Gemini Review 2023: Pros, Cons and How to Start Trading

If you are searching for an elegant, simple, and secure cryptocurrency exchange, Gemini might be the right fit for you. Gemini exchange helps you buy, sell, and store your Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Gemini is the first SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 certified cryptocurrency exchange globally. Let us understand more about the Gemini exchange in this review.

Gemini is one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the United States, and it has its own cryptocurrency - the Gemini dollar. It helps you to buy, sell, and store Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The Gemini exchange offers trading in more than 20 cryptocurrencies, and it has some unique features. Moreover, the Gemini platform is available through the website as well as a mobile app. 

Some of the pros and cons of Gemini are listed below. 

Pros

• It offers a wide variety of cryptocurrencies
• Very low minimum order amounts
• Digital assets are insured
• Offers crypto-to-crypto trading for certain coins
• Gemini Pay allows purchases at 30,000 retailers using cryptocurrency
• Gemini Earn offers 7.4% APY on crypto holdings

Cons

• Fees are relatively high
• Few major cryptocurrencies are missing, like Cardano and Ripple
• The fee structure is difficult to understand for beginners
• Margin selling and short selling are not available

Gemini is one of the best-known crypto exchanges in the US, along with Paxful (you can read our Paxful review here) and Uphold (Uphold review available here).

Yes, the Gemini exchange is safe. The platform is known for its security and ease of use. It operates with a security-first mentality from the beginning. Let us dive deeper into its safety features.

Crypto Security 

The majority of the cryptocurrencies are stored in Gemini’s offline cold storage system. Cold storage servers are not connected to the internet; therefore, they aren’t hackable.

Gemini holds a small portion of crypto in their online hot wallet, and that is also insured. The cryptocurrencies stored in the hot wallet are readily accessible as they are stored online. Hot Wallet assets are insured against thefts due to security breaches, fraudulent bank transfers, employee theft, etc.  

Account Security

The Gemini account is secured by two-factor authentication (2FA). Customers need to authenticate when they log into the account and also while making crypto withdrawals. 

Gemini supports hardware security keys via web authentication. Rate-limiting is applied to certain operations to prevent attacks. The platform uses encryption to secure personal information. 

Compliance and Certifications

Gemini platform is a licensed New York trust company and has made a name for itself thanks to its security. It is regularly subjected to the cyber security audits conducted by the New York Department of Financial Services. 

It is the first cryptocurrency exchange to get SOC 1 Type 2 and SOC 2 Type 2 certified. Gemini exchange also earned an ISO 27001 certification.

With Gemini, you can buy, sell cryptocurrencies from any device, including PC, laptop, Android/iOS mobile/tablet devices. The Gemini mobile app is available for both iOS and Android devices. Some of the key features of Gemini are listed below.

Block trading

You can purchase a large number of securities at an arranged price between two parties. These kinds of transactions are not performed on the open market to decrease the impact on the security price.

Auction-only orders

As an investor, you can place an auction-only market order. This allows you to execute at the final auction price. Thanks to this feature, you can buy a security at a lower price.

Gemini Pay

This feature allows you to make purchases with crypto at around 30,000 US retailers. Users can carry out these purchases simply and securely via Gemini mobile app. 

Click on the play icon at the bottom of your screen on the Gemini website. After selecting what you would like to purchase, you can check out.

Besides these, Gemini also has an in-depth education section called Cryptopedia. This section is a great tool for anyone new to crypto who wants to learn everything there is to about blockchains, cryptocurrency, DeFi, NFTs, trading and investing.

Gemini has a complex fee structure that is hard to understand for beginners. It has a different fee structure for Gemini exchange, its mobile app, and the Active Trader platform. There are four major types of fees on Gemini. They are:

• Transfer fees: Transfer fees are charged for certain types of deposits and withdrawals from the Gemini exchange. Any deposits from debit cards charge a 3.49% fee and wire transfer deposits are free on Gemini. Withdrawals fees are charged when the customers make more than 10 withdrawals in a month. 
• Trading fees: Trading fees depend on whether the customers make crypto trades on the website or on the mobile app or on the active trader trading platform. There will be additional convenience fees in certain cases. 
• Custody fees: Custody fees cover the cost of cryptocurrency storage in a Gemini custody account. Gemini custody account is a highly secured crypto storage solution mostly used by institutional investors.
• Agent fees: Agent fees are charged for cryptocurrency which is earning interest in Gemini Earn. This is deducted from the listed APYs users can earn in this type of account. 

