any platform. Even better, right now, you’ll pay zero trading fees for all altcoin maker orders.
As if that weren’t enough, MEXC has fantastic liquidity with over $1 billion in daily trading volume, and you can instantly buy crypto via debit/credit card or bank transfer.
So what are you waiting for? Sign up with the number 1 rated altcoin trading platform, grab your $8,000 welcome bonus, and explore the tokens until you land on the next dogwifhat!
FAQs
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References
Milan Novakovic
EditorMilan has been a valuable member of the Techopedia team for several years, contributing numerous published articles as a freelance writer. Possessing a master's degree in business marketing, he is well-suited to offer expert advice on business growth. With extensive experience in the field, Milan excels in crafting insightful and comprehensive articles and guides focused on business development. Milan's academic background in business marketing, coupled with his recent transition to the expanding tech industry, uniquely positions him to navigate the intersection of these two spheres. Recognizing the significance of establishing an online presence for businesses of all sizes, Milan has…