How we compare and score exchanges

Overview

Chain Wealth scores each exchange on a 10-point scale. The overall score is a weighted average of eight individual criteria scores, each researched independently. We do not accept payment, free accounts, or promotional incentives from exchanges in exchange for favourable coverage.

Our 8 scoring criteria

1. Trading fees (weight: 20%)

We compare maker fees, taker fees, withdrawal fees, and deposit fees. Where fee tiers apply, we calculate the effective cost at three trading volumes: beginner ($1,000/month), active ($10,000/month), and advanced ($100,000/month). Exchanges with transparent, competitive, and easy-to-understand fee structures score highest.

2. Security standards (weight: 20%)

We assess two-factor authentication options, cold storage practices, insurance coverage, past security incidents and how they were handled, regulatory compliance, and penetration testing disclosures. An exchange's response to previous hacks or breaches is heavily weighted in this criterion.

3. Asset availability (weight: 15%)

The total number of tradeable cryptocurrencies and tokens, the availability of major pairs (BTC, ETH, SOL, etc.), fiat on/off ramp coverage, and whether the exchange supports staking or yield products.

4. User experience (weight: 15%)

How easy is the exchange to use for a first-time investor? We evaluate the onboarding flow, mobile app quality, interface clarity, advanced charting tools, and the availability of a beginner mode. Both mobile and desktop experiences are assessed.

5. Customer support (weight: 10%)

Support channel availability (live chat, email, phone), average response times based on third-party reports and community data, and the quality of help documentation. We specifically test how exchanges handle account access and KYC escalations.

6. Withdrawal reliability (weight: 10%)

Speed and reliability of cryptocurrency and fiat withdrawals, historical incidents of delayed withdrawals, supported withdrawal methods, and withdrawal limit policies. This criterion is weighted more heavily for users who report withdrawal problems.

7. Regulatory standing (weight: 5%)

Licences held, jurisdictions supported, compliance with local regulations, and any enforcement actions or sanctions from regulatory bodies. Exchanges with clear, up-to-date regulatory disclosures score highest.

8. Deposit methods (weight: 5%)

Number of supported fiat deposit methods (bank transfer, card, PayPal, etc.), processing times, deposit fees, and minimum deposit amounts.

Score weighting summary

Criterion	Weight	What we measure
Trading fees	20%	Maker, taker, withdrawal, deposit fees across 3 volume tiers
Security	20%	2FA, cold storage, insurance, incident history, compliance
Asset availability	15%	Number of assets, major pairs, staking, fiat ramps
User experience	15%	Onboarding, mobile app, interface, beginner friendliness
Customer support	10%	Channels, response times, documentation quality
Withdrawal reliability	10%	Speed, method variety, historical delays, limits
Regulatory standing	5%	Licences, jurisdictions, enforcement actions
Deposit methods	5%	Payment options, processing time, fees, minimums

Research process

Our research process for each exchange review involves:

• Account creation: We create and verify a live account on each exchange.
• Live testing: We execute real transactions to verify fees, speeds, and reliability.
• Fee verification: We cross-reference published fee schedules with live order confirmations.
• Support testing: We submit test enquiries to measure response times and quality.
• Community data: We analyse user reports from Trustpilot, Reddit, and exchange-specific forums.
• Regulatory check: We verify current licences with relevant regulatory bodies.
• Incident review: We check security disclosure databases and news archives.

Update frequency

All exchange listings are reviewed on a monthly cycle. We update scores immediately when a significant event occurs — such as a security incident, regulatory action, major fee change, or platform outage. The date of last review is displayed on every listing.

Editorial independence

Chain Wealth earns revenue through referral partnerships with exchanges. When you click through to an exchange and create an account, we may receive a commission. This is disclosed on every page. However, commercial relationships have no influence on our scoring, ranking, or editorial content. Our full policy is explained in our Editorial Policy.