Gemini charges 0.250% fees for buyers, 0.100% fees for sellers, and 0.2% for auction participants for accounts having less than $1 million. Some of the very high-dollar transactions do not have any fees. 

Gemini mobile app has a different fee structure and the fees are variable based on the purchase amount. Regardless of the size of the purchase, an additional 0.50% convenience fee is charged for mobile users. On Gemini mobile app, users can pay for goods with their cryptocurrency, and no fees are charged. 

Active Trader platform follows a maker or taker fee structure. The more you trade over a 30-day period the less you pay in maker and taker fees. Auction model is available on Gemini to select cryptocurrencies and it follows a separate fee structure. 

The following cryptocurrencies can be traded on the Gemini platform: 

0x (ZRX), 1inch (1INCH), Aave (AAVE), Alchemix (ALCX), Amp (AMP), Ankr (ANKR), API3 (API3), Balancer (BAL), Bancor (BNT), BarnBridge (BOND), Basic Attention Token (BAT), Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bread (BRD), Caspian (CSP), Chainlink (LINK), Compound (COMP), Compound ox (cZRX), Compound Basic Attention Token (cBAT), Compound Dai (cDAI), Compound Ether (cETH), Compound Wrapped Bitcoin (cWBTC), Curve (CRV), Dai (DAI), Decentraland (MANA), DerivaDAO (DDX), Dogecoin (DOGE), Enjin Coin (ENJ), Ether (ETH), Fantom (FTM), Filecoin (FIL), Gemini Dollar (GUSD), Golem (GNT), Injective (INJ), Keep Network (KEEP), Kyber Network (KNC), Litecoin (LTC), Livepeer (LPT), Loom (LOOM), Loopring ( LRC), Maker (MKR), Mirror (MIR), Numeraire (NMR), Ocean (OCEAN), OMG Network (OMG), Orchid (OXT), PAX Gold (PAXG), Polygon (MATIC), Ren (REN), SKALE (SKL), Somnium Space (CUBE), Storj (STORJ), SushiSwap (SUSHI), Synthetix (SNX), tBTC (tBTC), The Graph (GRT), The Sandbox (SAND), Uma (UMA), Uniswap (UNI), Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Wrapped Nexus Mutual (WNXM), Yearn.finance (YFI), Zcash (ZEC).

Creating a Gemini account is a simple process. Let us look at a step-by-step procedure to create an account on Gemini.

• On the Gemini website, select open a personal account or institutional registration based on your choice.
• After selecting open a personal account, enter your full name and email address, and then create a password.
• Check the box to agree to their user agreement and privacy policy and create your account.
• Gemini will send an activation code to your email for verification purposes. Enter the activation code and then submit.
• Your Gemini account is ready, and you can go on to set up a two-step authentication and add your bank details, verify your identity by entering more personal information. 
• Upload documents of your identity cards like passport or driver’s license. Your Gemini account is set up completely. 

Since you have already linked your bank account, you can now deposit money into your Gemini account. 

Click transfer on the top right corner of your Gemini account page and then deposit to Gemini. Choose fiat currency type and select deposit method as bank transfer and continue. Make sure that your name on Gemini is the same as in your bank account.

To withdraw from your Gemini account:

1. Select the fiat currency from the dropdown.
2. Choose the destination address and enter the amount.
3. Review all the details and select request withdrawal.

Let have a look at how to buy and sell cryptocurrency on Gemini Exchange.

How to buy crypto on Gemini

• Login to your account and click buy and once. Type the quantity of the crypto you would like to purchase. 
• Click review order, and after making sure all the details, click place order.
• You will see a ‘success’ image and your transaction details. 

How to sell Crypto on Gemini

• Select the crypto you would like to sell from the pull-down menu.
• Select the sell option.
• Choose the order type and type of your order.
• Review all the details of your order and click sell to confirm. 

Gemini doesn’t have much when it comes to customer service. You must wait for a resolution after you create a support ticket through their website or app, which isn’t that impressive. 

Gemini is a highly secured cryptocurrency exchange platform to buy, sell, and store cryptocurrency. The exchange mentions on its website that it is an elegant and easy-to-use trading platform. It has impressive features like Gemini Pay and Gemini Earn. 

To secure customers’ accounts, it uses built-in features like multi-signature digital signature schemes and hardware security keys along with other protocols. Overall, it isn't easy to find a more well-rounded exchange like Gemini.

If you don't want to trade on Gemini, go to out crypto exchange comparison tool to find the best crypto exchange for you.