Clicky

KuCoin Tutorial for Beginners


KuCoin is an exchange for all types of investors, so if you’re new to the area, here’s a beginner’s guide that will show you the entire process, from registration to trading on the platform.

To get started, you first need to register with the exchange. You can do this in two ways, by e-mail or phone number. See here how to perform the registration step by step. Make sure you use the referral code in this process.

After registration, it is important to protect your account and assets, so we recommend that you set your security settings and do KYC verification (identity verification). KYC verification will also be required to perform transactions on the platform.

Once this is done, there are two ways to then start trading: deposit funds (currency or cryptocurrency) or buy cryptos directly with a card. Let’s take a look at them one by one:

Depositing cryptos on KuCoin

If you already have cryptocurrencies, you can transfer them to the platform. To do this, you must first click on the wallet icon in the header and Deposit.

kucoin wallet tab

Then, on the Deposit tab, select the currency you will transfer and the network. Then copy your deposit address and paste it into the withdrawal platform (from where you are transferring).

kucoin deposit tab

ATTENTION: take care that the currency and network selected match the network of the address you entered.

KuCoin does not charge any fees for deposits, and they can take from minutes to hours, depending on the currency, to be processed. It is important to check which currencies are supported by the platform, and also that all the information (token, address, memo, tag, message) is entered correctly, otherwise these assets cannot be retrieved.

Depositing coins on KuCoin

If you do not yet own any cryptocurrency, you can make fiat currency deposits directly into KuCoin or via third-party payment gateways.

To do so, you must first click on the wallet icon in the header and Deposit. Then, on the Deposit tab, click on the Deposit Fiat button and fill in with your preferred currency and the available payment method.

depositing coins to kucoin

Buying cryptos on KuCoin

There are three ways to buy cryptos directly on Kucoin: Fast Trade, P2P and Third-Party.

kucoin buying options

Fast Trade: fast purchase with credit or debit card. See step-by-step here

P2P: peeer-to-peer purchase through various payment methods, such as BANK, Payeer, AirTM, Advcash, Uphold and others. In this method you choose an advertiser that is selling the cryptocurrency you want to buy and select one of the available payment methods.

Third-Party: buying through third-party gateways, such as Simplex and Banxa.

Trading cryptos at KuCoin

With the balance in your account, it’s time for trading. For starters, most start with spot trading, crypto-to-crypto. For advanced trades, there are the options of Margin Trading and Futures Trading.

As the idea here is to show beginners how to trade on the platform, we will show you step by step how to make a spot trade.

In the Trade menu, select the Spot Trading option.

kucoin spot trading

Select the crypto pair you want to trade. In the example below we have selected to trade KCS for BTC.

kucoin trading dashboard tokens

Then choose the order type and fill in the corresponding fields. KuCoin’s buy and sell order options are Limit, Market, Stop Limit and Stop Market.

But first, you will need to enter your transaction password, created there in the security settings.

security on kucoin trading

In the Limit order you will set a limit price (usually below the current market value) to buy or sell your cryptos. In the Market order, you buy or sell at the best current market price. And in the Stop Limit order you set a trigger price to buy or sell your cryptos at the set limit price. Still another option is the Stop Market order, where you set the trigger price to buy or sell your cryptos at the current market price.

limit orders kucoin

Each coin has a minimum value for trading, and fees start at 0.1%, but can be decreased by maintaining KCS or increasing trading volume.

Making cryptocurrency withdrawals at KuCoin

Just like depositing cryptos, withdrawing cryptos at KuCoin is very simple.

Click on the wallet icon in the header and Deposit.

deposit tab

On the Withdraw tab you will have the Withdraw Crypto and Withdraw Fiat options. Choose where you want to withdraw your funds from and fill in the corresponding fields, always paying attention to the correct typing of the information.

withdraw crypto on kucoin

choosing the coin to withdraw

And to confirm the deposit and withdrawal balance, click on the History tab (Deposit & Withdrawal).

Other KuCoin functionalities

Navigating through the platform menus, we see that it is also possible to perform transactions in Markets.

kucoin market watch

In the All tab it is possible to view the current values of cryptocurrencies and also perform actions buy call and put options in the Spot tab.

bitcoin and ethereum call put options on kucoin

Other trading options in the Trade menu, besides the one mentioned above (Spot Trading) are Margin Trading, Trading Bot and Convert. These trading markets, while they can amplify your profit, can also expose you to increased risk.

