Crypto

These reviews cover crypto exchanges and decentralised apps, written from each platform's own terms of use, fee schedules, documentation and, where one exists, the public register of the regulator it names. Every figure links to the page it came from, so you can check the current version before you sign up or connect a wallet.

Crypto platforms differ from forex brokers in one way that matters most: who holds your coins. A centralised exchange keeps them in its own wallets and is licensed, if at all, as a crypto-asset or money-services business. A decentralised app never holds your funds, but there is no company to complain to if a smart contract fails or a trade goes wrong. Each review says which model applies, which company runs the service and which countries it does not serve.

To judge a crypto platform, start with who operates it and where it is licensed. Look for a named company, a registered address and an entry on the public register of the regulator it claims; a licence in one country does not cover customers in another. Next, check custody: an exchange holds your coins and you rely on its solvency, while a self-custody wallet or decentralised app leaves the keys, and the responsibility for losing them, with you. Some exchanges publish proof of reserves, which is a useful signal but not a guarantee that they owe nothing else.

Then count the real cost. Trading fees are only part of it: also look at the spread, any markup on instant buys, deposit and withdrawal fees, network fees and funding rates on futures. Finally, confirm that the platform serves your country before you create an account, because many block certain regions and can restrict or close accounts that break its terms.

None of these balances is covered by bank deposit insurance or investor compensation schemes. Leveraged perpetual futures carry the same liquidation risk as leveraged CFDs. Only put in money you can afford to lose.