TIC UK Crypto Exchange Universe — Q1 2026
- expertise:
- CFD Trading, Forex, Derivatives, Risk Management
- credentials:
- Chartered ACII (2018) · Trading since 2012
- tested:
- 40+ forex & CFD platforms with live accounts
- expertise:
- Broker Comparison, ISA Strategy, Portfolio Management
- credentials:
- Active investor since 2013 · 11+ years experience
- tested:
- 40+ brokers with funded accounts
How We Test
Real accounts. Real money. Real trades. No demo accounts or press releases.
What we measure:
- Spreads vs advertised rates
- Execution speed and slippage
- Hidden fees (overnight, withdrawal, conversion)
- Actual withdrawal times
Scoring:
Fees (25%) · Platform (20%) · Assets (15%) · Mobile (15%) · Tools (10%) · Support (10%) · Regulation (5%)
Regulatory checks:
FCA Register verification · FSCS protection
Testing team:
Adam Woodhead (investing since 2013), Thomas Drury (Chartered ACII, 2018), Dom Farnell (investing since 2013) — 50+ platforms with funded accounts
Quarterly reviews · Corrections: info@theinvestorscentre.co.uk
Disclaimer
Not financial advice. Educational content only. We're not FCA authorised. Consult a qualified advisor before investing.
Capital at risk. Investments can fall. Past performance doesn't guarantee future results.
CFD warning. 67-84% of retail accounts lose money trading CFDs. High risk due to leverage.
Contact: info@theinvestorscentre.co.uk
Dataset summary
Real-money testing of 11 crypto-trading platforms relevant to UK users: 7 FCA-registered firms (Coinbase, eToro, IG, Bitpanda, Uphold, MoonPay, Kraken) funded with live accounts between 14 January and 7 April 2026, plus 4 non-FCA exchanges indexed for community awareness only. The dataset captures MLR cryptoasset registration status, trading fees (standard tier all-in plus advanced maker/taker), BTC/ETH/SOL spreads on GBP pairs, deposit and withdrawal speed, staking yields, custody architecture and security features. Released under CC BY 4.0.
Important: "FCA-registered" for cryptoasset firms is anti-money-laundering registration, not investment authorisation. FSCS protection covers GBP cash balances only — never crypto holdings.
What's in the file
The master CSV contains 11 rows (one per exchange) across approximately 80 columns. Column groups:
- Identification and regulation: exchange ID, FCA cryptoasset FRN (MLR registration), FCA Register URL, year founded, listing status, parent company, account type tested, plus rank columns across three TIC crypto pages.
- Trading fees and spreads: standard-tier all-in fee, advanced maker / taker fees, BTC/GBP, ETH/GBP and SOL/GBP spreads measured through real trades, deposit fees by method (bank, card, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay).
- Custody, staking and security: cold storage percentage, insurance, proof of reserves, self-custody (external wallet withdrawal allowed), 2FA, hardware security key support, withdrawal whitelisting, staking yields on ETH/SOL/USDC, lockup terms and exchange commission.
- Withdrawals, KYC and editorial: GBP bank withdrawal time and fee, BTC and ETH network fees passed through, KYC verification time, TIC overall score, community / Trustpilot / iOS / Google Play ratings with sample counts, FSCS-eligible cash balance flag and lead tester.
Download
License: CC BY 4.0. Free to use, share and adapt with attribution.
Methodology
Live funded-account testing of 7 UK FCA-registered crypto platforms between 14 January and 7 April 2026, with desk research on 4 non-FCA platforms accessible to UK clients via reverse solicitation. Total deployed capital across funded accounts: £4,200+. For each platform we measured KYC verification timing, fiat deposit method tests (Faster Payments, debit card, Apple Pay where supported), live trade execution on BTC, ETH, SOL, USDC and XRP, withdrawal tests across GBP bank rails and external crypto wallet transfers where permitted, staking yield observation over 30+ days, and customer support response sampling. Reserve and custody claims were cross-checked against published proof-of-reserves or institutional disclosure. Fee data was verified through actual trade execution, not platform-published rates alone. FCA Cryptoasset Register status checked at register.fca.org.uk. Full protocol →
Verified data
7 of 11 exchange rows verified against primary sources (live trade execution, platform fee pages, FCA Cryptoasset Register) as of 14 May 2026. The remaining 4 (Binance, OKX, Crypto.com, MEXC) are non-FCA-registered and indexed for community awareness only with publicly-typical data; flagged as placeholder until the Q2 2026 test cycle.
The team who tested this
- Adam Woodhead — Co-Founder and Senior Platform Analyst (lead tester)
- Thomas Drury — Co-Founder and Senior Trading Analyst (Chartered ACII, 2018)
- Dom Farnell — Co-Founder and Investment Strategy Lead
Sister datasets
- TIC UK Leveraged Trading Broker Universe — Q1 2026 — 17 leveraged-trading brokers measured for spreads, latency, withdrawals and support.
- TIC UK Investing Platforms — Q1 2026 — 13 UK investing platforms tested with two standardised model portfolios.
- TIC AI Trading Tools — Q1 2026 — 4 AI trading tools tested against real broker accounts.
Cite this dataset
For academic, journalistic or research use:
The Investors Centre. (2026). TIC UK Crypto Exchange Universe — Q1 2026. Retrieved from https://www.theinvestorscentre.co.uk/about-us/how-we-test/datasets/crypto-exchanges/. CC BY 4.0.