In margin trading the method is to use third-party funds to trade assets, as if it were a loan. One advantage is that it allows you to increase your main fund and use small funds as collateral to make more profit. However, the higher the leverage, the greater the losses, and it is therefore considered a high-risk investment.

kucoin margin trading

With Trading Bot you can set up a trading strategy and this free tool will repeat it constantly. This way you save time and energy and increase your profit by reducing trading risks.

kucoin trading bot

And finally, there is the Convert option, which is nothing more than a free tool for converting cryptos to other cryptos, without the need for spot market trading.

kucoin convert

In the Derivatives menu are the options for futures trading. Simply put, here you will be buying assets at a later date with a predetermined price at a also specified time, and the seller will have to make delivery of this asset under these conditions on this same date.

kucoin derivatives tab

In the Earn menu you will find KuCoin tools that will allow you to earn passive income. Learn more about KuCoin Earn by clicking here

kucoin earn tab

In the NFT menu you will find options of NFT tokens for trading.

kucoin nft tab

And finally, in the Wallet menu you will have access to the official KuCoin wallet, where you can send, receive and store your cryptocurrencies and NFTs.

kucoin wallet menu

If you liked this article, you might also be interested in:

GMX referral code: promo100 (Best discount)


Last update: January 02, 2024

GMX is a decentralized exchange that allows trading cryptocurrencies without registration (username and password) with up to 30x leverage directly from your wallet, all through the platform’s official app.

The GXM exchange has two tokens:

  • GMX: utility and governance token that accumulates 30% of the fees generated by the platform;
  • GLP: liquidity provider token that accumulates 70% of the fees generated by the platform.

Decentralized perpetual futures exchanges are promising because they provide traders and investors with a number of benefits, including:

  1. Lessening of counterparty risk. Decentralized exchanges do away with the need for middlemen, which lowers counterparty risk.
  2. Low costs. Decentralized exchanges frequently have built-in mechanisms to cut costs and provide tighter spreads.
  3. More liquidity. GMX have the potential to provide traders with more liquidity because liquidity is gathered from various sources and have a basket of assets (GLP).
  4. Greater security. Decentralized exchanges are designed to stop security breaches and ensure the security of traders’ money. Their open source nature allows more audits and transparency.
  5. Order transactions with flexibility. Decentralized exchanges give traders more freedom to execute trades under their own terms, including the ability to set limit orders, stop loss orders, and leverage ratios.
  6. Greater anonymity. The majority of decentralized exchanges like GMX provide anonymous trading environments, where transactions can be completed without providing any personal information.
  7. Global access is simpler. Decentralized exchanges can create opportunities for international trading that traditional exchanges might not be able to because they are not dependent on any one location.

What is the GMX referral code in 2024?

GMX, like other exchanges, has a refer-a-friend rewards program. This reference code is optional. 

Use the GMX referral code promo100 to get a discount of up to 10% on all transaction fees at GMX and rebates through the referral program in 2024. Discounts and rebates are distributed with ETH tokens on the Arbitrum network and AVAX tokens on the Avalanche network.

How and where to enter the GMX referral code in 2024?

To activate the discounts, you first need to find the referral menu.

1) On the main page of the site, click on the top menu “Referrals”:

main page gmx exchange

2) Read and accept the terms and conditions:

gmx terms and conditions

3) Click on “Connect Wallet”. Choose one of the available wallets (for example: Metamask) and login with that wallet:

connecting wallet on GMX

Note: since GMX works on the Arbitrum and Avalanche networks, you need to select one of these networks after connecting your wallet. If your Metamask is by default on the Ethereum network, a message will appear asking you to switch networks. Accept and verify that the correct network has been selected. The code promo100 can be used on both networks.

4) Enter the promo100 reference code and click “Submit”.

In the “Referrals” tab, you will see two options: Traders and Affiliates. You must click on “Traders”. Then you will see the message: “Please input a referral code to benefit from fee discounts“. This is the place where you will paste the code promo100 and click “Submit”.

gmx referral code field

Congratulations! You have successfully added a GMX referral code and are eligible for the special discounts on the platform.

Is the promo100 code valid in 2024?

Yes. The GMX referral code promo100 is valid in 2024 and guarantees discounts forever on the platform (or until the terms and conditions change).

