CoinStove Staff
CEX.io
Last updated: 7 Jan 2022
CEX Review: Overview
In this CEX review you will find out what CEX has to offer. CEX is a highly rated cryptocurrency exchange that also offers a trading platform. Here are some highlights before we get into the details of this exchange:
CEX’s is a reputable exchange that is registered as a Money Service Business (MSB) and licenced by FinCEN. They are compliant with international regulations and as a result they follow Ant-Money Laundering and Know Your Customer procedures.
The exchange is easy to use and hence good for beginners. Additionally the platform has a trading area for those that have more advanced knowledge and able to trade cryptocurrency.
CEX take pride in ensuring their customers are properly taken care of. They make sure to address every customer question or complaint and resolve every issue as quickly as possible.
In fact this is why they have such a high user rating on Trustpilot. They have 24/7 customer support available via email, phone or live chat. They are ready to respond to any question or issues you may have.
CEX is one of the oldest cryptocurrency exchanges on the market with a fantastic track record for security. Their client funds have been securely safeguarded from any hackers.
There is a long and growing list of hacks to exchanges. However CEX is not featured on any of those lists. This means that CEX are up there with some of the best exchanges that implement best practices for security.
Regardless of its robust security it is still standard practice to take your cryptocurrency off any exchange. So once you purchase your cryptocurrency you should consider shifting it onto cold storage. You can do this by using a hardware wallet.
CEX Review: Customer Service
Most customer CEX reviews are positive. CEX have invested heavily into their product and team to make sure they offer good service. As a result they have an excellent overall rating which you can see on Trustpilot. However there are always going to be complaints.
A lot of complaints are centred around compliance. Customers are disappointed when they have to do more KYC (Know Your Customer) procedures. That is to say especially once they already sorted all of it out in the beginning on sign up.
Unfortunately CEX have strict legal procedures and requirements they are not able to overcome. They have to comply with international regulation and compliance is done manually one customer at a time.
Consequently customers have to wait for days until CEX compliance gets back to them. Moreover sometimes it take some time going back and forth with messages. So issues may take some time to resolve.
However CEX does not withhold any funds. So people are free to close their account with CEX even if they are running through compliance.
On the other hand we noticed the CEX team follows up with customer complaints. Not just by private message, but even publicly online. They do so in a timely manner and are polite with customers.
This is overall a great sign that their customer service house is very much in order. A lot of cryptocurrency exchanges should look at CEX as one of the best examples.
Currencies Supported
CEX supports 100+ cryptocurrencies which includes the most popular ones. That includes Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Dogecoin, Solana and many others. The team are continually trying to include more support for other cryptocurrencies on their platform.
The fiat currencies supported on CEX are the US Dollar, Euro, British pound and Russian Ruble. However note that withdrawal of Russian Rubles is not available.
Deposits and withdrawals
CEX.io accepts card payments and bank transfers for deposits. Buying cryptocurrency is more instantaneous and only a few clicks away when you use your debit or credit card.
Similarly it is as easy to withdraw cryptocurrency or fiat from CEX. However the fees on payment methods vary quite a bit. So you may want to have a look at the fees table below.
CEX Review: Fees
Deposit and withdrawal fees
| Payment method | Deposit fee | Withdrawal fee |
|---|---|---|
| Visa | 2.99%. 1.49% for deposits made in GBP with UK issued cards | Service charge: up to 2.5% + $1.2 Commission: up to $3.80 fee |
| Mastercard | 2.99%. 1.49% for deposits made in GBP with UK issued cards | Service charge: up to 1.8% + $1.2 Commission: up to 1.2% + $3.80 |
| SWIFT | USD, EUR, GBP – No fee RUB – 0.5% | 0.3% + USD/EUR/GBP 25 RUB – Not available |
| Domestic Wire Transfer | Not available | Not available |
| Faster Payments, SEPA | No fee | Not available |
| Skrill | 3.99% | 1% |
| Epay | No fee | 1% |
You can also use deposit and withdraw cryptocurrencies. Their minimum deposit and minimum withdrawal and floating fees can be found here.
Reducing Fees
When you go to exchange your fiat to crypto or vice versa there can be hefty commission fees. The fees add up and you can get charged up to 7%. As a result you should try and reduce the fees you pay as much as possible.
Firstly you should opt to use bank transfer for deposits because you do not pay fees. On the other hand withdrawals will incur a $/€/£ 25 flat fee with bank transfers. So it might not be worthwhile to go for banks transfer. It would depend on how much you are withdrawing.
More instant deposit and withdrawals like for example using credit cards can increase the fees you pay. However it might be more worthwhile to use credit cards for withdrawals. You will need to do the sums when you get to cross that bridge.
Secondly you can offset the fees if you stake your coins. By purchasing specific coins for staking you can get rewarded for holding those coins in your CEX account. You can calculate the rewards you can earn using the tool found on this page.
Moreover the CEX brokerage for exchanging is user friendly and suitable for beginners. However, you can reduce the fees you pay by using the trading area and making the exchange there. Especially if have more knowledge with crypto and have seen how trading platforms work.
