In this article, we discuss the 8 best cryptocurrency exchanges and apps in 2024 along with a brief analysis of the crypto industry.
Despite the lack of confidence in the cryptocurrency market from many financial experts and investors, Bitcoin has been the best-performing asset class in four of the last five years. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved spot Bitcoin ETFs on January 11 and since then, Bitcoin value has grown by over 52% year-to-date, as of June 6. While the cryptocurrency experienced some volatility during this period, the SEC’s approval of spot Ethereum ETFs has been a breath of fresh air for these digital assets. Vaneck was the first applicant to spot Ethereum ETF. The firm’s CEO, Jan Van Eck is highly bullish on cryptocurrencies and his firm actively contributes toward the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem. On January 10, Jan Van Eck wrote:
“We at VanEck are not tourists to Bitcoin. For seven years—since 2017—we have been advocating for the approval of an ETF for investors to gain bitcoin exposure without the need for self-custody. In anticipation of this day, we have focused on educating the market through breakfast seminars in our midtown office, research papers, one-on-one meetings and more. We want clients to be as prepared as we are.
Neither have we badmouthed the concept of decentralized, opensource software. Bitcoin and blockchain technology are public goods. That’s why we’re donating 5% of our profits to Bitcoin core developers.”
Given the challenges and volatility of Bitcoin investment, VanEck advises investors to dollar cost average and “Hold On for Dear Life.”
Performance Since Bitcoin Halving
We previously explained Bitcoin Halving in our article about 11 Crypto Stocks with Biggest Upside, an event that takes place every four years or every time 210,000 blocks are added to the chain. The event has been historically seen to bring significant volatility in the crypto market but Bitcoin has been seen to realize exceptional gains shortly after the halving. After one year of the first halving, Bitcoin gained nearly 8000% in value, over 260% after the first year of the second halving, and approximately 600% after the third. Since the fourth halving on April 19, 2024, Bitcoin’s value is up by nearly 11%, as of June 6. The Bitcoin ETFs are also performing similarly well as BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF and Cathie Wood’s ARK Bitcoin ETF are both up over 50% year-to-date and over 10% since the fourth halving event.
Cathie Wood’s favorite cryptocurrency stock, Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) has also performed remarkably in the current year. The stock is up over 60% year-to-date, as of June 6, and is over 19% higher since the halving. Hedge funds were also quite bullish on the stock and it is a part of 48 portfolios as of March 31, compared to 41 in the fourth quarter of 2023. It operates one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world and is the only notable publicly traded crypto trading platform. Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) has a significant competitive advantage in the market over its peers as it has built a leading institutional-grade custody service over the last 12 years and has been chosen as the custodian for eight out of eleven spot bitcoin ETF mandates.
Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) showed strong financial performance in its first quarter of 2024. The company posted an EPS of $4.40, outperforming its estimates of $1.07 by a huge margin. Q1 total revenue grew by 72% quarter-over-quarter to $1.6 billion with adjusted EBITDA at $1 billion. Coinbase Global, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:COIN) liquidity remained strong with $7.1 billion in USD resources and $330 billion in customer-safeguarded assets. The company’s transaction revenue also grew by 103% sequentially to $1.1 billion, which was mainly driven by higher crypto asset volatility.
At the company’s Q1 2024 earnings call, Coinbase Global, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:COIN) chief operating officer, Emilie Choi made the following comments on the net revenue impact from the spot ETFs:
“…the ETFs unlocked a flywheel of customer engagement across our Coinbase Prime product suite and we were excited to see 40% of institutional clients engaged with three or more products in Q1. We saw both direct and indirect revenue impacts from the ETFs. The direct impact is clear in our financials. We saw native unit inflows as the custodian for eight of eleven issuers. This supported growth in our assets under custody of 69% quarter-over-quarter to $171 billion as well as growth in our custodial fee revenue of 64% quarter-over-quarter to $32 million. We also saw strong growth in prime finance revenue, which contributed to interest and finance fee income being up 36% quarter-over-quarter.
On an indirect basis, in addition to Coinbase Prime reaching all-time highs in trading volume and number of active clients, we saw elevated trading activity across the board in Q1. We saw broad-based consumer growth in advanced and simple with consumer trading volume up 93% quarter-over-quarter, outperforming the U.S. spot market. We’ve long said that the ETFs would benefit the entire ecosystem and we’re thrilled to see that play out on our platform”.
