In bitcoin’s earliest days, you could count the number of cryptocurrency exchanges on two hands: Mt Gox, Bitstamp, Btc-e, Vircurex and a handful of others, as well as P2P exchange Localbitcoins. Today, the landscape has changed dramatically. There are now over 500 exchanges to choose from – and that number is growing with every passing week.
Also read: Bittrex Exchange is Back! Annnnnnd It’s Gone Again
There Are Now More Than 500 Cryptocurrency Exchanges
Calculating the number of crypto exchanges in the world is a lot harder than it sounds. Coinmarketcap lists 208, and there are dozens more listed on other cryptocurrency tracking sites. In addition, there are hundreds of regional exchanges that are only accessible within certain countries and continents. Canada has Einstein Exchange. Africa has Golix. Australia has ACX and will soon have Nauticus, a multi-asset exchange that is launching this year. Blockbid has also just gained its Australian license.
None of these platforms features on exchange listing sites such as Coinmarketcap. Neither do major sites such as Coinbase, because it is technically a broker (although its volume is listed on sites like Bitcoinity.org), or P2P sites like Localbitcoins and Localethereum. And what about other forms of P2P exchange such as Radar Relay, Kyber Network, and platforms that operate on the deep web? It is extremely difficult to classify and quantify the number of global crypto exchanges. All that can be said for certain is it’s north of 500 and rising.
Choice Is Good – Up to a Point
Back when the bitcoin ecosystem was beholden to just one exchange – Mt Gox – there was a single point of failure that duly crashed the markets when Gox
