8 Best Exchanges To Short Crypto & Bitcoin

The best exchange to short crypto and bitcoin in 2023 is the one with a good variety of coins and good functionality. If you have already learned how to analyze cryptocurrencies and you are sure that the market is going to fall, then you need to pick up a good crypto exchange that allows shorting.

A lot of new and more experienced traders are asking the same question, where can I short crypto? It is a great way for traders to make money with crypto daily if you know how it works.

Can you short crypto on any exchange? No, you can’t. Crypto exchanges that allow shorting are platforms that allow margin trading. These exchanges might be hard to find, and for beginner traders, it’s difficult to know where to look.

Short-selling is often done on an exchange or platform that offers margin.

For our US readers, I recommend reading our guide on how to margin trade crypto in the USA.

Which platform is best for shorting crypto?

The best crypto exchanges that allow short selling is equipped with a robust trading interface, great order types, fast matching engines, a variety of payment methods, high security, and of course a good selection of cryptocurrencies.

Below is a list of the best bitcoin platforms that allow short selling:

1. BitYard
2. BitMart
3. FTS.US
4. CEX.IO
5. Binance
6. Decoin
7. StormGain
8. ByBit

A regulated exchange is always the preferred option but sometimes you won’t find the coin you are looking for and might have to use an unregulated platform. There are four unregulated options in the list below that have a high trust factor and are well-equipped to help you short-sell the crypto market when it turns negative.

Top 8 Crypto exchanges that allow shorting

1. Prime XBT

Supported cryptocurrencies to short on Prime XBT

I think this list of coins will increase over time as this trading platform is steadily increasing in popularity and it is a great platform for crypto day trading.

As I mentioned before, to be able to short-sell crypto on an exchange, there has to be margin trading involved.

On Prime XBT you will enjoy up to 100x leverage on all cryptocurrencies:

• BTC
• ETH
• EOS
• LTC
• XRP

These are some of the most popular coins on the market and they are providing high levels of leverage in all of them.

For some traders, I would not recommend trading with 100x leverage since it takes a lot of skill to manage entries.

Especially since the crypto market is so volatile. It’s easy to get stopped out with tight risk limits.

However, if you are an experienced trader you will benefit greatly from this high level of leverage.

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Short sell trading fees on Prime XBT

The fee for short-selling cryptocurrencies on Prime XBT is 0.05%

I wanted to show you the fees on every exchange for short-selling cryptocurrency.

Many people are asking, can you short-sell crypto with the same fees?

The answer is yes.

The fees don’t change depending on which direction your trade is.

Let’s take a look at the fee table for Prime XBT and I will explain.

Prime XBT has a 0.05% taker trading fee.

This means that you are paying this fee whenever you are using a market order, long or short.

It’s called a taker fee because you are taking orders from the order book when you use market orders.

Most traders use market orders and that’s why they show this fee structure.

One thing to keep in mind though.

When you are using leverage, the fees increases.

The fee is still 0.05% but if you are trading bigger positions it will calculate 0.05% of the new position size.

How to short crypto on Prime XBT – Step by step guide

So how do you short-sell crypto on Prime XBT?
(you need to deposit funds before doing this)

1. Visit the exchange!
2. In the top left corner of the first page, click the Trade button.
3. On the left side choose your cryptocurrency.
4. On top of the chart click Sell.
5. Choose your position size and stop loss + take profit, then click Send Order.

2. KuCoin

Supported cryptocurrencies to short on KuCoin

Here are all cryptocurrencies you can short-sell on KuCoin:

• BTC
• KCS
• ETH
• BCHABC
• BSV
• XRP
• TRX
• EOS
• LTC
• XTZ
• ADA
• ETC
• ATOM
• ZEC
• DASH

Every cryptocurrency that has a “10x” symbol can be traded with margin on KuCoin.

This means that you can use up to 10x leverage when you are trading cryptocurrency.

10x leverage means that you can trade 10 times bigger positions.

For example:

If your trading account is 1000$ and you trade with 10x leverage.

You can trade 10.000$ in position sizes.

It’s not more complicated than that.

Short sell trading fees on KuCoin

As I mentioned earlier, the fees for short-selling on any crypto exchange will not change from the standard fees.

