Compare
GT Gate.io VS UP Upbit
Both exchanges offer Spot. The differences below come from our individual reviews of Gate.io and Upbit.
| Gate.io | Upbit | |
|---|---|---|
| Founded | 2013 | 2017 |
| Regions | Available in most regions outside the US for most of its history; added regulated US spot trading in August 2025. Operates from the Cayman Islands with regional teams rather than a single onshore headquarters. | 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, Margin, Perpetual futures, Copy trading, Launchpad (new-token offerings) | Spot |
| Maker fee | Verify current tier: Gate.io uses a volume-based maker/taker schedule | 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 | Verify current tier: Gate.io uses a volume-based maker/taker schedule | 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 |
Gate.io pros
- One of the widest altcoin listings in the industry, often ahead of larger competitors on new tokens
- Long operating history (since 2013) and a large, regularly updated Merkle-tree proof-of-reserves program
- Broad product suite in one account: spot, margin, futures, copy trading, staking, and a token launchpad
- Recently added regulated US spot access, unusual for an exchange with Gate.io's offshore structure
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.