Are you considering investing in cryptocurrencies? This type of investment requires an understanding of how exchange platforms work. Read our guide to KuCoin, one of the most popular exchanges.
Launched 4 years ago, KuCoin has become one of the favorite exchange platforms for cryptocurrency traders. This Hong Kong-based exchange stands out from its competitors thanks to its services. Its users particularly appreciate the wide selection of cryptocurrency pairs offered on this site.
KuCoin is a digital currency exchange and trading site. Located in Hong Kong, it is one of the most recent Chinese trading platforms.
In its early days, the platform was known as "Kubi.com". It was founded in 2013, when Michael Gan and Eric Don set up its technical architecture. However, the site only became operational after four years of improvements and testing.
A look at their background shows that both founders have extensive experience in project management. Passionate about cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, both partners have previously managed Ant Financial and IBox Pay.
Together, they created a platform that aims to promote digital currency trading and exchange around the world.
Since its launch in 2017, this exchange has been gaining popularity as its operations are currently expanding to almost every Asian country, including Thailand, the Philippines and China.
Launch of KuCoin Shares (KCS) in 2017
KuCoin Share was released following an ICO in August and September 2017.
Like Binance Coin (BNB), KuCoin is a platform-owned currency used to
In addition to dividends, users also benefit from commercial discounts and various special offers.
2018 : the success of KuCoin
2018 was a great year for KuCoin, in which KCS reached a value of $1.8 billion and became one of the most popular trading sites. This success has prompted users to label it "The People's Exchange".
KuCoin owes its success to its services, including the variety of trading pairs and crypto offers and its user-friendliness, which helped it reach 6 million users.
Progressing throughout 2019-2020
In 2019, the platform underwent significant improvements, the most notable of which were:
In 2020, the exchange continued to improve its services. Highlights included:
In the same year, its biggest success was the launch of the P2P crypto marketplace, which enables users to make transactions via PayPal or other payment methods.
The platform in 2021
Once restricted to Asian countries, KuCoin has expanded to countries including Turkey, the UK, India, and Canada among others.
In 2021, offers include:
The platform is popular with traders, but still struggles to top the list of the most used exchanges.
If you are considering opening an account, go to KuCoin.com. You will see a "Register" button, located at the top right of the site. Click on it before you are prompted to fill in your email address, phone number and password. Make sure you agree to all the terms of use before clicking "Next".
Before your account can be opened, the platform will first send you a code via email or SMS. In this case, you just need to enter it in order to have full access to your KuCoin account.
Just remember that verification is an option on KuCoin. Your account is sufficient to allow you to make your transactions. However, note that your withdrawals are limited to 2 BTC per day. This limit is sufficient for you as a trader, but prevents you from making other complex operations.
If you want to perform more complex operations, verify your profile. Verification allows you to :
The platform recommends you secure your account before use through security options that you can find in the settings. For example, you can choose to activate 2FA which is a Google or SMS security code. This code prevents access to your account by third parties.
KuCoin also requires an additional password for your transactions.
Once you have opened your account, you can trade on the platform. Just choose the type of trading that suits your profile and the currencies you plan to trade.
After opening your account, you can fund it. KuCoin offers you services that are slightly different to other exchanges. Instead of granting you a main account, the site separates your account according to transaction.
You can choose between several types of accounts:
Your main account allows you to make withdrawals, deposits and savings. The costs of your transactions will be covered by KCS.
In any case, if you plan to trade cash, it is best to transfer your assets to your trading account. However, if you want to make withdrawals or P2P trades, keep your assets in your main account.
This account allows you to do spot trading with your cryptocurrency. However, before you trade, remember to transfer your assets into your trading account to make trading easier.
However, you always have the option to transfer funds from your trading account to other accounts.
If you have assets in a margin account on KuCoin, note that these are usually used to make margin borrowings and margin transactions.
Of course, you can deposit your assets into your account beforehand to facilitate transactions. You also have the option of transferring the assets to your margin account at the time of the transaction.
This is an account that is often used for future trading. In this case, do not hesitate to deposit your assets in this account before trading.
Your assets on your Pool-X account allow you to carry out several operations such as staking and soft-staking.
Of course, like all other accounts, you will need to deposit your funds into the account beforehand.
KuCoin is essentially a cryptocurrency exchange platform. You can’t use it to acquire electronic money with fiat currencies, such as the euro or the dollar.
Therefore, you need to acquire cryptocurrency before trading on KuCoin. To do so, visit buying platforms, such as Coinmama or eToro.
KuCoin doesn't allow you to exchange a traditional currency with a cryptocurrency. But it does offer more currency pairs than other platforms. You will actually see an exhaustive list of offerings on its site.
Currency pairs are the crypto-currencies that you can exchange for others. Let's take the example of Bitcoins pairs, which include all the virtual currencies you can exchange for Bitcoin.
Currently, the platform offers around 200 crypto-currencies for exchange, which allows it to largely challenge the competition.
You can also acquire cryptocurrencies directly. Two possibilities are offered:
In both cases, note that the transactions are done over the counter. The platform puts you in touch with a seller. The latter obviously sets the purchase price.
If you are not interested in this type of transaction, you can buy cryptocurrencies directly using your credit card.
The platform allows you to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. The selling procedure is the same as buying, with the only difference being that you are the only one to set the price you want.
There are two possibilities:
KuCoin offers a deposit service on its platform. Before depositing your assets, activate 2FA, and then transfer the assets you want to deposit.
The withdrawal operation is triggered when you transfer the assets in your KuCoin account to other exchanges or your wallet. The platform also enables you to withdraw the assets to your wallet or to third parties.
Advanced traders will be happy to know that the platform offers leveraged trading or futures contracts through KuMEX. This is a mechanism that allows experienced traders to increase their returns tenfold, but also their losses. Beginners need to gain experience before engaging in this kind of complex operation.
Since 2019, the platform also offers lending, giving you the opportunity to grant tokens to others on margin trading.
Just like Binance, KuCoin provides its own currency, called "KuCoin Shares" or "KuCoin Stock". This cryptocurrency has given it its popularity since its inception in 2017. That's not all! Owning KuCoin Shares (KCS) offers many benefits to users of the platform.
Note that the majority of the transaction costs on the exchange are split between KCS token holders. If you own several tokens, you get a fairly high dividend.
In addition to dividends, you can also receive a 1% discount on trading fees, provided you hold 1,000 KCS tokens.
Transaction fees at KuCoin are among the most affordable in the market:
As a user, note that 90% of the trading fees are awarded to you. 50% is given to KCS holders, while the remaining 40% is given to sponsors, i.e. those who support activities on the platform.
KuCoin is a cryptocurrency exchange and therefore accepts purchases via cryptocurrency. However, before making a transaction, make sure that your exchange currency is in the list of cryptocurrencies offered on the site.
KuCoin refuses payment in fiat currency, such as euros or dollars. Nevertheless, you can buy cryptocurrencies with your bank card, provided that you first go through an intermediary. In this case, expect a fee of about 2%.
The platform recently partnered with Simplex to allow you to pay via credit card. You can thus use cash to make your exchanges. This procedure has the disadvantage of being more expensive.
Since 2020, KuCoin has allowed users to pay via bank transfer or Interac transfer.
Other possibilities include:
Before accessing the platform, be sure to find out what payment methods are accepted. This step is essential in order to save both your time and your assets.
KuCoin strives to offer you services that are different from other platforms. Nevertheless, it is always important to have an overview of the platform’s pros and cons.
The strengths of the platform:
Weaknesses of KuCoin
