Cryptocurrency exchanges are one of the most popular platforms in the cryptocurrency space. Not only do they offer a means to trade your crypto but also allow fiat to be converted. As such, they remain the default gateway to the crypto world for millions of investors.
For this reason, choosing a cryptocurrency exchange is an essential step in everyone’s crypto journey. As you have probably guessed from the title, today we are going to review Gemini, one of the most popular exchanges.
If you have been using crypto for a while you have surely heard about this exchange but might still have questions. In this Gemini crypto review, we will take an in-depth look at this exchange. We will share what we consider its pros and cons, show you its features, and discuss its future projects and its reliability as a brand.
After reading this Gemini crypto review, you should have all the information to make an informed decision. If you want to know if Gemini is the right choice for you, keep reading!
Founded in 2015 by the Winklevoss twins, Gemini is one of the biggest and most popular exchanges in the world. The platform provides a means for investors to buy, store, sell, and trade their cryptocurrencies, as well as a whole lot of other features.
The exchange consistently surpasses $200 million in 24-hour volume, offering support for more than 50 cryptocurrencies. Being available both in a desktop platform and a Smartphone app, this makes the exchange a reliable platform with high liquidity.
Gemini has also been a leader in the development of the blockchain and crypto industries. Not only does the platform run multiple educational efforts but it is an active participant in boosting adoption. For example, the exchange has partnered with browsers like Opera and Brave to offer built-in crypto wallets.
As one of the few big exchanges that comply with local US regulations, its legal team has established strong connections with local agencies. This provides its users with the added ease of mind in several regards.
Gemini doesn’t offer as many cryptocurrencies as other exchanges. As it is a regulated entity, it focuses on quality over quantity. By carefully choosing what cryptocurrencies are listed, the exchange is able to provide its users with peace of mind when it comes to legitimacy.
The exchange is also known for having very low minimums. This is great news for those looking to invest a low amount of money in crypto, allowing anyone to take advantage of the technology.
Having based its platform around its product, security, licensing, and compliance, the exchange has a lot of things to offer its users. Let’s start by talking about its features!
What Features Does Gemini Offer?
Understanding what features an exchange offer is essential to decide if it is the right fit for you. In this aspect, Gemini has more than enough features to meet the needs of most traders… no matter if they are a beginner or a veteran.
Let’s take a look at some of the most important features offered by the exchange!
Trading Platform
Both in its desktop and Smartphone version, Gemini will provide you with access to an excellent trading platform. Here, you will be able to buy, sell and trade crypto in a very simple and easy-to-understand manner.
However, if you are a veteran trader, there are also nice features for you. The trading platform offers support for several types of orders, including:
Market
Limit
Limit: Immediate-or-Cancel (IOC)
Limit: Fill-Or-Kill (FOK)
Limit: Maker-or-Cancel (MOC)
Limit: Auction-Only Limit (AO)
Limit: Indication of Interest (IOI)
Stop-Limit
This ensures you can better implement your trading strategies to improve your chances of generating gains. Granular control is always a great thing to have in crypto trading!
Gemini ActiveTrader
A platform for traders on a more professional level, ActiveTrader offers advanced capabilities. These include advanced charting tools, additional order types, auctions, and block trading. Those using this feature will also enjoy incredible fast transaction settlements, allowing them to react faster to market trends.
This version, although complex, is also available on smartphones, although with fewer features.
Gemini Earn
This is perhaps the main difference between Gemini and other exchanges. With Gemini Earn you can generate interest for the cryptos you have stored in Gemini. By just holding your crypto in Gemini, you can generate passive gains as high as 8.95% per year.
This is a great way for long-term holders to increase their earnings. However, you need to consider that storing your crypto in an exchange’s wallet is not always the best option. There are several wallets that offer similar features. You can find some examples in our wallet section.
Gemini Pay
If you are a US citizen this feature will prove to be incredibly useful. Gemini Pay is a feature exclusive to the platform’s mobile app. By using it you can pay for goods and services in stores that accept cryptocurrencies via QR code.
The best part is that you can choose which crypto you are going to use to pay and limit the functionality to it! While it might not sound like a big deal, this is great for crypto investors. This means that your portfolio will not get unbalanced as a result of trying to pay with insufficient funds.
Cryptopedia
As we said earlier in this Gemini crypto review, the exchange does more than just offering financial services. Gemini has allocated a lot of resources to educating people around the world about the benefits of crypto.
If you are a beginner and still don’t know a lot about cryptocurrencies, Gemini has got you covered with cryptopedia. This section of the platform offers free information on how crypto works, different coins, blockchain technology, and more.
If you are looking to take your crypto skills to the next level, this resource is perfect for you. Even I use it from time to time!
What Cryptocurrencies Are Available On Gemini?
On Gemini, you will be able to operate with 51 cryptocurrencies at the time of writing this Gemini crypto review. That being said, this number is always increasing and as such, it is likely it is higher at the time you are reading.
The cryptocurrencies listed in Gemini are some of the most popular and reliable in the crypto space. While you won’t be able to find new projects that have just launched, you can be sure the project is not a scam. This is great news for beginners as it will help you avoid risky coins.
