Ultimate CEX.IO Review: What Reddit People Think & More [2021]

It’s the most complete and up-to-date CEX.IO review you’ll find. Find out whether CEX.IO is safe and see the analysis of Reddit opinions. Check it out now.

This review provides a detailed analysis of the Reddit people opinion. Redditors posted a lot of information about this exchange. But not all of it is objective. In this CEX.IO review, I analyze it and give you lots of other useful information. That useful information will help you avoid common problems.

If CEX.IO is your personalized recommendation from my website homepage and you’re in a hurry, here’s the link to CEX.IO. If it’s not your personalized recommendation, visit the homepage to get a personalized recommendation.

While I updated this review in 2021, I’ve kept the obsolete content in a separate section at the end. This way, you can see how CEX.IO has changed in the last few years. The name of that section is “Removed (Outdated) Content”.

In this article, you’ll find not only the review. You’ll also find information that will help you avoid common problems. There’s a section that explains the common problems you may face at any crypto exchange. Plus, you’ll find an affordable cybersecurity device that can make your crypto investments more secure.

Disclosure: this page has affiliate links that may make me money. But the content is objective and trustworthy.

Summary Of This CEX.IO Review That Takes Little Time To Read

It’s a good exchange for five reasons. They’re listed below.

1. First, it’s legitimate because it has government registrations.
2. Second, it’s safe because it has good security features.
3. Third, its card purchase fee is one of the lowest among cryptocurrency exchanges.
4. Some of the payment methods at this exchange carry no deposit fees.
5. This exchange accepts more payment methods than any other exchange I know.

Like every other cryptocurrency exchange, it’s not perfect. Its trading platform isn’t the best. You can use another exchange for trading. But for simple purchases, CEX.IO is a good choice. It’s an especially good choice for the residents of the European Union because SEPA transfers carry no deposit fees and no withdrawal fees.

The best exchange for trading has higher fiat money conversion fee though. That’s why it makes sense to open accounts at both of them. By the way, I’ll name this exchange at the end of this CEX.IO review. For now, register on CEX.IO. Then, before making the purchase, find out two issues that may affect you at any crypto exchange; they’re explained below. Important information that affects USA residents is also explained below.

Fees
Speed
Ease Of Use
Customer Support
Average

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2 Issues That Affect All Credit Card Cryptocurrency Purchases At All Exchanges

1. Your bank may charge you $10 or 5%, whichever is greater. Banks charge this fee only for credit card purchases. Debit card purchases of cryptocurrency are free from this cash advance fee.
2. Some banks block credit card cryptocurrency purchases. To find out if your bank blocks this type of purchases, Google “your bank name + blocks cryptocurrency purchases”.

Tip For Using Bank Transfer

Make sure CEX.IO bank doesn’t charge you currency conversion fee. In your banking interface, Indicate “DO NOT CONVERT” with your order number. Find order number in “Your Reference” line. Then write “DO NOT CONVERT” before the order number.

Important Information For USA Residents

If you live in the USA, carefully read the following two sections.

2 US States Where CEX.IO Is Unavailable

Virginia and New York are the only two US state where CEX.IO is unavailable. Check out 5 Best GDAX & Coinbase Alternatives if you live in one of them.

Cryptocurrencies & Tokens Available To USA Residents

As of 2021, CEX.IO offers more than eighty cryptocurrencies and tokens. But not all of them are available to USA residents. The available ones follow below.

1. Bitcoin (BTC)
2. Ethereum (ETH)
3. Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
4. Litecoin (LTC)
5. Cardano (ADA)
6. Basic Attention Token (BAT)
7. Dogecoin (DOGE)
8. Gemini dollar (GUSD)
9. Chainlink (LINK)
10. Polygon (MATIC)
11. USD Coin (USDC)
12. Lumen (XLM)
13. Tezos (XTZ)
14. 0x (ZRX)
15. Uniswap (UNI)

CEX.IO Staking Rewards

CEX.IO staking is a great way to earn by simply storing your coins on your CEX.​IO account. Deposit or buy the stakeable cryptocurrency. Receive automatic staking rewards on your CEX.​IO balance. Receiving CEX.IO staking rewards from your CEX.IO balance is as simple as that.