Is there a different referral code on Avalanche?

As there are two independent networks (Arbitrum and Avalanche) in the GMX app, they can have different referral codes. But we can say that the GMX referral code on Avalanche is promo100. As we also can say that the GMX referral code in Arbitrum is promo100. The reason is that we registered the same code on both networks, so you can get the benefits.

What is the maximum discount possible at GMX with a reference code?

The GMX referral program has a tiered system, and for each tier there is a percentage discount for traders and for referrers.

  • Level 1: 5% discount for traders and 5% rebate for referrers.
  • Level 2: 10% discount for traders and 10% rebate for referrers.
  • Level 3: 10% discount for traders, 15% rebate for referrers (paid in ETH) and 5% rebate for referrers (paid in esGMX).

Any user can create a Level 1 code, but to upgrade to the next levels, you need to follow some criteria:

Level 2: at least 15 active users using the referral code per week, and a combined weekly volume above $5 million.

Tier 3: at least 30 active users using the referral code per week, and a combined weekly volume over $25 million.

You can check out this information by reading the official GMX referral program page.

How to recommend friends to GMX using your promo code

The GMX rewards program is not only for you to earn discount on transaction fees, but also for you to be rewarded for referring friends to GMX.

To create a referral code at GMX, click on the Referral tab of the main page of the website and create a referral code using any combination of letters, numbers, and underscores, paying attention to differentiation between uppercase and lowercase letters.

Also note that your code must be created on both Arbitrum and Avalanche to get discounts on both networks.

Note: you need to have some ETH (or AVAX, depending on whether you are on the Arbitrum or Avalanche network) in your wallet to pay for the network fee when creating the referral code. In the case of the Arbitrum network, you need to swap ETH on the Ethereum network to the Arbitrum network. The address will remain the same, only the network will change. 

After creating the code, click the copy icon and share the link with your contacts and friends on Facebook, Twitter, Telegram, or wherever you prefer.

When a user clicks on your link, your referral code is stored in their account. When he makes a trade, he gets a rebate and you get discounts on your trading fees.

The rebates and discounts apply on the opening and closing fees for leveraged trading.

Advantages and risks of using GMX

As GMX is a decentralized perpetual futures exchange, this means that all the wallets’ private keys are under the control of the user.

This is fundamentally different from centralized exchanges, where the private keys are held by the platform, increasing the risk of losing funds if problems occur.

The problems an exchange can suffer are many, from regulatory censorship to hacks. In this sense, not having access to the private keys of your wallet can be a problem.

In addition, a decentralized exchange like GMX allows for more privacy during trading.

The futures market has grown increasingly popular in the cryptocurrency world as it allows users to bet on both the rise and fall of assets with leverage.

The arrival of decentralized exchanges like GMX represents a breakthrough in the industry. GMX is currently one of the largest DEXs operating on the Ethereum network, and uses advanced technologies to reduce transaction fees, such as rollups.

However, be aware that leveraged futures markets are high-risk assets. Trade with caution.

See also:

The KuCoin Affiliate Program


Have you ever thought about earning up to 45% of daily trading fees as commission at KuCoin just by referring friends? Yes, it is possible through the platform’s Affiliate Program. See how in this article.

Who can participate?

The criteria for participation in the KuCoin Affiliate Program is to have a community, media or other resources (such as websites, for example) about the crypto world.

Note: For youtubers, digital currency community leaders and content creators, you must have more than 5,000 followers on social networks, or a community with more than 500 members.

If you meet these requirements, register with Kucoin and join the program.

How does the program work?

After your registration is approved and you meet the above criteria, you will have access to an exclusive invitation link for promotion with your community and followers. For each user who registers on the platform and trades with your referral link, you will earn commissions, including Spot, Futures, and Margin trades. Also, if your guest also becomes an affiliate of the program, becoming a sub-affiliate, you will also receive 5% of his referral bonus.

You can also create special links with discount rate levels for your guests, ranging from 0% to 20%. This way you can receive a percentage of the commission while the remaining percentage is distributed to your guests as a discount. This can improve the efficiency of your invitations.

How are comissions calculated?

There are two affiliate levels in the program, which are analyzed and adjusted through quarterly evaluation.

Tier 1: entry level, with direct commissions at 40%.

