How We Review Crypto Exchanges

Last updated: 29.09.2026

This page explains how ExchangeCatalogue reviews and compares crypto exchanges, what our scores mean, and what our research can and can’t do for you.

Please read this together with our Editorial Policy, Risk Disclosure, and General Disclosures.

Important: Our work is for information and education only. We do not provide financial, legal, tax, or investment advice.

Licences come first

Before we rank or suggest an exchange for a country, we check if it may legally serve people there. We use the regulator’s own records. For the EU, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, that is the ESMA register of MiCA licences. The UK answers come from the FCA register of crypto firms and the FCA warning list. In India, we use FIU-IND orders and official notices.

We have checked 32 countries so far. In those countries, an exchange that may not serve you is left out of our country list and our Exchange Finder. That is true even if it pays us. For other countries, we use each exchange’s own list of supported countries. We have not checked the local rules there yet, so check them yourself before you sign up.

You can see every answer, the date we checked it and the source in our crypto exchange licence tracker. The data is free to reuse. We check the EU register every week, and the UK and India sources at least once a month.

 

1. Our Review Principles

When we review exchanges, we follow a few simple principles:

• Independence

• Transparency

• Consistency

• Practicality

 

2. Our Review Process

When we evaluate a crypto exchange, we typically go through these steps:

1. Initial Screening

2. Data Collection

3. Scoring Across Core Pillars

4. Comparison & Context

5. Editorial Review

6. Ongoing Monitoring

    

    

   Not every exchange goes through the same depth of testing (for example, brand-new or very small platforms may get shorter coverage), but the logic stays consistent.

 

3. Our Core Evaluation Pillars

We generally look at exchanges across several key areas. These may be weighted differently depending on the type of platform (spot-only vs derivatives, regional vs global, etc.), but the pillars remain the same.

3.1 Security & Custody

Security is always a top priority. We look at:

• How user funds are stored

• Security features

• Public security disclosures

• Past security incidents

Important: We cannot audit code or infrastructure. We judge based on publicly available information and observed practices.

 

3.2 Regulation, Licensing & Jurisdictions

We examine:

• Claimed licenses and registrations

• The jurisdictions where the platform is allowed to operate, and where it is restricted.

• How clearly the platform discloses its legal entities and regulatory status.

We may show summarized regulatory information on profiles, but:

• We do not certify any platform as “fully compliant” or “safe”.

• You must always verify regulatory details yourself with official sources.

More on this: Regulation & Jurisdictions

 

3.3 Fees, Costs & Pricing Transparency

We look at:

• Trading fees (maker / taker), tier structures, and VIP programs.

• Deposit and withdrawal fees for major assets.

• Funding fees and other charges for derivatives products.

• Whether the fee structure is clear and easy to find, or buried in fine print.

Where possible, we compare effective cost versus competitors, not just headline rates.

We also note if there are hidden or unusual fees that traders commonly encounter.

Three layers of cost data

Every cost figure we publish is labelled with the layer it comes from.

Layer 1. Published fees. These are the fees each exchange lists on its own site. From 29 September 2026 a script reads each exchange’s fee page once a week. It saves the date and a fingerprint of the fee lines (a SHA-256 hash). When the fingerprint changes, we open the page and update our review. Many exchange sites block scripts or only show their fees in a browser. We check those pages by hand when we update a review. For Bitget, KuCoin and Bitvavo, the script also reads withdrawal fees for each coin and network from their public APIs. You can check every layer 1 figure on the exchange’s own site.

Layer 2. Our own trades. This is the tested part. We will buy $100 and $1,000 of bitcoin and of USDT, by card and by bank transfer, and then withdraw to our own wallet. We will record the quote we saw, the fees we paid and the coins that arrived, with the time in UTC and a receipt with our personal details hidden. We use one account per exchange, in our own name, and only where the exchange may serve us. We never use a VPN to get around a block. These tests start when our test accounts are open. Until we publish results, no page on this site calls a cost “tested”.

Layer 3. Market depth. Part of what you pay on a buy is hidden in the price. This is the spread and slippage. Most exchanges do not let websites publish figures taken from their order books without permission. So we only publish spread and slippage figures when an exchange agrees in writing, or when we pay for a data licence that allows it.

The all-in cost. Once we have layer 2 results, we add up four things for the same order. These are the spread and slippage, the trading fee, the cost of paying in (the deposit fee and any currency conversion) and the fee to withdraw the coins. We show the total as a percent of the order.

The table below is part of layer 1. It shows the withdrawal fees our script read this week.

 

3.4 Products, Markets & Features

Different traders need different things. We review:

• Available products:

  • Spot trading

  • Margin trading

  • Futures / perpetual swaps / options

  • Staking, savings, copy trading, etc.

   

• Market coverage:

  • Major coins and stablecoins

  • Long-tail or niche tokens

   

• Access to fiat:

  • Fiat on-ramps and off-ramps

  • Supported currencies and payment methods

   

We highlight what the platform is best suited for (for example, “derivatives specialists”, “simple spot buying”, or “high-volume traders”).

 

3.5 User Experience & Support

We assess:

• Onboarding and KYC flow

• Web and mobile apps

• Availability and responsiveness of support channels

• Quality of educational resources and documentation.

We may also take into account common user complaints and recurring patterns in reviews (e.g. slow withdrawals, poor support, unclear fees).

