Gate.io vs Huobi Global: Features and Fees 2021
Welcome! Join us as we explore two formerly Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges, Gate.io and Huobi Global. We will be looking at their trading fees, how instant deposits work (or don’t), how secure they are, and more. Let’s go!
Fees
Gate.io Trading Fees
Before we explain the fees, take a look at this image.
We’ve added blue lines to show you the maker and taker fees. It’s a little complicated, as there are two fees. The small fee, appearing on the right of the forward-slash, is the fee percentage when paid in Gate Token (GT) and notably reaches -0.01% (rebate) for high-volume traders. Standard fees start at 0.2% for makers and takers, with the fees paid in the cryptocurrency traded.
Huobi Global’s Platform Fees
Huobi’s fee structure is a little bit simpler to follow. Everyone pays 0.2% for their trades, whether they’re a maker or taker, unless:
- They opt to turn on the HT deduction service and pay fees in Huobi Token (HT) – see image below for discount rate
- They subscribe to become a ‘Professional User’, which is explained here in this VIP guide and is shown below
Huobi Global vs Gate.io: Trading digital assets is marginally more affordable with Gate.io.
Sign Up & KYC Experience
Becoming a Gate.io Trader (USA Friendly)
To set up your account, follow these easy steps:
- Head over to Gate.io
- Enter the details required: country, username, password, and referral ID (ENTER HERE)
- When asked, add a different password for fund withdrawals, as an additional layer of security
- Your account is made, but you must first confirm ownership by clicking the activation link in your emails
- Log in again and set up Two Factor Authentication
While you aren’t forced to do KYC checks on Gate.io, it is a requirement for those who want to buy crypto or withdraw it. So essentially, if you have coins already and want to deposit them and do some trading, you can do it anonymously, but you will need KYC to take any profits out of the platform.
Joining Huobi Global
We should say now, Huobi Global isn’t quite so ‘Global,’ as users in the USA, UK, Canada, Taiwan, Japan, and Israel are banned. The ban aims to deal with a growing number of Virtual Private Network (VPN) users in those countries.
If you’re based in a compatible country, here’s what you need to do:
- Head to Huobi’s website
- Click ‘Sign Up’ on the top navigation bar
- Choose to sign up with your mobile phone or email address (for 2FA)
- Fill in your country, phone number or email address, password, and this FREE invitation code from your friends at Coin Clarity:
- You’ll now need to confirm your account via email or SMS, simply follow the instructions sent to you
To continue with KYC verification, you need to try and make a deposit or withdrawal to trigger the pop-up. You’ll then choose between ‘personal verification’ and ‘institutional verification.’ Next, you must submit a wide range of personal details and photos/scans of your ID (passport, driver’s license, or identity card). If your computer has no webcam, you should do this process on your mobile phone, as you will be asked to take a selfie for facial recognition purposes.
Huobi Global vs Gate.io: Gate seems way more relaxed about KYC.
Ease of Use & Feel of Website or App
Gate.io – Quality services throughout
Gate.io supports its users by offering a fully comprehensive platform that contains everything they might need. You can find staking options with high yield returns, futures trading, options trading, borrowing and lending services, and a ‘Startup’ platform to invest in up-and-coming digital assets. Few crypto exchanges are as well serviced as Gate.io, though this abundance of services can also cause beginners to be overwhelmed. However, we think you’ll get the hang of things pretty quickly, thanks to intuitive user interfaces.
Using Huobi Global
Huobi Global is one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges, handling billions of dollars worth of trades each day. That means huge trading volumes and liquidity are managed in one of the most exceptional and aesthetically pleasing interfaces this industry has ever seen. We are big fans of the order book, the moving charts, how the data is displayed, and more — top marks for design, as it makes the ease of use far better than many rival companies.
Huobi Global vs Gate.io: Huobi is perhaps the most handsome crypto exchange on the market.
Deposit Methods
Getting your funds into Gate.io
Sorry, at this time, there are no options for instant deposits of fiat currencies like GBP, USD, or EUR. Read about purchases in the next section.
Making deposits on Huobi Global
There are a few options:
- GBP – Faster Payments and Advcash
- EUR – SEPA
- USD – US Domestic Wire Transfer, SWIFT, International Wire, Silvergate Network (SEN)
Huobi vs Gate.io: Huobi takes this round.
Instant Buy Options (Buying with a Credit or Debit card)
Buying digital assets on Gate.io
Perhaps the lack of a deposit option is founded on the notion that their instant buy options are superb. Thanks to their liquidity partners – Banxa, Simplex, Advcash, Mercuryo, and Coinify, Gate.io is now one of the best places to buy crypto (it wasn’t always this way). In addition, price comparison makes this fiat-to-crypto exchange tool for credit and debit cards extra-useful.
Purchasing crypto on Huobi Global
Huobi Global’s versatile payment methods provide users with several ways to buy BTC and other cryptocurrencies for a fair price:
- Credit card
- Debit card
- Bank Transfer
As well as Visa, Mastercard, and online banking, there’s another method for purchases, sales, deposits, and withdrawals that is getting a lot of attention, and that’s P2P/C2C. While Binance has arguably the best P2P platform, Huobi isn’t far behind. Buy or sell directly with other users via several different payment methods – check the table here.
Huobi Global vs Gate.io: We can’t pick one site here; both are world-class.
Trading Experience
Trading with Gate.io
While daily trading volume might not quite match up to Huobi Global, Gate.io is epic in its own way. There are over 100 BTC trading pairs and more than 300 ETH and USDT trading pairs, totaling more than 1,400 through the combination of over 800 different cryptocurrencies. Few exchanges would even dare to try and catch up, but of course, many of these altcoins present such high volatility and risk that they are off-putting to most.
The last year has seen Gate.io comfortably becoming one of the top 10 exchanges in the world for trading experience. Most improved exchange award? Undoubtedly.
Trading with Huobi Global
Here’s the fact that pretty much answers this section. Huobi has one of the highest trading volumes per account holder stats of almost any crypto exchange. That means that day traders, institutions, professionals, and high volume traders all see this as a top-quality platform, despite receiving 1/20th the traffic of Binance and around 1/5th the number of account holders.
You won’t be lost for choice with over 340 coins spun into more than 930 trading pairs.
Huobi global vs Gate.io: It’s a tie.
Reputation and Security
Gate.io’s history
Founded in China in 2014 as Bter.com, the start of the story is bumpy, but the end, or the present at least, is a lot smoother. When the news that China banned cryptocurrency exchanges dropped in 2017, it was a disaster, but for Bter.com, it might have been a relief, as they were not forced to repay investors (after being hacked for 7,170 BTC). They relaunched overseas under a new name, Gate.io, later that year. Those investors are well within their rights to be angry, and their claims are well-founded, but the early days of crypto were a Wild West, and for Gate.io, it was a massive lesson in security and management.
Security features on Gate.io now provide users with a sense of relief. The platform currently supports Two Factor Authentication (2FA), Bounty Hunting, and plenty of personal security settings, like the special password for withdrawals.
The word on Huobi Global
Aside from being accused of ‘wash trading’ (inflating trade volumes artificially), the exchange has a stellar reputation, with no hacks since its 2013 launch.
Gate.io or Huobi Global: Who is our review winner?
It’s incredibly close, but based on the information above and our predictions for the future of crypto exchanges, Gate.io wins.
