The best cryptocurrency exchanges of 2025 according to Forbes

Thanks to record-breaking ETF launches by BlackRock and Fidelity, which accumulated $112 billion in bitcoin, as well as Donald Trump’s re-election in November, BTC crossed the $100 thousand mark. However, hype cycles create unreasonable optimism and the FOMO effectFear of missing out, so investors should be careful. This applies not only to the choice of tokens for investment but also to the choice of crypto exchanges. They differ significantly in terms of licensing, asset protection mechanisms, and trading opportunities. Those affected by the FTX crash in 2022 knows how important it is.

Rating of the best crypto exchanges in 2025 according to Forbes

1. CME Group – is the world’s largest regulated bitcoin futures exchange with a trading volume of $1.4 trillion in 2024. Its reliability and high level of regulation earned it the top spot.
2. Coinbase – is the largest public cryptocurrency exchange in the United States, storing 2.4 million BTC worth $245 billion. Security is a top priority for its 8 million active users.
3. Bitstamp – a global exchange that is particularly strong in Europe. Recently acquired by Robinhood for $200 million.
4. Binance – returned to the ranking after resolving legal issues. The exchange has 245 million registered users and processes almost 25% of all cryptocurrency transactions.
5. Robinhood – a platform aimed at retail investors, has become the main trading center for meme coins. After the US election, its cryptocurrency trading volume increased by 780%.
6. Bitbank is one of Japan’s top three exchanges, featuring a photo of star Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto on its homepage. Among the three firms from the East Asian nation in the rankings, Bitbank offers low trading costs on popular altcoins. Its steadily high ranking also comes from its transparency, audited finances, and crypto holdings.
7. Upbit is one of the two largest South Korean crypto exchanges, serving almost 10 million clients. It is one of the top 10 largest holders of bitcoin. Owned by Song Chi-hyung, one of Korea’s wealthiest investors, the exchange focuses on the trading of payment tokens XRP and XLM even over bitcoin. Korean regulators are currently investigating the firm’s know-your-customer (KYC) practices after identifying a large number of documentation irregularities as part of Upbit’s license renewal application. Upbit responded to Forbes that all domestic exchanges are being reviewed, no decisions have been made, and that the alleged large number of irregularities have not been verified.

8. In 2022, Bitget partnered with football legend Lionel Messi before he led the Argentine national team. This multi-year campaign resulted in tens of millions of new accounts on the exchange. Although the exchange is legally based in the Seychelles, most employees are located in the Singapore region. The crypto exchange Bitget was also the first to popularize copy trading in the crypto space. Clients can automatically execute trades that mimic the actions of top traders. This feature now accounts for 20% of its total trading volume.

9. Deribit is a giant in the offshore derivatives space, where, similar to the CME, traders can bet on the future price of assets using leverage. The firm specializes in options, which give purchasers the right to buy or sell tokens at specified prices over a set period. Options are particularly a key instrument for hedging exposure to volatile assets and implementing simple alpha-generating strategies. Dubai-based Deribit holds a notional crypto open interest—capital tied up in derivatives contracts—worth over $30 billion. Additionally, in 2024, its volume grew by 95% to $1.2 trillion. Its expansion into spot trading, futures, and perpetual contracts has broadened, creating a comprehensive service for its institutional clients. It also secured its spot and derivatives licenses in Dubai, a credible derivatives’ regulator.

10. Bitcoin’s rally has boosted Gemini’s assets by 34% over the past six months, reaching $19 billion. The crypto exchange, owned by billionaire brothers Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, obtained licenses in France and Singapore, significantly expanding its international presence in 2024. Despite these changes, the exchange cut 10% of its staff.

Other key exchanges: Kraken, Crypto.com, Fidelity, OKX, Bybit, BitFlyer, and Bithumb. Together, they held more than $1.2 trillion in customer assets and had 438 million visits in November 2024.

The above graph shows both fees and spreads and demonstrates that the largest exchanges by market share tend to have the lowest trading costs, except Coinbase. Robinhood, which caters to retail traders, has a zero-fee trading model, but the figures above do not include spreads, which in Robinhood’s case are a major part of their business model.

There are a few firms that offer both high-cost and low-cost alternatives for large users, and Coinbase and Revolut are great examples. For retail customers with low volumes, Coinbase has created a monthly subscription service called Coinbase One that eliminates fees.

At the end of 2024, there were at least half a billion cryptocurrency users in the world.
The largest concentration of traders is observed in the Asia-Pacific region, which has 160 million visitors. Europe is in second place with 134 million. The United States and Canada added another 56 million. Latin America and the Caribbean has 40 million traders, and Africa has the lowest number at 18 million.

Out of the 12 firms in the ranking, 3 firms not included in the ranking have 10+ million unique visitors each. Firms such as Binance, Crypto.com, and Bitget show the number of «users» on their websites in the tens and hundreds of millions, but do not clearly define the term. These firms, like many others interviewed in the study, did not provide up-to-date data on active accounts. However, SimilarWeb’s monthly data gives a clearer picture and an approximate number of users that is the same for all exchanges.

Binance, for example, had 75 million unique users (17% of the total) compared to 56 million (13%) for Coinbase. Robinhood came in fourth with 37 million.

However, some providers focus on only one or two locations. The 49 million traders in South Korea are mainly served by Bithumb and Upbit, which received a total of 70% of all visitors to cryptocurrency exchanges. A large portion of the remaining customers have left for larger exchanges such as Binance, ByBit, and Bitget.

The three largest firms serving 16 million visitors in Japan are Bitflyer, Coincheck, and Bitbank.

With 18 million users per month, russia remains an important crypto trading hub. The largest platforms: ByBit (6.7 million), HTX (3.5 million), and Binance (2.4 million). Interestingly, back in 2023, Binance announced its withdrawal from russia and the sale of its russian business to CommEX.

Source: Forbes