Level 2: direct commissions at 45% on trades.

To become (and remain) a level 2, the criterion is to refer at least 100 new users every quarter, 20 of which must perform trades. If a level 2 fails to meet this criterion, in the following semester it will be downgraded to level 1.

*In the case of having a sub-affiliate, all trades made by users indicated by him/her will contribute with an additional 5% of commission for you, in addition to the percentage that you already receive from your referrals, depending on their level of affiliation. In other words, if you refer a guest and he refers another one, you are considered the main affiliate and your referral is the sub-affiliate, and he normally receives the percentage of his referral without being discounted from the 5% of your commission on him.

For how long do referrals generate commissions?

Commissions are generated during a period of 12 months by guests, starting from the official date of their registration on the platform.

The commission received will be paid on a weekly basis, and there is no limit to the number of guests an affiliate can refer, as well as to the total amount of commission, which is accumulated with each new guest, during the period mentioned above.

How do I invite people to sign up with my referrals?

You can refer people using a link or referral code. We created an article to explain how the referral code works.

See also:

How to create a KuCoin account


Creating a Kucoin account is very simple! On the homepage, click Sign Up.

kucoin signup

Fill in your phone number (country code + area code) and create a password of 10 to 32 characters, having uppercase, lowercase, number and not containing spaces. Check the box “I have read and agree to the Terms of Use” and click Sign Up.

basic infos

Notice that there is a field called “Referral Code (optional)“. If you use the Kucoin Referral Code QBSSSCKP you will get special discounts (20%) on the platform’s transaction fees.

Click on “I’m not a robot” and do the captcha verification.

Then enter the code you received via SMS into the corresponding field and click Activate Account. Note: the code is valid for 10 minutes, if you cannot complete the registration in this time, you will need to request it again.

activating account

Congratulations! Your account has been successfully created and you will be directed to the exchange’s main page.

sign up successful

You can now deposit cryptocurrencies into your account to start trading them, if you own cryptocurrencies on other exchanges or wallets. If not, you can buy some with your credit or debit card.

But first, to protect your account and assets, it is highly recommended to complete the security settings. To do this, click on the icon for your phone number and the Account Security menu.

kyc verification menu

Check the items in red one by one by clicking Configure next to each one.

security settings

Once this is done, you can use all the site’s tools, such as buying and selling cryptos by Fast Trade with a credit card or by the trading panel, choosing available cryptocurrency pairs.

buying crypto with fast trade

kucoin trade dashboard

See also:

What is KuCoin EARN?


KuCoin Earn is an equity management service platform created by the KuCoin exchange. Through it, users can use various financial products to increase the value of their holdings through staking profits and POL* income – calculated by the system and POL mining energy valuation.

Its products are highly flexible and diversified, with multiple skating options.

*Proof of Liquidity (POL) is a decentralized zero pre-mine token based on the TRON TRC-20 protocol, and issued by KuCoin Earn.

What kind of products does Earn offer?

Kucoin Earn provides both flexible-term and fixed-term products. For the first case, users can redeem their funds at any time. For the second case, funds are automatically redeemed into the user’s account upon maturity.

In terms of yield, fixed-term products are superior to flexible-term products.

How do I purchase the products in KuCoin Earn?

Simply hover your mouse cursor over a coin in KuCoin Earn to display all available products. Then click on the Transfer or Subscribe button on the chosen product and enter the purchase amount. There, you have purchased the product.

Where can I see the products I purchase in KuCoin Earn?

In your financial account, select a product type to view all the corresponding products you purchased. It’s as simple as that.

How do I redeem my funds in KuCoin Earn?

As stated earlier, funds from fixed-term products will be automatically redeemed into the user’s account upon maturity. For flexible term products, such as Flexible Savins and Staking, for example, simply click the Transfer or Redeem button.

Why do my interest payments fluctuate?

Fluctuations in returns are normal and depend on market conditions and changing trends in the cryptocurrency industry.

See also:

Kucoin KCS Bonus


KCS Bonus is an incentive mechanism of the Kucoin exchange for KCS token holders and Kucoin ecosystem builders, which allows obtaining daily passive income.

But what is KCS?

KuCoin Token (KCS) is Kucoin’s native ERC-20-type token (running on Ethereum), launched in 2017 as a profit sharing token, also used to reduce trading fees.

