The Top 5 Exchange Tokens That Are Worth Another Look

Binance (BNB)

Banned in seven US states, Binance and its American counterpart, Binance.US is a name you may have heard in the crypto space. It is especially worthy of note for being the target of regulatory action and lawsuits in the recent past. Nonetheless, Binance still has earned the title of world’s largest crypto exchange and is still running today. Binance offers trading of over 150 tokens and a simple user interface that anybody can trade on in minutes. Binance’s best claim to fame is its low fees. Binance charges a 0.1% trading fee for transactions made on the platform, which is very low even compared to Coinbase Premium’s 0.5%. Binance’s trading fee even goes down the more you trade with the platform, depending on the user’s 30 day trading volume.

Binance token may be used in dozens of ways throughout the platform, and ecosystem, creating plenty of incentive to hold, and use it. It can be used to establish a passive income stream, or get a fee reduction while trading. Additionally, Binance has launched their own ethereum-like blockchain called Binance Smart Chain. Many of the dApps and features you may be familiar with from Ethereum, can be found on Binance Smart Chain as well. This plethora of incentives has led Binance coin (BNB) to hold a top 10 position in the charts for more than a year now.

KuCoin (KCS)

More adventurous than Binance, KuCoin is an exchange that tries to set itself apart a decent amount. When it comes to features, KuCoin’s got a lot. To begin with, KuCoin offers a spotlight feature to bring attention to new, up-and-coming initial exchange offers (IEO). KuCoin allows users to lend and stake cryptocurrencies through it’s Pool-X feature. KuCoin Shares (KCS) offers a profit sharing incentive for KCS holders. Up to 90% of trading fees are sent back to the community through KCS incentives. Kucoin’s incentive to hold their token is daily dividends based on the amount you hold. In addition, holding KCS reduces your fees when trading.

Lending over KuCoin is perhaps it’s most interesting feature. KuCoin allows one user to lend crypto, Bitcoin for example, to another user in exchange for interest and a collateral stake in the form of equivalent value in another cryptocurrency. While KuCoin may not be the only exchange offering lending, seeing exchanges offer a platform for lending is a good sign for the future of cryptocurrency exchanges everywhere.

Crypto.com (CRO)

Crypto.com is one of the more intriguing exchanges on our list today. Crypto.com offers a crypto visa debit card, that allows the card holder to earn crypto back when they spend with the card. In some ways, it kind of feels like having a regular savings account, but it’s crypto. When you deposit cryptocurrencies into Crypto.com, you can earn up to 12% on stablecoins and 6.5% on Bitcoin. This is just the tip of the iceberg with CRO, the amount of incentives the platform has is very impressive. They even have a new NFT market if you’re into collectables.

CRO as a token isn’t all that impressive in regards to incentives for using it. Much of the incentives that revolve around CRO are baked into the platform and its use mainly. For instance the CRO visa card has a number of different tiers, which are unlocked by holding certain amounts of CRO. Much of the utility of CRO, in my opinion, is it’s simplicity in the things you can do with it, friendliness to new users, and familiarity to traditional finance that many people are familiar with. You’re not in CRO for the token, you’re in it for the system that backs it, and the community behind it. That being said, they are following in the steps of Binance and are releasing an ethereum-like ecosystem in the coming months. This will mean that you can use CRO in any number of DeFi opportunities within the newly launched blockchain.

FTX (FTT)

FTX is kind of like the ugly duckling in the group, but don’t lose hope. The UI is a bit clunkier than their competition. It doesn’t really feel simple, it feels pretty complex. But if that’s your wheelhouse then FTX has your back. Described as “a platform by traders, for traders”, a major design goal with the platform has been to accommodate both professionals and newcomers alike. FTX users can trade swaps and futures. Overall it’s a pretty complete exchange package, it even has indices for altcoins and “shitcoins”. It is important to note that FTX is run by Alameda Research, who have some pretty deep pockets, so despite the small staff, FTX has some serious talent and money behind it. The FTT exchange token offers incentives similar to previous tokens mentioned. If a user holds enough FTT, they can get their fees reduced by a significant margin. Just like Binance, this is based off of a user’s 30-day trading volume.

And if all that wasn’t enough, FTX recently partnered with the Miami Heat NBA team in Florida, to show their support for the area becoming a hub for cryptocurrency investors. I’d say that FTX is doing pretty well if they can afford to buy the naming rights to the tune of $90 million dollars.

Huobi (HT)

The old man of the group, Huobi, was founded in 2013 in China before the exchange ban. It has since moved to the Seychelles.

Huobi is a very no nonsense and simple exchange app. It’s not as robust as the other mentions but if you’re new to the cryptospace it could be a good place to get your feet wet. On the downside, Huobi charges a mining fee in addition to their regular 0.2% trading fees when you withdraw your tokens from the exchange. Huobi does not require you to submit stuff like ID or any other personal info, however without an ID, Huobi does limit your withdrawals to 0.1 BTC. There’s honestly not a lot to Huobi compared to its competition, apart from it’s decently sized market cap, but it’s just outclassed by the competition. If you’re new to trading and don’t want to invest too much, then I would recommend Huobi.