Huobi vs Uphold | Best Exchange To Use For Beginners & Pros
Jack Moreau
Feb 2024
10 min read
Fact checked
If you're looking to buy and sell cryptocurrencies, Huobi vs Uphold are two popular exchanges to consider. In this comparison, we've analyzed both in detail. From supported countries and trading fees to deposit methods and security features, we've covered it all!
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
Huobi is a cryptocurrency exchange that was founded in 2013 by Leon Li and is registered in the Seychelles.
The exchange has over 1000 employees and is available in 184 countries. In terms of prohibited jurisdictions, that includes countries like the US, Canada, Japan, and China.
Huobi exchange
Huobi offers a wide range of trading services, including spot and margin trading, futures products settled in USDT and crypto, and various trading bots and copy trading.
With over 10 million users and an impressive 20+ million app downloads, Huobi is a popular choice for both beginner and experienced traders.
The exchange supports a vast variety of over 500 cryptocurrencies including well known ones such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cosmos and Solana.
Huobi app
Uphold on the other hand is a beginner focused digital money platform founded in 2013 by Halsey Minor. The exchange is registered and based in London and has over 300 employees.
Uphold enables users to trade various financial instruments, including cryptocurrencies, precious metals, and fiat currencies.
The platform supports over 300 cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum as well as traditional currencies and commodities like gold and silver.
Uphold's "Anything-to-Anything" trading feature allows users to seamlessly convert between different asset classes in a single transaction.
Uphold prioritizes security and regulatory compliance and has amassed an impressive userbase of 10 million users.
Uphold app
The exchange has also over 5 million downloads on its Android app where it has a fantastic 4.7 rating based on 40,000 reviews.
Huobi vs Uphold Signup & KYC
When it comes to signing up and completing the KYC process, Huobi and Uphold have their own unique approaches.
Huobi stands out as one exchange that does not require KYC from all of its users. In fact, users can sign up and trade without KYC with a $1000 deposit limit and 0.06 BTC daily withdrawal limit.
KYC on Huobi
However, for those that want to complete KYC to increase their limits, the process takes a few minutes to complete and is then processed within 24 hours.
Contrary to Huobi, Uphold requires KYC for all its users. The signup process is quick and straightforward, requiring only an email, password, and selection of the country of residence to open an account.
Uphold signup
Once the account has been opened, users must then complete KYC by providing Uphold with additional information such as personal information and government ID.
Uphold KYC Verification
Uphold's verification process can be done as quickly as in a few hours but can take up to 24 hours to process.
In terms of ease of signup, Huobi's process is a bit simpler than Uphold's for the simple fact that KYC is not required. But either way, both exchanges are easy to get started with.
Huobi vs Uphold Products & Services
Moving on to products and services, Huobi is an exchange that offers a wide range of trading services such as spot trading, futures trading, margin trading, trading bots, options trading, copy and demo trading.
The average spot trading volumes on Huobi tend to range between $250 and $500 million per day, which is not shabby. In terms of leverage, the max leverage on Huobi for futures is 200X while the max leverage for margin is 100X.
Huobi spot trading
Huobi also offers lending, borrowing and staking services for a wide range of cryptocurrencies including USDT, USDC, ETH and many others.
Huobi earn
Huobi finally also offers additional services such as their own Web 3 wallet called iToken Wallet and their new NFT marketplace called ApeNFT.
NFTs on Huobi exchange
The interface of Huobi has recently received a facelift and is now more pleasant to use. The exchange offers a wide range of services targeting both beginners and more sophisticated traders.
Huobi's new interface
Uphold is a very different exchange compared to Huobi. Uphold has focused on creating the most user friendly exchange possible for beginners.
With Uphold, users have the option to easily buy and sell over 300 cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, SOL, ATOM, ADA, DOT and DOGE.
Uphold cryptocurrencies
Uphold also offers some less conventional financial products such as metals trading like gold and silver and national currencies like USD and GBP.
Staking is also available on Uphold with over 30 different cryptocurrencies like Fantom, Ethereum, Algorand, Polygon, Solana, and others.
Staking on Uphold
Uphold also supports repeat purchases allowing users to automate their investments. Additionally, Uphold provides support for 15 stablecoins including popular options like BUSD, DAI, FRAX, GUSD, USDC, and USDT.
We really like Uphold because they have created one of the simplest interfaces in the crypto space. Total beginners can use Uphold to easily get started buying and selling cryptocurrencies.
When it comes to trading fees on cryptocurrency exchanges, Huobi and Uphold are two very different animals.
