Head to head · updated 2026-07-30
BitMart vs KuCoin
KuCoin used to be the default answer to "where else can I trade small-caps?" — the people's exchange, altcoin heaven, all of that. In 2026 the honest framing is narrower: a solid, mature platform with ~855 coins and fair 0.1% fees, carrying more regulatory scar tissue than any other exchange in our table. It's a reasonable BitMart replacement for maybe half of BitMart's audience, and exactly the wrong one for the other half. Which half you're in depends on your passport.
| BitMart | KuCoin | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Shutting down — trading ends 26 Aug 2026 | Operating |
| Spot coins (CoinGecko) | ~1,078 at shutdown (1,700+ claimed) | 855 |
| Spot fees, maker / taker | n/a — sell-side only until the halt | 0.10% / 0.10% |
| KYC | Required for wind-down withdrawals in many cases | Mandatory since Aug 2023 |
| United States | Withdrawals only | Blocked |
| United Kingdom | Withdrawals only | Unclear On the FCA warning list; not registered |
| EU / EEA | Withdrawals only | Partial MiCA-licensed (Austria) but barred from onboarding new EU users since Feb 2026 |
| Canada | Withdrawals only | Blocked |
| USDT withdrawal (TRC-20) | per current fee page | 1 USDT |
| Main trade-off | It's closing. | $297M DOJ settlement (Jan 2025) and a 2-year US exit; $281M hack in 2020 (users made whole) |
Base-tier figures, no token discounts. Verified 2026-07-30 against official pages, CoinGecko, and regulator registers — "—" means we couldn't confirm a number and won't guess.
The case for KuCoin
Maturity. KuCoin's spot platform, mobile app, and trading bots are more polished than BitMart's ever were, fees are an uncomplicated 0.10%/0.10% (0.08% paying in KCS), and the ~855-coin catalog covers the mid-cap layer of a BitMart portfolio comfortably. It also passed through the fire already: the 2020 hack ($281M) was handled with users made whole, and the 2025 US settlement, brutal as it was, ended with new management and a compliance overhaul. There's a version of this story where KuCoin comes out the other side as one of the better-run offshore exchanges.
The case against
Access, access, access. The US is gone — a two-year exit under the DOJ deal, made effectively indefinite by the CFTC in March 2026. The UK has had KuCoin on the FCA's warning list since 2023. And in a twist unique to KuCoin, its shiny Austrian MiCA license came with a February 2026 bar on onboarding new EU customers over compliance staffing — existing verified users are fine, but a BitMart refugee opening a fresh account today is exactly who the bar applies to. Add mandatory KYC (since 2023) and the long-tail gap — roughly 800 BitMart listings that KuCoin simply doesn't carry — and the fit narrows to: non-US, non-UK, non-new-EU users with mid-cap-weighted portfolios.
Migrating from BitMart to KuCoin
- Confirm KuCoin actually onboards your country this month — its situation changes faster than any list stays current. Their signup flow tells you immediately.
- Export BitMart history, then clear KuCoin KYC before moving anything.
- Check your tokens against KuCoin's markets — expect the long tail to be missing, and route it via the delisted-tokens playbook.
- USDT moves cheapest over TRC-20 (~1 USDT); match networks and test send per the withdraw guide.
Quick answers
Can Americans use KuCoin?
No. KuCoin exited the US under its January 2025 DOJ settlement and the door is shut for the foreseeable future. US users: here's what actually works.
KuCoin or MEXC for small-caps?
For pure catalog width, MEXC — nearly double the listings, lower fees. KuCoin wins on platform maturity and the fact that it has already survived its worst headlines, which is worth something when you've just watched an exchange fold.
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