Crypto Coupons:
12 Verified Brands | Nov 2026

In July 2024, Indian exchange WazirX lost roughly $230 million in a hack of one of its wallets, freezing customer funds for months. Two years earlier, the collapse of FTX had shown the same lesson on a larger scale: crypto held on an exchange is only as safe as the exchange itself.

Rules are catching up, with the EU's MiCA regulation fully in force since December 30, 2024, and India taxing crypto gains at 30% with a 1% TDS on transfers since 2022. This category covers exchanges, wallets, cards and tax tools, from Binance, Kraken, Crypto.com, Bybit, Bitpanda and WazirX to Wirex, Paybis, Token Metrics and Koinly.

This guide explains how these services work and is not investment advice. Crypto is highly volatile, and you can lose all of the money you put in. Shares and funds are in Investing & Trading.

What this category covers

Type	Examples here	What to check
Exchanges	Binance, Kraken, Crypto.com, Bybit, Bitpanda, WazirX, CoinSmart	Licensing in your country and fees
Buying and payment services	Paybis, Wirex, COCA	Card fees and spreads
Research tools	Token Metrics	What the ratings are based on
Tax software	Koinly	Supported exchanges and country rules

Is the exchange licensed where you live?

Crypto exchanges need registration or licences in many countries, such as registration with India's Financial Intelligence Unit, MiCA authorization in the EU, or FCA registration in the UK. Check the regulator's register directly rather than relying on the exchange's own statement.

An exchange that is not permitted in your country may freeze or close accounts without much notice.

Understanding exchange fees

Exchanges charge trading fees, often lower for "makers" who place limit orders than for "takers" who buy instantly. Simple buy buttons and card purchases usually cost more through a wider spread, the gap between buy and sell prices.

Withdrawal fees and network fees also apply when moving crypto off an exchange. Compare the total cost of buying, holding and withdrawing.

Exchange or self custody wallet?

Keeping crypto on an exchange is convenient but relies on the exchange staying secure and solvent. A self custody wallet, especially a hardware wallet, gives you control of the private keys, and with it full responsibility.

If you lose your recovery phrase, nobody can restore your funds. Write it down offline and never type it into a website or share it.

Proof of reserves

After FTX, many exchanges began publishing proof of reserves, showing they hold customers' assets. These reports vary in quality, and a snapshot of assets does not always show liabilities, so treat them as one signal among many.

Crypto taxes

Most countries tax crypto gains, and many treat swapping one coin for another as a taxable event. In India, gains on virtual digital assets are taxed at a flat 30%, losses cannot be offset against other income, and a 1% TDS applies on transfers above set limits.

Tax tools such as Koinly import transactions from exchanges and wallets to calculate gains. Keep full records from the start, since rebuilding them later is hard.

Crypto cards

Crypto debit cards, such as those from Wirex and Crypto.com, let you spend crypto at normal shops by converting it at the point of sale. Check conversion fees, and note that spending crypto may itself count as a taxable disposal.

Staking and earn products

Staking and "earn" products pay a yield for locking up crypto. They carry risks, including lock up periods, price falls and the platform's own solvency, as several lenders showed when they collapsed in 2022.

A high advertised yield usually reflects high risk. Read how the yield is generated before committing.

Common crypto scams

Scams include fake exchanges and apps, "investment advisers" met on dating apps or social media, giveaways that ask you to send crypto first, and phishing sites copying real exchanges. Crypto transfers are usually irreversible, so scammed funds are rarely recovered.

Turn on two factor authentication with an authenticator app, and bookmark the exchange's real address.

Stablecoins

Stablecoins aim to track a currency such as the US dollar and are widely used for trading and transfers. They depend on the issuer's reserves and management, and some algorithmic stablecoins have lost their peg entirely, as TerraUSD did in 2022.

Bitcoin, Ethereum and everything else

Bitcoin and Ethereum are the largest and most traded cryptocurrencies, while thousands of smaller tokens trade with far less liquidity. Smaller coins can swing much more sharply, and some are abandoned or turn out to be scams.

Check how long a token has existed, where it trades and who is behind it. A token listed on a single small exchange is especially risky to buy and hard to sell.

Buying small amounts regularly

Some buyers invest a fixed amount on a schedule, known as dollar cost averaging, rather than trying to time the market. Many exchanges support recurring purchases, but each small buy still carries fees, so check the cost of frequent orders.

Making a crypto offer go further

Exchange offers often give trading fee discounts or a sign up bonus after a first deposit or trade. Read the conditions, such as minimum trading volume or lock up, and never trade more than you intended just to unlock a bonus.