The standard fee for short-selling cryptocurrencies on KuCoin is 0.10%

Here is the fee table from the exchange.

Keep in mind that there are ways to reduce your trading fee while shorting crypto on KuCoin.

If you increase your monthly trading volume they will automatically reduce your fees.

You can also reduce your fees by owning their native cryptocurrency KCS.

The only thing you need to do is own the cryptocurrency and they will automatically reduce your trading fees.

The more you own, the lower the fees.

This is a very good reason to start trading on KuCoin.

If you are a very active cryptocurrency day trader or a heavy swing trader you need to have your fees reduced to not be eaten up by the exchanges.

KuCoin will definitely make your life easier on this part.

How to short-sell crypto on KuCoin – Step-by-step guide

Now, how do you short-sell crypto on KuCoin?
(before you do this you need to open your margin account, click here to see how it’s done)

1. Visit the exchange!
2. On the first page, hover over the Trade button in the top left corner.
3. Click Margin.
4. On the left side of the trading interface, choose cryptocurrency.
5. Select your position size, your stop-loss order and click Sell.

3. Binance

Supported cryptocurrencies to short on Binance

Here is a full list of all supported cryptocurrencies to short-sell on Binance:

• BTC
• ETH
• BCH
• XRP
• EOS
• LTC
• TRX
• ETC
• LINK
• XLM
• ADA
• XMR
• DASH
• ZEC
• XTZ
• BNB
• ATOM
• ONTU
• IOTA
• BATU
• VETU
• NEO
• QTUM
• IOST

Short-sell trading fees on Binance

The basic trading fee for short-selling on Binance is 0.10%.

This is the same fee for any new trader on the platform, this is where you start.

Take a look at this fee table.

You start at 0.10% and the more trading volume you have each month, the lower your trading fee gets.

If you trade big enough you can reach a trading fee of 0.04%.

How to short crypto on Binance – Step by step guide

So, how do you short-sell crypto on Binance?

1. Visit the exchange!
2. On the first page, hover over the Derivatives button at the top of the screen.
3. Click Futures.
4. In the top left corner, hover over the “ticker symbol” for the trading pair and choose cryptocurrency.
5. In the top right corner of the futures trading interface, choose your leverage, and trading size and click Short.

4. Bitmex

Supported cryptocurrencies to short on Bitmex

Today Bitmex supports short selling in 8 cryptocurrencies.

Here is a full list of all cryptocurrencies available to short-sell on Bitmex:

• BTC
• ADA
• BCH
• EOS
• ETH
• LTC
• TRX
• XRP

The reason why you would like to use Bitmex might not be for obvious reasons.

They don’t have the longest list of supported coins.

However, they do have something that not many other exchanges have.

They support short-selling in cryptocurrencies with very high leverage.

From 20x up to 50x leverage on Ethereum.

Short sell trading fees on Bitmex

The fee to short-sell cryptocurrencies on Bitmex is 0.25%.

The fee to short-sell Bitcoin is 0.075%.

Take a look at this fee table where you can see both the trading fees and the leverage for each coin.

What’s so special about this fee table is that there is a huge difference between the Maker Fee and the Taker Fee.

So, what’s the difference between a Maker Fee and a Taker Fee in crypto?

The answer is very simple.

You either take orders from the order book (taker), or you make orders in the order book (maker).

When you use market orders to trade crypto you are taking orders from the order book.

When you use limit orders you are taking orders for the order book.

Did you see the difference?

Market order = Taker

Limit order = Maker

Good, but why is there a difference in the fee structure for these two?

Cryptocurrency exchanges want to have a lot of volumes trading their platform for various reasons.

So they will reward traders for adding orders to the order book.

In the case of Bitmex, you can see that there is a – symbol in front of the number.

This means that you will actually earn money from being a market maker.

If you use limit orders, you will get a rebate from the exchange itself.

How to short crypto on Bitmex – Step by step guide

Now, how do you short-sell crypto on Bitmex?

1. Visit the exchange!
2. On the first page at the top of the screen, choose your cryptocurrency.
3. On the left side, enter the position size and your stop loss, then click Short.

5. ByBit

Supported cryptocurrencies to short on ByBit

As of writing this article, ByBit supports 4 cryptocurrencies to short-sell.

