CEX.IO Exchange Review

Centralized

CEX.IO, founded in 2013, is a cryptocurrency exchange and was the first cloud mining provider in the world. This was when CEX.IO was connected to the Bitcoin mining pool provided by GHash.IO – a well-known mining pool that officially closed in October 2016. A review of CEX.IO reveals that this connection allowed them to offer both cloud mining and trading. This provided a convenient means for miners to sell the Bitcoin that were mined as part of the GHash.IO mining pool.

Today the team behind GHash.IO seems to purely help with the development of enterprise mining solutions and custom-built pools under the same name. This while CEX.IO offers cryptocurrency trading via 27+ active markets and various currency pairs, including fiat-to-crypto and crypto-to-crypto currency pairs. The cryptocurrencies offered include: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Zcash, Bitcoin Gold, Zcash, Dash and the Gemini Dollar – the first regulated stablecoin to surface.

A CEX.IO exchange review reveals that this digital asset exchange allows for the instant purchase of the above-mentioned cryptocurrencies or digital assets in USD by using a credit card (Visa or MasterCard). They also offer other payment options, including bank transfers via SWIFT and the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). Payment in cryptocurrency is also offered as an option. In addition, their services (margin trading, etc.) seem to be available in most countries, including no less than 24 states in the United States.

KYC was at some stage not a requirement at CEX.IO, but that changed. CEX.IO also seems to take security very seriously with strong security against DDoS attacks. They also seem to make use of full data encryption and comply with PCI DSS standards (although the certificate of compliance available at the time of writing has already expired).

24h Trading Volume
554.509 BTC
Establish date
2013
Headquater
United Kingdom

CEX.IO Exchange Review

CEX.IO Withdraw

Full list of withdrawal fees here
CEX.IO Deposit fees

Vary
CEX.IO Trading fees

Full list of trading fees here
Fiat Deposit
USDEURGPB
Accepted Payment Method

Crypto to Crypto, Crypto to FIAT
Native Token

No
Margin Trading

Yes
Download Clients

CEX.IO Exchange Score Analysis

CEX.io is a crypto exchange whose main source of income is its credit card-enabled purchases of crypto, although many users will find their fees and rates extremely high – at times up to 10% premium over market standard – and will prefer alternatives such as Coinbase, should it be available to them. The exchange has been operating since 2013, and has not suffered a hack until today, which is not something all veteran crypto exchanges can say about themselves. However, CEX has received many negative reviews over time, with most user citing the exchange’s unwillingness to enable fiat withdrawals, with many users reporting they are not able to recieve their money and the exchange does not seem to cooperate. Users who do choose to trade on the platform will find it allows for margin trading in four of its largest pairs and significant organic volume in the large pairs’ spot trading. The exchange enables the user to employ many security techniques and layers to protect their funds and their account, although it is not clear how the exchange chooses to manage its funds – whether they are stored in cold storage or in proprietary software wallets. The CEX team is known and relatively public, appearing in LinkedIn searches but not on the exchange’s website, and many of them are experienced in the field of blockchain technology. To conclude, CEX provides a smooth and attractive spot trading engine, but suffers from community accusations of being dishonest at times. It is important to note that many of these accusations might be from a lack of communication between the exchange and its customers, and we are not hearing the reports of dozens of other users who have used the exchange with no fund problems whatsoever, which we know to be true provided the significant trading volume on CEX.