Based on the amount of KCS that users hold, KuCoin determines VIP levels, which will receive additional benefits and greater discounts on trading fees.

Holders of this token also get early access to token sales on blockchain projects launched on KuCoin Spotlight. This allows investors to enjoy a higher ROI than those who buy on secondary markets.

Where does this Bonus come from?

The KCS bonus comes from 50% of the platform’s daily trading fees. But the amount of rewards users will get will depend on the number of KCS held and the trading volume on the exchange.

How can I participate in the KCS Bonus Plan?

To get the bonus, users have to hold at least 6 KCS on Kucoin, in addition to linking their account by Google Verification or phone number.

And to be eligible, you can hold the KCS token in the main wallet, trading account or margin account. Please note that you will not receive the daily bonus if you wager your KCS on Kucoin Earn, only on the Kucoin Exchange.

How can I claim my bonus?

You can claim your KCS bonus daily from the app or from the website. In the app, just go to Home > KCS Bonus, and on the website click Asset Overview > My Bonus > KCS Bonus.

After 30 minutes your KCS bonus will be sent to your account upon request and will be distributed to your main Kucoin account.

See also:

What are the Kucoin fees


The fees charged at the Kucoin exchange depend on a few factors. We will understand what each one means below.

Amount of KCS

Kucoin has a token called KCS. If you have 1000 units or more of this token, you get special discounts on fees.

Payment of fees in KCS

When a trade is made with the KCS token, there is an extra 20% discount on fees.

Spot trading volume for the past 30 days

This is the calculation of the total financial volume traded on the spot market (buying and selling cryptocurrencies) for the past 30 days. The financial volume of each trade is counted in BTC.

For example: if a trade of buying ETH using USDC moved 1000 USDCs (equivalent to $1,000.00) and the price of 1 Bitcoin at that moment was $20,000.00, it means that the traded volume counted was 0.05 BTC.

Futures trading volume for the past 30 days

This is similar to the volume calculated in the spot market, but only accounts for trades made in the futures market section.

Maker/Taker

A Taker order is when you request a buy or sell without setting a price, just setting a “market order,” which basically executes the first buy or sell options in the order book.

A Maker order, on the other hand, is one where you set the buy or sell price, add the order to the order book and wait for it to be executed by someone interested in buying or selling at that specific amount.

The names “Taker” or “Maker” exist because one type of order takes liquidity out of the market, and the other type adds liquidity to the market.

The 12 fee levels

Kucoin has 12 fee levels, the higher the level, the lower the trading fee.

You can increase the level based on the factors mentioned above, as listed in the table below:

Fee level

KCS Holdings

or

Spot Trading Volume Last 30 Days (BTC)

or

Futures Trading Volume Last 30 Days (BTC)

Maker/ Taker

KCS Trading Maker/ Taker

LV0

0

or

<50

or

<100

0.1%/ 0.1%

0.08%/ 0.08%

LV1

1000

or

>=50

or

>=100

0.09%/ 0.1%

0.072%/ 0.08%

LV2

10000

or

>=200

or

>=400

0.07%/ 0.09%

0.056%/ 0.072%

LV3

20000

or

>=500

or

>=1000

0.05%/ 0.08%

0.04%/ 0.064%

LV4

30000

or

>=1000

or

>=2000

0.03%/ 0.07%

0.024%/ 0.056%

LV5

40000

or

>=2000

or

>=3000

0%/ 0.07%

0%/ 0.056%

LV6

50000

or

>=4000

or

>=6000

0%/ 0.06%

0%/ 0.048%

LV7

60000

or

>=8000

or

>=12000

0%/ 0.05%

0%/ 0.04%

LV8

70000

or

>=15000

or

>=20000

-0.005%/ 0.045%

-0.005%/ 0.036%

LV9

80000

or

>=25000

or

>=40000

-0.005%/ 0.04%

-0.005%/ 0.032%

LV10

90000

or

>=40000

or

>=80000

-0.005%/ 0.035%

-0.005%/ 0.028%

LV11

100000

or

>=60000

or

>=120000

-0.005%/ 0.03%

-0.005%/ 0.024%

LV12

150000

or

>=80000

or

>=160000

-0.005%/ 0.025%

-0.005%/ 0.02%

In addition, registration made through a reference code also guarantees an extra discount that can reach up to 20% on fees.

