5 Best Crypto Exchanges for HODLers

Choosing the right crypto exchange is especially important for HODLers, where security, regulation, and long-term reliability matter far more than short-term trading features. When you’re planning to hold assets for years, factors like custody practices, proof of reserves, insurance coverage, and regulatory oversight can make the difference between peace of mind and unnecessary risk.

To identify the best crypto exchanges for HODLing, we analyzed leading platforms with a long-term investor mindset. We focused on security standards, regulatory compliance, asset custody, fees, staking and passive income options, and overall transparency—prioritizing exchanges that have proven they can safeguard user assets through multiple market cycles. The result is a shortlist designed to suit different HODLing styles, from hands-off beginners to experienced investors building diversified, long-term portfolios.

List of Top Crypto Trading Platforms for HODLers

How Did FXEmpire Choose the Best Crypto Platforms for HODLers?

• Regulatory Compliance: We prioritized exchanges that are registered with top-tier regulators such as FinCEN in the US, the UK’s FCA, or holding an EU MiCA license. These regulators impose strict standards on security, custody, and consumer protection which is crucial for long-term holding.
• Security Features: We compared the security features available on each exchange, looking for features like 2FA with Google Authenticator, biometric passkeys, withdrawal whitelists, and independent security certifications like SOC 2 or ISO 27001.
• Proof of Reserves: We only included platforms that publish Proof of Reserves using methods like Merkle Tree or independent audits, looking for a minimum of 100% or higher reserve ratio to ensure full 1:1 backing of user deposits.
• Asset Custody & Cold Storage: We looked at how user assets are stored, favoring exchanges that keep most assets in air-gapped cold storage, use institutional-grade custodians, and multi-signature wallets, with clear segregation of user assets from exchange funds.
• Insurance Coverage: We compared the insurance coverage on each exchange, including self-funded insurance or protection funds, third-party custody insurance, and if possible, FDIC insurance on fiat balances held with partner banks.
• Security Track Record & Incident Handling: We prioritized exchanges with no major hacks or loss of user funds in the last 5 years. When incidents have occurred, we preferred platforms that immediately reimbursed affected users in full.
• Deposit & Withdrawal Fees: We compared funding and cashing-out costs by looking at fiat deposit and withdrawal fees, supported fiat currencies, and available payment methods, prioritizing exchanges that offer minimal fees with wider fiat payment support for minimal friction.
• Range of Coins: We looked for exchanges that offer a wide range of coins, ensuring access to major coins like BTC and ETH, popular altcoins like SOL and HYPE, as well as stablecoins. This lets users diversify long-term portfolios without excessive exposure to risky micro-cap tokens.
• Staking & Passive Income Opportunities: We evaluated the range of Staking and Earn products on each exchange, including the number of stakeable coins, typical APYs, lock-up flexibility, and commissions on earnings.
• Fees: We reviewed the trading fee structures for spot and simple DCA strategies, favoring exchanges with low maker-taker fees, fee discounts for high volume or native tokens, as well as the absence of hidden or inactivity fees which can affect HODLers.
• Transparency of terms & risk products: We judged exchanges on their overall transparency, looking at publicly available information about leadership, corporate structure, communication with users, and clarity on all trading and earn products.

Best Crypto Exchanges for HODLers Comparison Table

How to Choose the Best Crypto Exchange for HODLing?

What is HODLing?

HODLing is a long-term investment strategy that follows the saying “Time in the market beats timing the market”. The aim is to accumulate crypto with the intention of holding it for years, regardless of market cycles, price dips, or FUD.

Most HODLers focus on large-cap coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum for their greater stability, popularity, and widespread adoption. The key is to choose established, stable projects as opposed to speculative altcoins and hold them for several years to profit from long-term crypto adoption and scarcity over time.

Should you HODL on an exchange?

While you can HODL on an exchange, we generally advise against doing so. Crypto exchanges are convenient for buying, selling, and staking coins, but they are not banks, and cannot be relied on in the same way as fiat banks.

History has shown that even the largest exchanges can freeze withdrawals or collapse completely, taking your coins with them. A golden rule of HODLing is “not your keys, not your coins” meaning when your coins are on an exchange, you don’t control the private keys, leaving you at risk of hacks, insolvency, and regulatory seizures.

The only exception would be storing stablecoins on a secure, reputable exchange like Kraken, purely to react quickly if the market dips. Other than that, we strongly recommend using a hardware wallet for storing large amounts of crypto.

How do I choose a secure exchange for long-term HOLDing?

When looking for an exchange to trust with your hard earned money, we suggest looking for:

• Cold storage for the majority of user assets
• Robust security measures like 2FA with Google Authenticator, Biometric Passkeys & support for hardware keys
• Transparent Proof of Reserves with at least a 100% reserve ratio backing user assets
• Strong withdrawal controls using withdrawal whitelists, 2FA confirmation, and IP whitelisting
• Licensing and regulatory oversight from leading financial authorities in regions like the US, UK, or EU
• A long history of operations without any security breaches or loss of customer funds
• Full segregation of user assets from exchange funds, with over 90% of user assets held in cold storage

What are the biggest risks of HODLing?

As with all types of investing, HODLing comes with a variety of key risks to consider:

• Project risk that the project/coin you have invested in fails and becomes obsolete
• Custodial risk if you store your coins on an exchange
• Private key risk store your coins in a self-custody wallet and lose the seed phrase
• Regulatory changes that could restrict your ability to buy or withdraw your chosen coin
• Crypto winters where markets can drop by over 70%, forcing you to watch your portfolio drop during a bear market

Pro and cons of HODLing

How much of my portfolio should I keep on an exchange vs in self-custody?

We suggest storing 80-90% of your assets in a self-custody or hardware wallet, leaving 10-20% on exchanges primarily for liquidity to buy coins during a market dip. This is just a general rule of thumb, which can be adapted if you use most of your coins for staking/yield programs or regularly rebalance your portfolio.

Recommended hardware wallets for HODLing?

Ledger and Trezor are the industry leaders when it comes to hardware wallets, with the Ledger Nano and Trezor Model T series of wallets being popular for their simplicity, security, and multi-asset support. When buying a hardware wallet, it is vital to always purchase them brand-new and directly from the manufacturer website, avoiding second hand wallets and marketplace websites like eBay.

What red flags should HODLers watch out for?

HODLers should avoid platforms with one or more of the following red flags:

• Unregulated platforms that don’t hold any licenses from financial authorities
• Platforms that lack transparency regarding Proof of Reserves, leadership, and corporate structure
• Exchanges that rely heavily on their own native token, similar to FTX and FTT token
• Platforms without robust security features and a history of past security breaches
• Platforms that delay withdrawals without clear reasoning

How do I plan an exit strategy as a long-term HODLer if I eventually want to take profits?

We suggest having a clear exit strategy in mind when you start HODLing, ideally one that isn’t affected by emotion. The most common method relies on price, where you have pre-defined targets for taking profits and reallocating funds to maintain a balanced portfolio. You can also use a time-based exit strategy, where you decide on selling after a certain time period has passed or taking profits at regular intervals.