Original study · Data as of September 2026
Crypto exchange fees & security, compared
We compared the six largest crypto exchanges on the two things that actually decide what you keep: what you pay to trade and how safe your funds are. Every number below is drawn from public fee schedules, proof-of-reserves reports and documented incidents — nothing is estimated, and affiliate relationships never change a figure. OKX is currently the cheapest on taker fees (0.1%); Coinbase the most expensive (0.6%).
Trading fees — and the real cost per $10,000 trade
Headline percentages hide how much they compound. A 0.6% taker fee costs $60 on a single $10k market order — 6× more than OKX. Ranked cheapest first.
| Exchange | Maker | Taker | Cost / $10k trade | Founded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OKX | 0.08% | 0.1% | $10 | 2017 |
| Binance | 0.1% | 0.1% | $10 | 2017 |
| Bybit | 0.1% | 0.1% | $10 | 2018 |
| KuCoin | 0.1% | 0.1% | $10 | 2017 |
| Kraken | 0.25% | 0.4% | $40 | 2011 |
| Coinbase | 0.4% | 0.6% | $60 | 2012 |
Spot maker/taker, base tier (no volume discounts or native-token rebates). Real cost also depends on spread and withdrawal fees — see our fee calculator.
Security — proof-of-reserves, incidents, and who got reimbursed
In crypto, losing your funds costs far more than saving on fees. The single most revealing question is not “have they been hacked?” — almost all large exchanges have faced an incident — but “did users get their money back?”. Every exchange below that lost customer funds reimbursed them in full.
| Exchange | Proof-of-reserves | Verifier | Largest incident | Users reimbursed? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| OKX | Monthly, zk-STARK + Merkle tree (>100% reserves) | Cryptographic self-proof, user-verifiable | No known exchange-level fund hack | N/A (data breach) |
| Binance | zk-SNARK Merkle tree | Cryptographic self-proof | 2019 hack: ~7,000 BTC (~$40M) stolen | Yes |
| Bybit | Merkle tree, 30+ consecutive reports | Independently verified by Hacken | Feb 2025 hack: ~$1.5B (largest crypto theft on record) | Yes |
| KuCoin | Merkle tree | Cryptographic self-proof | Sept 2020 hack: ~$280M (~84% recovered) | Yes |
| Kraken | Quarterly cryptographic proof-of-reserves | Cryptographic self-proof, user-verifiable | No customer-fund hack since 2011 launch | N/A (data breach) |
| Coinbase | Audited public-company financials (SEC filings) | External auditors; Nasdaq-listed (COIN) | May 2025 insider data breach (support-agent bribery) | N/A (data breach) |
Regulation & standing at a glance
| Exchange | HQ | Licensing & notable actions |
|---|---|---|
| OKX | Seychelles (international operations via Aux Cayes FinTech Co. | EU MiCA (Malta MFSA) + UAE; $505M US DOJ settlement (Feb 2025) |
| Binance | No single official global HQ (operations historically tied to Cayman Islands and Dubai, UAE); founded by Changpeng Zhao (CZ). | Dubai VARA, France DASP + others; $4.3B US settlement (Nov 2023) |
| Bybit | Dubai, UAE (global HQ relocated to Dubai in 2022). | Dubai VARA; not available to US users |
| KuCoin | Seychelles-based. | Pleaded guilty in US (Jan 2025, ~$297M), exiting US ≥2 yrs |
| Kraken | United States (Payward, Inc. | EU MiCA (Ireland) + MiFID (CySEC); $30M US staking settlement (2023) |
| Coinbase | Remote-first company with no official headquarters since 2020 (incorporated in Delaware, USA; originally San Francisco). | US money-transmitter + NY BitLicense; EU MiCA; SEC suit dropped 2025 |
What the data actually tells you
- Fees vary up to 6×. If you trade actively, the taker-fee gap dwarfs almost every sign-up bonus. Cheapest here: OKX.
- Proof-of-reserves is not equal. Frequent, independently-verified attestations (e.g. a third-party verifier, or a monthly cryptographic proof) beat an infrequent self-published Merkle tree.
- Reimbursement history > hack history. An exchange that was breached and made every user whole has proven something a never-tested one hasn’t.
- Regulatory settlements are context, not a verdict. Several top venues have paid large settlements and kept operating under tighter compliance — read what the settlement was actually for.
Want the full per-exchange breakdown, scores and methodology behind these figures?
Method & disclosure
Fees are pulled directly from each exchange’s published spot schedule (base tier). Security and regulatory summaries condense documented, public information as of September 2026. Figures change — always confirm on the exchange’s own site before acting. This is not financial advice. CoinVetted earns affiliate commissions from some exchanges (including OKX) at no cost to you; this never influences a fee, score or ranking. See our disclosure and corrections policy.