CoinSwitch vs Huobi Global: Features and Fees 2021

A warm welcome from all of us here at Coin Clarity. In this comparison piece, we will be assessing India’s favorite crypto-aggregator CoinSwitch, and the formerly Chinese cryptocurrency exchange Huobi Global. 

Let’s begin.

Fees

CoinSwitch Fees

CoinSwitch gives you a quoted fee per transaction, which includes:

• Their 0.49% commission for managing the trade
• The fees from the cryptocurrency exchange they have used
• The blockchain network fees

Huobi Global Fees

• Fees for beginners (low volume traders) start at 0.2% for both makers and takers – see Figure 1
• Huobi Global features the option to turn on the HT deduction service and pay fees at a discounted rate with Huobi Token – see Figure 2
• There’s a VIP membership service, as described here.

Figure 1: Spot trading fees

Figure 2: HT deduction services trading fees

CoinSwitch vs Huobi: Huobi is more affordable.

Sign Up & KYC Experience

CoinSwitch Onboarding

1. Go to Coinswitch.co
2. Choose which app store to download CoinSwitch from based on your device (iOS or Android)
3. Download the app
4. When asked, give a mobile phone number
5. You will be sent a One-Time Passcode to input
6. Decide on a pin code for logging in to your app
7. To get KYC verified (mandatory), you need to log in to your profile and click ‘Basic Verification’
8. Follow the KYC procedure, which, as it is for Indians only, will require a copy of the Indian passport and PAN tax number. Our Indian readers can follow this guide

How to Join Huobi Global

Whilst CoinSwitch is an India-only service; it’s important to know that Huobi ‘Global’ doesn’t accept UK, US, Canadian, Taiwanese, Japanese, or Israeli users. This is because too many VPN users in these countries were putting Huobi’s reputation on the line…

1. Go to Huobi.com
2. Click ‘Sign Up’ 
3. Sign up either via your mobile phone number or your email address (for Two Factor Authentication purposes)
4. Submit the information requested about your country, phone number, email address, and password
5. Don’t forget to add this FREE invitation code from us here at Coin Clarity:
6. Confirm your registration via email or SMS
7. To get KYC verified, you must first trigger the process by trying to make a deposit or withdrawal
8. When the popup box comes, choose ‘Personal Verification’ and follow the instructions provided*, uploading scans of your personal ID, a selfie for facial recognition, and some personal details

*If your computer doesn’t have a webcam, you should complete this process on your mobile phone.

CoinSwitch vs Huobi: Huobi is a very user-friendly platform that has designed its sign-up process very well.

Ease of Use & Feel of Website or App

CoinSwitch UX/UI

• App-only, except for a largely-unused fiat-to-crypto order form facilitated by Simplex
• 14 different cryptocurrencies can be bought directly (through the above order form) with 50 different global currencies
• The app allows users to to trade, buy, or sell over 100 different cryptocurrencies
• CoinSwitch is a non-custodial platform, so you’ll need to open and grant access to a secure external wallet
• CoinSwitch is often referred to as CoinSwitch Kuber, which is part of the Indian rebrand

Using Huobi Global

• Few platforms are as large and boast as impressive a daily trading volume as Huobi Global, handling billions of dollars of crypto-movement each day
• Great liquidity for their 1,000+ trading pairs
• More than 350 coins for each person to choose from
• Aesthetically pleasing and well-designed
• Excellent order form, intuitive charts, and clever data displays

CoinSwitch vs Huobi: Huobi is the more user-friendly platform of the two.

Deposit Methods

Getting your funds into CoinSwitch Kuber

• No fiat currency deposits
• No cryptocurrency deposits
• Completely non-custodial

Making deposits on Huobi Global

• There are a number of ways to deposit from a bank account:
  • GBP deposits via Faster Payments and Advcash
  • EUR deposits via SEPA
  • USD deposits via US Domestic Wire Transfer, SWIFT, International Wire, and Silvergate Network (SEN)

CoinSwitch vs Huobi: Huobi makes it possible to deposit funds from your bank account

Instant Buy Options (Buying with a Credit or Debit card)

Make purchases on CoinSwitch

• App users can make purchases via debit and credit card
  • Choose from 100 different cryptocurrencies
• Pay with:
  • US Dollars
  • Japanese Yen
  • Russian Rubles
  • Euros
  • Indian Rupees
• CoinSwitch Kuber makes purchases fast and simple, but they will still require an external wallet as they are non-custodial

Purchasing crypto on Huobi Global

• Huobi Global accepts purchases of digital assets via:
  • Credit Card
  • Debit Card
  • Bank Transfer
• Huobi boasts a P2P platform with a huge number of payment methods, whereby users make payments directly to one another:

CoinSwitch vs Huobi: Both are well-designed for making secure purchases.

Trading Experience

Trading with CoinSwitch

• Trading digital assets on CoinSwitch is facilitated by their exchange partners:
  • Huobi Global
  • KuCoin
  • Binance
  • HitBTC
  • IDEX
  • ETHFinex 
  • Changelly
  • Bittrex
• Around 45,000 crypto-to-crypto trading pairs are created by the combination of all of the exchanges
• The trading experience is enjoyable, intuitive, and simple, removing many common complications
• Users can make both market orders and limit orders
  • Market order – executes a trade at the current market price
  • Limit order – designates a future price to buy or sell at, which will be fulfilled when the market price reaches that point

Trading with Huobi Global

• One of the highest daily trading volumes in the world
• Per person, trading volume on Huobi is higher than most rivals
• Day traders, institutions, professionals, and high-volume users all respect Huobi for its trader-centric design
• Beginners also enjoy Huobi thanks to its intuitive UX/UI design
• Deposits and withdrawals are easily fulfilled thanks to great fiat currency liquidity
• Huobi features around 360 coins and over 1,000 trading pairs

CoinSwitch vs Huobi: Both are quite different but equally enjoyable.

Reputation and Security

CoinSwitch: The Final Word

• In September 2021, CoinSwitch Kuber celebrated the ten-millionth person to become KYC verified on their exchange, officially making them the biggest platform in India and one of the largest crypto companies in the world
• Despite offering no native trading opportunities, no margin trading, no coin staking, and no other advanced features, the service’s popularity continues to soar
• CoinSwitch customer support is only available via ticket, with most queries reverting users to the Frequently Asked Questions
• The platform has never been hacked and as it handles no funds custodially, it is virtually hackerproof
• By aligning itself with reputable exchanges such as Binance, Huobi, and KuCoin, CoinSwitch has itself become one of the world’s most trusted platforms
• Despite all of the good things said of CoinSwitch, it is ultimately just a middleman, aggregating the hard work of other platforms and handling the deals for a large commission. Little risk for lots of reward – this is the reality

The Word on Huobi Global 

• Never been hacked in their 8-year history, having launched back in 2013
• One blight on the record is that they’ve been accused of ‘wash trading’, which means inflating trading volumes artificially to drive popularity to the site
• Huobi Global has gone from strength to strength since leaving China in 2017. You can read that story here

CoinSwitch vs Huobi: Both platforms have growing reputations.

CoinSwitch or Huobi Global: Who is our winner?

Congratulations to Huobi Global!