The testing
For an exchange or card we open a real account, complete identity checks and deposit by the routes a normal customer would use. We buy and sell, move coins between venues and then withdraw to our own wallets and bank accounts, timing each step.
For a wallet we set it up from the box or the app store, back it up, restore it on a second device and send funds in and out. For trackers and research tools we connect our own accounts and check the numbers against exchange statements.
What counts most
- Fees we actually paid, including spreads and withdrawal charges, not only the headline rate.
- Withdrawal times and any holds, reviews or limits we ran into.
- Custody: who holds the keys, and what happens to customer funds if the company fails.
- Security history: breaches, outages and how the company handled them.
- Licensing and regional availability, stated as the company publishes them.
- Only then features, design and support.
How the score works
Scores run from 0 to 10 with one decimal. A 9 is rare and means we would be comfortable pointing a careful friend to it; a score under 6 means the problems we found outweigh what the product does well.
Scores are comparable within a category. An exchange at 8.5 and a hardware wallet at 8.5 are both strong for what they are, not interchangeable.
Updates and corrections
Fees, licences and features change. When we retest or learn that something in a review is wrong, we update the page and add a correction note that says what changed. To report an error, see the contact page.