Background of this rating

This extensive list is a Monero community effort over the last 3 years.

Some of the insights may apply to other coins, others may not. Usually the top CEX have 1:1 backing of BTC, ETH and USDT* (other risks may apply) . Everything else may be bought as needed if requested for a withdrawal.

Be aware that some data points change over time. Also be aware that CEX that had never listed Monero like Coinbase (low risk), Bitstamp (low risk) or FTX (extremely high risk) didn’t make the list.

USE CUSTODIAL CEX AKA “CRYPTOBANKS” WITH EXTREME CAUTION

Only day traders should use these third parties for their trading stack and ideally withdraw after closing a position. Newcomers should make themselves comfortable with hardware wallets before buying on a CEX and always and immediately withdraw, what they bought.

Fractional reserve risk	Custodial CEX	XMR status (may apply to other coins)
Extremely high ⚠️ + KYC risk ⚠️	KuCoin ➡️	⛔ withdrawals closed, regular incidents with XMR, *KYC since 01/24
Extremely high ⚠️ + KYC risk ⚠️ + Scam alert ❌	Gate.io ➡️	⛔ withdrawals occasionally closed, *KYC since 01/24
Extremely high ❌	Binance	delisted 02/24, ⛔ withdrawals closed most of the time (despite claims to be open for 3 months from delisting)
Extremely high ❌	OKX	delisted 01/24, ⛔ withdrawals closed (despite claims to be open for 2 months from delisting)
Extremely high ⚠️ + Scam alert ❌	Huobi/HTX	delisted 09/22, relisted and “operational” but ⛔ withdrawals closed > 4 months
Extremely high ⚠️ + Scam alert ❌	Poloniex	“operational” but ⛔ withdrawals closed > 4 months
Extremely high ❌	Waves “DEX”	delisted 03/2022 ⛔ withdrawals closed (despite claims to be open for 1 week from delisting)
Extermely high ❌	~~Bittrex~~	delisted 01/2021, CEX insolvency

Fractional reserve risk	Custodial CEX	status
High ⚠️ + KYC risk ⚠️	Bitfinex ➡️	incidents with XMR
High ⚠️ + partial KYC risk ⚠️	MEXC ➡️	incidents with XMR, partial *KYC since 02/24
High ⚠️ + KYC risk ⚠️	CoinEx ➡️	incidents with ARRR, *KYC since 01/24
High ⚠️	Tradeogre ➡️	incidents with KAS and DOGE

Fractional reserve risk	Custodial CEX	status
Medium ❌	Newton	delisted 06/2021 ⛔ withdrawals closed

Fractional reserve risk	Custodial CEX	status
Low ✅ + KYC risk ⚠️	Kraken ➡️	no incidents, delisted in UK, AUS

USE NON-CUSTODIAL CEX AKA “INSTANT SWAP EXCHANGES” WITH CAUTION

Centralized instant swap exchanges which come with their own set of problems and risks can be a good way for many to route around CEX/CRYPTOBANKS.

Often those come with higher fees, shotgun KYC or are selective scams like “Changelly”.

Most of them depend on external liquidity (or are fronts for CEX), which means they will halt or freeze the exchange process just as often as CEX (main culprits are ChangeNow and FixedFloat). In times of bigger market movements many of those sites will abandon trades that are not favorable for them.

You can use an aggregator like Trocador.app that has a security bond for transactions of up to $1000 and gives you a clear indication about competitive pricing and KYC risk.

Instant exchange risk	Non-custodial CEX	status
Extremely high ⚠️ + Scam alert ❌	Change**lly	selective scamming
Extremely high ⚠️ + KYC risk ⚠️	ChangeNow	liquidity problems with long holds on funds
High ⚠️ + KYC risk ⚠️	FixedFloat	liquidity problems
High ⚠️ + KYC risk ⚠️	Godex	liquidity problems
High ⚠️ + KYC risk ⚠️	StealthEx
High ⚠️ + KYC risk ⚠️	Simpleswap
High ⚠️	Swapuz
High ⚠️	Swater
High ⚠️	alfacash
High ⚠️	Letsexchange
Medium	BitcoinVN	no known incidents, own liquidity pool
Medium	Exch.cx	no known incidents, proof of reserves, own liquidity pool

Satoshi taught us not to entrust our money with third parties.

Not your key, not your coins

Crypto is all about control over your own money. If you don’t self-custody, it means you entrust your stack, in some cases your life savings, with a third party that may or may not have ulterior motives, may or may not be a scam or may or may not be controlled or extorted by a rogue government.

The process of learning to become self-sovereign might include some pain. But as crypto history shows us, keeping “your” coins in the hands of a custodian is a 100% guarantee to set yourself and the community up for failure.

If you are in it for the gain, be smart and do it on-chain.

What exchanges to use then?

There are plenty of better (more secure, private, trustless) however still more inconvenient solutions that are preferable over using KYC/CEX. Those often come at a higher price as security and privacy have a price, but not necessarily at a lower speed. Indeed starting from zero, signing-up for a cumbersome and intimidating KYC process will often take days or weeks sometimes placing holds on funds while a P2P market like LocalMonero will give you access to coins <1 hour and coming at the benefit of not giving up your right to privacy.

Exchange method	Exchanges	Trust level
DEX	bisq, Haveno	✅ escrow
P2P	LocalMonero. AgoraDesk, Robosats, Zapit, Peach Bitcoin	✅ escrow
Atomic swaps	Samourai Wallet, UnstoppableSwap.net, AtomicMonero, BasciSwapDEX	✅ trustless
AMM (automatic market makers)	SeraiDEX, Maya, Thorchain, Uniswap	low for users / medium for liquidity providers (hacks)
Mining (buy via electricity)	XMRrig, Monero GUI, Grupax	✅ trustless
Earning (buy via services and products)	any products or services	low - ⚠️ high (scams)

What can you do?

If you are into cryptocurrencies for more than just some side gamble you really want to learn how to use the right tools to manage your money in a self-sovereign and self-custodial way. The more people learn about the risks involved and how to mitigate them the better for you and the health of the whole ecosystem.

Safely navigating exchanges in 2024 - insights from the Monero trader community after the delisting on big CEX