CEX.IO review
- Fiat currencies
- 3
- Supported assets
- 203
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, USDT, BCH, LTC, DASH, ETH, XRP, ATOM, ADA, TRX & 110+ more |
| Deposit Methods |
Bank transfer Credit card Cryptocurrency Debit card Epay Skrill Apple Pay Google Pay SWIFT |
| Trading Fee |
Maker: 0.00—0.15% Taker: 0.01—0.25% |
| Deposit Fees |
Cryptocurrency: None Credit card: 2.99% — 3.99% + service charge Debit card: 2.99% — 3.99% + service charge Bank transfer: $0.00 SWIFT: USD $2.99 Skrill: 3.99% + USD $3.00 Epay: 0.99% + USD $3.00 Apple pay: 2.99% — 3.99% + service charge Google Play: 2.99% — 3.99% + service charge |
| Withdrawal Fees |
Cryptocurrency: Fees vary Mastercard and VISA: Fees vary SWIFT: 0.3% + USD $25 (min $50) Skrill: 1.00% + USD $3.00 Epay: 1.99% + USD $3.00 |
What fiat and cryptocurrencies are supported?
- Supported fiat currencies: USD, EUR, GBP
- Supported cryptocurrencies: Approximately 203 cryptocurrencies
Which payments methods are accepted?
Available payment methods vary per market.
- Bank transfer
- Credit card
- Cryptocurrency
- Debit card
- Epay
- Skrill
- Apple Pay
- Google Pay
- SWIFT
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
Fees for buying $1,000 of Bitcoin
At the time of writing (11 June 2021), US$1,000 will buy you 0.0251 BTC on CEX.IO.
This is against the current "real" value of $1,000 in Bitcoin – 0.027.
This is because you are being charged a premium for trading directly with CEX.IO as a broker rather than trading with other cryptocurrency enthusiasts on their trading network, in this case, 7%.
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. $465,000 has been paid out to staking clients so far. Rewards are calculated daily and distributed monthly.
Here are the coins you can stake and the estimated annual yields. You should bear in mind that the rewards are calculated and initiated by the network, not by CEX.IO itself.
| Coin | Estimated annual yield | Minimum holdings | Reward coin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free TON | 12.5% | 1 TON | TON |
| Ziliqa | 16% | 1 ZIL | ZIL |
| Ontology | 3% | 1 ONT | ONG |
| Tezos | 5-6% | 10 XTZ | XTZ |
| Polkadot | 10% | 1 DOT | DOT |
| NEO | 1.5% | 1 NEO | GAS |
| Matic | 10% | 500 MATIC | MATIC |
| Cosmos | 8-9% | 10 ATOM | ATOM |
| Cardano | 3-4% | 10 ADA | ADA |
| MetaHash | 20% | 10,000 MHC | MHC |
| Tron | 3.5% | 1,000 TRX | TRX |
Margin trading
CEX.IO offers margin trading between 2x and 100x leverage. Margin trading is where you can trade with funds that CEX.IO lends to you, with your existing holdings acting as collateral.
At the time of writing, this service is only available for Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether.
We have to underline: Be careful with margin trading, especially at moments of market euphoria. Learn more about crypto margin trading in our guide here.
Derivatives
CEX.IO offers CFDs (contracts for difference) on Bitcoin.
CFDs allow you to trade on the price movements of Bitcoin without actually owning the asset itself.
Think of it as a little like a bet. You go long if you think the price will go up, and take a position accordingly, and vice versa, you go short if you think the price will go down.
They are usually much more liquid and flexible than owning actual cryptocurrency assets, and experienced traders can build highly elaborate strategies based on where they think the market will move next.
For a more detailed explanation of crypto CFDs, check out our guide here.
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
Frequently asked questions
Isn't there a British second-hand entertainment retailer called CEX?
Yes, but the two businesses are not connected.
Andrew Finder
Writer
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