Let's start with Huobi which charges a spot maker fee of 0.20% and a spot taker fee of 0.20%. For futures trading, the maker fee is 0.02% and the taker fee is 0.05%.
Like many other exchanges, Huobi offers fee discounts for users who trade with volumes above $10,000 or use their native HT token for trading.
Huobi spot fees
Now, let's talk about the trading fees of Uphold. They charge a $0.99 USD fee for cryptocurrency transactions under $100 and a spread of 0.9-1.8% for trades above that.
The spreads in the US, EU, and UK are closer to 0.9%-1.2% and Uphold does not offer any rebates for higher trading volumes.
As we can see, Huobi has lower trading fees than Uphold with a focus on high volume traders whereas Uphold offers a more convenient but higher priced experience.
When it comes to depositing fiat currencies on cryptocurrency exchanges, Huobi and Uphold both have their own unique methods.
Huobi caters to a global customer base by supporting eight major fiat currencies, including USD, EUR, and GBP. To facilitate deposits, the platform offers various options tailored to specific currencies.
For EUR deposits, Huobi provides SEPA and Skrill as methods, charging fees of 0.15% + 1 EUR and 2.9% + 0.1 EUR, respectively. GBP deposits can be made via the FSP (Faster Payments Service), which incurs a fee of 0.15% + 1 GBP.
For users depositing in TRY, Advcash is available as a deposit method with no associated fees. Lastly, for BRL deposits, users can utilize bank transfers without incurring any fees.
On the other hand, Uphold only supports three fiat currencies with support for USD, EUR, and GBP.
Deposits can be made on Uphold with a debit/credit card, bank transfer for USD (ACH/Wire), SEPA for EUR, and FSP for GBP.
While bank transfers are free of charge, Uphold does charge a 3.99% deposit fee for credit cards and a 2.49% deposit fee for debit cards.
Overall, both exchanges have their pros and cons when it comes to depositing fiat currencies. Huobi may have more options for certain currencies, but Uphold has a wider range of deposit methods available.
Huobi and Uphold are two cryptocurrency exchanges that offer different withdrawal methods for their users.
Huobi provides users with a variety of fiat withdrawal options, including SEPA, FSP, Advcash, Skrill, and bank transfer. However, each withdrawal method is subject to different fees.
SEPA withdrawals are charged 0.15% and a 1 EUR fee, while Skrill withdrawals have a 2.9% fee plus a 0.1 EUR fee.
The cost for FSP withdrawals is 0.15% and 1 GBP and TRY withdrawals via Advcash are free. On the other hand, users can withdraw BRL via bank transfer for free.
As for cryptocurrency withdrawals, the withdrawal fees on Huobi for BTC, ETH, SOL, and USDT are 0.0004 BTC, 0.0012 ETH, 0.01 SOL and 4.9 USDT, respectively. These withdrawal fees are on the higher end compared to the market average.
Moving on to Uphold, they offer bank transfers (ACH/wire), SEPA and Faster Payments (FSP) as fiat withdrawal methods.
A $2.99 fee is charged when withdrawing cryptocurrencies from the exchange (excluding blockchain fees) while a $3.99 fee applies to bank withdrawals.
Huobi and Uphold are two popular exchanges with a differing product offering and a differing target audience.
Huobi stands out as an ideal platform for more experienced traders thanks to its diverse range of services, including spot and margin trading, futures products, trading bots, and copy trading, among others.
While Uphold provides a wide range of financial products including 300 cryptocurrencies, precious metals and fiat currencies.
While Huobi targets a more experienced audience, Uphold is focused on creating a simple buying experience for new crypto investors.
When it comes to the signup and KYC process, Huobi and Uphold have different approaches with Huobi not requiring KYC for trading while it being obligatory on Uphold.
In terms of trading fees, Huobi charges percentage-based fees for spot (0.2%) and futures trading, while Uphold charges flat fees and spreads (1.2-1.8%).
Huobi offers fee discounts for high-volume traders and HT token holders, while Uphold does not offer any rebates for higher trading volumes.
When it comes to depositing fiat currencies, Huobi and Uphold have their own unique methods. Huobi supports eight different fiat currencies, with limited deposit options.
Uphold, on the other hand, offers a wider range of deposit methods, including credit/debit cards, bank transfers, and SEPA.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
eToro USA LLC: Investments are subject to market risk. Including the possible loss of principal. Don’t invest unless you’re prepared to lose all the money you invest.
Author
Jack Moreau
Jack is a crypto writer and reviewer who has been active in the space since he caught the crypto bug in 2017. With a passion for trying out new shiny things, Jack is always eager to try the latest cryptocurrency exchanges, wallets or DeFi applications.
