If 2018 was the year of the Crypto Winter, the 2019 thawing is surely now sufficient to be classed as a new season. The price of Bitcoin has been on a steady upward trajectory, the number of crypto wallet users is in growth, and even Facebook now wants in on digital currency. With the markets on the up, it’s the right time to be in the crypto exchange business. After all, whether you’re a newbie or a seasoned enthusiast, a HODLer or a day trader, everyone in cryptocurrency relies on exchanges at some point or another. Of course, with such a vast choice of exchanges on the market today, which one you choose will depend on your specific needs. Here, we round up the best crypto exchanges for all kinds of users. Best for Fees - Binance Binance has become known for a seemingly never-ending series of innovations. They were the first exchange to issue its own token (BNB), the first to become a launchpad for new blockchain startups, and recently the first to launch its own blockchain. Despite all this, it’s worth remembering that one of the main reasons that Binance rose to prominence in the first place was because of its highly competitive fee structure. Maker and taker fees reduce from 0.1% based on increased trading volume. This fee model makes it an attractive platform for day traders. BNB holders can get a 25% reduction on trading fees, making the exchange token an attractive investment for regular Binance users. Best for Number of Coin Pairs - HitBTC Traders of the more obscure alt coins are often frustrated with the fact that their selected instruments aren’t available on many of the more well-known exchanges. This is where HitBTC comes in. According to CoinMarketCap, HitBTC is currently listing nearly 800 trading pairs, including many alt coins sitting firmly outside the top 100. A major exchange making an effort to keep this many trading pairs isn’t just good news for altcoin traders. It also helps inject liquidity across the entire cryptocurrency markets. Best for Newcomers - XCOEX One of the challenges for newcomers to the crypto space is the high barriers to entry. Although navigating cryptocurrency exchanges is far from impossible, it’s still unnecessarily complicated. XCOEX aims to overcome all this. The exchange is a new offering, with simplicity and ease of use being the USP. The interface design is intuitive whether you’re using it on a smartphone or desktop. Wallets are free to use and integrated into the software, and all funds are stored offline in cold storage. For June only, XCOEX is offering a promotion aimed at onboarding more new users. Each day, the exchange will give away $1,000 worth of Bitcoin Cash to one eligible user selected at random. To be in with a chance, visit the promotion page, sign up for an account and deposit $20. Once you’ve joined the Telegram group and followed the Twitter account, you could be among those selected for the daily bounty! Best for Seasoned Traders - Bittrex Like HitBTC, Bittrex also offers access to a wide range of trading pairs — around 350 at the time of writing. However, it’s the transaction speed that really sets it apart. Seasoned day traders know that seconds can make all the difference when entering or exiting a position. Bittrex has a super-fast order matching engine that means nobody is ever left waiting. Speed, combined with the high number of trading pairs, means that Bittrex is a highly liquid exchange. Also reassuring for its users is the fact that Bittrex has so far never been hacked. Best for Futures Trading - BitMEX If short-trading is your thing, then futures trading is for you, and the undisputed king of Bitcoin futures trading is BitMEX. It does one thing, and it does it well. On BitMEX, traders can access a range of crypto futures contracts, including Cardano, EOS, and XRP. BitMEX’s margin trading offering stands out for a few reasons. Firstly, it allows higher leverage (up to 100x) with a lower margin and smaller minimum contract value. BitMEX also takes the index price of the asset being traded, not the last traded price, which helps to prevent manipulation of the order book. At this stage in 2019, if you disagree with any of the five choices listed here, you can take your pick from around 250 other options. Choosing an exchange is a personal decision based on a variety of factors. As with everything in cryptocurrency, the best advice is to always do your own research.