CEX.io Review – Everything You Need To Know

In the last ten years, multiple crypto exchanges have sprung up to cater to the burgeoning new industry. Buying, selling, and trading cryptocurrency is already mainstream, and it can be hard to separate the best from the rest, especially for newbies.

With dozens, if not hundreds, of cryptocurrency ecosystems and Bitcoin trading platforms, how can you tell which ones are legit? In this CEX.io review, we will take a focused look at the brand, a UK-based platform that’s getting a lot of attention right now.

With its 2013 market entry as a regulated multi-functional cryptocurrency exchange, CEX.io is a middle-age crypto exchange, not one of the pioneers like Kraken, but still with enough years under its belt to be taken seriously by traders and regulators alike. 

As of 2021, CEX.io now employs a team of 250 with offices in the UK, the USA, Ukraine, Cyprus, and Gibraltar, making it a global company. It also boasts between 3 and 4 million total global users and is available in 48 US states. CEX.io is always around the top 50 in the cryptocurrency exchange rankings and it has an Excellent safety rating on Trustpilot, making it one of the better midrange exchanges around.

Keep reading to find out if CEX.io really does live up to its mission statement: To provide a gateway into the world of an open financial system.

Range of Offerings

Traders can access CEX.io via its website, iOS and Android apps, WebSocket, and, if you’re looking for automated trading, its REST API.

CEX.io offers its customers and clients the opportunity to trade, buy, and sell fiat and cryptocurrencies. 

With CEX.io, it’s easy to make deposits and withdrawals using fiat money. You can buy crypto using Visa, Mastercard, and bank transfer (SWIFT, SEPA, ACH, Faster Payments). CEX.io accepts payments in USD, EUR, GBP, and RUB.

When it comes to cryptocurrencies, CEX.io supports over 60 currencies, adding new ones all the time.

You can buy, sell, and trade Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ethereum, Ripple, Stellar, Litecoin, and Tron, as well as many more.

Using CEX.io, you can easily buy and sell crypto, as well as earn monthly rewards for holding stake-able coins. There will also soon be a savings account, too.

Traders on CEX.io can use the platform for SPOT and margin trading with up to 100x leverage. 

CEX.io also has a decent range of offerings for businesses, including its own aggregator and liquidity provider for professional traders and enterprise clients.

Fees

Like most exchanges out there, CEX.io operates using a taker and maker fee structure with pretty competitive rates for both.

There are special, super competitive conditions for high-volume traders as well as market makers.

On CEX.io, the fees range from 0% when you make a deposit using networks like Epay and Sepa, all the way up to 3% plus service charges when you use VISA, Mastercard, ACH, and Swift. You can find all the rates for fiat payment methods here.

CEX.io’s crypto fees vary substantially, depending on the type of cryptocurrency. For example, BTC’s withdrawal fee is a flat 0.0005, LTC is 0.001, and ETH is 0.01. You can see all their crypto fees here.

When it comes to taker/maker fees, CEX.io offers its customers some of the more competitive fees. 

While there are some new companies out there offering better fees to attract new customers, they often don’t back up their fees with the security and reputation of CEX.io.

Ease of Account Opening

Opening an account with CEX.io is pretty much as easy as it gets with crypto exchanges. 

CEX.io is like most crypto and online bank accounts. On its website registration page, you have to input your email, password, and country to get the ball rolling, as well as accept CEX.io’s terms of use and privacy policy.

Next step is to confirm your email and complete the registration with your name and DOB. CEX.io recommends enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) and passing their ID check no matter what you want to do on the platform. If you want to do anything more than make deposits, you have to provide a valid passport, driver’s licence or ID card, but that’s the same with almost all exchanges. 

Opening an account on the CEX.io app is pretty similar. All you have to do is download the app then input all the same details as the website. 

Deposits and Withdrawals

CEX.io gives users a variety of deposit and withdrawal options, depending on your level of security. Users can increase your total account limits by inputting more identifying information, like passports and ID cards. 

Opening an account with your name and email limits your daily deposits to $3k and withdrawals to $10k.

If you input your address, limits for daily deposits increase to $10k, while withdrawals remain at $10k.

With an enhanced security check, both daily deposits and withdrawals jump to unlimited, and it’s the same for CEX.io’s corporate account.

One thing to note is that you can’t withdraw any crypto within 48 hours of account creation and ID verification, so if you need crypto fast, CEX.io won’t be for you.

To make any kind of withdrawal from CEX.io, you need your 2FA and the confirmation links for deposits and withdrawals expire after 30 minutes. Again, this is pretty much industry standard. 

Platform and Trading Experience

CEX.io’s website and app are clean, easy-to-use, and intuitive. While it offers a pretty bare-bones trading experience, CEX.io always rates well when it comes to UX. 

Using CEX.io’s platform gives users access to a range of platforms:

• CEX Direct – a marketplace for customers who want to instantly buy, sell, trade, and exchange crypto.
• CEX.io – a crypto trading platform via CFDs (contracts for difference) that includes a variety of order types, analytics, and advanced trading tools.
• CEX Broker – businesses can provide customers easy access to crypto assets with verification, payments, procurement, and asset delivery.

CEX.io’s range of offerings and easy-to-use platforms makes it one of the regular contenders when it comes to exchanges. It may not be as slick as some of the giants like Binance and Kraken, but it gets the job done. 

Customer Support

CEX.io comes out above average when it comes to customer support. It may not be the easiest platform for complete newbies, but it does offer a range of services if you need help.

First of all, there’s the CEX.io help center where you can access hundreds of articles and FAQs. The help center is pretty comprehensive and easy to follow. As your first port of call, it should clear up most of the more straightforward problems and complications. 

You can narrow down your search using a search bar, as well as subsections on account, buying crypto, finance, trading, and a glossary.

If you’re still stuck, you can get in touch directly. CEX.io provides their email: [email protected], and, unusually for a crypto exchange, a phone number: +44-20-3966-1272, but there’s no guarantee you won’t be put on hold for ages. 

Regulation and Security

Having been around for almost ten years, CEX.io has come under plenty of scrutiny from regulators. With added surveillance comes added security and CEX.io is one of the safer exchanges around. 

CEX.io fulfils industry standards and more. With a CEX.io account, buyers, sellers, and traders get extra Protection against DDoS attacks, full data encryption, and cryptocurrency cold storage.

CEX.io is fully compliant with PCI DSS standards and is registered with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, part of the US Department of the Treasury.

CEX.io is so good at security, they can boast that they’ve lost a grand total of $O, unlike a lot of other crypto exchanges.

The Verdict

CEX.io proudly publish their core values on their website: customer centricity, teamwork, accountability, results-focused. But how do they stack up? Well, the verdict is that CEX.io is stable, reliable, and functional.

CEX.io is good for the newbie trader all the way up to automated solutions for businesses. While it might not be the flashiest or slickest platform out there, CEX.io does everything most people need with the security to back it up.

FAQ