Ranking
Safest Crypto Exchanges 2026
The 20 highest-scoring crypto exchanges we cover, from Swiss and US-listed companies to Japanese and European platforms. Each score measures one thing, how safe it is to keep money on the exchange, using its hack record and repayments, proof of reserves, licences, how customer coins are held, and enforcement cases. It says nothing about any coin as an investment.
Updated · Scores update with each page
The ranking
Bullish
Bullish, the NYSE-listed owner of CoinDesk, holds a New York BitLicense, a German MiCA licence, a Hong Kong platform licence and a Gibraltar DLT licence, and its Deloitte-audited 2025 accounts report no loss of customer assets. It is built for institutions, and it is only four years old.
Score 89, grade ASwissquote
Swissquote is a FINMA-licensed Swiss bank listed on the SIX exchange, and its crypto custody is set up so coins stay with clients if the bank fails. The CHF 100,000 deposit guarantee covers cash only, not crypto, and you get fewer coins and higher fees than at a pure exchange.
Score 89, grade AFidelity Crypto
Fidelity Crypto is run by Fidelity Digital Assets, National Association, a national trust bank supervised by the OCC that has held bitcoin for institutions since 2019. We found no hack or enforcement action. The gaps are that Fidelity is private, publishes no proof of reserves, and crypto is not covered by SIPC.
Score 87, grade AeToro
eToro is a multi-asset broker listed on Nasdaq since May 2025, with audited accounts, a MiCA licence from Cyprus and no reported loss of client crypto to hackers. Its weaker side is conduct, with a 2024 SEC settlement over US crypto trading and an Australian case over its CFD product.
Score 84, grade BKraken
Kraken has the cleanest security record of the large exchanges and the most transparent proof of reserves. It is privately held, so there are no public audited accounts yet, and it has paid several US and Australian penalties.
Score 84, grade BBitpanda
Bitpanda, the Vienna broker with about six million users, has a clean security record and holds client crypto as a trustee, which keeps it out of a bankruptcy estate. It has no public proof of reserves, and in 2026 it received Austria's first published MiCA fine, a small one.
Score 83, grade BBitstamp
Bitstamp is one of the most heavily licensed exchanges and has a quiet legal record. It lost about 19,000 BTC in a 2015 hack but covered every customer balance, and since June 2025 it has been part of Robinhood.
Score 83, grade Bbitbank
bitbank, a Tokyo exchange registered with Japan's regulator since 2017, has no known theft of customer funds, publishes Deloitte-audited accounts and has been owned by SBI Holdings since October 2026. Its weak points are a 2018 order over segregation and AML controls, and that it serves Japan only.
Score 81, grade BBitvavo
Bitvavo, the Amsterdam exchange with more than two million customers, has never lost client money to hackers and holds a MiCA licence from the Dutch AFM. Its weak spot was the €280 million it had lent to Genesis in 2022, a loss it took on itself.
Score 81, grade BBitbuy
Bitbuy, a Toronto exchange running since 2016, has no known theft of customer funds and keeps coins in trust with outside custodians under a CIRO investment dealer. Robinhood bought its owner WonderFi in June 2026. The weak points are stale reserve reports and the 2020 OSC case against its sister brand Coinsquare.
Score 80, grade BbitFlyer
bitFlyer, Japan's largest bitcoin exchange by volume, says it has never lost coins to an outside attack and holds licences from Japan's FSA, New York's NYDFS and, since June 2026, the EU. It is privately owned and publishes little, and a 2018 regulatory order exposed serious management failings.
Score 80, grade BCoinbase
Coinbase is one of the safest places to buy crypto, with audited public accounts and strict US and EU licences. Its weak spots are a 2025 leak of customer data by bribed support contractors and repeated anti-money-laundering fines.
Score 80, grade BRobinhood Crypto
Robinhood Crypto sits inside an audited, Nasdaq-listed broker and holds a New York BitLicense and an EU MiCA licence. Its weak points are its compliance record, including a $30 million NYDFS fine, and a 2021 breach that exposed data on about 7 million customers.
Score 79, grade BCoincheck
Coincheck is the exchange behind one of the largest crypto thefts in history, the 2018 NEM hack, which it repaid in yen. Since then Monex has rebuilt it under Japan's strict exchange rules, and its listed parent publishes audited accounts with the SEC.
Score 77, grade BGemini
Gemini has some of the strongest custody protections of any exchange, as a New York-chartered trust company with audited accounts. Its Earn lending product froze customer assets for about 18 months, and since 2026 it serves only the US and Singapore.
Score 77, grade BCoinsquare
Coinsquare, a Toronto exchange founded in 2014 and now owned by Robinhood, keeps client coins in trust with outside custodians under a CIRO dealer. Its record is mixed. It admitted wash trading in a 2020 OSC settlement and exposed customer data in a 2022 breach, though no coins were lost.
Score 75, grade BDeribit
Deribit, the largest crypto options exchange, has been owned by Coinbase since August 2025 and is regulated by Dubai's VARA, which requires segregated client assets and full reserves. It covered a $28 million hack in 2022 itself. Its weak spot is licensing, with one regulator.
Score 75, grade BIndependent Reserve
Independent Reserve, a Sydney exchange since 2013, has no known theft of customer funds, a full MAS licence in Singapore and, since January 2026, IG Group as majority owner. The gaps are a promised proof of reserves that never appeared and AML-only supervision in Australia.