See also:

What is the Kucoin API and what is it used for


If you are a new user to Kucoin, you may have seen the “Kucoin API” option on the exchange and been curious. When reading the official documentation, you may not have understood anything.

That’s why we are creating this article to help you understand what the Kucoin API is in a simple way.

What is an API?

First of all, you need to know what an API is. An API is for you to make quick and simple communications with some system.

For example, imagine your friend has created a cool program on his computer about nutrition, where the user enters some basic body information like weight and height and the program returns a diet suggestion.

This program could be put on a website, where several users around the world could use it.

But imagine that you have data from an entire class of students in an Excel file, and you don’t want to have to enter all the data manually on the website. The ideal solution would be to be able to automate this task, where you just submit all the data at once and the nutritional program returns all the results.

This would be possible through an API.

In other words, an API is an automated way to communicate with some software. You, who are going to use the API, want to create some simple programming code (like organizing the data in your Excel file and then submitting it to the nutrition site), and the site needs to be ready to receive these requests.

To make this possible, some programming language will be used, such as Python.

With Python, you use a visual interface (IDE), which you are used to writing your programs, and import a specific library that contains all the parameters to work with the API in question.

In the case of our nutrition program example, you would use some simple command in your code like:

import nutritionAPI

and then start using the API. Each time you run the code, this API would communicate with the server that owns the nutrition program.

If the API was well constructed, the commands would be as simple as:

diets = nutritionAPI(data)

that is, you would pass the students’ data and the function would return the diets, saving the result in the “diets” variable we created.

Back to the Kucoin API

Now that we understand what an API is, it’s easy to understand what the Kucoin API is. It is an automated way to communicate with the Kucoin cryptocurrency exchange.

Instead of manually logging into the exchange and performing your commands to make a trade, you can program everything using Python.

Why is this useful?

Imagine you want to create a trader bot that buys and sells bitcoin every time the price of two moving averages cross.

Simply create programming code using Python that defines when it is time to buy or sell (by calculating the moving averages) and execute the orders on the exchange using the API.

The Kucoin API returns various information, such as the price of the assets, so you can follow the price in real time, perform the calculations, and submit the orders to the exchange to make the trade.

How to use it in practice?

I mentioned in the example of the nutrition program that it would be necessary to import a library with the API in question. In the case of Kucoin, this is the Python library: https://github.com/Kucoin/kucoin-python-sdk

In this same Github repository there are code examples showing how to make the requests and what results are returned.

Kucoin also allows its API to be used with other programming languages besides Python, such as Java, PHP, GO and Nodejs.

Did you enjoy the article? Also read:

The Edinburgh Decentralization Index


The Edinburgh Decentralization Index (EDI) is an index developed by the University of Edinburgh to measure the level of decentralization of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum.

From this index, it is possible to have a practical and objective measurement of how decentralized a project is.

For example, imagine there are 100 agents responsible for creating blocks in a cryptocurrency. Some of these agents manage to create blocks more frequently. Consider that the top 5 agents that create the most blocks are responsible for creating 30% of all blocks in the network. Looking at the top 50 agents, they are responsible for creating 60% of the blocks.

In another cryptocurrency, the top 5 agents create 20% of the blocks and the top 50 agents create 90% of the blocks.

Which of these two mentioned cryptocurrencies is more decentralized at the consensus level?

This is a difficult question, and it seems subjective. Trying to rank different projects from a decentralization index requires in-depth study.

This is exactly why the University of Edinburgh decided to create the EDI. EDI seeks to analyze the parameters of a network in an impartial and technical way, to bring more objectivity to this ecosystem.

External criticism of the concept of decentralization

There is a lot of criticism regarding the real decentralization of the web3. Some governments and institutions have already released studies suggesting that there is little real decentralization in the most popular cryptocurrencies.

However, while there is much discussion on this topic, there is no objective measurement that has become standard among the community.

One of the key differentiators of Bitcoin has always been the concept of decentralization, the innovative possibility of achieving consensus in a system without needing a centralizing agent.

Bitcoin’s original paper brings a solution involving the Proof of Work (PoW) protocol. Subsequently, other protocols have emerged, such as the Proof of Stake (PoS). But the question about decentralization remains the same.

After all, what is real decentralization? What level can be considered acceptable? What aspects need to be considered?

