If you’re looking for the best exchange to buy, trade, or stake crypto in Australia, then you’re in the right place. Finding the right exchange can be tricky, with everyone promising the best features and lowest prices. So who should you choose?
That’s where I can help you. I have over 7 years of experience buying and trading crypto on all the major exchanges. I’ve also reviewed over 40 exchanges for FXEmpire in the last 18 months, spending countless hours painstakingly testing every feature from buying crypto and derivatives trading to staking and API access.
I know exactly which features each type of user will need, whether that’s an intuitive interface for beginners or complex conditional order types for advanced users. That’s why I’ve come up with seven categories and given my top pick for each one, along with some pros and cons to help you make an informed decision on which exchange suits your needs best.
When coming up with my rankings, I considered a wide range of factors that ranged from security and transparency to trading features and leverage options. I reviewed each exchange individually and ranked them based on how well they scored on the following criteria:
| Exchange | Ranking | Taker/Maker | Available Crypto | Accepts Fiat | Payment Methods | KYC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Crypto.com | 4.3 Read Review | 0.5% / 0.25% | 432 | Yes | +5 | Full KYC Required |
Paybis | No Rating Read Review | 4.5% / 4.5% | 84 | No | +6 | Optional for purchases up to 1,000 USD (mandatory in certain regions and for all Sell Crypto transactions) |
Pepperstone Crypto | No Rating Read Review | 0.1% / 0.1% | 58 | No | Yes | |
Bybit | 4.6 Read Review | 0.1% / 0.1% | 482 | Yes | +2 | Yes |
Kraken | 4.2 Read Review | 0.4% / 0.25% | 675 | Yes | +3 | Yes |
OKX | 4.6 Read Review | 0.1% / 0.08% | 291 | Yes | +6 | YES |
MEXC | 4.6 Read Review | 0.01% / 0% | 2179 | Yes | +3 | No |
Crypto.com has become one of my favorite exchanges since testing it in late 2025. It’s a complete crypto ecosystem with dedicated platforms for beginners and professional traders. This makes it a great option regardless of your experience level. Newbies get a beginner-friendly platform to buy crypto, while traders get a professional-grade platform with advanced tools and features. It’s a no-brainer as my top pick if you’re looking for a safe and regulated exchange to buy, trade, or stake crypto.
After testing Paybis in late 2025, it has become my top recommendation if you’re looking for a platform to instantly buy crypto using a range of payment methods. Paybis specializes in letting you buy crypto with fiat money, and it’s a popular platform worldwide for supporting a variety of payment methods and currencies. It doesn’t offer any advanced trading features like spot or futures trading, which makes it great for beginners who just want to buy crypto without having to navigate a complex interface.
Pepperstone Crypto is one of the newest exchanges to hit the market. I tested the Australian-based platform in early 2026 and found it was great if you’re an Australian resident looking to deposit AUD and trade major coins like BTC, ETH, SOL, and more. It offers an intuitive platform that makes trading crypto easy and accessible to everyone, even if you have little to no prior experience. Having free unlimited deposits and withdrawals makes it a no-brainer if you’re someone who regularly makes AUD transfers.
Bybit has been my favorite futures trading platform for over 5 years. It offers a great mix of advanced trading features, high leverage, and a range of markets, which has given it a strong following among derivatives traders. It also offers top-tier security and full transparency, with the only downside being a lack of licensing in Australia, but this is what allows it to offer derivatives trading to all users. I’d say Bybit is a great choice if you’re a serious trader looking for a reputable, top-tier platform that is legal to use in Australia, albeit without AUSTRAC licensing. Built for pros, it provides low-latency execution and institutional-grade API access.
Kraken is one of the first exchanges I started buying crypto on, and it’s always my top pick if you just want a secure platform to DCA, or buy and stake coins for passive income. It has a great system that makes buying crypto and setting up recurring orders easy, with a dedicated app for beginners. It offers a combination of security, regulatory compliance, and user-friendliness that is hard to beat, and makes Kraken perfect if you’re a beginner looking to easily and safely buy crypto.
