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CK Coincheck VS UP Upbit
Both exchanges offer Spot. The differences below come from our individual reviews of Coincheck and Upbit.
| Coincheck | Upbit | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2014 | 2017 |
| Regions | Built for Japan-resident users: full access requires a Japanese bank account and Japanese identity verification (including My Number). Limited practical use outside Japan; not available to US persons. | Built primarily for South Korean residents: full KRW trading requires a real-name-verified account at K Bank, Upbit's sole partner bank, plus Korean identity verification. Separate Upbit Singapore, Upbit Indonesia, and Upbit Thailand entities serve those markets under local licenses. Not available to US persons or several sanctioned countries. |
| Products | Spot, Staking, Lending, NFT marketplace | Spot |
| Maker fee | 0% on Coincheck Exchange order-book pairs for major coins, but most retail volume flows through the separate simple buy/sell service, which is priced into a spread rather than a visible fee: verify the current spread and order-book coverage before trading | Verify current tier: Upbit's KRW pairs have run around 0.05%, and BTC/USDT crypto pairs were cut from a standard 0.25% to a promotional 0.05% in mid-2026 amid competitive pressure, so check the live rate and which promotion (if any) is active before trading |
| Taker fee | Same structure as maker: 0% on major order-book pairs, small fees (roughly 0.05% to 0.1%) on thinner order-book pairs; verify current rates, since the simple buy/sell spread is the real cost for most users | Same volatility applies here: verify current tier and any active promotional rate before trading, since Upbit has changed crypto-market fees more than once in response to fee-free competitors |
Coincheck pros
- FSA-licensed and rebuilt under real regulatory oversight since 2019, with no comparable security incident since the 2018 hack
- Backed by Monex Group, a listed Japanese financial services company, and now itself a Nasdaq-listed public company with SEC disclosure obligations
- One of the most accessible on-ramps for JPY, with an expanding retail footprint through its 2025 partnership with Mercari's Mercoin
- Straightforward spot, staking, and NFT product set without the complexity of margin or derivatives to navigate
Upbit pros
- By far the deepest KRW order-book liquidity of any Korean exchange, useful for anyone actually trading in won
- Real-name bank verification through K Bank adds a genuine anti-fraud layer most offshore exchanges don't have
- Wide listing of Korea-origin and Korea-popular tokens that are thinly traded or unlisted elsewhere
- Moved to holding over 99% of assets in cold storage following its 2025 breach, well above Korea's 80% legal minimum
This table is generated from the same data behind our individual exchange reviews. See methodology for how it's put together. Fee figures marked "not yet verified" need confirming against live terms before this page is treated as launch-ready.