Crypto Exchanges: Where To Sign Up?

Keep being asked where I like to trade, so here is a quick list of my favourite crypto exchanges. These are trading platforms I use on a regular basis, so thoughts are all from experience.

Update 26/11/2024: I would now recommend more trading perps on a decentralized exchange such as Apex Pro or Hyperliquid, meaning you stay in control of your funds! They do also have spot markets but the liquidity is not great yet. So for spot markets you probably want to stay on Bybit or Binance. Added Drift Protocol on Solana as another option for decentralized exchange.

• Bybit - Currently, this is my favourite platform and feel its the best crypto trading platform for futures. Especially recommend Bybit if your style is more intra day trades and quick scalps. The orderbooks are active with many participants, meaning you won't have a problem to fill market buy and sell orders quickly. So no issues to enter and exit positions on the fly when market conditions are choppy. How many times have we clicked buy or sell just to see the order fill 30 seconds later? In crypto that can mean a big difference in your entry/exit price. Plus, Bybit has just as many perpetual contracts as Binance, so you can trade a whole range of altcoins with leverage. Their UI is extremely easy to (pretty much a mirror of Binance) and their mobile App works smoothly. Bybit are also great at regularly rewarding you for trading on their platform and feature generous sign up bonuses.

• ApeX Omni - This is a derivatives DEX, no more worrying about the exchange stealing your funds. Apex is permissionless, you can use your own MetaMask wallet (or other options) so it's non custodial. Another bonus is it's non KYC, so no having to give out all your personal details and documents. Plus its multi-chain supporting Ethereum, BSC, Polygon, or Arbitrum One. Additionally, no problems of high transaction fees as ApeX is built on an Layer 2 called Starkware. Lastly, you can earn a reward token called BANA via weekly trade to earn events.
• Drift Protocol - Another DEX I am using right now. A little bit more of a degen account, where I take more risk with a smaller account size. Mainly because this protocol will have an upcoming airdrop on Solana. Which means any activity and trading there goes towards farming points. I like Drift is because its a decentralized exchange with several products for earning, not just trading perps. As soon as you deposit, your assets are earning interest. There is also riskier options to provide liquidity to their markets or insurance funds where the APY is higher.
• Binance - Pretty much everyone knows Binance as the number 1 cryptocurrency exchange, so it shouldn't need an introduction. The UI is great easy to understand, and their mobile app runs smoothly. Personally, I don't trade on Binance as much as before because their futures platform is no longer available for France. That being said it has the most Altcoin pairs, along with BTC pairs. This is great for when you believe an Altcoin will outperform Bitcoin in the short-term. So your strategy will be to sell the token to increase your BTC holdings. They've also been making big strides for fiat deposits and withdrawals, EU users can do this via a SEPA transfer for a small fee. Their spot orderbooks run deep so you don't have to worry about big spreads eating up your potential profits. Another plus for having a Binance account is signing up for their crypto debit card.
• KuCoin - I don't trade on a daily basis on KuCoin, its my go-to place to find lower cap gems where the idea is to hold for a couple of months. KuCoin appears to be a little more relaxed on their listing requirements so generally coins will list here before ending up on bigger platforms such as Binance. That being said the platform is steadily growing&attracting users so I do know plenty of traders that use KuCoin as their main spot/futures account.

That's it! No point spreading your portfolio across too many exchanges, then it will become too tricky to manage. Always better to keep control of your funds! Otherwise you will get burnt heavily if there is ever another exchange that goes bankrupt like FTX.