The motivation for EDI

If the cryptocurrency ecosystem recognizes a decentralization index as relevant, this can accelerate adoption, simply by making this concept more transparent and tangible.

When creating laws and definitions about cryptocurrencies, governments can rely on this index instead of interpreting abstract definitions subjectively. When evaluating the robustness of a project, users, companies, and investors can rely on this index as well.

Overall, the benefits of a technically coherent decentralization index are numerous.

Understanding how the Edinburgh Decentralization Index is created

Many technical attributes need to be taken into consideration, from the creation of network transactions to the validation of full nodes.

In addition, it is possible to define a project in terms of decentralization at the consensus level, at the concentration of currencies level, at the daily usage level, among others.

The exact calculation of EDI has not yet been disclosed.

According to Charles Hoskinson, initially the index will measure the decentralization of Bitcoin, then Ethereum, then Cardano, and then on to the other cryptocurrencies.

Charles Hoskinson points out that he doesn’t know what value Cardano will get. You can check it out in this excerpt from the video below:

EDI Methodology – In a Nutshel

In order to identify the different aspects of centralization of a cryptocurrency, the EDI methodology consists of analyzing different layers, as shown in the figure below.

edi methodology

Each layer has its importance. For example, centralization at the consensus level brings the risk of attack to the validation of transactions. Centralization at the tokenomics level brings the risk of price manipulation. Centralization at the Network level brings the risk of failure or censorship via infrastructure, and so on.

In all these layers it is important to understand decentralization not only in relation to the number of agents involved, but also their geographical distribution and governance participation.

Obviously, each layer can also be divided into many subcategories.

For each blockchain layer (and each subcategory), the EDI will:

  • Identify centralization hazards against relevant blockchain properties.
  • Measure the distribution of each layer’s resource across the relevant parties.

Combine all measurements into a single index:

  • Quantitative: a specific “centralization” value is assigned to each analyzed blockchain project.
  • Qualitative: each analyzed project gets “badges” for fulfilling well-defined requirements.

Current Roadmap:

The current status of the project is as follows:

edi roadmap status

  • Produce the research methodology for evaluating blockchain decentralization.
  • Develop the framework to measuring decentralization.
  • Conceptualize the core metric modules.
  • Gather data of real-world ledgers and apply the framework to them.
  • Release the Edinburgh decentralization index (EDI).
  • Make the framework’s modules open source and allow external contributions.
  • Visual interface that depicts the decentralization index of real world ledgers.

As soon as papers are published and the official index is released, we will update here on this page, so stay tuned and bookmark the page.

Also read:

Kucoin Fast Trade (Fast Buy)


The Kucoin Fast trade, also called Fast Buy, is a way to buy cryptocurrencies with just one click, using any of more than 70 payment methods.

Kucoin developed this option for people who are new to the crypto market and who also have no experience with investments or the stock market.

Buying on Kucoin Fast trade in 3 steps:

  • Step 1: make your registration at the Kucoin exchange, entering your email or phone number;
  • Step 2: enter your personal information and verify your identity;
  • Step 3: choose your card or payment method and click “buy” to buy cryptocurrencies with one click.

The fast trade option is located at the top left corner of Kucoin’s main menu, after clicking on “Buy Crypto”:

selecting fast trade option on the menu

After clicking on “Fast Trade”, this window will open, where you can enter how many dollars you want to invest and choose which cryptocurrency you want to buy:

buying bitcoin on kucoin fast trade

Note that in this example above I am buying $1,000.00 worth of Bitcoins (BTC) paying with a Visa/Master card. As the Bitcoin price in this example was $19,686.05, my purchase resulted in 0.050797 bitcoins. The math was:

$1,000/($19,686.05/BTC) = 0.050797 BTC

In the new example below, I am buying 1,000.00 Euros worth of Ethereum (ETH):

buying eth on kucoin fast trade

Since the Ethereum price was very close to 1,000.00 Euros per ETH, this resulted in almost 1 ETH.

Which payment methods are accepted on Kucoin Fast Buy?

Any credit, debit or prepaid card issued by Visa and MasterCard are accepted. It is also possible to use Paypal and other intermediary platforms.

What are the limits of Fast Buy?

Each trade needs to be between $5-5,000.00. The transaction fee will appear on the screen before you confirm.

Congratulations, now you know how to use Kucoin’s Fast Trade option!

See also: