Our scoring model weights five measurable factors so rankings stay defensible and reproducible. Fees & spreads (25%): live maker/taker schedules plus realised slippage on $1,000 orders. Security record (25%): custody model, proof-of-reserves, past incidents and insurance. Liquidity depth (20%): order-book…

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ChainSignal

How We Rank Exchanges

Our scoring model weights five measurable factors so rankings stay defensible and reproducible.

Fees & spreads (25%): live maker/taker schedules plus realised slippage on $1,000 orders.
Security record (25%): custody model, proof-of-reserves, past incidents and insurance.
Liquidity depth (20%): order-book depth within 1% of mid price on major pairs.
Fiat access (15%): supported currencies, deposit rails and withdrawal settlement times.
Support & UX (15%): ticket response times, KYC friction and app stability.

Scores are updated whenever a provider changes a fee or suffers a material incident. We publish weak points as openly as strengths.

How this page was verified

  • Fees re-measured on live accounts, not copied from a marketing page.
  • Rankings are never sold; placement does not move a score.
  • Corrections are dated and logged in public.

Last verified: 30 Sep 2026

Frequently asked questions

Short, dated answers. Every figure links back to the review it came from.

Where does the fee data come from?

The published maker/taker schedule on the platform plus a $1,000 market order we place ourselves to measure realised spread. Where the two disagree we publish both.

How do you measure liquidity depth?

Order-book depth within 1% of mid price on BTC, ETH and one mid-cap pair, sampled three times a day over a week.

What disqualifies a platform?

Unresolved withdrawal blocks, undisclosed custody of client assets, or refusal to publish a fee schedule. A disqualified platform is removed from the ranking rather than scored low.

Independent research

Compare platforms on numbers, not marketing

Reader-funded, weekly re-verified, no paid placements.

Weekly signal, no spam

The rate changes before the headlines do

One email each Tuesday: the offers that changed, the fees we re-measured and the platforms we downgraded.