Upbit vs Stormgain: Fees, Security, Features & Which to Choose (2025)

Trying to choose between Upbit and Stormgain This side-by-side comparison reveals total cost (fees + spreads), security & licenses, coins/derivatives, deposits/withdrawals, and app quality. In 2 minutes you’ll see who wins for beginners, active traders, and long-term holders. Clear pros/cons, a quick verdict, and safe links to get started.

Last updated on August 16, 2025

Upbit

Stormgain

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Available Countries

United States

Europe

yes

Latin America

yes

India

yes

China

Canada

United Kingdom

yes

United States

Yes

Europe

Yes

Latin America

Yes

India

China

Canada

Yes

United Kingdom

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Upbit is ideal if:

Great for beginner-friendly trading: Offers a clean, intuitive interface and strong security, making it ideal if you're new to crypto and value simplicity.
Strong Asian market presence: Deeply localized in South Korea and Southeast Asia, with excellent liquidity and fiat integration in those regions.
Not suited for advanced instruments: If you're looking for margin, derivatives, or broad global fiat support, Upbit’s limited financial features may not fit your needs.

Stormgain is ideal if:

Beginner-friendliness meets power – A minimalist, intuitive interface plus demo account makes it easy to learn and explore advanced trading features privately.
All-in-one crypto toolkit – Combines spot, perpetuals, indices, crypto wallets, and cloud mining in one platform for users seeking versatility in one place.
High-leverage edge, higher risk – Offers substantial leverage and innovative tools, ideal for experienced self-directed traders—but demands careful risk control.

Upbit isn’t ideal if:

Limited product variety: Lacks margin, futures, copy-trading, loans, or crypto cards, restricting users seeking more advanced financial tools.
Geographically constrained: Primarily serves South Korea and select Asian markets; support and fiat options are limited for most global users.
Basic customer support: Relies mainly on ticket-based assistance with minimal tutorials or live help, which may not satisfy those wanting more hands-on guidance.

Stormgain isn’t ideal if:

You want broad token access – With only a handful of spot-available coins, it’s not suited for users hunting for diverse crypto holdings.
You prefer regulated platforms – As an unlicensed operation, it may not align with users who prioritize oversight within regulated environments.
You avoid high-risk strategies – Its ultra-leveraged tools are geared toward high-risk trading and may overwhelm those who prefer lower-risk, conservative approaches.

Fees & Total Costs

Spot Maker/Take

Upbit applies a flat trading fee—typically around 0.20–0.25%—for both maker and taker spot orders across supported pairs, with no tiered discounts or native token rebates.

StormGain doesn’t use a traditional maker-taker tiered model—with trading fees generally structured as flat percentages that may vary by pairing instead of volume-based tiers or discounts tied to holding a native token.

Futures/Derivatives

Upbit does not offer futures or derivative instruments, so there are no maker, taker, or funding fees to consider.

Futures trades typically incur a performance-based cost—where only profitable trades are charged a commission, plus a daily funding (swap) rate applies to open positions.

Average Spreads on Liquid Pairs

On major spot pairs like BTC/USDT or ETH/USDT, spreads are generally tight and reflective of high liquidity, though your precise rate depends on market depth at the time of execution.

Spreads are built into the execution price and vary by market conditions, but generally remain competitive on the most liquid BTC/USDT and ETH/USDT pairs.

Fiat Deposits & Withdrawals

Upbit supports bank transfers for fiat, with deposit methods varying by region; fees and processing times vary according to local banking systems and verification levels.

Fiat can be funded via credit/debit cards or SEPA (in some regions); card payments carry a moderate fee and are processed almost instantly, while SEPA transfers are fee-free or low-cost but take one to several business days.

On-chain Withdrawals

Upbit charges fixed network fees per asset (e.g. a fixed amount in BTC or ETH), which do not adjust dynamically based on network congestion.

Withdrawals involve both a fixed network fee and a small percentage fee, e.g. for Bitcoin it’s a fixed BTC amount plus a fractional percent, similar for Ethereum and other supported networks.

Hidden Costs

You might encounter costs such as currency conversion spreads, speedier KYC processing, or cross-border banking charges; these are not labeled as explicit fees but can subtly add to your overall cost.

Additional potential costs include currency conversion charges when depositing or withdrawing in non-base currencies and expedited refund or closed-account processing fees for certain administrative actions.

Real-World Cost Example: “€500 BTC

If you purchase €500 in BTC, your total cost includes the platform’s flat trading fee plus the market spread; withdrawing that BTC would then incur the asset’s fixed network withdrawal fee.

