Top 10 Crypto Exchanges for 2022

What Is a Crypto Exchange?

Crypto exchanges are places where you can trade crypto assets for other cryptocurrencies or for fiat money. There are two different kinds of crypto exchanges: centralized and decentralized. Both types offer a wide range of products.

The difference between centralized and decentralized exchanges is quite simple: who holds the private keys?

Centralized exchanges (CEXes) hold your crypto for you and go to great lengths to keep your crypto safe. Decentralized exchanges (DEXes) are places where people can transact without giving up their private keys, which means that you as the user are responsible for keeping your coins safe.

Let’s get into the best of both worlds with a general list of the top 10 crypto exchanges for 2022.

Binance

Almost everyone in crypto has a Binance account. When people talk crypto, they usually talk Binance, and for good reason. Binance is a household name in crypto. With a wide range of tokens available for trading, this is the perfect place to trade altcoins with low fees, be that on spot or derivatives.

Coinbase

As a Nasdaq-traded firm, Coinbase has something special. As one of the easiest platforms to use, many people start their crypto journey here. At the same time, Coinbase has helped many institutional players get into crypto. Even though their fees are not nearly as attractive as many other exchanges on this list, they deserve a top 3 mention.

FTX

Born in the summer of 2019, it is insane to think about what FTX has accomplished in such a short time. In just 2.5 years, FTX has secured their spot in the top three exchanges by volume. Aside from that, their investments in marketing (deals with the MLB, the FTX Arena, Tom Brady) have put FTX on a fast-track to becoming a huge brand. When they address the scaling challenges they started to face recently, I can only imagine what they will pull off in the next year.

OKX

Recently rebranded from “OKEx,” OKX still has a strong claim in the derivatives trading scene. With the majority of their user base in one part of the world, OKX is dominating the Asian market — a market that continues to grow rapidly. Although OKX is an exchange that not many Westerners will use, it’s not an exchange to overlook.

Crypto.com

Crypto.com is another up-and-coming name that’s spending big on marketing. It’s in the name — Crypto.com is much more than just an exchange. Their debit cards, NFT platform and staking products are just a selection of other crypto-related services offered. After securing the naming rights of the Staples Center (now Crypto.com Arena) for $700 million, it’s hard to imagine them going away anytime soon.

Uniswap

The first decentralized exchange (DEX) on the list, Uniswap is the first place most people go to play with ETH DeFi. As long as the project is ETH-based, you will find it on Uniswap sooner rather than later. Whatever happens to the markets in the coming months, Uniswap is where you get early access to solid projects.

BitFinex

BitFinex is the land of the OGs, the whales. This is where you frequently find the traders that are on the right side of a move. Large spot buying on BitFinex, chances are they know something you don’t. Even though they aren’t the largest fish in the pond, keeping tabs on the orderbook and transactions on BitFinex is never a bad idea.

Deribit

After spot and derivatives, the next step in a maturing market is options trading. Deribit has been at the forefront of this development, offering a wide range of fully liquid option products for Bitcoin and Ethereum. While we are already seeing a few exchanges offer their own options products, the first-mover advantage of Deribit will be hard to beat.

DYdX Protocol

The second DEX on the list! While Uniswap allows you to “swap” ERC-tokens, dYdX is a decentralized exchange that allows their users to trade with leverage, on chain — a big step towards a future where on-chain trading options rival the centralized alternatives.

Various Up & Coming Exchanges

In the past year or so, a lot of new exchanges popped up. Some of them hit the ground running and have built respectable products already. Some are throwing huge sums into marketing and are rapidly building a brand name.

As new platforms get more and more traffic and volume, growth presents numerous challenges. An exchange that is able to scale rapidly without sacrificing quality, might just find its way into the top leagues.

All in all, there are a wide variety of exchanges on this list. Some platforms to trade spot, some crank that leverage slider, on-chain or centralized. Whatever your trading style might be, there will be a place that matches your needs. I encourage you to try different exchanges and see what works for you. Try something new!

That’s my top 10. What’s yours?

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