As a maker the fee goes down to a maximum of 0.16% depending on the amount of BTC you buy or sell. Taker fees are a little higher than maker fees.
Do they have any promotions?
CEX at times has promotions running for their current as well as any new customers. Sometimes they are limited time offers and other times there are offers that are longer lasting.
One of the longer running promotions is for customers using UK-issued cards. Any deposits made in British Pounds from UK-issued cards have a 50% off offer. However as mentioned in the fees section it may not be worthwhile for you. This is because bank transfers for depositing have zero fees.
Additionally you can also get rewarded for keeping your coins in your CEX account. This is called staking. It is the same as back in the old days when you would receive interest by keeping money in your savings account in the bank.
To participate in staking you have to buy supported staking coins on CEX or deposit into your CEX account. Staking rewards are added to your account automatically. They are calculated on an hourly bases and deposited into your account every month.
You can have a look at staking here.
You can check what other offers CEX have from their home page. Just below the top of the page there are some cards with offers you can go through.
Countries supported
Currently CEX supports most countries around the world. 48 US States are supported except for Texas and New York.
However although some citizens might be allowed to sign up they may not have access to all CEX services. For example quite a lot of countries to do have access to margin trading.
CEX Review: Products
CEX are constantly working on new products to offer their clients. They are currently working on releasing another 2 additional products which will be added to their current list below.
For everyone
- Instant buy
Instantly buy cryptocurrency with your credit or debit card with a few clicks - CEX Mobile app
Exchange cryptocurrency on the go anywhere and anytime using the mobile application. - Staking
The old tradition of interest from savings accounts in banks is being applied to CEX accounts. You can earn monthly rewards for holding stake-able coins. - Loan
Apply for a short term crypto-backed loan of up to a year for small or large amounts. You will need to leave your Bitcoin or Ethereum as collateral.
For traders
- Spot trading
Create market orders, place limits and more. - Margin trading (in Beta)
You can trade cryptos using margin with up to 100x leverage. We only recommend this for experienced traders that know what they are doing.
For businesses
- Aggregator
Providing liquidity for professional traders and businesses. - CEX direct
Earn money from your website. CEX provides a payment gateway to the crypto world.
CEX Review: Security
Unfortunately a lot of exchanges prioritise expanding into new countries and markets over security. This mainly because of regulation loopholes in different countries. As a result there are many examples of success hacks mounted on exchanges. Millions of client funds have been stolen due to negligence on the part of the cryptocurrency exchanges.
However we are pleased to say that CEX have a squeaky clean record with no recorded hacks. CEX have strong security protocols that they implemented to safeguard client funds.
After all, the best exchanges want to remain in the industry. CEX is part of that group and wants to keep it’s good reputation going. The most notable security features to tout about on CEX are the implementation of:
- protocols to safeguard against DDoS attacks,
- full data encryption and
- compliance with PCI DSS standards for safeguarding client funds.
Cold Storing Cryptocurrency
CEX also cold store their clients cryptocurrency which is another great security feature. They have both hot wallets and cold wallets. However CEX leave enough cryptocurrency in hot wallets to keep up with the daily amount of transactions.
Most client cryptocurrency remains on the CEX platform untouched. As a result the excess crypto is placed into cold storage by CEX to safeguard it.
For someone in CEX to remove the crypto from cold storage would need to go through several processes. Multiple signatures are required and the crypto is only allowed to go to CEX hot wallet whitelisted addresses. Moreover only authorised persons are allowed to approve transfers.
CEX.io History
CEX was founded in London, UK in 2013. It is one of the oldest and most established exchanges around. It started out offering Bitcoin mining, cloud mining and trading mining power. At the time CEX owned one of the largest mining pools and was called GHash.io.
However in 2015 CEX decided to ditch mining and focus on providing an exceptional service for its cryptocurrency exchange. Since the early days CEX has grown its team to over 250 employees.
Licenses
The company has expanded into a group of companies having licenses in several jurisdictions. They intend to keep on expanding to their list of licenses to be able to offer their existing services and building new ones.
Registrations and licences:
- Registered as a Money Services Business (MSB)
- Administered by the Financial Crimes enforcement Network (FinCEN).
- Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) license from Gibraltar
- Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs) from 27 US states
- Applied for a license for Digital Payment token service in Singapore with their Monetary Authority
CEX Review Conclusion
To conclude this CEX Review, CEX is a great cryptocurrency exchange. It is probably not as popular as other exchanges because they have prioritised security over expanding into new markets. Which means they have less clients than other exchanges.
However it is rated very well, not just by us, but by their own clients as well. Hence why they have such a great rating on Trustpilot. They are up there with some of the best exchanges.
This is due to many things. Their security is good and they have a fairly good selection of cryptos. Their exchanges area is easy to use for beginners and most importantly they have good customer service. Which in the crypto world is something to celebrate because a lot of exchanges have bad customer service.