On May 15, Bloomberg reported that Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) is targeting Australia’s self-managed pensions sector, which represents a significant portion of the country’s $2.5 trillion pension system. Approximately AU$1 billion (AU$1 = US$0.66) in crypto assets are held within these funds. The company aims to attract these investors with a tailored service, focusing on long-term holdings and potentially benefitting from the growing interest in crypto ETFs in Australia. Australia’s first Bitcoin ETF, Monochrome Bitcoin ETF (IBTC) began trading on June 4 on the Cboe Australia exchange.
Should you invest in Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) while it trades at 35 times its forward earnings on an adjusted basis? Over the past 8 quarters, COIN has delivered 6 EPS and revenue beats. Coinbase Global, Inc.’s (NASDAQ:COIN) EPS was $0.37 in 2023, down 107% year over year, but analysts anticipate the company to grow its EPS by 1,900% this year. The stock’s up 377% over the past 12 months and the Street-high 1-year target points to a further 86% upside.
Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) has several upcoming trends that could drive its growth. The group has continued to widen its moats in the crypto-ecosystem. The company’s Layer 2 solution, Base, is gaining traction and processed over twice the number of transactions as the entire Ethereum network on Layer 1, and that too at lower fees and confirmation times. Layer 2 has the potential to make making crypto transactions much faster and cheaper. Moreover, the company is also integrating USDC with Base which will allow for nearly free and instant cross-border payments. Management is focused on its Layer 2 solution due to its blockchain scaling capabilities and sees it broadening the use cases of crypto, similar to how the shift from dial-up modems to broadband increased internet access in the 2000s.
We think Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) is a young company with several trends that will drive it including widening moats, increased institutional capital inflows due to Bitcoin ETFs, a first-mover advantage in next-generation blockchain networks, and the rising adoption of crypto. The stock is currently trading at 35 times its earnings (230% premium to its sector PE of 10.6x) and 16 times its sales. These multiples may be justified if it beats analysts’ estimates this year and grows its earnings by 1,900% and revenue by 95%.
While COIN is an interesting stock to look more into, we also have a promising AI stock that you can explore. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than Nvidia but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
Galaxy Digital: Bitcoin Is a Sharpe Ratio Plus
According to a poll by CNBC, 68% of their financial advisors community were not likely to recommend crypto to clients in the next year, 24% were somewhat likely to recommend it, and only 8% answered they were highly likely to recommend crypto to their clients. On May 22, the digital assets-related capital market company, Galaxy Digital’s CEO, Michael Novogratz told CNBC that he sees these results as an opportunity for growth. He drew a parallel to Larry Fink’s transformation from a Bitcoin skeptic to a Bitcoin advocate and said that “you can find all kinds of quotes” from Fink from six years ago that he did not like the asset. Novogratz also highlighted the need for active selling in crypto, which is termed “orange pilling.” In simple terms, orange pilling means promoting Bitcoin adoption by educating people about it.
Novogratz pointed out that ETFs have helped educate sales forces in traditional finance about crypto. Instead of a few enthusiasts promoting crypto, large firms like Morgan Stanley are beginning to take on this role. Looking ahead, he predicted that if regulatory clarity improves and the Fed cuts rates, Bitcoin’s value will rise remarkably within a year. Moreover, Novogratz argues that numerous studies have shown that adding crypto to a portfolio can actually reduce its overall volatility while increasing returns. He advised financial advisors to involve their clients in cryptocurrency investments and allocate about 1.5% to 2% of their portfolios to crypto. He pointed out that even if the investment performs worse than the broader market, it won’t significantly affect the overall portfolio allocation. Novogratz said that Bitcoin is a “Sharpe Ratio Plus” to portfolios.
Our Methodology
For this article, we scoured through the internet for similar articles from other financial media websites and Reddit threads. We made a list of the 25 best crypto exchanges and apps in 2024 using the consensus opinion of both our sources but gave a higher priority to the latter. We further narrowed down our list to 8 crypto apps and exchanges that had the highest monthly trading volume as of May 2024 and listed them in ascending order of their volume. It is important to note that we skipped the exchanges that had allegedly faked their trading volumes in the past along with the ones that had many bad reviews from users.
At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
8 Best Cryptocurrency Exchanges and Apps in 2024
8. KuCoin
Spot Trading Volume in May: $22.5 billion
Cryptocurrencies: 760+
KuCoin offers its services in over 200 countries and has 30 million users globally and has over $4.45 billion in total assets. Over 25% of the company’s assets are accounted for by USDT followed by 21.5% for Bitcoin. It is a safe and secure exchange that offers spot trading, crypto futures trading, margin trading, and trading bots, along with many other services. KuCoin delivers a seamless trading experience for users by supporting more than 50 fiat currencies through peer-to-peer markets and credit or debit card channels.
