As investing in cryptocurrencies continues to grow in popularity, an increasing number of new and existing traders are regularly visiting some of the top exchanges in order to trade their favorite coins. As with the currencies themselves, there is a wide range of exchanges to choose from, with each platform often providing its own unique experience. As a result, we take a look at the trading screens of six of the top cryptocurrency exchanges and compare their various trading functionalities.

Binance

Binance is the current industry leader and offers two versions of its trading interface. Both the Basic and Advanced versions allow traders with difference levels of skill and experience to trade with confidence on a platform that is tailored to their needs. Binance has great user interfaces for trading and is one of the most responsive platforms in operation today. The two versions are as follows:

Basic Mode

This version is beginner friendly and requires minimal navigation, with all of the most important features easily accessible from the main page. The interface is well presented with the main charts and order box centrally placed. The order box allows users to place limit, market, and stop limit orders quite easily.

The right hand side contains a list of BTC, ETH, BNB or USDT markets that users can trade in, while the left hand side of the screen displays an up to date list of prices for buying and selling. The Basic mode is generally enjoyable and one of the more easy to use interfaces for platforms that offer a wide variety of coins.

Advanced Mode

Here things are placed slightly differently with the chart taking up the left side of the screen, while the prices and order box are found on the right. Overall, the main dashboard contains the order books, a candlestick chart, and the trade history. In addition, there is also a depth chart of the orders that can be viewed in a separate tab from the candlestick chart.

While the charting package is more sophisticated, there isn’t a great deal of difference between the two views and the basic view also provides a lot of the key information required by more experienced traders. Both views provide access to historical data, trend lines, order books, conversion rates, and comparison charts. However, the advanced view allows for more analytical representation, and allows for much more detailed technical analysis and provides all the necessary tools, indicators and MACD .

Binance is a nice, easy to use platform that caters to beginners and intermediate to advanced users while also providing a Windows and Mac Desktop Client and a mobile app available to both iOS and Android users.

GDAX

GDAX operates as a slightly more complex alternative to Coinbase and offers a more advanced trading experience as a result. GDAX allows for margin trading and more complex order types and the interface can look intimidating to new investors due to the constant movement of the buy/sell orders on the screen. However, the interface is well designed and uses an intuitive layout that appeals to both intermediate and advanced users.

GDAX also provides users with charting tools and a trade history, as well as real-time market data with the most up-to-date crypto prices. The platform also incorporates a flexible API that allows for programmatic trading bots, and this feature helps to attract both institutional and professional investors.

GDAX provides access to a wide variety of fiat and cryptocurrency pairs, and users can trade between BTC/USD, ETH/USD, ETH/BTC, BTC/GBP, and BTC/EUR, as well as others. The exchange also makes use of a slightly different interface as the order box is placed on the far left of the screen; this is followed by the order book, while the price chart and open order chart take up the vast remainder of the screen. The depth chart can also be accessed by clicking on a tab at the top of the screen, and GDAX also allows users to make market and limit buys, in addition to making use of stop losses. However, the ability to take part in margin trading is a major plus for more advanced traders and there is a leverage of around 2x or 3x depending on the trading pair.

The platform is generally quite straightforward to use, although it is slightly behind a site like Kraken in terms of advanced user experience and platform functionality. GDAX is best suited to Coinbase users looking for additional features or more experienced traders that are familiar with navigating cryptocurrency trading screens.

Bittrex

Bittrex offers a wide variety of different coins with over 250 trading pairs currently available on the site, and there are both USD and Bitcoin markets available on the platform. Bittrex aims to be a next generational cryptocurrency exchange; however it still has work to do to make its interface one of the best in the business.

Bittrex offers a web-based platform that is fairly easy to use, however the interface is not as intuitive as a site like Kraken’s and to buy or sell a coin users can click on the market name from the home page or visit the wallet page and click on the coin name.

The order book is quite intuitive and there is a star column on the inner-side of both the bid and ask tables that fills up with a star, once an order has been placed. This makes it easy to track price levels and recognize at which point that you are willing to buy or sell.

There are a number of charts to be found on the market page, and these include the order book and price timeline which are located above the input box for orders. As a result, coins can be easily analyzed before making an order but the overall charting package is somewhat average, with some traders feeling that the interface provided is quite clunky. That being said, there are several technical indicators available, with the Chart, Studies, and Select Tool tabs providing access to all the most important aspects of technical analysis.

Bittrex is a viable option for anyone looking to trade in a wide variety of coins and the interface is functional and relatively easy to use without being particularly inspiring when compared to other platforms.