Cryptocurrencies Available For Staking

Staking is available for many different cryptocurrencies. The ones with the highest estimated annual yield are Zilliqa (16%), MetaHash (14%), Free TON (10%), Polkadot (10%), and MATIC (10%). These staking rewards are sent by the cryptocurrency networks, not by CEX.IO.

Why is it better to stake on CEX.​IO than anywhere else?

Other staking platforms lock up users’ funds for a certain timeframe while staking. For ATOM, it’s a mandatory 21 days lockup. Some lock XTZ for 14 days. Not CEX.​IO. With CEX.​IO, you remain in full control of your crypto. You can trade and withdraw your funds anytime, but you’ll keep getting rewards on your staked coins until they leave your CEX.​IO balance.

Furthermore, staking rewards are calculated every hour and sent to your account once a month. If you hold coins less than one month, your reward will still be calculated for the period you held the coins.

On top of all the above, you can easily see your staking rewards in the Staking Dashboard. As you can see from the GIF below, it shows you estimated annual yield (EAY), the prices of the stake-able coins in US Dollars, and other information.

What Does Reddit Community Think About CEX.IO Bitcoin Exchange?

You probably saw the title “CEX.IO 2018 Review – Why Reddit Users are Complaining About this Bitcoin Exchange?”. But if you read that article, you would know that few Redditors have legitimate complaints. Below I analyze Reddit post mentioned in that article and two other Reddit posts not mentioned there.

Reddit Post #1

One Redditor was scared by CEX.IO bank account in Eastern European country. So other Redditors mocked him for a good reason. An account at Lithuanian bank doesn’t turn CEX.IO into criminal organization.

None of major Western banks would do business with any cryptocurrency-related entity. The only choice for such entity is to do business at a lesser-known Eastern European or Asian bank.

Reddit Post #2

Another Reddit post titled “CEX.IO has STOLEN my money” isn’t any better than the one above. After waiting for two weeks for money to appear on his CEX.IO account, the guy writes about pressing charges. Eventually, he posts that he got his money on the 31st day of waiting.

For crypto exchanges, one month wait for fiat money deposit is acceptable. Other exchanges sometimes take longer than that. You already know why if you read Frequent Complaint #1 above.

If you didn’t, read it now. So I’ll simply say that fiat money deposits are for the most part beyond exchanges’ control. The risk of delay is especially high for amounts larger than ten thousand USD.

Reddit Post #3

Another Reddit post mentions the fact that CEX.IO was removed from one website’s top exchanges list. This is the same website that has article with the title “CEX.IO Review – Scam WARNING!”. The warning states that CEX.IO refuses them withdrawals without verification.

It’s true that CEX.IO does not allow withdrawals without verification anymore. But the article is incorrect. CEX.IO new terms of use require verification for everything. So CEX.IO is not contradicting its own terms of use.

Even if you haven’t deposited any fiat money, you’re required to be verified before using it. The new crypto regulations prohibit CEX.IO from releasing users’ funds before they are verified. CEX.IO bitcoin exchange is simply following government regulations.

Reddit Community Opinion: Conclusion Of This Section

Most of Redditors’ responses to those posts were in favor of CEX.IO. Many Redditors say that it works for them without problems. Posts from those Redditors got upvoted many more times than negative posts.

This is an encouraging sign. Reddit has an excellent moderation system. It’s effective at weeding out shills. And when a shill occasionally escapes moderation, you can easily identify him.

You can identify a Reddit shill in 3 steps: 1) go through the history of his posts; 2) check whether he posted more than one positive comment about the same company; 3) check whether he posted comments about other companies.

Using this method, I checked every Redditor who wrote something positive. None of them posted more than one positive comment about CEX.IO. And every single one of them posted many comments about companies in other industries. So CEX.IO didn’t hire shills to promote itself on Reddit.

Is CEX.IO Safe Or Is It A Scam?

CEX.IO is regulated and registered in both USA and UK. In USA, it’s registered with The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) as a money services business. Furthermore, CEX.IO holds money transmitter licenses (MTLs) for Idaho, Ohio, and other US states. In UK, where it has physical location, it’s registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office as a data controller.

These government registrations differentiate it from many other cryptocurrency exchanges. Most of the crypto exchanges are completely unregulated. While it allows them to avoid verifying new users, the founders of these exchanges may disappear with user’s funds even tomorrow.