Here is the full list of available cryptocurrencies to short-sell on ByBit:

• BTC
• ETH
• EOS
• XRP

This is certainly not the longest list of coins in this review but there is something else that’s special about ByBit.

You see, ByBit offers 50x leverage on all three altcoins and 100x leverage on Bitcoin.

There is a very nice leverage bar that you can adjust to your preferred level on the trading interfaces.

Here is an example from EOS leverage trading.

You simply drag the dot along the bar and your leverage is instantly changed.

Short sell trading fees on ByBit

The fee for short-selling crypto on ByBit is 0.075%.

Here is a fee table with the leverage included.

How to short crypto on ByBit – Step by step guide

So, how do you short-sell crypto on ByBit?

1. Visit the exchange!
2. On the first page in the top left corner, hover over the Trade button and click Inverse Perpetual.
3. Inside the trading interface at the top of the page, choose cryptocurrency.
4. On the right side of the interface, choose leverage and position size, then click Short.

What is short selling?

Short selling is a way of betting on negative price movements by borrowing assets, selling them at market price, and then buying them back later, hopefully at a lower price.

Once you enter a short position and the cryptocurrency falls in value you earn a profit that you later collect when buying back your sold position.

The way short selling works sounds complicated but all of the technical stuff is managed by the crypto margin trading exchange you use.

It might seem like a difficult task, however, it sounds more difficult in theory. When you enter a day trading crypto platform that offers this functionality you will see that it’s just as easy as buying.

This style of investing is quite risky for beginners but it has proven to be a very successful margin trading strategy.

Short selling crypto can be very effective in bear markets when prices are falling day by day but I highly recommend that you use a stop loss crypto exchange to protect your “upside” risk.

Can you short cryptocurrency?

Yes, it is definitely possible to short sell cryptocurrency. After reviewing countless platforms I’ve found some better than others. The best crypto exchanges that allow shorting in 2023 are usually not always regulated but if you choose one with a good reputation you don’t have to worry.

The exchanges I’ve listed in this article are in my opinion the best ones. Some of them have very good trading interfaces, there are a lot of coins to trade and they are also trusted exchanges. I would not recommend trading on any crypto platform without any kind of reputation.

For example Binance. Most traders have heard of Binance and that’s because it has a good reputation. I would say that Prime XBT and ByBit and the lesser-known platforms in this exchange review. I’ve used these exchanges for a while and that’s why I now recommend you use them.

The best exchanges to short crypto are:

1. Prime XBT
2. KuCoin
3. Binance
4. ByBit

As you will see throughout the review, all of these platforms have something special about them. Bitmex for example will provide you with a lot more leverage than any other cryptocurrency platform. KuCoin has over 250 coins supported for trading.

Not all of which you can short sell, but there are a lot of cryptocurrencies on the exchange. Binance has in my opinion one of the best trading interfaces on the market and that’s why it’s on the list.

ByBit is tagging along with Bitmex and is also offering very high levels of leverage on altcoins.
No matter what you are looking for the exchanges I’ve chosen will serve you well in many ways.

Can you short Crypto on Binance?

Yes, it’s possible to short-sell crypto on Binance.

There are however a few steps you need to take before you start short-selling coins on Binance. Keep reading and you will find information about this in the Binance section of this review.

Traders also ask if you can short-sell on Coinbase and the answer is, No you can’t. I would love for Coinbase to add this feature in the future because I feel very comfortable trading on Coinbase.

For now, we are sticking with these exchanges and if there are any changes in the future I will be sure to add them.

Conclusion

The best exchange to short crypto is hard to find if you have nothing to compare it to.

In this review, I’ve selected 5 of the absolutely top exchanges that I know have a good reputation, good trading interfaces, and very low trading fees.

No matter if you are going with a lot of sizes, if you swing trade, or if you are a scalper, I know these exchanges will serve you well.

I recommend that you read through the whole review before choosing your exchange.

They all have a few different features that you might like.

If the market is in a free fall and you are in a hurry to start shorting, check the comparison table at the top and pick your favorite.

Now if you are a US trader and are looking to short-sell crypto visit our guide on the best cryptocurrency exchanges in the USA.