Choosing an exchange is largely a matter of understanding what you are reading. A platform that puts “regulated” on its homepage may hold a MiCAR licence for spot and no MiFID II licence for derivatives. A platform promising “0% fees” takes its margin in the spread. And “proof of reserves” means something different at every exchange that offers it.
This page explains the terms you run into the moment you look past the fee page. What a MiCA licence does and does not cover. Why MiFID II decides whether an exchange is allowed to offer you perpetuals or shares at all. How cross collateral and capital efficiency change the capital you actually need. What market makers earn from the order book you trade in, and when that becomes a conflict of interest.
Each piece answers one question, with sources and the date it was last checked. None of them is written to sell an exchange; where a platform does badly, it says so.
Want figures rather than explanation? The cost comparison or the feature comparison is faster. This page is for the step before: when you first want to know what you are looking at.
Popular topics
See all articlesProof of Reserves explained
How PoR works and why it matters for your security.
6 min readWhat is a MiCA licence?
Why MiCAR licences matter and which exchanges hold one.
7 min readWhat is MiFID II?
The European rules for derivatives and what they mean for you.
5 min readYield on collateral explained
Earn interest on your collateral. Here's how it works.
6 min readIn-depth guides & research
To the comparisonMarket makers & conflicts of interest
Why open access and independent liquidity matter for fair price discovery.
8 min readWhat is PSD2 / EMI?
The payment licence behind your euros: SEPA, fiat wallets and card products.
5 min readCross collateral explained
Multiple assets pooled as collateral: more capital-efficient, but with its own liquidation risks.
6 min readCapital efficiency explained
Not just fees: margin, funding and idle capital also decide what you keep.
6 min readPerpetuals vs expiry futures
No expiry date with funding, or an expiring future? The differences and what they cost.
6 min readFee tiers and VIP/MM structures
Trade more, pay less. How volume tiers and separate MM pricing work.
5 min readReady to compare?
Work out your real monthly cost in one minute — fees, spread and lost yield side by side.
Compare exchanges