This is much less likely to happen at CEX.IO bitcoin exchange because its founders would be held accountable. After all, if you’re intending to run with the user’s funds, why register with government organizations that can find you?

Considering the above, it becomes clear that CEX.IO is a safe, legitimate company, definitely not a scam. However, its government registrations caused issues with withdrawals. As a result, some people called CEX.IO a scam. This complaint is the most common one. I describe it in detail below.

Frequent Complaint #1

You’ll find many complaints from people who had their fiat money withdrawal delayed. Many of them called CEX.IO a scam in response to these delays. Many of them have later posted that they got their money. The rest of them probably got their money too but didn’t post about it.

Fiat money withdrawal is a common issue among cryptocurrency exchanges. In all my hours of research, I haven’t found a single exchange that didn’t have this problem. Every single exchange has been accused of being a scam because of this problem.

Some people even threatened to report them to authorities, only to post later that they got the money. So please refrain from being one of those quick-tempered people if you experience a long delay.

If you experience this delay, they may ask you for additional documents. This may happen if you’re trying to withdraw more than ten thousand USD. If you refuse to provide these documents, they wouldn’t be able to release your funds.

US law prohibits them from doing so when transaction has been flagged as suspicious. They don’t even have any say over this. Transactions are flagged as suspicious by payment processors after being screened against FinCEN’s red flags.

While you may think there’s nothing unusual about your transaction, payment processor may think otherwise. Government and bank officials say that cryptocurrencies are used for money laundering. So when there’s a large transaction from a crypto exchange, it’s a FinCEN’s red flag.

Frequent Complaint #2

When bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies were skyrocketing, a record number of users registered. As a matter of fact, so many people registered on CEX.IO that they had to disable new user registrations.

This popularity caused huge backlogs of customer support requests. As a result, people complained about bad customer service. However, I wouldn’t be so quick to call their customer service “bad”.

They replied to each of my last two emails in less than an hour. That’s probably because it was a time of low volatility in cryptocurrency market. Not that many people were registering on cryptocurrency exchanges. So if you’re contacting CEX.IO when BTC is peaking, expect a longer wait time.

Frequent Complaint #3

Some complained about CEX.IO cryptocurrency prices. They were indeed higher than market average. However, CEX.IO has slashed them. Now they are at the market average.

Frequent Complaint #4

Some people complained that CEX.IO didn’t help them recover Bitcoin Cash sent to Bitcoin address. While it’s possible to get Bitcoin Cash sent to Bitcoin address, all exchanges refuse help for that. That’s also stated on every exchange in plain English that you should send BTC only to BTC address.

Is CEX.IO Secure Or Not? And What Are Its Security Features?

CEX.IO website was never hacked even though it has been in business since 2013. Websites of many major cryptocurrency exchanges were hacked. So it’s also one of the most secure exchanges.

Most cryptocurrency funds are stored in cold storage. That’s the safest type of crypto storage.

However, no exchange wallet is as safe as a hardware wallet. So it’s best to keep your crypto assets in your own hardware wallet. That’s recommended by cryptocurrency experts. So please do yourself a favor and check out the best hardware wallet right now. Please see how affordable it is right now.

But be careful when buying a hardware wallet. Some third party sellers pre-configured scam wallets, sold them to unsuspecting people, and took their crypto assets. So buy it only from the manufacturer. So please visit and bookmark this link right now because it’s the official manufacturer website.

CEX.IO is compliant with The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). This compliance shows that they can safely store, transmit, and process cardholder data. In 2016, they upgraded their PCI DSS Certificate to Level 2, which is one of the best security standards in payment industry.

Furthermore, the organization that oversees these certificates mandates an annual audit. So you can be sure that CEX.IO will have excellent security because it’s required for them to stay compliant.

In order for them to stay compliant, they must do a lot of security work. First, they must maintain a secure network. Second, they must regularly test and monitor their networks. Third, they must implement serious access control measures. Fourth, they must run a vulnerability management program.

In short, their PCI DSS compliance is good news, just like other security features they employ. One of them is two-factor authentication. You can set it up for your CEX.IO account with Google Authenticator.

Plus, each time a new withdrawal is initiated, two things happen. First, a new sending wallet is created. Second, you’re asked to confirm a withdrawal through the link sent to your email.

On top of all the above, you’re notified by email of all account logins. You can also view the history of all account logins and other account activity on CEX.IO website.

