Since American investors are not currently allowed to access the Binance cryptocurrency exchange, they may be looking for alternatives to Binance. Most of these alternatives trade only a few coins and do not offer the wide selection of altcoins that are available on Binance. The Hong Kong-based exchange Kucoin is an exception to this rule. More than 200 different coins can be traded on Kucoin, so it is not tricky for American traders to trade less well-known currencies. One advantage of trading cheaper and less well-known coins is that they can sometimes rise quickly in value. Buying new coins that are rapidly increasing in value can be risky, but the potential profits are very high. Those that live in the United States should make sure that there are no state laws that would interfere with them trading coins on Kucoin.
Is Kucoin as large as Binance?
No, it is a much smaller exchange. While Kucoin traders do trade tens of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency each day, the exchange is still small compared to Binance. Each day, more than a billion dollars worth of coins are traded on Binance, which is the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange. The trading volume is still high enough for Kucoin to be an excellent trading platform, however. Enough trading occurs that one can easily trade even the smaller coins.
Does Kucoin offer its own coin?
Like Binance and some other exchanges, Kucoin has its own cryptocurrency. This coin is known as KuCoin Shares (KCS), which are technically a cryptocurrency and not actual shares in the company. Those who possess KuCoin Shares receive dividends for holding coins.
Are Kucoin’s trading fees as low as to those on Binance?
Not really. While Kucoin’s trading fees are reasonably low (0.1%, with many exchanges charging 0.25% or more), Binance offers even lower trading fees. On Kucoin, the trading fee is the same for all traders unless they are trading a very high volume of coins. On Binance, on the other hand, a smaller trader can pay fees below the maximum of 0.1%. Binance will offer lower (0.075%) trading fees to those who pay trading fees in Binance coin instead of in Bitcoin. Very high volume traders can pay much lower fees on both exchanges.
Kucoin also offers better withdrawal fees than other cryptocurrency exchanges. Withdrawal fees are similar to and probably slightly better than those on Binance. The fee for withdrawing Bitcoin is the same (0.0005 BTC) on both exchanges. The cost is a fixed amount and not a percentage, so larger withdrawals are cheaper than smaller withdrawals. The cost of withdrawing Ether is also the same, 0.01 ETH for both exchanges. Withdrawal fees for other coins can differ between the two exchanges.
Is there a Kucoin wiki?
No, although information about the trading platform is still easy to find. Plenty of information about Kucoin is available on the Kucoin wiki, on Youtube, and elsewhere on the internet.
Does Kucoin allow the trading of fiat currencies?
No, one cannot trade fiat currencies on Kucoin. If one makes a profit trading cryptocurrency, they will have to withdraw their coins from Kucoin and sell them for fiat currency on another exchange. While Kucoin sometimes discusses allowing the trading of Fiat currency in the future, this will not necessarily happen any time soon. If a cryptocurrency exchange allows the trading of fiat currency, they often end up with more legal problems than they had before. Coinbase is an option if one is looking for a cryptocurrency exchange that also allows one to trade fiat currency. Coinbase is not allowed in some countries and some U.S. states. Coinmama and Bitpanda are other alternatives if you want an exchange that trades fiat currency.
How do I make a trade on Kucoin?
First, you must create an account. While one can trade with an unverified account, one is better off with a verified account for increased security. Make sure you confirm your identity through two-factor authentication before trading.
After confirming your identity, you must deposit cryptocurrency into your account. Kucoin is a cryptocurrency only exchange, so you cannot store and trade with dollars or pounds. To deposit coins, click Assets at the top of the screen and then click deposit. Click on the list of currencies and select the coin you want to send to Kucoin. Enter your deposit address exactly as it is shown, or else your coins may end up being permanently lost. Your funds will not appear in your Kucoin account immediately.
After you receive your funds, click on Markets at the top of the screen. Choose the coin you deposited, and that will give you a list of currencies it can be traded for. Not all coins can be traded for all other coins. After selecting a coin, you will see another screen with the price history of the coin you are buying. You will have to type in your verification code for two-step identity verification.
Click on the green box and enter the number of coins you want to buy and the price you are willing to pay for the currency. You can choose whatever price you want but obviously cannot buy for much less than the current market price. After another user accepts your trade, you will receive your coins instantly.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of Kucoin?
One significant advantage of Kucoin is that a vast number of different coins are available for trading. Most cryptocurrency exchanges only trade a tiny number of different currencies. Kucoin is, therefore, the best place to trade less common coins in countries where Binance is not available. Kucoin also offers unverified trading for those who want an easy signup process and identity-verified trading for those who want increased security. There are also no deposit or transfer limits on Kucoin, and transfers should not take much longer than the usual transfer times of the cryptocurrencies one is trading. Like Binance, Kucoin will also adopt coins that are new and rapidly increasing in value. Therefore, it can be an excellent place to buy coins that might be worth dozens of times as much in the future.
On the downside, Kucoin has been known to slow down during times of high trading activity. Slowed down transactions can be disastrous to some traders if prices are rising or falling quickly. Kucoin is also not a place where fiat currency can be traded directly and is not one of the most popular exchanges. Binance might be a somewhat better idea that Kucoin if Binance is available in your country, but if Binance is unavailable, Kucoin is a worthy alternative.
Photo source: Marco Verch