If you use a card, you’d pay the purchase fee embedded in the execution rate (equivalent to a flat percentage), plus the spread, and then incur the standard withdrawal cost (fixed network fee + percentage) when sending to an external wallet—totaling one overall cost that combines those elements.

Crypto Offering & Trading Features

Number of Coins & Pairs

Upbit lists approximately 260-263 cryptocurrencies (depending on the data source) and over 540 trading pairs overall, with the top 20 by volume dominated by KRW pairs like ETH/KRW, XRP/KRW, and BTC/KRW, reflecting its regional liquidity strength.

StormGain offers around 80 cryptocurrencies, with the top 20 by trading volume typically including BTC, ETH, USDT, LTC, XRP, ADA, BNB, DOT, SOL, DOGE, LINK, MATIC, BCH, APE, AVAX, SHIB, UNI, LTC, TRX, and XLM paired mostly with USDT or BTC.

Product Range

Upbit focuses exclusively on spot markets and does not offer margin, perpetual futures, options, crypto ETFs, lending, copy trading, grid bots, or automated DCA; however, it does include staking/earn services for select assets.

The platform supports spot and perpetuals trading, a built-in crypto wallet, cloud mining, but doesn’t offer margin, options, crypto-ETFs, staking/earn programs, loans, copy-trading, grid bots, or automated DCA features.

Liquidity

Upbit’s 24-hour trading volume typically ranges in the multi-billion-dollar bracket, and its order books for BTC and ETH pairs exhibit strong depth, especially for KRW-denominated pairs, ensuring tight spreads and reliable execution.

StormGain’s liquidity on BTC and ETH pairs is moderate—enough to handle retail-level volumes with minimal slippage; exact numbers aren’t published, but order book depth is sufficient for standard-sized trades without major price impact.

Tools

The platform supports limit, market, and stop-limit order types, plus charting tools and dashboards, API and WebSocket access, but lacks native TradingView integration and any alerting capabilities.

Traders can place common order types like limit, stop-loss, and OCO; they have access to basic alerts and charting powered by a native implementation similar to TradingView, plus API and WebSocket access for advanced or automated trading.

Geographic Restrictions by Product

Derivatives and advanced instruments are unavailable across the board, and even spot trading is restricted in regions like the United States, Japan, China, and Taiwan due to regulatory limitations.

Certain services—most notably perpetual derivatives—are unavailable in regulated regions (for example, not accessible to users in the U.S., U.K., and some EU jurisdictions), limiting product availability by country.

Innovation

While Upbit does not host launchpads, launchpools, or flexible-vs-locked earn programs, it does offer staking options for select chains—but no advanced yield farming or investment pools.

While there’s no launchpad or launchpool, StormGain differentiates itself with on-platform cloud mining and occasional flexible earn opportunities, allowing users to earn by holding with option of flexible withdrawal rather than long-term locking.

Security, Regulation & Custody

Operating Entity & Jurisdiction

Upbit is operated by Dunamu Inc., a South Korean company founded in 2017, with its headquarters located in Seoul and expanding operations through entities such as Upbit Singapore.

StormGain is operated by StormGain LLC, officially registered in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and has its main operational base in London, UK, founded around 2019/2020, combining offshore registration with a London presence for its global operations.

Licenses/Registration

Upbit Singapore holds a fully licensed status as a Major Payment Institution under Singapore’s Payment Services Act, enabling regulated digital token services, while its Korean operations continue under the Virtual Asset Service Provider framework.

The platform runs without formal licensing or registration under any major financial regulator (such as VASP or MiCA), operating outside the regulatory frameworks commonly applied to crypto services.

Custody

Upbit maintains full custody of user assets, backed by recent audits confirming over-100 percent reserves for both digital assets and cash equivalents, alongside substantial cold-wallet holdings.

StormGain uses its own custodial wallets with most customer funds stored in cold storage and the remainder in hot wallets for operations; it does not publish proof-of-reserves reports or details on auditing or the percentage held in cold storage.

Insurance & Protection Funds

The exchange has set aside dedicated user protection reserves, in the order of tens of millions USD, specifically to shield user assets in case of unexpected events.

There is no publicly disclosed third-party insurance or user fund protection scheme, meaning user assets are not safeguarded by insured pools or similar mechanisms.

Incident History

In late 2019, Upbit experienced a significant hack that resulted in the loss of roughly USD 48 million in Ethereum; since then, it’s reinforced internal controls and transparency protocols.

