Is CEX.IO good to buy Bitcoin?
CEX.IO is best for individuals and businesses in search of various crypto products like staking, crypto-backed loans, margin trading, and order execution tools. However, the platform has a limited coin offering, so it’s a better fit for token-focused traders.
CEX.IO
Account Minimum $20
Fees 0.00-0.15% maker fees; 0.01-0.25% taker transaction fee (2.99% deposit)
Investment Types Cryptocurrencies and tokens (support is also available for multiple fiat currencies)
Pros
100+ assets, including bitcoin, ethereum, and more (US users can currently trade more than 40 cryptocurrencies)
Low fees
Margin trading, staking rewards, crypto-backed loans for individuals
Institutional services for businesses and advanced traders
24/7 customer support and mobile access
Cons
Limited coin options (CEX.IO offers more tokens)
Staking rewards, crypto-backed loans, and savings features not available for US traders
Services not available to residents of New York (see a complete list of CEX.IO’s geographic restrictions here).
Overall rating
| Feature | Insider rating (out of 5) |
| Fees | 4.50 |
| Investment selection | 4.00 |
| Access | 3.75 |
| Ethics | 5.00 |
| Customer service | 5.00 |
| Overall score | 4.45 |
Ways to invest with CEX.IO
Coins and tokens
CEX.IO offers instant cryptocurrency purchases for traders using credit or debit cards, and it allows you to fund your account with bank or cryptocurrency transfers.
Its overall investment selection — which includes more than 100 assets like bitcoin and ethereum — is available to traders around the world. However, CEX.IO only offers more than 40 cryptocurrencies for residents in 49 US states and Washington, DC (New York is excluded).
The platform has a smaller coin offering, though. CEX.IO says it offers trading opportunities for bitcoin, bitcoin cash, bitcoin gold, ethereum, zcash, and dash.
When it comes to account features, CEX.IO offers the following:
Staking (with staking, you can earn monthly interest just by holding certain assets for a set period of time)
Spot trading (this feature provides more order options for advanced traders)
Crypto-backed loans
Margin trading (CEX.IO lets you borrow up to 100 times your account balance to trade more assets)
Institutional features (API tools for automated trading, order execution tools, payment services, and more)
For staking, each asset has its own minimum holdings requirement, and though interest rates vary per asset, some cryptocurrencies have APYs as high as 20%. Learn more about CEX.IO’s staking options here.
Though the staking, savings, and crypto-backed loan offerings aren’t currently available in the US, the company says it’s working on making those accessible in the future.
CEX.IO’s marketing strategist Oxana Kunets says the company also offers another rare feature that most platforms don’t: instant withdrawals on crypto assets. “Here, you sell and the money shows [up] on your card right away.”
Fee structure
CEX.IO charges a maker/taker transaction fee that is based on your 30-day trading volume for all trading pairs. Maker fees apply to orders that can’t be executed immediately since there aren’t any matching orders. Taker fees, however, are for orders that instantly match with other orders, making them immediately marketable.
Traders who place more trades within a 30-day span pay less at CEX.IO. For instance, maker fees range from 0.00% to 0.15%. While the 0.15% fee applies to users whose 30-day trades add up to $10,000 or less, you won’t pay anything if you’ve got a trade volume higher than $5 billion.
The same applies to taker fees. While a 0.25% fee applies to a maximum 30-day trade volume of $10,000 or less, you’ll only have to pay 0.01% if your trading volume exceeds $5 billion.
You’ll also run into different fees for payment methods. See the complete fee/commission schedule here.
Institutional services
Along with the CEX.IO Group-sponsored Prime platform, CEX.IO has two options for businesses, professional traders, and enterprise clients: CEX.IO Aggregator and CEX.IO Direct.
CEX.IO Aggregator is a
liquidity
provider that focuses on delivering efficient order execution for institutional clients.
CEX.IO Direct lets you embed cryptocurrency access, user verification, procurement, and delivery to your website or mobile app, according to its website.
Geographic restrictions
CEX.IO has several limitations for customers in certain locations. Though the crypto exchange supports US traders in 49 states and Washington, DC (excluding New York), its staking, crypto loan, and savings features currently aren’t available to US users.
Cryptocurrency access also varies for users from different countries. Specifically, some crypto assets won’t be available for traders from the United States, Canada, China, and South Korea, according to CEX.IO.
See a complete list of its geographic restrictions here.