OKX is a top-tier exchange with a loyal following of experienced users thanks to its advanced trading and staking features. It’s great if you’re looking to buy and stake crypto, as it offers a wide range of advanced staking options, making it geared to more experienced traders. When I tested the exchange, I found the interface fairly intuitive, so even if you’re not a pro, you’ll understand the platform with a small learning curve.
MEXC is almost always my go-to recommendation if you prioritize fees above everything else. It is by far the most cost-effective top-tier exchange, but it also happens to have one of the widest coin selections in the industry, with over 1,900 available cryptos. Its low fees combined with its broad coin selection and high leverage have made it a favorite among futures traders and API traders, where small differences in fees can make a big impact.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is responsible for regulating financial services in Australia, while AUSTRAC enforces KYC requirements and compliance with anti-money laundering regulations. ASIC has slowly been increasing its focus on crypto exchanges, requiring platforms to obtain licenses in order to offer services like leverage trading to Australian users. This strict regulation means many platforms have restricted their offerings in Australia, with exchanges like Crypto.com and Kraken restricting futures trading for retail users in Australia.
Yes, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) takes crypto taxation pretty seriously. Crypto is treated as property, so it’s subject to capital gains tax (CGT) every time you sell or trade crypto for more than you paid for it. You’re also expected to self-report and pay any taxes on each profit you make. This includes swapping one crypto for another, not just cashing out to AUD, which does catch a lot of people off guard.
You also have to pay income tax on any crypto you earn through staking, mining, or airdrops, which you also have to self-report and file with the ATO.
On a positive note, if you’ve held an asset for more than 12 months before selling, you get a 50% discount on the CGT. The exact rate you pay will depend on your income tax bracket, and the ATO has been cracking down on people for not reporting their crypto gains, with new agreements to share data with exchanges, so it’s important to keep a detailed record of every transaction
For most Australians, PayID and bank transfer will be the go-to choices when making AUD transfers. PayID has become one of the most convenient ways to deposit crypto, with near-instant settlement and zero deposit fees on most exchanges. Regular bank transfers are also a viable option, but they can take longer to process depending on your bank.
Bank cards and Apple/Google Pay are also popular for their convenience, but you should know that they typically come with fees of up to 4% depending on the platform. They can be great for making a quick purchase here and there to buy the dip, but if you’re depositing large sums of money, I’d always stick to PayID or bank transfer.
This is where things get a bit complicated. ASIC has taken a fairly strict stance on crypto derivatives and leverage trading for regular retail users. Most ASIC-licensed exchanges offer leverage trading that’s capped at 10x, which is well below the 100x or higher you find on overseas platforms.
Some trading products like futures and options are banned entirely, but you can still access them on overseas platforms like Bybit and MEXC. These platforms, while not ASIC-licensed, still offer a high level of security, transparency, and reliability. If you primarily trade with leverage, it might be worth weighing the pros and cons of what’s available on licensed exchanges versus overseas platforms.
Is it Safe to Use a Non-ASIC Licensed/Overseas Exchange as an Australian Resident?
Using an overseas exchange isn’t illegal in Australia. Exchanges like Bybit are still highly popular among Australian traders for their range of assets and high-leverage derivatives trading, which isn’t available on licensed platforms. However, going with an overseas platform does mean you get less consumer protection if things go wrong. Using a non-ASIC licensed exchange means that if a platform is hacked or becomes insolvent, you’ll have little to no support through Australian regulators.
Personally, I would still consider it safe to use an overseas exchange if it’s reputable and holds licenses in other major regions like the US, UK, EU, or UAE. This ensures the exchange still operates to the highest standards and minimizes the risk of something going wrong. However, if you do use an overseas exchange, I suggest using it for trading and moving your long-term investments on to an ASIC-licensed exchange or private wallet.
Shennon Hewa is a crypto trader and crypto journalist based in London. Active in the crypto space since 2017, he specializes in scalping, derivatives day trading, and swing trading. At FXEmpire, he has reviewed dozens of crypto exchanges and has extensive knowledge of platform strengths and weaknesses.
At FXEmpire, we strive to provide unbiased, thorough, and accurate exchange reviews by industry experts to help our users make smarter financial decisions.