BINANCE

Binance is a global company that operates the largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily trading Volume of cryptocurrencies. Binance was founded in 2017 by Changpeng Zhao a developer who had previously created high-frequency software. Binance was initially based in China, then moved to Japan shortly before the Chinese government restricted cryptocurrency companies.

 

Binance subsequently left Japan for Malta and currently has no official company headquarters.


Binance has been the subject of lawsuits and challenges from regulatory authorities throughout its history. As a result, 


Binance has been banned from operating or ordered to cease operations in some countries, and has been issued fines. It has been alleged that Binance could be used as a funding mechanism for terrorist groups. 


In November 2023, the company pleaded guilty in a U.S. federal court to money laundering, unlicensed money transmitting, and sanctions violations.

 

In 2021, Binance was put under investigation by both the United States Department  of Justice and  Internal Revenue Service on allegations of Money Laundering  and tax offenses.





                                  OKX

OKX is a global cryptocurrency spot and derivatives exchange and the second biggest crypto exchange by trading volume, serving over 50 million people globally. It was founded by Star Xu in 2017, who is also the CEO as of 2023.

The President is Hong Fang and the CMO is Haider Rafique. OKX is owned by OK Group, which also owns the crypto exchange Okcoin.


OKX is a platform where investors can buy Bitcoin, Etheruem, and other cryptocurrencies. It currently operates in global markets including Hong Kong,  United Arab Emirates. The  Bahamas, and France.


OKX has offices in Dubai, Turkey, Hong Kong, Silicon Valley, Singapore, and Australia.


OKX has partnerships with brands and sports teams like Manchester City, McLaran, and the Australian Olympic Team.


OKX has sponsored the Tribeca Film Festival since 2022 and holds exclusivity for non-fungible token (NFT) marketplaces, cryptocurrency exchanges at Tribeca events.




COINBASE

Coinbase, is an American publicly traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Coinbase is a distributed  company: all employees operate via a remote network.

It is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States in terms of trading volume. The company was founded in 2012 by Brain Armstrong and Fred Ethram


In May 2020, Coinbase announced it would shut its San Francisco, California, headquarters and change operations to remote-first: part of a wave of several major tech companies closing headquarters in San Francisco in the wake of the COVID-19 Pandemic.


Although cryptocurrencies can assure anonymous trade in principle, Coinbase trades are not anonymous: registered users are required to provide their taxpayer identification, and the transactions are reported to the IRS.


Also, although Coinbase offers more than 250 different cryptocurrencies to U.S. customers in 2023, it does not trade Monero and other cryptocurrencies with enhanced anonymity protection due to KYC requirements in accordance with anti-money laundering regulations.




                                          BYBIT

In March 2018, Ben Zhou founded Bybit. Bybit began operations as a cryptocurrency derivatives platform that offered its users perpetual contracts on multiple cryptocurrency peers .

Operations span the globe, excluding the United States, Mainland China, Singapore , Quebec and certain other jurisdictions.


Today, the Bybit platform provides cryptocurrency trading, passive income products, an NFT marketplace , a token issuance platform, and services for institutions.


In November 2019, Bybit organized BTC Brawl, a Bitcoin trading competition Since 2020, Bybit has organized the World Trading Tournament (WSOT) every year .

In November 2020, the German football team Borussia Dortmund signed a cooperation agreement with Bybit.


In May 2021, Bybit launched the ByFi Center  for crypto users to access or participate in DeFi products. 


In August 2021, Bybit signed esports agreements with esport organizations NAVI, Virtus-pro, Astralise Alliance.


In September, Bybit cooperated with BitDAO (BIT) to launch the Bybit Launchpad platform. The project is aimed at Bybit users who have followed KYC procedures to ensure compliance with local regulatory requirements.


In July 2021, Bybit partnered with identity verification provider Sumsub to expand its identity verification capabilities



    

                                    KUCOIN

KuCoin is a cryptocurrency exchange based in Hong Kong. US-investors are not listed as prohibited from trading. 

If you are a US-investor, however, you should still always analyze yourself whether your home state imposes any obstacles for your foreign cryptocurrency trading.


The exchange has one of the world’s most impressive trading pair selections, with more than 300 trading pairs.


Furthermore, the exchange claims to have the most advanced API on the market.

It should also be noted that the exchange has so called KuCoin Shares (KCS), i.e., its own cryptocurrency. 


If you are a holder of KuCoin Shares, you can receive cryptocurrency dividends on a daily basis. You can also receive trading discounts and even lower withdrawal fees than otherwise. The exchange also states that KCS-holders receive exclusive promotions, offers and rewards from the exchange.