Crypto Exchanges: Where To Sign Up?

Which cryptocurrency exchange should I use? List of best platforms for trading crypto on spot or futures: ApeX Omni, Hyperliquid, Drift, Binance, and Kraken.

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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.

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Update 26/11/2024: I would now recommend more trading perps on a decentralized exchange such as Apex Omni 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.

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.
Hyperliquid - Think everyone should be aware of this perpetual DEX given the $HYPE airdrop. And if you're not then you need to go sign up to be involved for the next airdrop season. High performance perps and spot orderbooks built on HyperEVM. Lots of pairs to trade, and you're not restricted to just depositing stablecoins for collateral. Its one of the biggest DEXs in terms of users and volumn, really the only one that competes with CEXs. Very low fees! What is cool about this platform is other teams can build on HyperEVM. This makes me think Hyperliquid is here to stay, given other apps and tools are being built on the same stack.
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.
Kraken - Don't really trade on Kraken much, just want to highlight them as a great on & off ramp for fiat.

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.

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