Score 75, grade BLuno
Luno, owned by Digital Currency Group since 2020, has no known platform hack in over a decade and publishes monthly proof of reserves with a Merkle tree, prepared with the accounting firm Moore. It is licensed by South Africa's FSCA and Malaysia's Securities Commission, but not in the US, UK, EU or Japan.
Score 75, grade BCoinone
Coinone, one of Korea's four big won exchanges, has no known theft from its own wallets, files audited accounts and keeps customer won at KakaoBank under Korea's 2024 user protection law. Its weak point is compliance; the FIU fined it 5.2 billion won and suspended part of its business for three months in 2026.
Score 73, grade B
How we rank crypto exchanges
Every exchange here has its own page with five scored factors. Security history counts most, 30%: hacks and losses of customer funds, and whether customers were made whole. Proof of reservesA report in which a crypto exchange shows that it holds enough coins to cover all customer balances, ideally checked by an outside firm.More in the glossary and licensing count for 20% each. The best reserve scores go to listed companies with audited accounts and to exchanges whose regular proof of reserves includes liabilities. The best licensing scores go to exchanges licensed in several strict places, such as New York's BitLicenseNew York's licence for crypto businesses, issued by the state's financial regulator (NYDFS). It is one of the strictest crypto licences in the US.More in the glossary, the EU's MiCAThe EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, which requires crypto exchanges and other providers to be licensed and supervised.More in the glossary regime, the UK's FCA and Japan's Financial Services Agency. Custody and protection, meaning segregated customer assets, Cold storageKeeping crypto keys on a device or medium that is not connected to the internet, which protects them from most online attacks.More in the glossary, insurance and bankruptcy protection, counts for 15%, and the legal record, enforcement cases and fines, for the last 15%.
We do not choose the order by hand. It is the exchange scores sorted from the highest down, so when we update a page after a hack, a new licence or a court ruling, the list changes with it. That is also why this text does not quote scores: the list above always shows the current ones. For the rubric behind each factor, see how we score crypto.
What the top exchanges have in common
Most of the exchanges near the top fall into three groups. Some are regulated banks and brokers that also sell crypto, like Swissquote, which publish audited accounts and keep client coins separate from their own. Some are listed companies, like Coinbase, whose finances are audited and public. And several are Japanese exchanges, like bitbank, where the law requires customer coins to be kept separate and mostly offline, with that segregation audited each year.
What the top group lacks matters too. Few have lost customer money to a hack, and those that did repaid it. Few face large open enforcement cases. Licence status belongs to a legal entity, not a brand, so the protection you get depends on which company serves your country: check the exchange page for the entity named in your terms.
What the score does not mean
No exchange is risk-free. A top score says the company is better audited, better licensed and better run than most, not that your coins cannot be frozen, hacked or lost in an insolvency. Coins on an exchange are a claim on the company, and no government scheme insures them.
Self-custodyHolding crypto in a wallet where you alone control the private keys, rather than leaving it with an exchange or another company.More in the glossary is the alternative. A hardware or software wallet removes the exchange as a counterparty, at the price of guarding your own keys. If you do keep money on an exchange, sign in with a PasskeyA way to sign in without a password. Your device holds a key tied to one website or app and unlocks it with your fingerprint, face or PIN.More in the glossary or hardware security key, use an authenticator app rather than SMS, turn on a withdrawal allowlist, and do not leave more there than you need for trading.
Questions
Which crypto exchange is the safest?
The exchange at the top of this list has the highest score we give any exchange right now, but the gap between the leaders is small. Treat the top group as a set of exchanges with strong records, audited accounts or verified reserves, and licences in strict jurisdictions, then pick on what serves your country.
Is any crypto exchange risk-free?
No. Coins on an exchange are a claim on the company, so a hack, a fraud or a bankruptcy can freeze or wipe them out. When FTX failed in 2022, its customers found they were unsecured creditors. A high score means the risk is lower and better controlled, not that it is gone.
Is crypto on an exchange covered by deposit insurance?
No. Deposit insuranceA government-backed scheme that repays bank customers up to a set limit if their bank fails, such as the FDIC in the US or the FSCS in the UK.More in the glossary such as the FDIC or the FSCS covers cash at a bank, not coins, and broker cover such as SIPC does not apply to crypto either. Some exchanges hold customer cash at partner banks, but the crypto in the same account is not insured by any government scheme.
What is proof of reserves, and is it enough?
Proof of reservesA report in which a crypto exchange shows that it holds enough coins to cover all customer balances, ideally checked by an outside firm.More in the glossary shows the coins an exchange holds. It means much more when it also counts what the exchange owes customers and is checked by an independent firm. Audited financial statements, as published by listed companies, go further still. Our reserves factor gives the most credit for those two.
Should I keep my crypto on an exchange or in a wallet?
An exchange is convenient for buying and selling, but it holds the keys. A Self-custodyHolding crypto in a wallet where you alone control the private keys, rather than leaving it with an exchange or another company.More in the glossary wallet removes the exchange as a counterparty and puts the risk on your own key handling instead. Many people keep a small trading balance on an exchange and move larger sums to a Hardware walletA small dedicated device that stores crypto private keys offline and signs transactions inside the device, so the keys never touch your computer.More in the glossary.
Why is a big exchange missing from the list?
This list shows only the 20 highest scores. Large offshore exchanges often score lower on licensing and legal record, even with a clean hack history. Open the full list of exchanges to find any one we cover.