Top 5 Crypto Exchanges in India, Ranked: In-Depth Analysis

Crypto adoption is taking place all around the world, and India is not far behind. Even though we have seen industry experts throwing shade at some of the vague regulations set by these cryptocurrency exchanges, some of the top companies continue to thrive with billions in trade volumes.

 As the popularity is only going to rise, first-time investors and retail traders must select a cryptocurrency exchange that promises a smooth investing experience and takes care of user safety. With almost 10,000 crores being invested into different crypto coins, many companies are starting their exchanges with user-friendly interfaces and effective AML (Anti- Money-Laundering) procedures. But the problem here is that there are too many exchanges available in the marketplace, and you have to find the right one for your needs. 

To address this issue and raise more awareness for common Indian people interested in entering the crypto arena, we bring you this comprehensive guide filled with facts and customer feedback to help you invest in the right platform. 

Analysis of Cryptocurrency Exchanges 

Selecting a cryptocurrency for long-term investment is a huge challenge. You would need to conduct a lot of research on its reliability in the future and how it is a better option for users. However, when it comes to an exchange, it is a completely different approach. Cryptocurrency exchanges are not entirely evaluated by only taking technical details into account. To give them proper rankings, we have to explore the following properties of exchanges and then only concluded of which is the best Indian exchange: 

1. Ease of use
2. Deposit/Withdrawals Facility 
3. Customer Support
4. Liquidity
5. Wide selection of cryptocurrencies
6. Low Fees

Parameter Analysis on Top Cryptocurrency Exchanges in India

Exchanges	Ease of Use	Deposits & Withdrawals	Customer Support	Liquidity	Selection of cryptos	Trading fee	Total Score (Out of 10)	Rankings
	9	8	6	9	8	8	7.8	1
	8	8	8	7	9	6	7.6	2
	9	7	6	7	8	8	7.5	3
	9	7	5	6	8	5	6.6	4
	5	7	8	7	5	7	6.5	5

Once upon a time, almost 504 cryptocurrency exchanges served thousands of markets worldwide, but that number has come down to 377, according to coinmarketcap. If we only consider Indian markets, we will only see a handful of participants. That is why we have highlighted some of the most commonly used cryptocurrency exchanges in India right now. 

• WazirX 
• Coindcx
• CoinSwitch 
• Unocoin
• Bitbns 

 Please note that every exchange introduces new updates regarding coin availability and other important rule sets, so make sure to stay on top of these updates. Now, as that is out of the way, let us get straight into each exchange and find out which is the right fit for you. 

WazirX 

WazirX is undoubtedly one of the fastest-growing crypto exchanges in India. Launched in 2018, WazirX now has more than 2 million active users. An interesting statistic to know here is that the user base grew from 1 to 2 million in 78 days. That says a lot about the platform’s reliability. Even the founding members have influenced many crypto communities to take part in the blockchain revolution. Some of the biggest achievements of WazirX are getting acquired by Binance and launching their WRX coin. If you wish to explore more about the coin, you can read their white paper. 

Ease of Use- 9/10

The platform has a great design, and it is going to draw attention but what is more interesting is the layout of the application. Users will have a terrific experience while on this platform. The features are well aligned, and it involves very few steps to make your first investment. It is even simpler to create an account and complete verification on WazirX.

While many users appreciate the clean interface, it reduces the number of steps involved in executing an order, but the application also lacks in some areas. Some of the users suggest adding a portfolio investment P&L interface. They feel that it is important to track the price averages of each coin. It is a valid concern because a user has to know how their coins are performing daily, and incorporating it into their portfolio interface would make life a lot easier.

Deposits & Withdrawals- 7/10 

While the system infrastructure of WazirX claims to handle millions of transactions, there seems to be a continuous problem with INR deposits. In some situations, they also decided to stop taking deposits. Now, this is mostly because of their inability to scale when there is a surge in demand. Recently, Dogecoin attracted millions of investors in India, but as the demand increased, WazirX became unreliable to take deposits. It is important to note that this type of situation does not happen every day, so it is a good option for UPI deposits and bank withdrawals. 

Customer Support- 6/10 

One of the most important aspects of exchange is customer support. We are dealing with a highly volatile crypto market, and at any moment, a particular coin can come crashing down. So investors will already be facing a great deal of pressure, and if they face problems related to deposits and banking partners, the exchange should provide a 24/7 customer support facility. In the case of WazirX, the response has been quite disappointing. Some retail investors are still waiting for their funds, while others are struggling to cash out. However, some of the complaints are being resolved using social media platforms like Twitter, and the founders themselves are paying a great deal of attention to such issues. Here is a tweet from a WazirX user, and we can see how much it affects their overall experience on the platform. 

Liquidity- 7/10

This is a crucial factor for many investors because it determines how fast one can buy and sell coins. If the volumes are high, then the exchange is supposedly doing well and offers competitive pricing. In the case of WazirX, there is an issue with liquidity and mark-up price. However, one can easily solve this problem by connecting their trading account with Binance. The liquidity is very high on Binance and you will not be facing a problem. 

