Gate.io vs Gemini: A Close Crypto Exchange Race
Welcome! Today’s article is going to explore two of our favorite cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. First, we’ve got Gate.io, an exchange founded in 2017 that had a storming couple of years but is now recognized as one of the top ten exchanges globally. It also happens to have the most extensive range of altcoins going! Then, up against them, we have Gemini. Owned by the Facebook-famous Winklevoss twins, Gemini is one of the world’s most compliant, well-regulated, and safety-conscious exchanges.
In essence, we have one experimental exchange and one rigid exchange. These two couldn’t be more different, which makes them ripe for a comparison! Let’s go.
Fees
Gate.io Fees
As shown in the blue section below, Gate.io’s fees are pretty friendly, starting at 0.2% for both makers and takers. Interestingly, if you look at the bottom two VIP tiers, 15 and 16, you’ll notice some negative fees there. Essentially, what this means is that you can earn rebates for making trades. Of course, this only applies to those paying their fees in GT (Gate Token), which is the platform’s native currency.
Gemini Fees
The fee schedule indicated below is quite different from all of their rivals, with a taker fee of 0.35% and a maker fee of 0.1% representing quite a chasm. Unfortunately, that 0.35% fee is among the highest popular crypto exchanges, making Gemini a more expensive choice. To compare with Gate.io, you’d have to trade over $2.5m per month worth of Bitcoin and other digital currencies to get the equivalent low fees.
Gate.io vs Gemini: Gate.io wins this round for their low trading fees and rebate system.
Sign Up & KYC Experience
Gate.io Onboarding (USA Friendly)
- Visit Gate.io here
- Provide your country, a username, an email, password, and a referral ID:
- Provide a fund password (to be used for making withdrawals)
- Click ‘next’ and complete the CAPTCHA slider
- Your account has been made, but you’ll need to click the activation link, found in an email sent to the address you provided
- Log in again
That’s it! You aren’t forced to do KYC or AML procedures to deposit crypto on the platform, meaning you can trade almost anonymously. However, you will need to do KYC for withdrawals or fiat currency interactions (buying crypto directly). In addition, you aren’t forced to set up two-factor authentication, though you absolutely should for the sake of your security.
Joining Gemini (USA Friendly)
The explanation below applies to both the website and the mobile app
- Head over to Gemini by clicking this link
- Create an account with an email address, password, and full name
- Go to your email and verify it with the code provided
- Add your location and a phone number, then submit the code tested to you
- Log in to your online banking
- Submit one document to verify your identity, a passport or driving license will do, and one document to prove your address (like a bank statement or utility bill)
- Set up two-factor authentication
- Once approved you can make bank transfers immediately and since your funds are insured, Gemini will let your trade the crypto before the payment has cleared
As you may have noticed above, Gemini requires its users to connect to their online banking as a different degree of identity verification and make transactions smoother. We know no other crypto exchange that forces this (Coinbase offers it as an option), and so many see it as quite invasive.
Gate.io vs Gemini: Gate.io wins for its KYC-free trading opportunities and more anonymous features. Both exchanges are welcome in the USA.
Ease of Use & Feel of Website or App
Gate.io UX/UI
We need to start with the main difference that Gate.io offers traders a comprehensive cryptocurrency exchange platform. What we mean by this is that it’s full of tokens, live prices, moving charts, constantly updating figures, and much more (see below). There’s so much data to enjoy while browsing the trading pairs, such as the trading volume, historical pricing, and the highs and lows. Gemini is quite different, as you’ll see in the next section.
With all of the bells and whistles in a secure platform, Gate.io certainly isn’t as easy for beginners to use. Still, it’s comparable in style with its competitors, especially Poloniex and KuCoin.
Using Gemini
Gemini offers their users a ‘Streamlined Trading View,’ which is about the most straightforward transaction interface in the cryptocurrency exchange marketplace. As you can see in the image below, the order form is designed to help you buy and sell cryptocurrency with a fixed USD amount regularly.
As well as this, Gemini, of course, offers users a proper trading interface to do your trading and investing, but if user reviews are anything to go by, the platform isn’t as well-built or comprehensive as Gate.io. Gemini offers no margin trading or crypto derivatives, and the trading fees are higher.
Gate.io vs Gemini: We are giving this round to Gemini to offer a simple trading interface for beginners.