 

3.6 Reputation & Track Record

We consider:

• How long the exchange has been operating.

• Major public incidents (security breaches, insolvencies, regulatory actions).

• Patterns in user feedback across multiple sources

No exchange is free of complaints, but persistent, serious patterns of issues affect how we present and rate a platform

 

4. Data Sources – What We Use (and What We Don’t)

4.1 Primary sources

We prioritize:

• Official websites and documentation (terms, fee pages, legal pages).

• Direct platform interfaces (apps, dashboards, onboarding flows).

• Official announcements and support articles.

 

4.2 Secondary sources

We may also consult:

• Reputable news outlets and industry reports.

• Public regulator statements and warnings.

• Aggregated user feedback from multiple review sites and communities.

 

4.3 Limitations

We:

• Do not have access to internal systems, order books, or full proprietary data.

• Cannot guarantee that the information we publish is always current; platforms can change fees, terms, and products without notice.

• Cannot verify every claim made by every platform in real time.

We aim to be accurate and up-to-date, but you should always double-check important details directly with the exchange.

 

5. How Our Scores & Labels Work

We use internal scoring to compare exchanges on different dimensions. Depending on the section of the site, you may see:

• Category scores

• Summary ratings

• Badges

How we think about scoring:

• Scores are comparative, not absolute. A “high” security score just means “stronger relative to others in our dataset,” not “risk-free”.

• Weights may vary. For derivatives-heavy exchanges, security, risk tools, and liquidation rules may carry more weight; for beginner-focused spot platforms, simplicity and on-ramp options may matter more.

• Badges are directional. If we say an exchange is “best for X”, that means it scored well relative to peers for that use case – not that it is perfect, or the only valid choice.

We may update our scoring framework over time as the market evolves.

 

6. How Our Exchange Finder / Filters Work

When you use our Exchange Finder or filters, we:

• Ask you for your preferences and constraints, such as:

  • Country or region

  • Product needs (spot, margin, futures, copy trading, etc.)

  • Experience level (beginner vs advanced)

   

• Match those inputs against our structured data on each exchange:

  • Supported countries and restricted regions

  • Available products and features

  • Fee structure and typical costs

  • Supported assets and fiat options

   

The output is a shortlist of platforms ranked by how well they appear to match your preferences based on the data we have.

For the 32 countries in our licence tracker, the finder first removes every exchange that may not legally serve the country you pick. Then it sorts the rest.

Important:

• The Exchange Finder is not a recommendation engine and does not provide personal advice.

• It does not consider your full financial situation, risk tolerance, or portfolio.

• You should treat it as a starting point for your own research, not a final answer.

 

 

7. How We Handle Partnerships & Sponsorships

Some exchanges we list are also commercial partners (affiliate relationships, sponsored placements, or advertisers).

To keep things transparent:

• We disclose our funding model in our Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure

• Partner status may influence placement and visibility (e.g. sponsored slots), but does not override core evaluation criteria.

  Money never changes a licence status or a score. It also never decides whether an exchange counts as allowed in a country. Sponsored slots are always labelled.

• We reserve the right to downgrade, add warnings, or delist a partner if serious risk factors emerge (e.g. security incidents, withdrawal issues, regulatory actions).

We do not sell guaranteed “top ratings” or positive reviews.

 

8. Updates, Corrections & Platform Input

8.1 When we update reviews

We aim to update exchange profiles when there are:

• Major fee changes or new fee structures

• Significant product launches or removals

• Notable security incidents or operational issues

• Clear regulatory changes or warnings

• Large shifts in user-reported experience

We may also conduct periodic reviews to keep content fresh even when there’s no big news.

8.2 How users can help

If you spot:

• Incorrect information

• Outdated data

• Broken links

• Missing important context

you can contact us at info@exchangecatalogue.com with:

• The page URL

• The specific issue

• Any supporting evidence (screenshots, official links, etc.)

We will review and, where appropriate, correct or clarify.

8.3 How platforms can respond

Exchanges and platforms we list are welcome to:

• Suggest corrections to factual errors

• Provide updated data (e.g. fee changes, new licenses)

• Share clarifications or context around incidents

We may request documentation or public references before making changes. We are not obligated to reflect every marketing claim or promotional angle – our priority is user clarity and fairness.

8.4 Review log

Each licence answer shows the date we checked it and the source. The tracker lists every change under What changed. When our in-house compliance reviewer checks a country page or a data page, we add their name and the date to that page.

 

9. What Our Methodology Can’t Do

Even with a careful process, our methodology has limits:

• We cannot guarantee the safety or solvency of any platform.

• We cannot fully capture every user’s experience.

• We cannot foresee future regulatory changes, security incidents, or business decisions.

• We cannot tell you which exchange you “should” use – that depends on your personal situation and risk tolerance.

Our role is to give you a clear, structured view of the landscape, so you can do your own due diligence more efficiently.

Always:

• Cross-check key details with the exchange.

• Start small if you’re trying a new platform.

• Consult licensed professionals for financial, legal, or tax advice.

 

10. Questions About This Methodology?

If you have questions about how we review exchanges, score platforms, or run our tools, you can contact us at:

Email: info@exchangecatalogue.com

For more context, you can also read:

• Editorial Policy

• Risk Disclosure

• Affiliate & Advertising Disclosure

• Legal Pages

 

We may update this Methodology from time to time as the crypto market evolves and as we refine our approach.