Selection of Cryptocurrencies – 8/10 

The platform may have only some basic trading features, but it does a great job in enabling P2P trading with zero fees. This is extremely beneficial as the system has close to 70 coins right now. Even though the platform covers every major cryptocurrency, it doesn’t seem to add the ones that are trending like Solana. They may introduce them slowly, but a lot of investors are frustrated that they are missing out on these opportunities. 

Transaction and Withdrawal Fees- 8/10 

WazirX charges anywhere between Rs. 5 to 10 for withdrawals, and the price fluctuates because the method of cashing out varies each time. This is when users take their money out from the application itself, but it will only cost Rs. 5.9 for bank transfers. In the case of UPI transactions, there is no fee involved. 

Coinswitch 

Coinswitch is another big name in the Indian cryptocurrency market, and with its recent funding of $20 million from Tiger, it is now valued at $500 million. The platform reached such a huge valuation based on the user base, the total volume traded, and the currencies supported. They currently have upwards of 4 million users, and their total volume traded is above the $5Bn mark. 

Ease of Use- 9/10 

One of the biggest reasons for Coinswitch to have such a big user base is its user interface. A majority of users feel that the interface is looking very easy to understand, making price tracking a lot simpler.

Deposits & Withdrawals- 7/10 

Coinswitch is a lot similar to WazirX when it comes to INR deposits and withdrawals. They have recently disabled the option to deposit money, which has generated a lot of backlash towards the platform. However, it is fair to say that they have performed well in the past, and one incident cannot be used to evaluate its overall performance in terms of its ability to deposit and withdraw money. 

Customer Support- 5/10 

The customer support is not responsive like other platforms. Coinswitch allows users to raise tickets, but they are taking a lot of time to address each issue and respond with a proper solution. Even account reactivation takes a significant amount of time, and many users took it up on social media platforms to find a solution. This shows how unresponsive the customer support is, and it needs to be immediately addressed.

Liquidity- 6/10 

While the company promises instant trading, we see many traders disappointed with the low liquidity on the platform. Coinswitch promises the best prices for all cryptocurrencies, but there is a huge price gap due to their low liquidity. The company needs to figure out how to balance its prices with other exchanges or lose many active users.   

Selection of Cryptocurrencies- 8/10 

Coinswitch provides an upwards of 100 cryptocurrencies and it is only going to increase in the future. This is a decent selection of cryptocurrencies but we have to wait and see if they will be adding trending cryptos. 

Transaction and Withdrawal Fees- 5/10

This has been one of the biggest problems for Coinswitch since the time of inception. They have hidden charges, and many users, being unaware of this fact, are required to spend more on transaction fees when compared to other exchanges. While the website may claim to charge no fees, we have seen hundreds of users being charged high transfer fees. 

CoinDCX

Another big player in the Indian market is Coindcx. The platform has been active for more than three years, and they have more than 100,000 active users trading on the platform every month. The company has raised a total sum of $5.5M from three main investors- Polychain, Bain Capital Ventures, and 100x ventures. This exchange is currently drawing the attention of many eyeballs, mainly because of the number of coins listed on the platform. 

Ease of Use- 8/10

Coindcx is better than WazirX but not as good as Coinswitch when it comes to ease of use and interface experience. The charts have a better layout, and it has better price tracking features. Another selling point for this platform is a user-friendly experience. It eliminates a lot of unnecessary steps and makes first-time investors more comfortable. 

Deposits & Withdrawals- 8/10 

Even though the platform is in its early stages, it is doing a great job providing smooth transactions and withdrawals. Users can instantly deposit money in INR, but it will take around six hours for the money to reach their bank accounts. In the case of cryptocurrencies, almost every withdrawal is instantly executed in under a couple of minutes.

Customer Support- 8/10 

Customer support is always unpredictable when it comes to cryptocurrency exchanges, and the same applies to Coindcx. In recent weeks, we observed a huge surge in the number of active users and trade volumes, so the customer service has not been able to keep up with the rising demand. However, Coindcx seems to have a strong support team at all times for its users. Users also do have to worry about time zones, as Coindcx provides 24 hour support. 

Liquidity- 7/10

Coindcx is one of India’s largest liquidity aggregators and has made several partners over the last few years to provide a seamless trading experience for every user. Last year, we saw that Coindcx became the official liquidity provider for Unilend, so it is pretty solid for providing an uninterrupted trading experience. 

Selection of Cryptocurrencies- 9/10 

One of the biggest selling points for this cryptocurrency exchange is its wide selection of crypto coins. It has close to 210 different cryptocurrencies listed on the platform, which is the most by any exchange in India. There will be many altcoins listed, and it can bring more opportunities for retail investors, but the one problem commonly +*faced when dealing with so many coins is that a good portion of them may turn out to be fake. That is why it is important to do background research and invest wisely. 

Transaction and Withdrawal Fees- 6/10 

The trading fees are between 0.04% and 0.06% on takers and makers, respectively. This is better than most platforms because the current industry is charging between 0.10-0.15%. When it comes to withdrawals, Coindcx charges around 0.0006BTC; if we convert this into a percentage and compare it with the industry average, we will see that it is 60% higher. 