Bonus Tip Regarding Security Features

CEX.IO provides excellent security security features. But they won’t save your assets if your email account isn’t secured. If that isn’t done, hackers could take over your email account and pretend to be you. But there are cybersecurity devices that can protect your email and other online accounts.

These devices, called security keys, provide the highest level of 2FA security. Google and other major corporations use them. The best brand of these devices, used by Google and other tech companies, is Yubico.

Luckily for you, Yubico devices are affordable. So you can buy two to have a backup device. Please take this advice seriously because many people couldn’t reset their 2FA and lost access to their assets.  Avoid becoming one of them. See how affordable Yubico devices are now.

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CEX.IO Fees For Fiat Money Deposits And Withdrawals

Besides the payment methods below, CEX.IO accepts AdvCash, Epay, Skrill, QIWI, and Faster Payments. The fees for these payment methods vary from 0% to 3.9%.

Payment Method	Deposit Fee	Withdrawal Fee
Visa	1.49% for GBP deposits made with the UK-issued cards 2.99% for all other deposits	Service charge: up to 2.5% + $1.20 Commission: up to $3.80
Mastercard	1.49% for GBP deposits made with the UK-issued cards 2.99% for all other deposits	Service charge: up to 1.8% + $1.20 Commission: up to 1.2% + $3.80
ACH	Not available	0%
Domestic Wire Transfer	0%	Not available
S.W.I.F.T.	No fee, except for the transactions in Russian rubles	0.3% + $25 0.3% + €25 0.3% + £25 Not available for Russian rubles
SEPA	No fee	No fee

CEX.IO Fees For Cryptocurrency Deposits And Withdrawals

You can deposit cryptocurrencies for free. You can withdraw them by paying the usual network fees.

CEX.IO Verified Account Limits For Fiat Money Deposits And Withdrawals

Both domestic wire transfer and ACH transfer require at least address verification. So do S.W.I.F.T. and SEPA transfers.

In the table below, the minimum and maximum limits for Visa and Mastercard payment methods apply to an old customer. For a new customer, Visa and Mastercard payment methods have a maximum monthly limit of $3,000 and a maximum daily limit of $1,000. CEX.IO considers any customer who completed his or her identity verification less than three months from the date of intended purchase a new customer.

Payment Method	Daily Deposit (Min — Max)	Daily Withdrawal (Min — Max)
Visa	$20.00 — Unlimited	$20.00 — $50,000.00
Mastercard	$20.00 — Unlimited	$20.00 — $2,500.00
ACH	Not available	$20.00 — $100,000.00
Domestic Wire Transfer	$20.00 — $100,000.00	Not available
S.W.I.F.T.	$300.00 — Unlimited €300.00 — Unlimited £300.00 — Unlimited ₽500,000.00 — Unlimited	$300.00 — Unlimited €300.00 — Unlimited £300.00 — Unlimited Not available
SEPA	€20.00 — Unlimited	€20.00 — Unlimited

CEX.IO Trading Fees

Taker Fees, BTC	Maker Fees, BTC
≤ 5: 0.25% ≤ 30: 0.23% ≤ 50: 0.21% ≤ 100: 0.20% ≤ 200: 0.18% ≤ 1000: 0.15% ≤ 3000: 0.13% ≤ 6000: 0.11% > 6000: 0.10%	≤ 5: 0.16% ≤ 30: 0.15% ≤ 50: 0.13% ≤ 100: 0.12% ≤ 200: 0.1% ≤ 1000: 0.08% ≤ 3000: 0.04% ≤ 6000: 0.00% > 6000: 0.00%

Here’s How CEX.IO Verification Works: 6 Easy Steps You Can Do Right Now

1) Register on CEX.IO. You can do this in two ways. First, you can enter your email and create password. Second, you can log in with Google, Facebook, VKontakte, or GitHub.

2) Confirm your email and phone number. You’ll receive email with a link to click to confirm your email address. You’ll also have to confirm your phone number. That’s easy to do too.

3) This step is optional. But I recommend it to secure your account. Enable two-factor authentication. You can do this via a phone call, text message, or free Google Authenticator app. I recommend that you use this app because it is more secure than a text message.

4) Upload your ID and photo of yourself holding your ID.

5) Enter your personal information, including your address.

