Best Crypto Exchange in UAE and Dubai (November, 2023)

This guide helps users to find the best crypto exchange in UAE for investing and trading with digital currencies. Cryptocurrency trading platforms often lack security, transparency and liquidity. Furthermore, the growing number of reliable and scam exchanges in the United Arab Emirates makes choosing the ideal option for individual needs challenging.

For investors to select the ideal service, they need to be aware of nontransparent (scam) providers and understand the unique features of platforms, keeping in mind that they are not protected in case of the exchange’s bankruptcy. To help investors make an informed decision, considering different investment goals, we have reviewed and compared essential information to choose the ideal cryptocurrency exchange in UAE.

This guide evaluates, compares and reviews 174 exchanges available in UAE to help users find the ideal platform for their needs. The highest-rated exchanges in UAE are listed below, followed by in-depth reviews, comparisons and FAQs.

Top 5 Crypto Exchanges In UAE

1. eToro – Best Beginners Exchange in UAE
2. OKX – Highest Liquidity Exchange
3. Binance – Best Availability of Coins Crypto Exchange
4. Huobi – Most Secure Exchange
5. ByBit – Best Crypto Trading Platform Exchange

The best cryptocurrency exchanges in UAE and Dubai are reviewed below including a list of key features.

1. eToro

eToro is the best crypto exchange in UAE for beginners. They offer low trading fees of 1% on all crypto orders. The eToro trading platform has a variety of trading tools for beginners. It is accessible on multiple devices including web and mobile apps and supports 27 cryptocurrencies. 

eToro trading platform is user-friendly thanks to its intuitive design, simple order types and variety of educational materials. It is well known for its social copy trading feature that allows users to copy traders from experienced traders.

With 25million users world wide eToro is a reputable exchange. It is also considered safe because it is re regulated by 4 tier-one regulators, including the SEC, FCA, CySEC, and ASIC.

eToro customer support is available 24-7 through email, phone and live chat.

Leveraged and speculative product. Not suitable for all investors. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money. Capital is at risk.

 Cryptoassets are unregulated& highly speculative. No consumer protection. Capital at risk.

Read the full eToro UAE review

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2. OKX

OKX is the world’s biggest derivatives exchange (by users and trading volume), established in 2014. With an average spot trading volume of $1,789,789,248/day it’s liquidity is high. They offer access to a variety of crypto products including crypto spot, futures, options, and derivatives trading. Their trading platform has a built-in NFT Marketplace with access to the biggest brands including CryptoPunks, Otherdeed for Otherside, and ENS. OKX charges low trading fees from 0.1% (taker fee) and 0.08% (maker fee). It is among the cheapest crypto exchanges in the UAE.

OKX’s crypto trading platform has 3 versions:

• Simple Trading Platform: offers simple and intuitive buy, sell, and conversion options and is better suited for beginners
• Active Trading Platform: offers access to advanced trading features (market limit and stop orders, conditional orders and customisable market charts), and advanced trading strategies (margin trading, automated trading, bot trading)
• OKX crypto app: mirrors the trading experience of the desktop version

OKX offers access to a variety of crypto markets including 365 crypto assets and 675 crypto pairs. All cryptocurrencies can be traded with up to 10:1 leverage. With a slippage score of 500, OKX trade execution is reliable.

OKX has an extensive education section for beginner and advanced traders. It is accessible under the “Learn” section and features trading courses, webinars, articles ands videos.

Read the full OKX Review

Rated: Top rated platforms for crypto trading in UAE

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3. Binance

Binance is the world’s largest crypto exchange with a daily trading volume of $22,371,084,011 (BTC). Users have access to over 600 different cryptocurrency instruments including crypto spot, futures, options, derivatives and NFTs. Their platform supports a wide range of fiat currencies including EUR, USD, GBP, AUD, HKD, and INR. The platform’s deep liquidity ensures fast and reliable trade execution.

Binance trading platform is available as a web, desktop and mobile app. It offers a variety of order types including stop, limit, stop-limit market and trailing orders. Users can access beginners and advanced trading tools such as moving averages, margin trading and real time charting.

Binance offers access to a free crypto card (Visa Debit Card).

Binance trading fees rage from 0.08 – 0.10% maker/taker. Trading fees can be further reduced by holding BNB tokens (or by taking part in the Binance VIP Program). Bitcoin trading is available at zero-fees (no network fees and no maker/taker fees). Binance doesn’t charge deposit or withdrawal fees, which make their overall trading costs among the lowest in the industry.

