Bitstamp was formed in 2011, based out of Slovenia, and has multiple headquarters, both in New York and Luxembourg. Bitstamp has one of the lowest fee systems in the world, with 0.05% for international wire transfer, and imposes 0.09% on international withdrawals. It allows USD, EUR, Bitcoin, Litecoin, ethereum, ripple or bitcoin cash deposits, and withdrawals.

CoinbaseBased out of San Francisco, California, Coinbase is considered by many to be the most beginner-friendly exchange. It accomplishes this through its beautiful yet simple user interface. Coinbase is a brokerage, meaning that instead of buying Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from other users, you are buying directly from Coinbase.

Coinmama is another beginner-friendly cryptocurrency brokerage that focuses on credit and debit card purchases. They offer instant delivery and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Litecoin, and more to 40 US States, and most countries.

Bitpanda, called by some the Coinbase of Europe, is a popular brokerage that sells Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and more for US Dollars, Euros, British Pounds, and Swiss Francs. Just like Coinbase, Bitpanda has a very simple user interface, making it easy for beginners to successfully purchase in cryptocurrency.

Headquartered in London, UK, CEX.io offers security, high liquidity, and cross-platform trading. It has somewhat high fees, margin trading, almost 100% uptime, and more. The exchange was affected by a small hack long back but has had no issues for a while. It has over 2.8 million accounts and a wide variety of cryptocurrencies for sale. CEX.io appears to have little no fees at first glance. They are able to do this by charging a premium on the Bitcoin price.

LocalBitcoins offers a highly trustworthy escrow service and peer-to-peer (P2P) exchange. On the exchange, users to trade among themselves. Due to the nature of the transactions on the exchange, there is a resolution and feedback system. It also allows users to post a quick buy or quick sell ad on the exchange platform. It is one of the best cryptocurrency exchanges for peer to peer trading.

Gemini is an exchange based in New York, US that allows for the trading of USD against Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Zcash, and more. The exchange also offers high security and compliance, top of the line cold storage system that stores information offline, access controls, and multi-factor authentication.

Bitrue was launched early 2018, and initially gained significant traction due to their introduction of an XRP base market, which was very popular among XRP enthusiasts who promoted the exchange. Bitrue remains true to its early venture and continues to maintain and develop its XRP base market, making it probably the number one exchange, liquidity wise, for traders who prefer to trade assets against XRP as a base.