The coins supported by Gemini at this time are:
Bitcoin (BTC)
Ether (ETH)
Litecoin (LTC)
Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Zcash (ZEC)
Filecoin (FIL)
Dogecoin (DOGE)
Tezos (XTZ)
0x (ZRX)
1INCH (1INCH)
Aave (AAVE)
Alchemix (ALCX)
Amp (AMP)
Ankr Network (ANKR)
Axie Infinity (AXS)
Bancor Network (BNT)
BarnBridge (BOND)
Basic Attention (BAT)
Balancer (BAL)
Chainlink (LINK)
Compound (COMP)
Cryptex (CTX)
Curve (CRV)
Dai (DAI)
Decentraland (MANA)
Enjin (ENJ)
Fantom (FTM)
The Graph (GRT)
Gemini Dollar (GUSD)
Injective Protocol (INJ)
Kyber Network (KNC)
Livepeer (LPT)
Loopring (LRC)
Maker (MKR)
Mirror Protocol (MIR)
Moss Carbon Credit (MCO2)
Orchid (OXT)
Pax Gold (PAXG)
Polygon (MATIC)
Ren (REN)
The Sandbox (SAND)
Skale (SKL)
Smooth Love Potion (SLP)
Somnium Space (CUBE)
Storj (STORJ)
SushiSwap (SUSHI)
Synthetix (SNX)
Terra (LUNA)
TerraUSD (UST)
Uma (UMA)
Uniswap (UNI)
Yearn Finance (YFI)
If you are interested to know what cryptocurrencies are supported at the time of reading, you can check out Gemini’s official article.
What Is Gemini’s Fee Structure Like?
In terms of fees, Gemini may not be the best platform if you’re short on cash. This is because the fees charged by the exchange for low-value transactions are higher than those charged by other exchanges. Gemini uses a fee structure in which the less money you move, the bigger the fee percentage you will incur.
Something we must point out is that Gemini’s fee structure is especially complicated when compared to other exchanges. The exchange uses different fee schedules depending on the product you are using and the usage level. This means you should expect different fees when using the mobile or web app, Active Trader, API, etc.
While the fees for mobile and web transactions are the same at this time, that could change in the future. As such, we recommend you check the latest information here. At this time you can expect to pay a transaction fee between $0.99 for orders under $10 to $1.49 for orders over $200.
On the other hand, Gemini will not charge you any fees when you deposit or withdraw money… Well, kind of. Gemini gives its users 10 free withdrawals per month, after that there is a fee. This means that you can easily work around these fees by organizing your withdrawals accordingly.
Other fees will be for more advanced features like Custody, APIs, etc. As such, we won’t be discussing them in this Gemini crypto review. However, you can check that information here.
Does Gemini offer good customer support?
In the past, Gemini has been criticized for offering poor or limited customer support.
However, let’s be honest, this tends to be the case for most cryptocurrency exchanges, especially the more popular.
This is because many people join the crypto world without understanding the decentralized nature of crypto. This results in complaints like “I transferred 1BTC to the wrong address and Gemini didn’t help”.
In addition to offering a fairly extensive support knowledge base, Gemini also offers support via ticket or email. Waiting times tend to be lower than 48 hours for non-critical issues, so we would say this is on the faster side of the crypto world.
We have found that Gemini’s customer support team is knowledgeable and extremely professional, usually being able to solve the issue on the first interaction. We recommend, however, that you provide as many details as possible in your first message. This will help get your issue resolved as quickly as possible.
Is Gemini secure?
You can rest assured that Gemini does everything it can to ensure the security of your crypto. Let’s talk about some of the main security features it uses.
Gemini uses cold storage to prevent bad actors from stealing its customers’ crypto. This is because cold storage is entirely disconnected from the internet, which means fewer points of failure are available.
In addition to this, as multi-signature wallets are used, no single employee can authorize the movement of funds. All of these wallets are distributed around the globe and backed up, further enhancing security.
The exchange also complies with certifications like SOC 1 Type 2 exam and SOC 2 Type 2 exams, which has resulted in it obtaining an ISO 27001 certification. By following the latest and best security practices, Gemini has been able to assure regulators and users that security is paramount to them.
Finally, you will also have access to account security features to further increase the safety of your account. By offering Two-factor authentication (2FA) and hardware security keys, you can add additional steps to ensure that no one can access your account if the password is compromised.
You can also create a list of approved addresses. This will prevent any transaction from being done to a wallet that has not been added before. If someone manages to gain access to your account, they won’t be able to withdraw the crypto. Nice, right?
Finally, as all private data is encrypted using hashes and salt, your account will always be safe. If a hacker were to gain access to Gemini’s database, they would only gain access to gibberish.
Conclusion
It is easy to see why Gemini is one of the most popular exchanges out there.
The exchange offers top-notch security and support for the most popular cryptocurrencies. It also provides its users with varied features to make the best out of their crypto and most importantly… It is fully operational in the United States, which is not always the case.
Unfortunately, we are not really fans of the fees. These are not only higher than those of other exchanges but the information provided by the exchange is not always that clear. This is especially strange when you consider that Gemini wants to allow investors to acquire amounts lower than $10… But by doing so you would be paying more than 10% in fees!
What we love the most about Gemini is its commitment to crypto education. The exchange offers so many educational resources that even users of other exchanges find themselves using them. Cryptopedia counts with support from some of the biggest personalities in the crypto space, providing you with great insights.
All in all, Gemini is an incredible exchange for traders to use. Sure, the fees are higher but we believe the features, design, and support justify it. That being said, if you remain unconvinced, you might want to check some of our other exchange reviews.