Binance Earn program offers access to passive earning including:

• Crypto staking
• Liquidity farming
• Crypto mining
• High-yield crypto savings accounts
• Automated market makers (AMMs)

Binance has a Financial Services Permission (FSP)from the Abu Dhabi Global Market (ADGM). Furthermore, they have a MVP licence fro the Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) in Dubai.

Read the full Binance UAE review

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4. Huobi

Huobi is a global cryptocurrency exchange based in Seychelles. They have high security standards including multi-signature cold storage (98% of client assets), a Security Reserve Fund (20,000 BTC total value), two-Factor Authentication (2FA) and an anti-phishing code confirmation. Huobi offers access to 446 cryptocurrencies. They also offers other crypto products such as crypto futures, options, derivatives loans and yield products.

Charting tools available on Huobi’s crypto trading platform are chart index, market charts and order book. Users can make use of multiple order types such as market, limit and stop limit orders. Trading styles available to users are: automated trading, margin trading and bot implementation. The platform is accessible through web and mobile (Android & iOS)

Huboi users can participate in high yield saving opportunities (up to 50% APY) including crypto staking, yield farming and crypto lending.

Huboi charges a base trading fee of 0,20% on most crypto assets. Fees can be further reduced (by up to 65%) by holding HT tokens.

Read the full Huobi review

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5. ByBit

ByBit is a crypto derivatives exchange based in Dubai (United Arab Emirates). They support 400+ crypto coins. Users have also access to other crypto markets including spot, options, futures, margin, P2P and NFTs. Trading pairs available on ByBit include BTC/USDT, BTC/USD and XRP/USD.

ByBit trading platform supports a variety of order types such as market, limit, stop loss, conditional orders and instant buy options. The platform is available as a web and mobile app (Android and iOS). Users have access to copy trading and automated trading (through bot integration). With 100,000 transactions/second trade execution on the platform is fast.

Passive income options offered by ByBit are listed below:

• Crypto staking
• Liquidity mining
• Dual asset farming
• DeFi mining

Bybit charges 0.01%/0.06% maker/taker fee. They additionaly charge a 0.06% net platform trading fee and 0.02% funding fee.

Deposits on ByBit are available through bank transfer, credit/debit card, cryptocurrency and Paypal. Withdrawals are only available through cryptocurrencies.

Read the full ByBit review

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How To Choose The Ideal Cryptocurrency Exchange and Platform in UAE?

Criteria for finding an exchange with the best crypto trading platform in UAE are listed below.

• Reputation. Choosing a reputable exchange increases traders safety and helps avoiding scams. Exchanges reputation needs to be checked considering the following criteria: regulatory compliance (licenses), security, number of users, positive users feedback and non-hacked history record.  
• Transparent Proof of Reserves. Transparent proof of reserves reduce the risk of loss due to exchanges insolvency or fraud. Exchanges with transparent proof of reserves should be preferred. The most common proof of reserve ratio is 1:1.
• Liquidity. Exchanges with higher liquidity should be preferred. They have faster trade execution, greater market depth and lover pricing which increases chances for profitable trading. 
• Fees. Two types of fees need to be considered: trading fees (maker/taker fees, flat fees and volume based fees) and non trading fees (deposit & withdrawal fees, conversion fees). Exchanges with an overall lover fee structure should be preferred.
• Crypto Trading Instruments. Exchanges with a wider range of crypto trading instruments should be preferred. The following instruments should be considered: spot trading, margin trading, futures trading, options trading, swap trading and crypto CFDs
• Range of Crypto Products. Exchanges with a wider range of crypto products should be preferred. These increase diversification, flexibility and overall chances for profit. The most common products are cryptocurrencies, NFTs, ICOs, ETFs, derivatives, DeFi products and staking (lending) products.

Some of the best exchanges to buy cryptocurrencies in UAE are eToro, OKX, Binance, Huobi and Bybit.

Top UAE Exchanges Compared

Key features of the top rated exchanges for UAE traders and investors are compared in the table below.