BitBNS

Launched in 2017, Bitbns has been rapidly growing the number of monthly active users on their platform, and it is now supporting a decent number of coins. Like every major exchange, Bitbns is also using the P2P model for crypto transactions. With 1.2 million active users, Bitbns is earning the trust of Indian users, and it has a lot to with its strong customer support and clean interface. 

Ease of Use- 9/10 

The platform is currently running in a testnet simulation with a clean trading environment that is quite similar to the main interface. After seeing feedback from a diverse group of users, we have seen that a majority of them are having great trading and investing experiences with Bitbns. Its straightforward nature has helped the users to navigate through the platform and find their ideal investment options. 

Deposits & Withdrawals- 8/10

Deposits can be made using fiat, Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency listed on the exchange. Bitbns mainly offers two approaches for deposits and withdrawals. One can directly use the P2P system or go with direct bank transfers. These include UPI as well as NEFT. Bitbns also incorporated vouchers called BidforX, and they can also be used to make deposits. 

Liquidity- 6/10 

Many users are satisfied with the platform, but the one issue they always seem to bring up is liquidity. Due to low liquidity, the spread of the tokens is huge, and it is affecting the overall experience for the user. It may improve in the future, but at the moment, it is not at the same level as these other top Indian crypto exchanges. 

Customer Support- 9/10 

Indian crypto exchanges have never been outstanding for customer support, but Bitbns is slowly proving to be a better option in this particular category. It may not be perfect, but the support team is more responsive than other crypto trading platforms. 

Selection of Cryptocurrencies- 8/10

Bitbns has listed 101+ coins at the moment, and it has seen great additions to the listing since the launch. The platform always offers the best prices at any given point in time, and users need not worry about their orders as Bitbns offers automation. The security and authentication tools help a great deal for user safety. 

Transaction & Withdrawal Fees- 7/10 

Bitbns has a variety of schemes involved to provide a systematic investment for its users. They charge a flat 0.25% trading fee during the process, which is significantly higher than other exchanges. This can be avoided if you take their VIP pass, and one can quickly get their hands on it by having $25 worth of BNS tokens. You can see their fee division in the table below:

Unocoin 

This cryptocurrency exchange has been around for more than nine years, and in that period, they have served more than 1.33M customers and executed 8M orders. They currently do 1.7M+ active users, and their biggest selling points have been advanced APIs and competitive fees. The platform also offers Over counter (OTC) trading to allow users to invest heavily and acquire assets in bulk. Unocoin offers many more unique features related to lending and asset exchanges. 

Ease of Use- 6/10 

Simplicity has played a significant role in the adoption of Unocoin as a cryptocurrency exchange. The designs are intuitive, and the applications help first-time users understand how the platform works. At this stage, users feel confident when trading on Unocoin, but it is still working its way up to the levels of a Coinswitch or WazirX.

Deposits & Withdrawals- 7/10 

The platform recently announced that they are enabling instant INR deposits and withdrawal options. Unocoin also mentioned that users will now be able to use their Mobikwik wallet to make instant deposits. The platform also observes new withdrawal options- IMPS and NEFT. The platform still has some improvements to make in terms of deposit options and make UPI transactions more feasible. 

Liquidity- 8/10

The exchange has great liquidity aggregators as partners, and they are constantly fulfilling high demands. As it only offers Bitcoin, there will not be any problem with low liquidity. 

Customer Support- 7/10

With emails being the only customer care option, Unocoin is not efficient in responding to user queries. Even though they have an organized system, users must wait for days to get their issue resolved. This type of behavior is often observed when the platform is under heavy usage. 

Selection of Cryptocurrency- 5/10 

The listing only indicates 50 cryptocurrencies, and that is not a great selection for users interested in exploring other altcoins. The only digital asset they have running mainstream is Bitcoin, but this may change in the foreseeable future. We can expect some coins to be added this year, but at the moment, Unocoin is not a great choice if one wants to diversify in the crypto markets. 

Transaction & Withdrawal Fees- 7/10

The breakdown of Unocoin charges is a bit complicated compared to other exchanges, but they mention the fee when a transaction is being made. Firstly, the users have to pay a 0.7% commission on all executed orders. Unocoin has another fee charge called service tax of 15% imposed by the government. The maker and taker fees are 0.4% and 0.6%, respectively. 

Wrapping UP 

Cryptocurrencies are likely going to take over the financial system completely, and it is mainly going to be because of the underlying technologies like blockchain. If you are someone interested to take part in this revolution, you need a robust exchange platform. 

We have covered top exchanges in India, and they all are dealing with different problems at the moment.

But the one that is providing a seamless experience to every user consistently is Bitbns. They might have to work on their interface and designs, but the platform rarely fails to deliver. 

If a traditional order book is something you like, WazirX is the best option. This platform also comes with decent customer support teams and strong foundations. The ones that are not so recommended are Unocoin and Coinswitch. The selection of coins is not diverse, and users will have to pay a higher trading fee. 

Crypto markets can provide you the best returns ever possible for your capital, but if your exchange crashes at the wrong time, you will have to face the consequences. So it is paramount for every investor and trader to select the right cryptocurrency exchange.