Bitfinex

Bitfinex is one of the largest Bitcoin exchanges, in terms of volume and also provides margin trading. The exchange allows for both margin trading and the short-selling of cryptocurrencies, with the maximum leverage ratio being 1: 3. As a result, Bitfinex appeals to more experienced traders and the exchange provides a web-based platform and a mobile app.

There is also a peer to peer margin funding facility and the platform provides traders with a comprehensive range of different order types such as limit, market, stop orders, in addition to trailing stop, fill or kill, iceberg, OCO, and post only orders.

The Bitfinex interface can be a bit overwhelming as there are several options and tabs on the main dashboard that could confuse newer traders. However, Bitfinex has integrated TradingView charts sand provides a complete suite of tools to draw, annotate, download, and share charts.

The trading interface displays several pieces of analytical information and key technical analysis tools such as a candlestick chart, graphical order book, and the most recent trading data. In addition, features such as trend indicators, Fibonacci tools, and trend-lines are also available.

The advanced chart tools also provide users with a graphical trading experience and trades can be executed directly from the Bitfinex charts as users can visualize their orders, positions, and price alerts, and manipulate the charts to change prices, and to modify order properties.

The order book at Bitfinex is fully transparent, and the platform is quite comprehensive when compared to other exchanges. With the wide range of order types available, in addition to the Trading View charts and being able to trade on margin, Bitfinex is a site best suited to higher volume traders who have the ability to navigate the site and make the best use of all the available features.

Kraken

Kraken provides three different ways to buy and sell cryptocurrencies; Simple, Intermediate, and Advanced. Using the Simple tab, users can place market and limit orders, while advanced order types such as stop-loss orders and automated trading are also available.

In addition to its Bitcoin and Ethereum to cash markets, there is also a good selection of altcoins available and Kraken also allows for Bitcoin margin trading with leveraged trading of up to 5x with shorting available on the site.

Kraken utilizes an intuitive interface and also relies on TradingView for charting; there is also detailed access to short term market dynamics, and the tape includes a historical bid/ask chart.

The price charts and depth of the market charts are well presented and easy to understand for users of all levels.

The charts, provided by TradingView are a great tool for anyone interested in technical analysis. They pop up as a small external window, which you can be moved and resized, and are made available by clicking the button next to the instrument list.

Kraken provides a basic interface to help beginners in addition to providing charting and analytical tools geared towards more advanced traders. As a fiat gateway to the world of cryptocurrencies, Kraken competes with both Gemini and GDAX and its platform is a good option for traders of all levels. The exchange also has an iOS mobile app which makes the platform easily accessible across a number of devices.

Poloniex

Poloniex is well known for providing access to a vast variety of altcoins, and was a premier destination for traders looking for alternative coins before the emergence of sites like Binance.

Poloniex also provides margin trading with a maximum leverage ratio of 1 to 2.5; this is one of many features that appeals to experienced traders. There is also range of efficient data-analysis tools, and detailed charts that facilitate deep technical analysis.

The web based platform provides all the necessities for high level trading. However, the site is rather functional and can sometimes feel quite clunky. The platform is not the most responsive and charts cannot be moved, resized or enlarged to full-screen. It’s also difficult to scroll and zoom into charts, and the trading volumes take up a large portion of the chart. The indicators are also limited to Bollinger Bands, Moving Averages, and MACD and the platform is somewhat behind the options provided by Binance, Bitfinex, and Kraken.

The order book and pricing charts are easy to navigate and things are generally presented in a way that most traders will be able to understand. Also, despite experienced large trading volumes and offering margin trading the platform is not the most responsive and this is key for anyone looking to execute time critical trades.

Conclusion

All of the sites are suitable for more intermediate and experienced users as they all incorporate the most important features demanded by cryptocurrency traders. However, Binance and Kraken have features that are specifically designed to cater for beginners. The Basic Mode used by Binance, is beginner friendly and requires minimal navigation, and all the most important features easily accessible as the layout is simple enough and quite intuitive. Kraken provides a basic interface to help beginners and its Simple option for buying and selling cryptocurrencies is tailor made for new entrants to the market.

For traders looking for more advanced options, Binance, Bitfinex, and Kraken provide a good range of advanced features. Binance remains an extremely responsive exchange and is one of the quickest with regards to order execution; the exchange also offers an advanced version that is aimed at experienced traders. Bitfinex incorporates TradingView charts and includes a comprehensive set of features including technical tools, order types, and margin trading. Kraken offers an advanced version of its platform which allows for complex order types and automated trading. Similar to Bitfinex, Kraken also uses TradingView charts and offers a comprehensive range of features including advanced technical tools and margin trading.

It’s always best to experiment with a number of sites as different traders report varying experiences when using different exchanges. While some prefer more simplistic and intuitive layouts, others prefer highly responsive sites with more advanced features.