Exchange	eToro	OKX	Binance	Huobi	ByBit
Fees (Maker/Taker)	1%/1%	0.10%/0.02%	0.08% /0.1%	0.04%/0.05%	0.1% /0.1%
Liquidity/Spot Volume (BTC)	$2,739,612	$89,000	$806,899,070	$36,500	$53,964,331
Number Of Cryptocurrencies	30+	400+	600+	400+	100+
Available Crypto Markets	Spot trading	Spot, derivatives, options & futures, perpetuals & swaps, NFTs	Spot, derivatives, options & futures, perpetuals & swaps, NFTs, P2P	Spot, derivatives, options & futures, perpetuals & swaps, NFTs, P2P	Spot trading, perpetuals & futures
Other Crypto Products	Margin trading	Staking, Margin trading, Liquidity Mining, Bot trading, Automated trading, NFTs	Staking, Margin trading, Liquidity Mining, Saving, NFTs	Staking, Margin trading, Liquidity Mining, NFTs	Staking, Cloud mining
Proof of Reserves	N/A	1:1	1:1	1:1	1:1
Licences	FCA, CySec, ASIC	MFSA	N/A	FSA, GFSC	N/A

Popularity Of Crypto Trading Platforms in UAE

Number of business24-7 users from the UAE that selected these exchanges in the last year are compared in the table below.

Exchanges	Popularity (number of UAE users)
eToro	4,412
OKX	9,845
Binance	10,634
Huobi	7,398
ByBit	5,976

How Are Cryptocurrencies Regulated in UAE

Cryptocurrency regulation in UAE has two legislation areas and regulation bodies. The Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) is authorised to adopt a unified legal framework overseeing the crypto market of UAE on the government level. The Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) regulates digital assets exclusively in the financial free-zone area of Dubai.

Crypto exchanges and platforms classified as Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) must secure a license from either the SCA (the primary licensing body on the government level) or the Dubai Virtual Asset Regulatory Authority (VARA) (on the economic free zone level) to legally offer cryptocurrency services in the UAE.

Is Cryptocurrency Trading and Investing Legal in UAE?

Yes, investing and trading with cryptocurrencies in UAE is regulated by the Securities and Commodities Authority (SCA) and, therefore, is legal. The SCA’s Decision No. 23 of 2020 concerning Crypto Assets Activities Regulation (CAAR) regulates the offering, issuing, listing and trading with cryptocurrencies in UAE at the government level. Citizens of the United Arab Emirates are allowed to trade, hold, exchange and invest in cryptocurrencies.

Tips For Beginners

If you are just starting out with crypto trading, there are a few things to consider before signing up with with a crypto exchange.

Start Investing in Stable Coins

The crypto market is highly volatile and a few mistakes can hurt your finances. Make sure you start trading with alt-coins (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple) which have proven to be more stable and receptive for beginners mistakes.

Use a Free Demo Account to Get Started

Always start with a trading platform that offers a free demo account. This allows you to get a feel for the platform, the trading dashboard and to test your trading strategy before investing real money.

Make Use Of Copy Trading

Picking the right cryptocurrencies and the right trades is crucial to your financial success. Copy trading enables you to copy portfolios and trades from seasoned investors based on their past performance, instead of picking them on your own.

Avoid Leveraged Positions

All fo the recommended exchanges offer trading with leverage to a different extend. As promising as it sounds to trade with borrowed money, its is a double-edged sword and nothing that unexperienced traders should make use of.

Video Summary

Watch a short recap of the highest rated choices in the video below.

Conclusion

Trading with cryptocurrency is an excellent investment to make financial gains and grow wealth. However, with the growing number of exchanges in the UAE, potential traders need to gather, compare and evaluate essential data to choose the ideal service for their needs.

In this guide, we have worked hard for our readers to keep them safe and informed by comparing, evaluating and reviewing the services of different exchanges. We have previously removed scams and unreliable offers lacking security features to help them make and informed decision. Our analysis results in a list of the best crypto exchanges in UAE, which is summed up in the table below.

	Exchange	Overall Score	Best For	Fees (Maker/Taker)	Spot Volume (BTC)
#1	eToro	4.9	Best overall exchange	1%/1%	$2,739,612
#2	OKX	4.8	Best for Low Fees	0.10%/0.02%	$89,000
#3	Huobi	4.8	Best for security	0.04%/0.05%	$36,500
#4	Binance	4.7	Best for available assets	0.08% /0.1%	$806,899,070
#5	ByBit	4.6	Best for mobile	0.1% /0.1%	$53,964,331

Keep in mind to do your own research and to consider your preferences before making a final decision.

Stefan Grasic

Stefan Grasic (Dipl.-Jur) is the owner of Business24-7 and has considerable experience in the financial and investment niche, but also enjoys writing articles for the general readership. Stefan is an active stock, CFD, crypto and general investment researcher, advising blockchain companies such as Blockbird, GoCrypto, Hive Terminal at their start up level. Stefan began trading in 2010 as a college student. Money was tight,…

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