Web3 is evolving all across the globe and so are scammers and hackers. The crypto community in 2024 witnessed some of the most remarkable events such as Bitcoin crossing $100K mark, market bull run, and crypto adoption surging across the world along with Trump’s promise of creating a strategic Bitcoin reserve in the U.S.
The community also saw some of the biggest hacking incidents against crypto exchanges and scams in the crypto industry in 2024. As per the reports by Chainanalysis, over $2.2 Billion was lost to hackers in 2024, marking a 21.07% YoY increase in these incidents.
While we are mindful of investing our hard earned money in the right cryptocurrency, it is also important that we should be mindful of choosing the most reliable and secure crypto exchange for our portfolio.
Forbes, a renowned media organization, has done an extensive survey listing the Top 25 crypto exchange companies worldwide, ranking them on certain parameters like weighted score, BTC-ETH holdings, regulation, transparency, audit strength, cost, and much more. Forbes conducted the survey on 200 crypto exchanges globally.
Top 10 Safest Crypto Exchanges Listed by Forbes
In this article, we will list the top 10 crypto exchanges listed by Forbes and on what parameters where they ranked in the list.
10. Gemini
At number 10 is Gemini, an exchange founded by Winklevoss Twins in 2015, who have made safety and security a key parameter for their customer service. In fact, Gemini shot into the limelight after it facilitated the purchase and storage of Bitcoin by introducing the mechanism of private keys and a double layer password protection system for customers.
With a weighted score of 5.5., it has scored a high of 8 in BTC ETH holdings but fared poorly in transparency with a 4 score.
9. Deribit
At number 9 is Deribit, a prominent player in offshore derivatives with an overall weighted score of 5.5. The Dubai-based exchange operates majorly by letting its customers speculate on asset prices through leveraged bets, focusing exclusively on options to provide token buyers with defined purchase or sell conditions throughout designated timeframes.
It has scored a high 8 on BTC-ETH holdings but a poor 2 on audit strength.
8. Bitget
Coming at number 8 is Bitget, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange established in 2018 and registered in Seychelles. Bitget is known for being one of the largest crypto copy trading platforms, offering a wide range of trading services, including spot and futures trading.
While Bitget scores a high 8 on BTC-ETH holdings, it fared poorly with 0 in audit strength.
7. Upbit
At number 7 is Upbit, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange, founded by Song Chi-hyung in 2017 in South Korea. Upbit is known for its extensive trading options for cryptocurrency.
With a weighted score of 6, Upbit has scored an impressive 10 in transparency and 8 in BTC-ETH holdings.
6. BitBank
At number 6 is Bitbank, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange established in 2016 and registered in Japan. Its steady high ranking comes from its transparency, audited finances, and crypto holdings.
With a weighted score of 6.1, bitbank has scored a stellar 10 in transparency and 8 in audit strength.
5. Robinhood
Robinhood continues facing scrutiny for its approach to investment with its current status as a “meme headquarters” owning $15 billion worth of DOGE coin alongside its new “dogwifhat” product addition to existing offerings Shiba Inu, PEPE, and BONK.
Following the acquisition of Luxembourg-based Bitstamp in July 2022 Robinhood began the post-acquisition separation period to secure board approvals for operational integration. It has a weighted score of 6.6 with a high of 10 in audit strength.
4. Binance
Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao, a popular software engineer, investor, & an entrepreneur. Exchange started growing within the first 6 months of its establishment and became one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world.
Now that CZ has stepped down as CEO, Binance is at a crossroads in 2025 with many predicting it to grow exponentially when it comes to customer base. Binance had a weighted score of 6.7 with 10 in BTC ETH holdings but zero in audit strength.
3. Bitstamp
A UK based, Global exchange with a significant presence in Europe. Since its establishment in 2011, Bitstamp has operated as a cryptocurrency exchange based out of Luxembourg. Bitstamp operates as the most enduring cryptocurrency exchange to have ever existed in the world.
On this platform, users engage in trading to move between regular currencies and bitcoin and multiple alternative crypto assets including the U.S. dollar, euro, pound sterling Ethereum, Litecoin along with Ripple, Bitcoin Cash and Algorand, Stellar, and USD Coin.
Bitstamp has a weighted score of 6.8 with a high of 10 in transparency and 10 in audit strength.
2. Coinbase
The only major publicly-traded cryptocurrency exchange operating in the U.S. is Coinbase while its customers accept higher costs to attain perceived safety through their fees and transaction expenses. Eight million active users make BitGo’s bitcoin storage the largest global reserve worth approximately $245 billion at current market values.
Coinbase has a stellar 7.6 as a weighted score with 10 in BTC-ETH holdings, 8 in regulation, 6 in transparency, and 10 in audit strength by Forbes.
1. CME Group
According to Forbes, it is s $85 billion Chicago-based CME Group. Although the CME Group is unsuitable for retail investment because it has been dealing with butter and eggs since 1898 Forbes rated it highly because its high-level regulatory features by CFTC bring essential safety in the volatile cryptocurrency markets.
The main differences between the CME Group and traditional brokerage accounts like Schwab and Fidelity include Micro Bitcoin futures trading options with Fidelity alongside Micro Ether alternatives featuring minimum contract values at $300.
At the top, the CME group has the highest weighted score of 7.7 with 8 in BTC-ETH holdings, 6 in regulation, 10 in transparency, and 10 in audit strength.
Also Read: 2024 saw Spike in Crimes related to Crypto sector
Final words
Cryptocurrency users must carefully select trusted exchanges due to the expanding crypto environment. The protection of your digital assets should become your primary concern because both hacking occurrences and market fluctuations have increased in frequency of late.
According to Forbes’ annual evaluation, these selected exchanges demonstrate strong compliance requirements together with transparent operations and dependable security systems. The reliability offered by established exchange CME Group joins forces with Binance’s growth to deliver secure investment platforms for worldwide traders.
