KuCoin is a centralized cryptocurrency exchange created in 2017 with an aim to be a "simple and safe platform for people all over the world" to trade various digital coins. It has made it to Forbes’ list of best crypto exchanges of 2021 due to the “wide library of altcoins at low fees”.
It has a native token, KuCoin Token (KCS), with a circulating supply of 78 million and a total supply of 168 million. Its market cap is currently valued at $880 million. As a KCS token holder, you can earn passive income through trading fee rewards.
Features of KuCoin Exchange
On the KuCoin cryptocurrency exchange, you can buy, sell and trade over 400 cryptocurrencies. It offers various trading options such as spot, margin, futures, peer-to-peer, lending, and staking. Other features include:
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Low fees trading
KuCoin charges a 0.1% fee per trade. For example, if you purchase $1,000 worth of Litecoin (LTC), you’d only pay one dollar trading fee. This is one of the lowest in the industry and similar to Binance.
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Supporting small market cap cryptos
KuCoin lists a large selection of tokens including lesser-known coins or small-cap coins with huge growth potential.
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Buy crypto with top fiat currencies
Using a peer-to-peer fiat trade, credit or debit card, you can buy cryptocurrencies with fiat currencies i.e. USD, EUR, GBP, CNY, CAD, and AUD.
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User- and beginner-friendly platform
You can access KuCoin via desktop or mobile app and experience excellent design that makes trading easy and enjoyable.
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Non-custodial trading
If you’re particularly concern about security, you can trade on KuCoin directly from your private wallet via its partner, the Arwen protocol.
Why KuCoin Is Unique
Unlike other cryptocurrency exchanges, you can stake your KCS tokens on KuCoin and earn rewards. This is one way for you to earn passive income when joining the KuCoin community. If you hodl more than six KCS tokens, you are eligible to earn rewards daily.
Besides that, there are no forced KYC checks; it’s optional. You’d only need to register an account with your email address. However, if you choose to go through the verification process, you will be able to access advanced features. These include increased daily withdrawal limits, simplified account recovery, and opportunities to earn rewards.
What Is KCS Token Used For and Its Benefits
You can use KCS tokens to pay trading fees and participate in events and token sales, as well as a payment method across various applications.
Initially, the KCS token supply was at 200 million. But due to the burning strategy, it’s been brought down to 168 million at the time of writing. This will continue until only 100 million tokens are left.
As a KCS token holder, you will receive benefits such as:
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Daily cryptocurrency bonus i.e. a 50% share of all trading fee profit.
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Trading fee discount—you would need at least 1000 KCS for a 10% discount and a minimum of 40,000 KCS for a full discount, but some trading pairs may have different fees.
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Access to more trading pairs including BTC, ETH, LTC, USDT, XRP.
How Does KuCoin Trading Bot Work?
You can make use of KuCoin’s Trading Bot if you’re an avid trader who perhaps needs more sleep or wants to avoid trading based on emotions.
With the Trading Bot, you can maximize your potential profit as it automates buy and sell orders based on your preferences and market analysis. You would only need to enter specific trading parameters and then let the Trading Bot look out for price moves on your behalf.
Additionally, the Trading Bot also offers long-term strategies where you can instruct it to invest small amounts at certain periods of time. That way you don’t have to invest thousands of dollars all at once.
Is KuCoin Safe?
Up until 2020, the exchange was free of hacks and was considered very secure. The data encryption and security were at bank-level or finance industry standards. They also have specialized risk control departments to ensure user funds are safe.
However, in 2020, $281 million was stolen by suspected North Korean hackers. KuCoin claimed to have recovered 84% of the stolen funds and refunded their customers.
Despite that incident, it seems that many users still trust that KuCoin is fairly safe and reliable as the exchange gains popularity over the past year.
But with any crypto exchange, it’s important that you don’t store all your funds in the exchange wallet. You should also take the time to set up security measures such as two-factor authentication, utilizing a password manager, and using a hardware wallet.
Summary of KuCoin Pros and Cons
Over the years, KuCoin has built a solid reputation in the industry. Due to its commendable features, it’s now ranked as one of the top 10 cryptocurrency exchanges.
Here is a summary of the pros and cons of KuCoin for you to consider trading and staking crypto tokens:
Pros:
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Supports a variety of cryptocurrencies
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Low trading fees
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Opportunity to earn crypto yields
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Optional verification process
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Simple to use and beginner-friendly
Cons:
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Low trading volume
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No fiat trading pairs
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May experience congestion during high-traffic periods
Curious About Staking?
While it may seem unique for a cryptocurrency exchange to offer staking rewards, it’s actually a common feature in decentralized finance. If you’d like to learn more about staking, you may find our How To DeFi ebooks useful.
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