KuCoin is headquartered in Seychelles and has offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.
7. Kraken
Spot Trading Volume in May: $23.4 billion
Cryptocurrencies: 260+
While Kraken takes the 7th spot on our list of best cryptocurrency exchanges and apps, our research shows that it is one of the most trusted exchanges in the world by its users with the least amount of complaints. Kraken operates in over 190 countries through its app and website and has a quarterly trading volume of over 207 billion. According to the Reddit community, it is a highly trusted exchange with one of the best customer support.
Kraken is well-liked by its users for numerous reasons, including its offering of over 260 cryptocurrencies. The exchange offers 684 trading pairs. Users can choose Kraken and Kraken Pro, the main trading platform and the professional platform. Kraken Pro offers advanced features to the users, including 13 order types, details of order books of cryptocurrencies, and customizable chart analysis tools, among others.
The main Kraken trading platform offers a suite of advanced features, including margin trading, advanced order types, and futures trading. The exchange’s advanced feature of margin trading is used by traders who prefer risky trading that can offer possible high rewards. The exchange charges low fees for margin trading for different cryptocurrencies, between 0.01% and 0.02% to open a position and the rollover fee is charged every 4 hours the position remains open.
6. Crypto.com
Spot Trading Volume in May: $38.4 billion
Cryptocurrencies: 350+
Crypto.com is widely known in the industry due to its broad range of cryptocurrencies, versatile features, and low trading fees. The exchange offers more than 350 cryptocurrencies, including its token called Cronos (CRO), Bitcoin, Dogecoin, XRP (XRP), Polygon (MATIC), Ethereum, and more. The exchange covers over 90 countries, offers 580 trading pairs, and has more than 100 million users along with $3.6 billion in total assets.
Through the exchange’s trading platform or mobile app, traders can avail of its features of cryptocurrency trading, staking, and swapping. The other widely-liked features of Crypto.com are a digital asset ecosystem composed of its own blockchain, Crypto.org Chain, a crypto visa card, and a marketplace for NFTs. Unlike most crypto exchanges’ apps, the Crypto.com app allows users a more comprehensive trading and user experience, which is comparable to using the main platform. Through the app, users have access to their portfolio, a list of popular assets, crypto trading, rewards through staking, and the option of signing up for a crypto credit card.
If users choose to fund their Crypto.com accounts through ACH transfers, they are free but a credit card usage fee is charged. The exchange employs a taker and maker fee structure. While a taker’s fee is generally higher, it can be reduced depending on the trading volume and staking of CRO tokens.
5. Bitget
Spot Trading Volume in May: $49.3 billion
Cryptocurrencies: 750+
Bitget is one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world offering over 750 coins and has more than 25 million registered users. The company offers copy trading services where users can copy trades of over 150,000 elite traders. It also supports over 140 fiat currencies. Bitget offers other services such as a crypto wallet, NFT marketplace, and decentralized apps. Bitget also has a Bitget Wallet Token which is priced at over $0.50 at the time of writing on June 6.
Bitget has a Bitget Protection Fund valued at over $450 million, which allows users who have lost their accounts or assets to make a claim through the fund. Claims will be accepted only if the asset or account losses are not due to the user’s own actions. The platform’s reserve ratio is at nearly 170% on June 6.
4. Coinbase Exchange by Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN)
Spot Trading Volume in May: $69.51 billion
Cryptocurrencies: 200+
Coinbase Exchange is operated by Coinbase Global, Inc. (NASDAQ:COIN) and offers its services in more than 100 countries. According to the company, in the first quarter, trading volume increased to $312 billion, compared to $154 billion in the last quarter and $145 billion in the year-ago period. Additionally, the company holds $330 billion worth of safeguarded assets.
The company offers more than 200 cryptocurrencies and 405 trading pairs. Through the decentralized exchange, users can store, sell, and buy different types of crypto assets, including Ethereum, Tether, Bitcoin, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs), among others. The exchange offers various services, including trading, staking, safekeeping, and more. The exchange allows the users to stake Ethereum, Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), Cosmos (ATOM), Polygon, Tezos (XTZ), and Polkadot (DOT).
The Coinbase Exchange offers a Coinbase Wallet, which can be availed by non-clients as well as clients and can be used to store cryptocurrencies and NFTs. The other option for storing coins is for users to store them with the exchange itself. Experienced traders advise new traders to opt for the exchange’s Coinbase Advanced product as its charges are more transparent. The Coinbase Advanced is an advanced trading platform for users that replaced Coinbase Pro but still offers many of its famous features like no subscription fees, low volume-based fees, staking, Borrow, and more.
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