6) Upload proof of residency document with your address. CEX.IO verification supports many documents for this purpose. Some of them are electricity bills, bank statements, and tax returns. This document must have a date of issue and be addressed to your home address.

Here’s How To Get CEX.IO Verified Plus Account: 4 Easy Steps You Can Do Right Now

Do the steps below to get this verification level.

1) Log in to your CEX.IO account.

2) Click on “Finance” link at the top left of the screen.

3) On the new page, click on “Limits and Commissions” tab and then click on “Request” button. After you clicked on “Request” button, you’ll get an email.

4) Do the steps described in the email.

Here’s The Email You’ll Get From CEX.IO:

Verified Plus Account Request

Dear ***,

Thank you for requesting an upgrade to Verified Plus account, which provides increased limits for deposit and withdrawal transactions.

As you well know, CEX.IO is working in accordance with strict AML/CTF compliance rules. Increased transaction limits imply increased scrutiny and enhanced verification measures, including verification of source of customer’s funds and determination of nature of business relationship between you and CEX.IO.

To do so we kindly ask you to download, fill in, sign and send us back the application form for Verified Plus account [this text in the original email has a link]. Make sure you are logged into your CEX.IO account before clicking the link.

Please complete all fields of the form. If any field is not applicable to you, put “N/A” in such field, so we will know that it was not missed. Note that completeness of the form is crucial for timely processing of your request.

In addition, to support information provided in the application form, we ask you to provide us with documents that confirm origin of your funds (also known as proof of source of funds).

A proof of sources of funds is any documents that explain where the funds used for deposit (both in crypto and fiat) are originated, i.e. acquired from third party.

That could be your bank statement showing receiving of funds from third parties, payslips, loan agreement, mining transaction history, screenshots from other exchanges confirming arbitrage activity, etc.

In some cases, we may also request you to provide us with documentary confirmation not only of source of particular funds, but also with confirmation of source of your wealth.

We sincerely hope for your understanding and cooperation.

Wait Time For CEX.IO Verified Plus

According to CEX.IO forum and Reddit, the wait time ranged between two weeks ago and two months. In some cases, it was even longer. However, CEX.IO addressed such long wait time in two ways.

First, they temporarily disabled new user registrations. Second, they hired more people.

After they hired more people and sorted out the backlog, they re-enabled new user registrations. So current wait time for CEX.IO Verified Plus verification is likely to be shorter.

CEX.IO Review Continued: How Does it Compare To Coinbase, Kraken, And Binance?

Overall, CEX.IO is better than both Coinbase and Kraken. In this section of CEX.IO review, you’ll find all this and more.

While CEX.IO does outshine Coinbase and Kraken, it’s not the best choice for trading. Number one choice is Binance exchange. It has some of the lowest fees, fastest trading platform, and hundreds of trading pairs. Deposits and withdrawals are some of the fastest in the industry too.

However, Binance exchange turns fiat money into cryptocurrency with higher fees. So you can sign up for both of them through these links: CEX.IO and Binance.com.

CEX.IO Vs Coinbase Comparison

Coinbase will track your cryptocurrency. So if you make a transaction they find questionable, they will close your account. Many somewhat legitimate transactions can likewise lead to account closure. So Coinbase operates like an evil bank. CEX.IO, on the other hand, operates like an actual exchange.

Another Coinbase issue is constant US government intrusion. Since IRS won a case against Coinbase, this exchange has become a bad place for any privacy-conscious person. While CEX.IO does routinely provide information to US government too, it’s mostly for money-laundering prevention.

CEX.IO Vs Kraken Comparison

CEX.IO is better than Kraken bitcoin exchange for many reasons. So please continue reading this CEX.IO review to find them out.

Kraken service outages is one of the reasons. They call these outages ‘partially degraded service’. But during one of these ‘partially degraded service’ outages in 2017, almost none of the website worked. You could only check your balance. So it wasn’t ‘partially degraded’ like Kraken website claimed.

Kraken website did get better in 2018 though. But I still wouldn’t recommend it because it has a history of technical problems not only in 2017. One of them is slow website speed.

CEX.IO is free from these technical problems.

Comparison Conclusion

CEX.IO is better than alternatives. While you may encounter issues there, they’re less serious than the ones at Kraken and Coinbase. So you can sign up for it right now.

Try CEX.IO right now

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