Deposit Methods
Getting your funds into Gate.io
Gate.io does not offer users any fiat wallet deposit options at this time. Therefore, the best option is to purchase a stablecoin, such as USDT, and use it instead of USD.
Making deposits on Gemini
Gemini users can deposit via ACH or Wire Transfer. ACH is free, with a $100,000 daily account withdrawal limit. The bank charges wires, but there’s no maximum withdrawal amount.
Gate.io vs Gemini: Gemini wins.
Instant Buy Options (Buying with a Credit or Debit card)
Make purchases on Gate.io
A year ago, Gate.io was one of the weakest crypto exchanges for fiat currency purchases. Now, it’s one of the best. Thanks to partnerships with liquidity providers such as Banxa, Simplex, Advcash, and Mercuryo, they now offer customers an easy way to convert capital into crypto through the website, using their debit or credit card. Prices and charges vary. Another partnership with Legend Trading allows users to buy crypto with a bank transfer.
Purchasing crypto on Gemini
You can make instant purchases with ACH transfer and debit cards (credit cards are not accepted). Debit card transactions are charged at 3.49% plus trading fees, which makes Gemini cheaper than both Coinbase and Binance in this regard.
Gate.io vs Gemini: Gate.io offers a better range of options.
Trading Experience
Trading with Gate.io: Margin trading and derivatives
Gate.io offers users over 800 cryptocurrencies and more than 1,400 trading pairs to choose from. This is more than any other reputable and secure crypto exchange in the industry. With a fee schedule that offers low transaction costs and a total volume averaging just below $1 billion per day, the diverse range of coins is met by excellent market liquidity. The site and company have both improved notably, bringing great value to the market. You can also engage in margin trading, spot trading, crypto derivatives, and more.
Trade on Gemini’s crypto exchange
As shown in the Ease of Use section, Gemini has made it easy for traders to make exchanges. However, some crypto exchanges can be a little complicated, losing their beginner-level audience, so Gemini’s strength is how it caters to different competence levels of traders. It also has one of the top-rated handheld cryptocurrency exchanges, with the mobile app earning a 4.8 rating on the App Store (Gate.io’s user reviews are not great, with a 2.4 score).
In comparison with Gate.io, there are only 50+ cryptocurrencies and 70+ trading pairs listed.
Gate.io vs Gemini: Gate is better as an exchange platform, but Gemini offers a superior mobile app.
Reputation and Security
Gate.io’s history
While Gate.io has never been hacked, the crypto exchange it was rebranded from suffered a major hack. Bter.com, the predecessor to Gate.io, was exploited for 7,170 BTC in 2015.
As the team was figuring out how to repay investors, the price of Bitcoin kept rising, making it almost impossible to pay their debts. Then, to make matters worse, China banned crypto, forcing the company to close. Investors were never repaid. Later, the team relocated that core group of developers to create Gate.io. Some see this history as quite unethical, but Gate.io has done a lot to right its wrongs.
Two-factor authentication, bounty hunting, and several other security features make Gate pretty secure. However, CER.live, which ranks crypto exchanges by security, places them 8th in the world. They were previously 1st.
The word on Gemini
In the CER.live rankings, Gemini is currently 31st as the highest-ranked exchange that doesn’t offer a bug bounty. Perhaps they feel that they don’t need it since they’re institutionally recognized in the US as the most secure cryptocurrency platform in the country. In addition, companies see Gemini’s zero-hack past as an assurance of low risk.
The Winklevoss twins wanted to build a company and exchange that could help to legitimize cryptocurrency. Where many companies are lenient, Gemini is strict. They are the most regulated, audited, and financially compliant platform globally, welcoming risk-averse traders and institutional capital. It’s a strong strategy that is serving them well.
Gate.io vs Gemini: Gemini has the better reputation.
Gate.io vs Gemini: Which of these crypto exchanges wins?
We could give a winner based on many different factors. Gemini is a more transparent and trustworthy company, but Gate.io is a better exchange for ambitious altcoin hunters. Gemini has a better mobile app, but Gate offers margin trading and crypto derivatives. It goes on.
Ultimately, we see Gate.io as the better exchange and trading platform, but Gemini as a better place for absolute beginners to deposit their capital and trade.
