Cryptocurrency
Kucoin Review 2022: Is it safe to use?

11 months ago By Oluoma Aneke

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There are different exchanges available in Cryptocurrency. However, investors are always careful when choosing the exchange to transact with because any mistake can lead to a huge loss.

Whether you are new to Cryptocurrency or you are an experienced trader, read this article to find out if Kucoin is safe to use.

Introduction

Kucoin is one of the Cryptocurrencies that offers buying, selling, and trading abilities. Kucoin also offers margin, future, and Peer-to-peer (P2P) trading.

It was launched in 2017, with its headquarters in Seychelles.

Features of Kucoin

  1. Fees Overview - The maker/taker fee model varies with tier level and is between 0.0125% - 0.1%. If you trade regularly on Kucoin or hold Kucoin coins (KCS) of about 1,000, you will have reduced fees.

Kucoin also charges withdrawal fees that vary based on asset. These withdrawal fees can change based on market performance.

Deposit options are few, but you can’t use the fiat deposit option for now. You can deposit on Kucoin through the third-party apps they are connected to.

  1. Account opening  – it takes a  few processes to open an account in the shortest time possible.

  • When you go to the homepage, in the upper right-hand corner, click on sign up.

  • Then provide the following information; Phone number or email address, verification code, and password.

  • Once you set up your account, you can decide to start trading or you go through the Verification process.

  • Completing the KYC verification process will increase your access to daily withdrawal limits and additional features. You can either choose the basic or advanced KYC verification options.

  • If you are going for the basic verification, when you log into your account, under the avatar, click on KYC verification and input some personal information.

  • Advanced KYC verification will need to produce additional documents like a photo of your government-issued ID or a selfie. Advanced verification however gives you more access to trading benefits.

  1. Customer service -  you can get support through live chats or their support page. If you have a question, complaint, or request, you can engage in live chats or you can submit a request for assistance.

The support page can help you go through their sites and features with ease.

  1. Managing your Account – if you are using Kucoin services, you can access your account through Androids, Desktops, and iOS mobile devices. Using the platform is free once you have an account. You can log in anytime and trade, buy or sell your crypto.

Read: Coinbase Pro Review

Pros of trading with Kucoin

  1. Strong user base – Kucoin has a wide and strong user base. A strong user base adds to the market liquidity.

The benefit you will get by trading with an exchange with a strong user base is that you can trade comfortably because more people are also trading. You will also have the opportunity of joining an active community of traders.

  1. You will earn additional interest on your Crypto – You can earn interest through staking and lending out your Crypto.

Staking is fast getting accepted by different cryptocurrency exchanges. Staking your coins is an additional way of earning passive income. Staking helps various cryptocurrencies validate and secure their network.

To participate in staking, you just have to tie up your coin for some time through Pool-X, a company backed by Kucoin.

Lending can also earn you interest. Kucoin estimates that when you lend your coin, you will earn an average of 8-12%. This is bigger than what you will earn with your traditional savings account. Lending your coin will help them finance their margin trading. You will be repaid in full from Kucoins margin insurance fund and the borrower's collateral.

However, your protection is not completely guaranteed, so ensure that you are comfortable with the risk.

  1. Advanced Features –

Kucoin has some advanced features like margin trading and trading bots. For trading margins, ensure that you are an experienced trader before you can use the feature.

A trading margin allows you to borrow money to purchase extra cryptocurrency thereby leveraging your position.

Trading Bot is another interesting feature available in the exchange. You can use the trading bot through the mobile app. Trading bots offer an automatic feature to buy and sell your Cryptocurrencies. This means that you don’t always have to be online to follow the market.

The trading bot feature is good but also risky. The downsides to trading bots are cases of technical glitches which could be experienced occasionally. If you are not an experienced trader, please stay off these advanced features.

  1. Wide range of Cryptocurrencies – Kucoin offers over 600 Cryptocurrencies available for sale unlike what is available in other exchanges. It also has a section where it promotes new Cryptocurrencies.