There are no publicly known major security breaches, freezing events, or regulatory penalties reported, but the lack of regulatory oversight and complete transparency means incident details—if any—are not widely documented.

Risk Controls

Upbit employs robust safety measures such as two-factor authentication, internal self-trading restrictions, a proprietary market-monitoring system, and auditing to prevent insider trading, plus granular permission controls for API access.

StormGain supports two-factor authentication (2FA), enforces strong encryption, and stores funds across hot and cold wallets; however, it lacks more advanced safeguards like IP or withdrawal-address whitelisting, sub-account divisions, or granular API permission settings.

Transparency

The exchange publishes periodic transparency reports including audit results and trading-behavior monitoring; while it doesn’t offer public wallet addresses or formal SLAs, it follows regulatory guidelines and discloses operational compliance measures.

The platform does not offer public monthly reports, a publicly viewable wallet, or service-level guarantees; transparency around reserve levels or operational metrics remains limited.

Deposits, Withdrawals, KYC & Support

Fiat Deposit Methods

Upbit allows fiat deposits primarily via local bank transfers (e.g. KRW in Korea, SGD in Singapore) once you reach full verification; minimums vary, processing typically takes 1–3 business days.

You can fund your account using credit/debit cards or SEPA transfers (in supported regions), with minimums starting around USD/EUR 50, and card deposits are processed instantly while SEPA may take 1–3 business days.

Supported Fiat Currencies & Conversion

Upbit allows fiat deposits primarily via local bank transfers (e.g. KRW in Korea, SGD in Singapore) once you reach full verification; minimums vary, processing typically takes 1–3 business days.

KYC (Verification Levels)

Upbit uses a four-level KYC system—ranging from basic identity checks to full verification with bank linkage—and higher levels unlock larger deposit and withdrawal capacities.

StormGain allows basic trading with minimal or no KYC; more advanced access—like higher deposit/withdrawal limits—requires submitting identity verification, but exact tiers and thresholds are not publicly detailed.

Withdrawals

Crypto withdrawals are permitted across major networks like ERC-20 and TRC-20, with daily limits scaling by KYC level and typical processing within hours.

limits, timing & networks

Customer Support

Support is available through email and a robust FAQ/help center; users in Korea generally experience faster responses, while international users may wait longer and have less localized documentation.

StormGain offers 24/7 live chat, email support, and an extensive help center (knowledge base), with response times usually quick though occasionally slower during peak periods.

Languages & Localization

The platform is available in native English and Korean, displays balances in local currencies (KRW or SGD), and adheres to the relevant local regulatory framework for each region.

The interface is fully available in English, and transaction data (like balances and fees) appear in local currency (e.g., EUR or USD) where applicable, with region-appropriate regulatory disclaimers shown.

App Quality & Stability

The Upbit mobile app is known for its stability and smooth performance, with regular updates, low crash rates, and quick feature rollouts aimed at both beginners and experienced users.

Its mobile app boasts a high user rating (around 4.3 on Google Play with 97k+ reviews), is regularly updated, and maintains stable performance with few reported crashes.

Experience, Performance & Ecosystem

UX/UI

The Upbit interface strikes a smart balance between clarity and functionality—offering a simplified view for beginners while still providing comprehensive charts and real-time data for more experienced users, although it doesn’t explicitly label modes as “Lite” or “Pro.”

learning curve & modes

Performance

Order latency remains low even during high volatility, and there are no widespread reports of system crashes; however, during market peaks, KYC verification queues may grow noticeably longer, affecting access for new users.

latency & stress resilience

Education

While Upbit doesn’t offer demo accounts or a Spanish-language academy, it provides a detailed help center and tutorials that guide beginners through trading, deposits, and security.

academy, demo, Spanish content

Community

Official community channels such as forums or Telegram groups are limited; referral programs exist but are less central to the user experience compared to peer-driven groups and third-party platforms.

forums, messaging, referrals

Integrations

Upbit supports Open API and WebSocket for developer access and trading automation, but lacks native TradingView integration, external bot marketplaces, or built-in tax/accounting tool integrations.

tools & tax workflows

Who Each One Is Best For

Upbit is best suited for traders who prioritize a clean, stable interface with transparent spot trading, high liquidity, and a regional focus—especially those located in supported Asian markets looking for reliable, everyday trading rather than highly automated or global multi-tool ecosystems.

This platform shines for beginner-to-intermediate traders seeking simplicity, demo practice, cloud mining, and in-built charts—less ideal for advanced users seeking tax integrations, multi-bot automation, or granular customization.