  2. Offers low trading fees – It is estimated that users pay between 0.0125% and 0.10% per trade. This shows that the trading fees of Kucoin are low compared to other exchanges. The fee you will pay depends on your mode of payment and the presence of other third-party apps.

Cons of trading with Kucoin

There are a few advantages and risks which you should bear in mind and also look out for.

  1.  Offers a limited payment method – Most Cryptocurrencies allow you to deposit your money and invest as you wish. This is not entirely through for Kucoin because of its limited mode of payment.

With Kucoin, you can purchase your Cryptocurrency with fiat money, but this can only be done via a third-party app. You cannot deposit your money through bank transfers. You can only do that by using a credit card, debit card, Apple Pay and Google.

These means of payment can attract a high fee.

You can simply deposit money to Kucoin and spend it at your convenience. You will always have to buy a Cryptocurrency that is pegged to the amount you have.

After buying Cryptocurrency, you can now use it to buy other currencies of your choice.

  1.  Not licensed in the United States – the U.S has strict Crypto regulations and Kucoin is not yet a licensed exchange in the U.S. Also, Kucoin didn’t list the U.S on their KYC page. If you are based in the U.S and wish to trade with Kucoin, that will be at your own risk.

You will also be restricted on how much you can withdraw, and how much you can access.

If by chance, the U.S tracks you down as one of those using unlicensed exchanges, your account can get frozen.

Additionally, the exchange doesn’t offer protections to users operating from unlicensed countries. The risk is just endless. Instead of taking such risky steps, you can check these cryptocurrency exchanges and see the ones licensed in the U.S

  1.  Poor user reviews

While poor user reviews are common in Cryptocurrency, Kucoin experiences a somewhat larger bad review. The poor review is usually about poor withdrawal and customer service. Sometimes there are reports of Market manipulation.

Cryptocurrencies available in Kucoin

If you are looking for an exchange that offers a wide range of selection of assets, you should consider Kucoin. It offers more than 600 cryptocurrencies for you to buy, sell and trade with.

Some of these exchanges include:

  • Ethereum (ETH)

  • Dogecoin (DOGE)

  • Bitcoin (BTC)

  • Binance (BNB)

  • USD coin (USDC)

  • Cardano (ADA)

  • XRP (XRP)

  • Shiba Inu (SHIB)

  • Polkadot (DOT)

  • Uniswap (UNI)

  • Bitcoin cash (BCH)

  • Litecoin (LTC)

  • Polygon (MATIC)

  • Chainlink (LINK)

  • Theta (THETA)

  • Stellar (XLM)

Is your Cryptocurrencies safe with Kucoin

Kucoin ensures that your crypto assets are fully secured. The exchange is in partnership with Onchain Custodian, to help them secure all the Crypto Assets that are stored in their exchange. Kucoin enjoys insurance from Lockton to protect them from crimes like hacking. This is also in addition to the bug bounty program which supports ethical hackers to report any weakness found in the system.

Your assets can't be easily hacked because they store some of these assets in cold storage (Offline). The assets they live online are to enable users to trade and make withdrawals.

You will enjoy additional user protection if you set up the two-factor authentication with your additional password for trading. Kucoin also gave the option of setting safety phrases. These safety phrases will further keep you away from phishing attacks.

We consider the safety of an exchange based on the level of protection they can offer. So Kucoin can pass for a safe exchange

KUCOIN REVIEW 

Conclusion

You can go ahead and carry out your transactions with Kucoin if you want to enjoy more advanced features as an experienced trader. Kucoin is also for you if you want to enjoy maximum customer satisfaction and full protection of your assets.

Kucoin enables its users to earn interest in Crypto and have a full understanding of the risks involved. However, if you are living outside the United States, you should stay away from Kucoin as there are many risks involved for U.S users. Maybe when Kucoin gets licensed to be used in the United States, the citizens can jump on it and enjoy all the features.


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